Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
“My Grateful Dead experience began a few years ago when I was lucky enough to play a show with the Wolf Bros.,” says saxophonist Dave McMurray of the band led by Grateful Dead cofounder Bob Weir. “The long-form, odd measures and complex chords of the music hooked me immediately. I noticed the songs had great melodies…the music was catchy, psychedelic, raw…the more I listened the more I knew these songs would eventually become a vehicle for my jazz expression.” On the new record, “Grateful Deadication,” McMurray reimagines the songs of the iconic California rock band in his gritty, soulful Detroit sound.
The Joshua Jern Jazz Orchestra began a quick ascension to the topmost ranks of Chicago big band jazz with the release of their debut album in late 2019 and subsequent live performances. Since then, the Covid-19 pandemic has hindered live performances everywhere, and the fledgling big band hasn’t had any opportunities to perform live in over a year. The extra time to shed and write, however, proved to be creative fuel for Joshua and the musicians in his band. Now comes their second album, “Lockdown,” a collection of original compositions and arrangements written by Jern featuring some of the Windy City’s finest players.
Also this week, the long-awaited fourth release from The Capitol Bones, “The Beat Goes On,” features some of the best jazz players from the Washington, D.C. area;
saxophonist Dave Mullen and his ensemble offer a vigorous album of healing, heartfelt jazz dedicated to some of the music’s legendary voices on “Solace”;
and bassist Will Lyle’s “L.A. Source Codes” brings musicians from three generations together on a recording dedicated to the memory of his mentor, Ralph Peterson.