Ayanna Witter-Johnson publishing deal announced

Charismatic cellist and singer-songwriter Ayanna Witter-Johnson has signed a new publishing deal with Faber Alt, the Faber Music branch who specialise in alternative and crossover writers. According to Music Week the deal covers worldwide rights. Witter-Johnson opened the London Jazz Festival recently and was last heard by this blog playing the Great Jamaican Songbook with Cleveland Watkiss at the LJF 2 years ago. Lucy Holliday, head of A&R at Faber Alt, says: “There’s no doubt about it, Ayanna Witter-Johnson is an incredibly rare and rising talent who has that unique ability to fuse classical with more contemporary and alternative styles of music.''

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Who wouldn't be drawn further in to this live version of 'Strange Fruit' the hugely significant Abel Meeropol anti-lynching song from the 1930s synonymous with Billie Holiday after Theo Saunders' deftly conceived elegant piano introduction? After that remarkable opening the almost operatic Paul Robeson-esque vocal line by Dwight Trible surely one of the greatest male voices in jazz today and here in his prime ups the ante still further. Saunders later in the performance goes further ''out'' and the rapport with Trible develops organically into a space only they know. From The Gathering: Roots & Branches of Los Angeles Jazz's Healing Suite due for release by The Village in January no superlative comes close. Led by Jesse Sharps this was recorded at the Mayme Clayton Library and Museum in Culver City in 2015. Dwight Trible, top

Ayanna Witter-Johnson publishing deal announced

Dwight Trible delivers a remarkable version of 'Strange Fruit' with Theo Saunders