Two-time Grammy-award winner Rita Coolidge has signed to independent label Concord Records to release her first new recording in over five years and her first jazz album of her career.
The album, slated for summer 2005, will be produced by Jimmy Haslip of The Yellowjackets and overseen by Concord’s John Burk, who recently worked with Ray Charles on his Genius Loves Company album. The CD will include a repertoire of jazz and pop standards, as well as one of Coolidge’s unreleased tracks, “A Song for You,” a love letter written by Leon Russell to Coolidge.
“I am thrilled that I have finally been given the opportunity to create a jazz CD, a genre that I have loved all my life,” Coolidge said in a press release. The 60-year-old singer has already established a career for herself, with over 15 albums to her name, including Full Moon, which topped the Billboard Country charts in 1973. She also recorded the theme for the 1983 James Bond movie Octopussy, “All Time High.”
Concord Records is one of the largest independent labels in the United States and has released over 1,000 albums over its 31-year history. Its current roster also includes Regina Belle, Peter Cincotti, Barry Manilow and the Rippingtons.
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