Author's posts
New Music Monday for April 1, 2024
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and SpotifyUnsettled by the state of the world in 2020, Charles Lloyd began conceiving of a musical offering in the form of a new studio recording featuring a new band, a quartet that would be a first-time convening of four distinctive voices with the legendary saxophonist joined by pianist Jason …
New Music Monday for March 25, 2024
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and SpotifyCalled “New York’s premiere hard-bop supergroup” by Jazz Times, One for All has evolved over the course of its quarter century history from a sextet of young torchbearers to an assemblage of the music’s most revered traditionalists. For its first release in seven years and 17th overall, “Big George,” the …
New Music Monday for March 18, 2024
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and SpotifyFor their seventh outing together as a close-knit, collaborative rhythm tandem, bassist Leon Lee Dorsey and drummer Mike Clark tapped pianist Michael Wolff as third man on “A Letter to Bill Evans.” Wolff, who previously appeared with Dorsey and Clark on 2020’s “Play Sgt. Pepper,” was indeed the perfect choice …
New Music Monday for March 11, 2024
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and SpotifyIn 2014, after more than a decade in New York City, and traveling the world with Freddie Cole, Michael Buble and others, guitarist Randy Napoleon found himself in the middle of the thriving jazz center that Lansing, Michigan had become since bassist Rodney Whitaker’s arrival almost 25 years before. Along …
New Music Monday for March 4, 2024
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and SpotifyIn recent years, pianist Lynne Arriale’s compositions and albums have reflected current social issues, highlighting the worldwide immigration crises and the life-changing events wrought by Covid-19. On “Being Human,” her 17th album as a leader, Ms. Arriale presents a suite of 10 original compositions celebrating the ways that our lives …
New Music Monday for February 26, 2024
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and SpotifyTrumpeter Jim Rotondi has been a major figure in the world of jazz for over thirty years, both in New York and on the international scene. His sound, soul, and sense of swing have been in demand as a leader and sideman all over the world. For his new album, …
New Music Monday for February 19, 2024
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and SpotifyBetty Bryant has a long and storied career. She was mentored early on by the great Jay McShann. “Betty Bryant Day” was declared in Kansas City in 1987, and she was awarded the key to the city. A famous photograph of Betty with McShann hangs in the lobby of the …
New Music Monday for February 12, 2024
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and SpotifyFollowing on from his previous jazz big band releases, West Australian composer/arranger Myles Wright releases his first full-length album “Gamer”—a selection of retro video game music arranged for an expanded, 24-piece big band. Six years in the making, the album features reinventions of well-known video game classics such as the …