Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
Pianist/composer Fred Hersch and vocalist/bassist Esperanza Spalding can both be counted among the most acclaimed and inventive artists in modern jazz. The Village Vanguard is the music’s most revered venue, having played host to countless legendary musicians and beloved live recordings. The duo and the club converge for a magical performance on “Alive at the Village Vanguard,” a rare opportunity for listeners to enjoy the singular and thrilling collaboration between two marquee jazz players at the top of their game.
For nearly all of his four-decade career, the Los Angeles-based pianist/composer Bobby West was an unheralded scientist of sound: well-known and respected in his community, but largely unknown beyond it, with no recordings of his own as a leader. All that changed in 2021 when he released his first record. No longer a best-kept-secret from the West Coast, West’s fluid and formidable pianism is praised by jazz fans and critics alike. Josef Woodard of Jazziz magazine wrote of West’s “elegant…organically flowing energy…” and his “unpretentiously impressive musicianship.” That musicianship is on full display on West’s new release, “Big Trippin’.”
Also this week, the Verve Jazz Ensemble gives listeners an opportunity to once again revel in their originality and hard bop focus with their 8th album, “All In”;
80-year old percussionist Joe Chambers, best known for playing on a long list of critically acclaimed Blue Note jazz albums in the 1960s, brings together a global cast of talent on his third release as a leader for the label, “Dance Kobina”;
and pianist Bob Himmelberger unveils his new trio release “Legacy,” featuring original compositions spanning the 45 years of his musical life.