“My America 2: Destinations,” the newest album by Jim Self, is an homage to the many places across America where the well-traveled jazz tuba maestro has lived and worked. It’s a sequel to a disc he put out twenty years ago. Like that disc, this is a collaboration between Self and arranger Kim Scharnberg, a Cedar Rapids native and a Kennedy High School alum, and features some of the top jazz and studio musicians in Southern California. Self says, “There was a day when writers like Pat Williams, Quincy Jones, Marty Paich and Johnny Mercer were hired by artists for entire recordings. Kim Scharnberg is that kind of talent and it shows in every note he writes.”
Derrick Gardner & the Jazz Prophets new offering, “Pan Africa,” was inspired by the trumpeter’s trip to Ghana in the summer of 2021, five weeks performing with his band and visiting important historical sites relative to the Transatlantic Slave Trade, Ghanaian independence, and the Pan African movement. This master musician and composer presents an expression of how facets of the African diaspora, African history, visits to various landmarks, and the heroic acts of certain individuals affected him and helped to shape this creation.
Also this week, Eric Alexander, Mike LeDonne, Jeremy Pelt, Vincent Herring, Kenny Washington and Peter Washington debut as “The Heavy Hitters”; trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos, who has worked with icons like Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Golson, unveils his first release in 13 years, “Esperame en el Cielo”; and veteran vibraphonist and composer Jay Hoggard’s new disc, “Raise Your Spirit Consciousness,” is grounded in African-derived global rhythms.