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Joe Elefante is a pianist, saxophonist, vocalist, composer, arranger and bandleader who has traveled over four continents playing and conducting jazz and musical theater. He founded a big band in 2001, which was the house band at Cecil’s Jazz Club for three years. He was named a jazz ambassador by the Kennedy Center and has toured Eastern Europe and the Middle East as a jazz pianist for the U.S. State Department. He spent a decade away from jazz, settling down to raise a family and working as a schoolteacher. After the tragic death of his wife last year, he’s returned to jazz full time. His latest project, “Return of the Light,” features his Wheel of Dharma quintet including trumpeter Freddie Hendrix and saxophonist Erena Terakubo
Nat Adderly, Jr., renowned keyboardist, composer, arranger and musical director, steps into the spotlight with “Took So Long,” his first album as a leader. Best known for his four decades shaping the music of Luther Vandross, Adderly now steps out front with a trio project. The disc offers a pleasing mix of standards and reimagined classics. He’s joined by longtime friends, bassist Belden Bullock and drummer Steve Johns, as well as bassist Chris Berger and drummers Tommy Campbell, Dwayne Cook Broadnax and Vince Ector.
Also this week, Grammy-nominated pianist and composer Sean Mason delivers his second full-length album, “A Breath of Fresh Air”; legendary drummer Mike Clark ventures from straight ahead to funk and beyond with “Itai Doshin,” featuring Eddie Henderson, Craig Handy and Patrice Rushen; and the Steve Oquendo Latin Jazz Orchestra was recorded live at Dizzy’s Club for “A Centennial Salute to Tito & Tito,” a celebration of the lives to two legendary Puerto Rican bandleaders, Tito Puenta and Tito Rodriguez.