Some music is intended to paint a romantic scene - a candlelit dinner, a walk along a moonlit beach. Quiet Nights - Diana Krall's twelfth album - ain't about that. Using Brazil as a musical point of reference,

Chop Shop recording artist Anya Marina has unveiled a busy slate of activities surrounding the recent release of her critically acclaimed album,

Queen Latifah's new album Trav'lin' Light will be released by famed jazz label Verve Records in conjunction with Flavor Unit Entertainment on September 25.

"I wanted to make a record that would be accessible yet truthful," Luciana Souza says of The New Bossa Nova, her seventh album and her Verve debut. "The world is so loud and noisy and overwhelming now that it can be a challenge to get people to sit and listen to something that's quiet. But I have faith that they will."

Critically acclaimed and Grammy nominated vocalist Jane Monheit returns with her seventh album, her first for Concord Records, on May 1. Surrender was produced by the illustrious Jorge Callandrelli (Celine Dion, Tony Bennett, Barbra Streisand and more) and the program features 10 tracks of beautifully sung ballads and romantic bossa novas.

With seven Grammy nominations already to his credit, vocalist Kurt Elling has attained elite status in the jazz world before reaching the age of 40. Riding to international prominence on the strength of his critically acclaimed performances as well as a string of stellar recordings for the Blue Note label,

True to its intriguing and provocative title, Lee Ritenour's latest CD Smoke N' Mirrors takes listeners on a magical, multi-faceted global journey unlike any other in the legendary guitarist's three decade, nearly 40 album career. Inspired by his very first trip to South Africa in 2005, where he performed five hugely successful concerts at festivals in Johannesburg and Capetown, with Smoke N' Mirrors,

Grammy Award winner and multi-platinum selling musician Diana Krall returns to the standard songbook with a sensual, swinging set on From This Moment On, to be released September 19th on Verve. Krall is joined by the Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra on eight of the eleven tracks, and performs in a quartet setting for the rest:

Following the glorious creative departure of his Peak Records solo recording debut, the classical labor of love Orchestral Works, and the all-star chart topping Christmas CD 40 Years-A Charlie Brown Christmas (which he produced and performed on), David Benoit makes a dramatic return to his smooth jazz roots, coming Full Circle on one of the most honest, liberating and heartfelt recordings of his storied 30 year career.

Creating a new DVD division, Milan Entertainment has announced the release of "Moro No Brasil," (aka "The Sound of Brazil") Finnish director Mika Kaurismaki's 2500 mile journey to discover the amazing diversity of Brazilian musical culture. Far beyond the familiar Samba and Bossa Nova, Kaurismaki's travels uncover an astonishing diversity of musical styles including Frevo, Maracatu, Coco, Embolada and Forro, meeting musicians, singers and dancers who show the overwhelming force of music in the often difficult daily life of Brazil. Kaurismaki's subjects run the gamut from the members of the little-known Fulni-O Indian tribe to the heroically famous Seu Jorge,