Lisa Marie Simmons and Marco Cremaschini have made a record that feels like it needed years to arrive. “NoteSpeak (In a Word)” doesn’t announce itself quietly. It arrives as something fully formed, a world that’s been assembled with intention and care, and it refuses to sit still long enough for easy categorization.
Simmons brings the voice of a poet and lyricist shaped by years in New York and now based in Italy. Cremaschini contributes a deep European jazz sensibility from the piano. What they’ve built together spans across jazz, spoken word, electronica, gospel, hip hop, and cinematic orchestration. The genre tags don’t quite stick because nothing here settles into a single lane. Instead, these elements fold into each other so naturally that you stop thinking about the boundaries between them.
The album opens with “Intro,” anchored by Christof Bernhard’s extraordinary work on gong, and from there it moves with real fluidity. Tender interior moments give way to passages that burn with purpose and urgency. The lyrics balance personal confession with political weight. This is music that doesn’t condescend to its listener. It trusts you to keep pace.
Gillian Margot, the Toronto vocalist who’s shared stages with Sting and Robert Glasper, leads “Once Upon This Time.” Jamaaladeen Tacuma, whose bass work has anchored avant-garde jazz from Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time onward, appears on “Taijitu” with percussionist Maurizio Giannone and vocalist Chanele McGuinness. Vernon Reid from Living Colour brings his unmistakable presence to both “Solid Ground (Meet Me There)” and the closing “Outro.” Charu Suri, the Grammy nominated pianist who became the first Indian-born jazz composer to perform at Carnegie Hall, contributes something quietly compelling to “Winner Takes All.” Dorian Holley and Nayanna Holley share space on “No Time at All,” two voices that have graced major stages and soundtracks for decades.
Then there’s “Solid Ground (Meet Me There)” featuring The Flamingos. For anyone who knows American music history, that name carries weight. Terry Isaiah Johnson, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee who arranged The Flamingos’ iconic “I Only Have Eyes for You,” appears here on what became one of his final recordings. He passed away on October 8, 2025, just twelve days after the album’s release. Knowing that context shifts how you listen. This becomes something to be heard and held.
You can listen below.