Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
Mentorship, lineage, and community lie at the heart of “Buddy!,” the vibrant debut album from bassist and composer Stephen Parisi Jr. Rooted in his upbring in Buffalo and shaped by his evolution within Chicago’s thriving jazz community, Parisi’s music reflects a young artist deeply committed to understanding—and extending—the traditions that formed him. At a time when jazz often develops in academic settings, the disc stands as a testament to the vital role local scenes, elders, and familial connections continue to play in shaping authentic artistic voices.
As a young guitarist, Charlie Apicella studied composition and improvisation with jazz titans Yusef Lateef and Pat Martino. He was trained as a historian by Archie Shepp and Billy Taylor. He’s a lecturer and curator of the Yusef Lateef Estate and has received numerous grants for his work preserving Ma Rainey’s legacy. Apicella has performed concerts and recorded with jazz legends Dave Holland and Sonny Fortune and is guitarist for the Sonny Stitt Legacy Band. “Live in NYC” marks the tenth release by the hard bop and blues guitar wizard, recorded with his band Iron City bootleg-style directly off the soundboard in a NYC club in the summer of 2023.
Also this week, 3-time Grammy winning saxophonist Bob Reynolds takes some classic Eddie Harris grooves and puts them on a program of new songs on “Eddie Told Me So”; guitarist Doug McDonald and his trio of L.A. area musicians are captured “Live in Beverly Hills”; and vocalist Sacha Boutros’s new album is a love letter to the City of Lights, “Paris After Dark.”