Etana, the Jamaican-born, Miami-raised songstress, returns with her third studio album “Better Tomorrow”. The entire set is produced by Shane Brown with Stanley “Rellee” Hayden co-creating the title track! The CD is available with a digipak & additional 8-page booklet. Etana broke onto the reggae scene in 2007 with “Wrong Address”, creating a new designation of soulful, singer songwriter among a new generation of Jamaican reggae singers including Tarrus Riley, Duane Stephenson, and I Wayne, with an international appeal. Her debut album “The Strong One” scored six Jamaican radio hits and kicked off one of the most promising new artist stories from Jamaica in years. Her second outing “Free Expressions” from 2011 was also critically acclaimed. Etana returns in 2013 with a scorching new reggae set of 14 new songs about life, love and reggae. “Better Tomorrow” is fully rooted in the one drop reggae styles that made Etana’s name. The album is produced by Shane Brown of Jukeboxx Productions (Busy Signal) and showcases the talents of some of Jamaica’s top studio musicians and legendary engineer Errol Brown. “Better Tomorrow” is an inspired statement from one of today’s most inspiring vocalists. “Reggae’s Jill Scott … Jamaican soul singer with a voice that’s rich, robust and saturated in the right kind of buoyancy – sage but never preachy.” – NPR.org. ~ grooveattack.com
In just a few short years, David Virelles has become a first-call pianist in jazz, playing in the bands of saxophonists Ravi Coltrane, Chris Potter, trumpeter Tomasz Stanko and will be collaborating on new projects with sought-after drummer Marcus Gilmore and producer Alex Overington. Virelles sophomore album, Continuum is an exploration of Cuban culture through its social, artistic and ritual expressions. Continuum is a collaborative effort with legendary drummer Andrew Cyrille, bassist Ben Street, and Cuban folkloric percussionist/poet Román Díaz. ~ giantstep.net
David Starfire’s new album, Ascend, is his most “live” project to date. Starfire’s previous efforts for Six Degrees – the five-track EP Bombay Beatz and debut full-length Bollyhood Bass – were predominantly his own doing. Ascend is more of a collaborative effort, bringing in more live musicians instead of relying on loops and samples. Ascend takes Starfire’s trademark fusion of Electronica mixed with Indian and Arabic influences to new levels of excitement. This time however, David is working with a dizzying cast of musical characters, including hip hop pioneer, Afrika Bambaataa, label-mates Cheb i Sabbah & Natacha Atlas, Desert Dwellers and vocalists iCatching and Sheila Govindarajan. Starfire’s live aesthetic, merging with beat-driven dance textures is perfectly at home at the varied venues he’s performed at, including Coachella, Lightning in a Bottle and Burning Man. David Starfire's Ascend is out on February 19th. ~ Six Degrees Records