Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
Drummer/composer Jeff Cosgrove uses his sixth album as a leader to celebrate the music of former collaborator, bassist/composer William Parker. Cosgrove released two critically-acclaimed recordings featuring Parker and long-standing collaborator Matthew Shipp. On “History Gets Ahead of the Story,” Cosgrove offers a unique take on Parker’s long-standing quartet repertoire by rearranging it for the classic organ trio. Saxophonist Jeff Lederer (Matt Wilson Quartet and Bobby Sanabria’s Multiverse Orchestra) and organist John Medeski (Medeski Martin & Wood and Hudson) push the boundaries to put their signatures on some of Parker’s most recognizable compositions. This is the first album to feature Parker’s music without him providing the undercurrent with his singular bass sound.
Richard Whiteman is a multi-instrumentalist based in Toronto. One of the busiest pianists on the jazz scene there, he’s long been sought out by many of the finest names in jazz, including Don Thompson, Reg Schwager and Jane Bunnett. After working as a pianist for decades, he began studying the double bass in 2004, quickly becoming an adept performer. In 2012, he formed his “bass” quartet with Reg Schwager, Amanda Tosoff and Morgan Childs, the band that forms the backbone for his new album, “Very Well & Good.” The quartet is joined on several tracks by tenor sax giants Pat LaBarbera and Mike Murley.
Also this week, Denver-based pianist Eric Lilley releases his second trio recording, “Follow Up”;
singer and songwriter Melody Gardot is joined by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on her new CD, “Sunset in the Blue”;
and Nation Beat offers up a deliciously original 21st century fusion of thunderous Brazilian maracatu drumming and New Orleans second line rhythm on “The Royal Chase.”