Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
“Between Dreaming and Joy” is the latest release from saxophonist and composer Jeff Coffin, a culmination of over two years in the studio. Calling upon its enigmatic, pandemic-induced origins, the collection gathers unusual new sounds for the reedman by a diverse, all-star group of musicians for his 21st release as a leader. The record is sustained by a variety of instrumentation including 8 bassists, 6 drummers, 5 guitar players, 4 keyboardists, a set of Middle Eastern frame drums, Brazilian percussion, Moroccan vocals, a turntable artist, multiple horns, an ice cream truck, a Hungarian tarogato and an African ngoni.
“Playdate” is the 23rd album as a leader by renowned pianist, composer and arranger Geoffrey Keezer. He upholds his old friend Christian McBride’s observation that “he never repeats himself” as the Grammy-nominated musician continues to augment and refine his distinctive style. The album’s lighthearted namesake is an homage to the concept of planning a playdate for a group of kids. Rallying a group of distinguished collaborators, Keezer calls this virtuosic cast ‘Geoffrey Keezer and Friends,’ displaying an idiomatic mastery of funk, hard bop, gospel, heavenly strings and the blues.
Also this week, drummer Billy Drummond, who has been leading various aggregations of his Freedom of Ideas ensemble for well over a decade, takes the opportunity to document this vision on “Valse Sinistre”;
the WJ3 All Stars, featuring Jeremy Pelt, Wayne Escoffery, Steve Davis and Willie Jones III, unveil their sophomore release, “My Ship”;
and Joy Lapps pays tribute to the many women who have helped facilitate her mastery of the steelpan and supported her success in the steel band movement with “Girl in the Yard.”