Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
A decades-long institution in Ann Arbor, home of the University of Michigan, and also the nearby Metro Detroit area, the Lunar Octet is back with a potent collection of originals inspired by such wide-ranging influences as mambo, samba, funk, Afrobeat and jazz on “Convergence.” The title itself suggests a confluence of rhythms and styles, and that is precisely what this band of multi-directional musicians has been doing since meeting 36 years ago in Ann Arbor and subsequently recording their 1994 debut. Reuniting in the studio 25 years later, the members of the Lunar Octet documented their collective growth while remaining committed to their original mission.
“Alexa is a one-woman wrecking crew, an indomitable force for expression, education, and absolute excellence.” So says Wynton Marsalis of Alexa Tarantino, the award-winning saxophonist, composer and educator. The Jazz Times Critics Poll named her one of the “Top 5 Alto Saxophonists of 2019” and in Downbeat’s 2020 Critics Poll, she was nominated as a “Rising Star-Alto Saxophone.” Tarantino has performed regularly as a leader and side musician in a wide variety of ensembles and genres including the Cecile McLorin Salvant Quintet, Arturo O’Farrill’s Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, and Sherrie Maricle & the Diva Jazz Orchestra. Her third release for Posit-Tone Records, “Firefly,” displays Alexa’s growth in performance and composition.
Also this week, pianist Benito Gonzales features Nicholas Payton, Christian McBride and Jeff “Tain” Watts on “Sing to the World,” a musical exploration of the concept of freedom that recognizes the dignity of us all as individuals;
The United States Air Force Airmen of Note big band is joined by special guests Chris Potter and Peter Bernstein for “The 2021 Jazz Heritage Series”;
and saxophonist Rahsaan Barber, who is on the jazz faculty at the University of North Carolina, unveils a new two-disc set of his compositions, “Mosaic.”