Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
Multi-Grammy Award winner Brian Lynch’s new album, “7x7By7,” can justifiably be called septology: seven pieces performed by seven musicians with each tune clocking in at seven minutes flat of music. The trumpeter and composer designed the project in a novel and distinctive modular format, allowing for the interchange of ensemble sections and individual parts across all seven pieces. Additionally, the recording process was designed to facilitate the smooth reassembly of elements from the tracks into new pieces.
“Entre Amigos” is a creative collaboration featuring award-winning Chicago-based musicians Roy McGrath (sax), Gustavo Cortinas (drums), Hana Fujisaki (piano) and Kit Lyles (bass). The formal creation of the band marked a celebration of a decade-long anniversary of musical friendship. Hot off the heels of their month-long tour of Asia with gigs practically every night, the quartet threw themselves immediately into the studio upon their return, recording their self-titled debut album. It marked the end result of weeks of nonstop arranging, composing and perfecting the music they knew as well as they knew each other.
Also this week, “Found in Space” is the second pairing of the dominant trombonist of our time, Michael Dease, and the prolific composer Gregg Hill, full of reminders of ‘70s cinema, Zappa albums, bebop and big bands; Jacqui Naylor, a captivating vocalist known for defying genres, releases her 12th album, “Treasures of the Heart,” a collection blending jazz, R&B, soul and pop; and Grammy-winning New York City drummer Zach Adleman brings a fresh and creative approach to his new album, “We Make: Stories for a New Day.”