On June Christy:

“You notice her in a dimly lit corner. She wouldn’t be sitting at the bar itself. No, her type never is. She’s at a table, looking very proper — right down to her little white gloves — and at least a little out of place. That look is impeccable: her makeup is as it should be, the seams of her stockings are perfectly aligned, and she’s a beautiful woman, if slightly past her prime, with blonde hair, not a single strand of which is out of place, and blue eyes.”

– Will Friedwald, The Great Jazz and Pop Vocal Albums (2017), in chapter six, about Something Cool.

A new single from MOBO-winning singer Zara McFarlane, a compelling version of ‘All Africa’ famously sung by Abbey Lincoln on Max Roach’s civil rights era 1960 album We Insist! is released on ten-inch vinyl this summer.

Produced by her drummer Moses Boyd who also appears on the single and which also includes an alternate take of the Roach/Oscar Brown Jr composition, trombonist Nathaniel Cross, bassist Jay Darwish, keyboardist Ashley Henry, percussionist Junior Alli-Balogun and tenorist Banker Golding complete the band. An album is also on the way but McFarlane emphasises on social media that the track “won't be on the album.” Released by Brownswood on 7 July, listen above.