Author's posts
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 …
New Music Monday for February 5, 2024
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and SpotifyBaritone saxophonist and Sioux City native Adam Schroeder teams up with arranger Mark Masters to deliver a tasty baker’s dozen tunes in the Basie/Ellington/Strayhorn style on “CT!,” with all the pieces composed by renowned trumpeter Clark Terry. Schroeder conceived of the recording as a celebration of the anniversary of Terry’s …
New Music Monday for January 29, 2024
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and SpotifyRecorded at the famed jazz club at Lincoln Center, jazz veteran Gerald Cannon’s “Live at Dizzy’s Club: The Music of Elvin & McCoy” honors two musical giants: McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones, with whom the heralded bassist proudly played alongside for 14 years, and nine years respectively. Invoking the true …
New Music Monday for January 22, 2024
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify“LifeSongs” is the masterful new album by renowned trombonist-composer-arranger Marshall Gilkes and the heralded WDR Big Band. It represents something of a musical homecoming for Gilkes. He spent four memorable years in Cologne, making his mark within the ranks of the brass section of the band until his exit in …