Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
Chris Potter’s “Alive with Ghosts Today” brings together Bill Frisell, Nate Smith and Burniss Travis with Rane Moore (clarinet), Zekkereye El-Magharbel (trombone) and Sara Caswell (violin) in a deliberately off-center ensemble that places Potter’s tenor and soprano inside a textural, human-scale sound world. Written around the story of abolitionist John Brown and the 1859 raid on Harper’s Ferry, the album confronts a moment that exposed deep fractures at the heart of the American narrative. “It’s a story that holds the complexity and tragedy of America in one moment,” Potter says. “It felt important to engage with it now.”
For decades, vocalist and drummer David Basse has been at the forefront of the Kansas City music scene. His singing has been compared to Mel Torme, Jon Hendriks and Al Jarreau. In 1997, his City Lights Orchestra performed at the inaugural gala for President Clinton. David is also an award-winning radio programmer, winning a Kansas Association of Broadcasters Award for his program, “The Jazz Scene,” which he has hosted for over twenty-five years. His new release, “The War Within,” was recorded live in North Hollywood at Kulak’s Woodshed.
Also this week, Juno Award-winning trumpeter and singer Bria Skonberg focuses on the horn on her new disc, “Brass,” celebrating her favorite elements of playing the trumpet; composer, arranger and guitarist Russ Spiegel continues his run of outstanding releases with “Timepieces,” his fourth as a leader; and Oakland-based guitarist Ray Obiedo brews a rhythmic, energetic soundscape on “Slight Accent,” revealing his passion for the diverse flavors of his Bay Area home.