Born Niia Bertino, Niia is a Needham, MA-born, Los Angeles-based classically trained composer, pianist and vocalist. Deeply rooted in jazz, her work blends elegance, edge and a timeless voice with razor-sharp, seemingly lived-in songwriting. Her fifth album, last year's Spencer Zahn co-produced V was the culmination of years spent experimenting at the intersection of tradition and reinvention. Existing in the tension between control and collapse, V saw the acclaimed Los Angeles-based artist seamlessly blending the electronic textures of contemporary, experimental pop with the interplay of live, jazz-rooted instrumentation and musicianship. The album’s arrangements stretch — sometimes restrained, sometimes theatrical– but always with intention. As a classically trained musician, who grew up watching Italian cinema, Bertino explains, “I pulled from the harmonic language of jazz pianists like Bill Evans and from the psychological atmosphere of film scores.”  Arguably, one of Bertino’s most personal albums to date, V thematically explores the full spectrum of the self — self-harm, self-delusion, self-awareness and in rare moments, self-love. “Not in a moralizing way, but in a very human one,” she adds. “The good and bad live side by side, often in the same verse. One minute I’m performing heartbreak like it’s a role I’ve rehearsed, the next I’m quietly admitting I caused the whole thing. That contradiction is the truth.” The album featured "Pianos and Great Danes," which I wrote about on this site. Last week, Bertino released V (Goth Jazz Edition), a deluxe edition of her acclaimed fifth album through Candid Records. V (Goth Jazz Edition) features three bonus tracks, a cover of Chet Baker's "I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes) and two, previously unreleased tracks "Been A Long Night" and Show Me Love." “There were a few directions on the album that I still wanted to explore a little deeper, and these new songs felt so connected to the world of V that they really wouldn’t have made sense anywhere else," Niia says of the deluxe edition of V. "Been A Long Night" features an intricate, jazz-driven arrangement of broodingly cinematic piano and a supple yet propulsive bass line with skittering drum 'n bass-meets footwork-styled beats beneath the acclaimed Los Angeles-based artist's yearning delivery. While being both club and lounge friendly, "Been A Long Night" is rooted in a late-night longing and desire that's simultaneously fun and a little dangerous. "Show Me Love" is a slow-burning, gorgeous, Quiet Storm-like tune that showcases Niia's effortlessly soulful, pop star vocal confessing a desire to wholly accept and love while asking her lover to show some much-needed vulnerability. "Show Me Love" may arguably be the deluxe edition's most straightforward yet earnest tune.

Atlanta-born and based producer, singe/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Zacchae'us Paul will be releasing his highly-anticipated sophomore album JAZZ MONEY VOL. 2: SWINGIN' R&B on October 16, 2026 through Candid Records. Sonically, the album sees the rising Atlanta-based artist crating an effortless blend of jazz, R&B, neo-soul and hip-hop that features razor sharp beats complementing nimble, acoustic jazz drumming, emcees effortlessly spitting bars alternating with jazz solos.There's R&B-styled crooning and sangin.' There are producer tags, interludes and spoken word sections.

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Niia torna a casa del jazz con un bagaglio riempito da anni di generi nuovi: sistemato tutto nell'armadio, "V" è un album che sfiora la perfezione. @niiarocco #jazz #altjazz #niia #v #alternative #iyezine #inyoureyesezine #iyezine.com @candidrecords https://www.iyezine.com/niia-v

Born Niia Bertino, Niia is a Needham, MA-born, Los Angeles-based classically trained composer, pianist and vocalist. Deeply rooted in jazz, her work blends elegance, edge and a timeless voice with razor-sharp, seemingly lived-in songwriting. Bertino's previously released work has received praise from The New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Interview Magazine, and Harper's Bazaar. The Los Angeles-based artist's recently released, fifth album, the Spencer Zahn co-produced V is the culmination of years spent experimenting at the intersection of tradition and reinvention. Existing in the tension between control and collapse, V sees her seamlessly bending the electronic textures of contemporary, experimental pop with the interplay that live, jazz-rooted musicianship. The album's arrangements stretch -- sometimes restrained, sometimes theatrical-- but always with intention. As a classically trained musician, who grew up watching Italian cinema, Bertino explains, "I pulled from the harmonic language of jazz pianists like Bill Evans and from the psychological atmosphere of film scores." Arguably, one of Bertino's most personal albums to date, V thematically explores the full spectrum of the self -- self-harm,. self-delusion, self-awareness and in rare moments, self-love. “Not in a moralizing way, but in a very human one,” she adds. "The good and bad live side by side, often in the same verse. One minute I’m performing heartbreak like it’s a role I’ve rehearsed, the next I’m quietly admitting I caused the whole thing. That contradiction is the truth.” V's latest single "Pianos and Great Danes" is a mesmerizing and mind-bending mix of propulsive, rave-inspired drum 'n' bass grooves, piano-driven jazz, experimental pop and soul that captures its narrator's desperately unhinged psychological state with an uncanny precision, while being remarkably cinematic. Thematically exploring sex as an escape, Bertino says the song is “closer to a film score than anything from the Great American Songbook,” Niia says. “Written like a monologue with chord changes, it leans into space and narrative, letting the harmony suggest the emotional shifts," she continues. "Embracing emotional residue, there’s a chaotic feeling where the only way out is to melt through the track.”  

Charles Mingus was a towering giant of American music, known for his powerhouse sound and authoritative technique, irascible personality and most importantly, his original compositions, which featured a blend of jazz, European classic music, bebop, avant-garde, blues, gospel and more, a sound that he famously dubbed "Mingus Music." The legendary bassist and composer's Sunday afternoon set at the seventh annual Monterey Jazz Festival in 1964 was met with breathless praise from the likes of the New York Herald, where legendary critic and Monterey Jazz Festival co-founder Ralph J. Gleason wrote, “Mingus erased the memory of any bass player in jazz” while the San Francisco Chronicle opened its review, "Monterey beyond to Charles Mingus this year. All the way." Considering that year's festival also featured sets from Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis that wasn't an easy feat, y'all. Initially released on Mingus' own short-lived mail order Jazz Workshop label and out of print for more than 40 years, Mingus at Monterey captures the legend at the height of his creativity and musical prowess. Perhaps the most consistently requested reissue by Mingus fans across the world, Mingus at Monterey proved to be a sensation upon its sold-out limited edition run for Record Store Day 2025 earlier this year, ranking as Redeye Distribution's top-selling Record Store Day release while reaching the Top 20 on Billboard's Traditional Jazz Albums and Jazz Albums charts, #82 on the overall Top Catalog Albums chart and #102 on the Independent Albums Chart. Candid Records, in conjunction with Mingus' Jazz Workshop, Inc. will celebrate the legend's genius with the long-overdue and highly-anticipated reissue of Mingus at Monterey, which is slated for an October 10, 2025 release on CD, 2 LP vinyl and for the first time ever on all DSPs and streaming services. The live album has been remastered by five-time Grammy Award-winning engineer Micheal Graves with vinyl mastering by renowned engineer Jeff Powell. The two LP vinyl set includes the album's original gatefold jacket artwork, meticulously restored and reproduced. The forthcoming wide release of Mingus at Monterey is heralded by a hard swinging, hard-charging rendition of the Billy Strayhorn-penned, Duke Ellington-performed jazz standard "Take the A Train," that features some incredible solos from Charles McPherson (alto sax), Jaki Byard (piano), Lonnie Hilyer (trumpet), John Handy (tenor sax) and Dannie Richmond (drums) that's performed as a medley dedicated to the legend's musical hero, the equally legendary Duke Ellington. Ellington was Mingus' lodestar, the early influence, who showed the bassist and composer how music could simultaneously hold majesty, complexity and popular appeal. Mingus' take on the classic, standard tune is deeply loving but in no means, straightforward. It seems to swing harder than the original, evoking the A train's length run from 207th Street in Inwood to its final stop at Mott Avenue in Rockaway Beach -- from its assorted characters and neighborhoods it passes through, to the pace of the train as it races between 125th Street and 59th Street. And while retaining the familiar melody, Mingus' tribute to his hero is roomy enough to allow each member of the band to solo in a way that highlights their talents and sensibilities. As Mingus said of the album at the time, "It’s taken me a long time to get to where I want musically. I just wish that I could give you that picture, that moment at Monterey along with this music. This is the sound that people heard at Monterey and the life of the music is there. That’s why I bring this record to the people. I give you the Monterey music as a token of love, as a memory.”

Milena Casado is a rising Spanish-born composer, producer, trumpeter and flugelhorn player, who has generated incredible buzz over the past years through her work with Terri Lyne Carrington, Vijay Iyer, Aaron Parks, Kris Davis and others, which has led to performances at some of the world's most renowned venues and festivals, including Carnegie Hall, Village Vanguard, The Kennedy Center, North Sea Jazz Festival, Montréal Jazz Festival and Monterrey Jazz Festival. During that same period, Casado has also developed a reputation as a notable bandleader in her own right, leading a working quintet with sets at North Sea Jazz Festival, Montréal Jazz Festival, NYC Winter Jazzfest and a list of others. Adding to a breakthrough year, the rising Spanish artist will be releasing her full-length debut, Reflection of Another Self on May 16, 2025 through Candid Records. Reflection of Another Self is reportedly a sonically adventurous and deeply personal exploration of her identity that tackles overcoming personal trauma, including experiencing racism in Spain, grappling with her dual heritage and more. The album's latest single, "SELF LOVE" is a meditative neo-soul/smooth jazz-like number that features Casado's ethereal cooing, floating over glistening synths played by Casado and Morgan Guerin, Casado's soulful and punchily swaggering trumpet lines, a supple and soulful bass line from the legendary Meshell Ndegeocello, shimmering keys, synths and Rhodes from Mike King and expressive yet minimalist drumming from Jongkuk Kim. While subtly recalling Dave Guy's long-awaited full-length debut, last year's Ruby and Robert Glasper, "SELF LOVE" expresses a contented sigh of hard-earned yet empowering self-acceptance. "Loving yourself is one of the hardest things to do," Casado explains. "With 'SELF LOVE,' I wanted to capture that journey, what it feels like to reach a place of acceptance and understanding. For me, self-love is still a work in progress, but maybe . . . this is how it sounds." Along with the new single, Casado announced an album release show on May 10, 2025 at Public Records. The show will feature guest spots from Morgan Guerin, David Virelles, Maasai, Zacchae'us Paul and more.