Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
Carlos Henriquez is one of the preeminent bassists of his generation. A member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra for over two decades, Carlos is a master of both jazz and Afro-Latin traditions. His upbringing in the South Bronx, a rich musical hub that boasts local legends such as Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente, and Cecilia Cruz, played a major role in the virtuoso’s musical and personal development. His new album, “The South Bronx Story,” is a bold multi-movement all-original retrospective of the social history of his stomping grounds and draws on his personal Puerto Rican heritage.
Originally from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, guitarist Greg Amirault has been living and performing in Montreal for over 30 years. A long-time faculty member of the jazz programs at McGill and Concordia Universities, Amirault has won numerous awards as a mainstay of the Montreal jazz scene. “News Blues” is his third recording as a leader. It features three of Canada’s finest jazz musicians: Jim’s brother Steve on piano, bassist Adrian Vedady and drummer Jim Doxas. The four have been playing together in a variety of formations for over twenty years.
Also this week, Lady Blackbird presents a wholly fresh take on the jazz vocal idiom on her debut release, “Black Acid Soul”;
“A Time for Love” is a previously unreleased live set from the Oscar Peterson Quartet recorded in Helsinki in 1987;
and saxophonist Jon Gordon’s latest release, “Stranger Than Fiction,” is a nonet recording of his original music featuring a stellar band including Derrick Gardner, John Ellis, Orrin Evans and Alan Ferber.