The Cincinnati Pops announced the release of its newest recording led by Cincinnati Pops Conductor John Morris Russell, Harlem Renaissance, an homage to one of America’s most important artistic movements and the breadth of jazz styles it has nurtured.

The album features piano virtuoso Marcus Roberts in his own arrangement of James P. Johnson’s 1927 piano rhapsody, Yamekraw, based on the music and vibrant culture of Savannah, Georgia’s historically Black neighborhood in the roaring 1920s. In the hands of Marcus Roberts, Yamekraw exists as a living dialogue between Johnson’s original composition and the musical styles that have evolved since.

Harlem Renaissance features the jazz tone poem, Harlem, by Duke Ellington, an evocative soundscape of Manhattan’s legendary neighborhood. The album also includes the first commercial recording of Carlos Simon’s 2024 composition, Hellfighters’ Blues, inspired by World War I bandleader James Reese Europe’s 1919 recording of W.C. Handy’s Memphis Blues.

The album was recorded at Cincinnati Music Hall on March 21–23, 2025. Recording Producer is the Grammy Award winning Elaine Martone, Sonarc Music.

“Harlem Renaissance honors extraordinary Black composers and their kindred spirits — painters, poets, authors, sculptors and dancers — who together defined the ethos of 20th century American culture. We present these works not as museum-pieces but part of a continuum of style that continues to evolve a century later,” Russell said in a release.

“The album captures the nuance, power and virtuosity of the Cincinnati Pops, the thrilling and breathtaking improvisations of the Modern Jazz Generation and the sheer brilliance of Marcus Roberts and his trio. It was an absolute joy to perform these concerts live, and a delight to now share it with the world.”

Songs by Kurt Weill and Langston Hughes, Moisés Simons and Cab Calloway round out the album.

Here’s a link to my review for the Business Courier of that memorable Pops concert.

Seven-time Grammy award-winning recording producer and recent inductee into the Resonator Hall of Fame Elaine Martone continues her longstanding relationship with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops as producer for Harlem Renaissance.

Martone has collaborated with the Orchestra on more than 70 albums (Telarc and Fanfare Cincinnati labels), more than any other orchestra in her oeuvre.

Harlem Renaissance extends the Pops’ prolific recording legacy, which includes more than 100 commercial recordings that have sold millions of copies worldwide. Harlem Renaissance is the eighth Pops album led by Russell.

The album credits include Marcus Roberts piano; Marcus Roberts Trio with Marcus Roberts, piano; Jason Marsalis, drums; Marty Jaffe, upright bass; and the Modern Jazz Generation, led by Marcus Roberts Marty Jaffe, upright bass; Jason Marsalis, drums; Joe Goldberg, tenor saxophone & clarinet (Yamekraw); Tissa Khosla, baritone saxophone; Boyce Griffith, alto saxophone; Tim Blackmon, trumpet; Jianni Lazaga, trumpet; Etienne Charles, trumpet; Rashaan Salaam, trombone; and Mykal Kilgore and Tatiana Mayfield, vocalists.

Listeners can hear select tracks on the album beginning streaming on February 13 with Ellington’s Sophisticated Lady, February 20 with Ellington’s The Mooche and February 27 with W.C. Handy St. Louis Blues. The entire Harlem
Renaissance album will be available on all streaming platforms beginning March 13.

Harlem Renaissance is generously supported by gifts from Kelly Dehan & Rick Staudigel, Kathy Grote, Joan Wilson, Joe & Patricia Baker and an anonymous donor.