Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
With his gruff, gravelly voice, his penchant for hep cat diction, and the serpentine bebop turns of his vocalese creations, Eddie Jefferson might not seem the ideal match for a classic romantic crooner like Allan Harris. The Brooklyn-born singer has previously paid homage to the songs of Billy Strayhorn and Nat King Cole, repertoire that seems like a more ideal fit. Until embarking on the project that became “The Genius of Eddie Jefferson,” Harris would have agreed wholeheartedly with that assessment. But not only did he discover the depth of Jefferson’s estimable talents and innovations, but he found his own way into Jefferson’s idiosyncratic takes on the classic solos of jazz giants like Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon, Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins. The disc is an ideal blend of Harris’ rich, beguiling baritone and Jefferson’s bantering cool.
While the phrase “diamond in the rough” often describes burgeoning talents brimming with potential, Tia Fuller has exhibited impending greatness since emerging on the international jazz scene more than a decade ago. Now, her artistic capacity has blossomed tremendously, resulting in her fourth release, “Diamond Cut,” her first album as a leader since 2012. In those six years, she’s transitioned from being a member of Beyonce’s touring band to becoming a full-time professor at Berklee College of Music, while still juggling a demanding career as a solo artist and touring with the likes of drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, bassist Esperanza Spalding and drummer Ralph Peterson, among others.
Also this week, NEA Jazz Master Ellis Marsalis
offers up the very first jazz quintet album of his career, “The Ellis Marsalis Quintet Plays the Music of Ellis Marsalis”.
14-year-old pianis
t, composer and bandleader Joey Alexander unveils his third studio CD, “Eclipse”.
Spin Cycle, whom DownBeat magazine describes as “a cohesive unit that commands an exceptional stylistic range and exhibits a go-for-broke attitude,” follows up its critically acclaimed 2016 debut with the release of “Assorted Colors.”