Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
After last year’s successful big band outing, guitarist Dave Stryker is back with his hard-driving, deep-grooving B3 organ group on his new recording, “Baker’s Circle.” With the addition of cutting-edge tenor player Walter Smith III, the disc features Stryker originals, a couple of covers and a tip of the hat to his former boss Stanley Turrentine. The title of the disc is a reference to David Baker. Says Stryker, “Composer and educator David Baker was in my corner from the time I met him at jazz camp when I was 17 till he hired me to take over as guitar professor at Indiana University a few years ago. I used to see him standing outside the Music School on a circular drive waiting for his wife to pick him up. I named the song (and CD) in his memory.”
“Cartoon Bebop,” the newest release by composer/arranger Dan Bonsanti’s band, the 14 Jazz Orchestra, is a swinging contemporary take on jazz compositions by modern masters. Bonsanti is a sax player who performed with big bands like The Stan Kenton Orchestra, Jaco Pastorius’ Word of Mouth Orchestra, and Doc Severinsen. He also wrote charts for The Jaco Pastorius Big Band and the Atlantean Driftwood Band. The compositions on the album represent a variety of styles, with compositions by Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Airto Moreira and others, including two tunes by Bonasanti.
Also this week, trombonist and composer Clifton Anderson returns with his fourth solo album, “Been Down This Road Before”;
saxophonist Tivon Pennicot, a member of singer Gregory Porter’s band, is a triple threat on his sophomore release “Spirit Garden,” showcasing his illuminated orchestrations, creative compositions and masterful performance;
and “The VJE: Very Live!” features the Verve Jazz Ensemble in a live set recorded just before the pandemic shut down performances everywhere.