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When Patrick Williams assembles a band for a new album, it’s like old home days, as some of the musicians have been playing for him for decades. In late March, eighteen of Los Angeles’ finest players gathered to tackle eight new charts by the Grammy-winning musical architect. Old friends like Dave Grusin, Tom Scott, Bob Sheppard, Peter Erskine and Chuck Berghofer were all on hand. “Home Suite Home” is the composer’s most personal project to date as he draws musical portraits of his three children and his wife of 54 years. Williams also forged ahead with a pair of tributes to a couple of his favorite artists—arranger/composer Neal Hefti from his sojourn with Count Basie, and renowned drummer Buddy Rich.
For his latest q
uintet recording, “Our Roots,” Chicago saxophonist and composer Geoff Bradfield borrows inspiration from fellow Chicagoan Clifford Jordan’s 1965 album, “These Are My Roots: the Music of Lead Belly.” The focus is on black music of the rural south—the spirituals and blues of itinerant Texas preacher Blind Willie Johnson, ring shouts from the Georgia Sea Islands, and the prison farm work songs of Lead Belly. The absence of a chordal instrument allows the ensemble to explore the open-ended nature of these folk forms. Bradfield is joined by four of the premier musicians on the Chicago scene: trumpeter Marquis Hill, trombonist Joel Adams, bassist Clark Sommers and drummer Dana Hall.
Also this week, Denver’s Jeff Jenkins Organization keeps the classic B3 organ trio format relevant and alive with 
“The Arrival”; OJT builds on the classic organ jazz trio by mixing old school Kansas City jazz with blues and a modern funky groove on “New Standards for the Green Lady”; and keyboardist Manuel Valera debuts his new ensemble, Groove Square, on “Urban Landscape,” featuring saxophonist John Ellis, guitarist Nir Felder, drummers E.J. Strickland and Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts and harmonica ace Gregoire Maret.