Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
It was only a matter
of time before guitarist Paul Mehling focused his creative mojo on Lennon and McCartney’s vast and enduring treasure trove of songs. The founder and guiding spirit of the Hot Club of San Francisco, America’s longest running Gypsy swing ensemble, Mehling was first inspired to pick up the guitar when the Beatles launched the British Invasion in 1964. Now Mehling’s HCSF is recolonizing the Fab Four’s songbook in the name of Gypsy jazz legend Django Reinhardt with 14th album, “John, Paul, George and Django.” “Our vision can be summed up as WWDD? What Would Django Do,” Mehling says. “What if he hadn’t died, and had lived long enough to interpret Beatles songs?”
“Oddara” is the sophomore release from four-time JUNO Award winner, two-time Grammy Award nominee and Officer of the Order of Canada, soprano saxophonist/flutist Jane Bunnett with Maqueque, an ensemble of five extraordinary young female Cuban musicians. Brought together and mentored by Bunnett, Maqueque includes Yissy Garcia on drums, Danae Olano on piano, Melvis Santa on percussion and vocals, Celia Jimenez on bass and Magdelys Savigne on percussion. The new project is even more instrumentally-oriented than their acclaimed debut, and while Bunnett’s flute and sax are the main voices, all the members make strong and vital contributions as both players and composers.
Also this w
eek, Slovenian-born saxophonist and composer Jan Kus, who came to the States to pursue his Master’s degree in 2012, debuts as a leader with “Faith”.
Saxophonist Steve Heckman’s fifth CD as a leader, “Legacy: A Coltrane Tribute,” was recorded live at the historic Hillside Club in Berkeley, California.
Four powerful jazz artists in mid-career, all with New England roots, come together as A.G.N.Z. on “Chance Meeting,” featuring Jay Azzolina on guitar, Dino Govoni on tenor saxophone, Adam Nussbaum on drums and Dave Zinno on bass.