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Individually leading busy and varied artistic lives in Chicago and throughout the Midwest, trumpeter Eric Jacobson, pianist Pamela York and bassist Clay Schaub have gathered weekly for the Monday night residency at Milwaukee’s Mason Street Grill since 2021. There they allow their ideas and inspirations gleaned through the week to take musical form in an intimate setting, unfurling their arrangements on standards from the American Songbook, Latin jazz, bebop or through their own compositions. As the Affinity Trio, their debut recording, “Hindsight,” captures their comfortable simpatico.
Sarah McKenzie grew up in Australia, taking classical piano lessons from the age of five. A teacher introduced her to rock, the blues, ,and boogie woogie when she was nine. “By the age of 15 I heard Oscar Peterson’s ‘Night Train’ record and that was the turning point for me. It was such happy music that I knew that I wanted to do that with my life.” The pianist, singer and composer is releasing her sixth album, “Without You.” A project that conveys her love for Brazilian music and culture, the disc includes a generous amount of Antonio Carlos Jobim songs along with four of McKenzie’s originals and a few other selections, all performed in her own inventive way.
Also this week, “Upswing” is a celebration of the post-bop sound that trombonist Robert Edwards’ band has been forging for the past six years at their West Village residency in New York’s City’s iconic Small’s Jazz Club; “Radiance” is a classic jazz trio album from keyboardist and composer Bennett Paster; and New York City-born, Portland-based pianist and composer Gordon Lee unveils his new quartet disc, “How Can It Be?”