Nonesuch Records releases What's It All About – a solo acoustic album from guitarist and composer Pat Metheny – on June 14, 2011. After nearly 40 recordings under his name, this marks the first time there is not a single Metheny composition represented. Rather, What's It All About comprises 10 classic songs, some very well known, that hold personal meanings for the guitarist.

Following the Grammy winning 2001 solo acoustic record One Quiet Night, Metheny began regularly playing the specially tuned baritone guitar he used on that album in the breaks between sound check and the show when he was on the road. "Almost every day as I worked through one well-known tune or another, various visitors or local crew people would come up to me and ask which record it was on, and I would have to say that I had never made a record like that," Metheny says. "And over the years, I have had it in the back of my mind that I should do an album of some of those tunes at some point".
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Sonny Rollins's forthcoming album, Road Shows, vol. 2, is quite likely to revive the delirious excitement stirred up at the saxophonist's sold-out 80th-birthday concert held in New York nearly one year ago. Four tracks on the new CD, which will be released September 13 by Doxy/Emarcy Records, were recorded that night; one of them is the 20-minute "Sonnymoon for Two" on which Rollins and surprise guest Ornette Coleman performed together in public for the first time in their long acquaintance, with electrifying results.

"This material was not intended to be my next album," says Rollins, "but it was so strong that I felt I had to release it."
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Often cited as the world's true "romance crooner" and proponent of all things love, legendary jazz balladeer Steve Tyrell will release his new collection, I'll Take Romance, which features 12 tracks with Tyrell, backed by his band along with a String Orchestra. The release of I'll Take Romance will be accompanied by tour dates across the country, including his annual seven week run at New York City's legendary Café Carlyle, where he replaced Manhattan icon Bobby Short seven years ago. A passionate song selection that is indeed perfect for Valentine's Day and beyond, Steve Tyrell's I'll Take Romance is a modern-day take on all things love.

Inspired by Chelsea Clinton's choice of his version of "The Way You Look Tonight" for the first dance at her wedding (as told to Tyrell at last year's Café Carlyle engagement by proud Papa Bill Clinton), Tyrell then decided that his next studio recording should be an album consisting purely of romantic standards- an homage to The Great American Songbook with tracks culled from several genres expressing the theme of romance. Featuring such gems as "That's All," "Taking a Chance On Love," "All of You" and the title track, Tyrell also covers a host of R&B classics, including the Etta James hits "At Last" and "Trust In Me;" Sam Cooke's "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons;" and Little Willie John's "Talk to Me."

The Wayman Tisdale Story is a feature length documentary celebrating the life and legacy of Wayman Tisdale, a three-time All-American, Gold Medal Olympian, former NBA star and world renowned Jazz musician who lost his two-year battle with bone cancer in May 2009. Rendezvous Music complements this telling of Wayman s story with a soundtrack featuring 13 tracks including the previously unreleased track, Slam Dunks, produced by Jeff Lorber. The Wayman Tisdale Store will be available as a special edition CD + DVD combo as well as a separate DVD of the film on its own.

2011 album from the acclaimed R&B/Jazz vocalist. As featured vocalist of the UK supergroup Incognito, core member of Stevie Wonder's Wonderlove and of course through her own albums and concerts, Maysa has been thrilling R&B and Jazz audiences for decades. Motions Of Love represents the pinnacle of Maysa brilliant recording career. Some of the many highlights include: Stevie Wonder, one of Maysa's most dedicated fans, coming to the party as producer of exquisite ballad he and Maysa have written especially for this album Sweet Dreams and R&B heartthrob Dwele's soulful guest vocal on the hit single "Flower Girl". An exciting video of this song features Dwele as well.

Originally released in March 1964, this collaboration between saxophonist Stan Getz and guitarist João Gilberto came at seemingly the end of the bossa nova craze Getz himself had sparked in 1962 with Jazz Samba, his release with American guitarist Charlie Byrd. Jazz Samba remains the only jazz album to reach number one in the pop charts. In fact, the story goes that Getz had to push for the release of Getz/Gilberto since the company did not want to compete with its own hit; it was a good thing he did. Getz/Gilberto, which featured composer Antonio Carlos Jobim on piano, not only yielded the hit "Girl from Ipanema" (sung by Astrud Gilberto, the guitarist's wife, who had no professional experience) but also "Corcovado" ("Quiet Night")–an instant standard, and the definitive version of "Desafinado." Getz/Gilberto spent 96 weeks in the charts and won four Grammys. It remains one of those rare cases in popular music where commercial success matches artistic merit. Bossa nova's "cool" aesthetic–with its understated rhythms, rich harmonies, and slightly detached delivery–had been influenced, in part, by cool jazz. Gilberto in particular was a Stan Getz fan. Getz, with his lyricism, the bittersweet longing in his sound, and his restrained but strong swing, was the perfect fit. His lines, at once decisive and evanescent, focus the rest of the group's performance without overpowering. A classic. –Fernando Gonzalez

A Winter's Solstice by Various

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Christian McBride is a loquacious raconteur in addition to his finger-busting bass skills, though make no mistake about it- the only talk on this release is the musical kind two instruments make. Christian can converse with the best of them, as his Sirius/XM show will attest though these conversations sit him down in the studio with a diverse array of guests for unexpected and often amazing results. The resulting duets lay bare skill and emotion in the visceral tradition of real jazz improvisation.

Angelique Kidjo, George Duke, Sting, Eddie Palmieri, Chick Corea and Roy Hargrove along with the late masters Hank Jones and Dr. Billy Taylor- are among the guests. If you do really want to hear talking, check out Christian's free podcast series on iTunes and find conversations with nearly all of his esteemed guests and even a couple of video sessions.

Already hailed as one of the decade's top live performers, Amy gives us fair warning with the devilishly titled I Told You I Was Trouble. The DVD features as its centerpiece a rollicking and emotive 60 minute concert performance filmed live from London's 104 year old Sheperd's Bush Empire. For Amy Winehouse fans, I Told You I Was Trouble also serves up a potpourri of bonus material including a 50 minute film chronicling her incredible rise as one of music's most colorful and acclaimed new voices; never-before-seen early performances; an interview with her father, and other rare, behind the scenes glimpses of the British siren. Showcasing her hit songs from her UK debut release Frank and the international platinum-plus release Back To Black (recently passing the 3 million sales milestone worldwide), the concert from Sheperd's Bush features "You Know I'm No Good," "Tears Dry On Their Own", Amy's cover of the Zuton's "Valerie", and her Billboard topping hit "Rehab," among others.

Originally released in 1959, Miles Davis's magnum opus Kind of Blue is still considered by many to be one of the greatest albums of all time. Starring Davis, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb, Kind of Blue has held onto its status as an album that crosses genres, speaks to generations, and is one of the first (if not the first) album that any new jazz acolyte purchases. Kind of Blue (Legacy Edition) offers the complete studio sessions on 2 CDs, including false starts, alternate takes and a 17-minute 1960 live version of "So What."