Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
Dan Moretti is an acclaimed saxophonist, composer and educator with a career spanning over four decades. The new album with his band Brazilia, “Celebrating Wayne Shorter: Live at the Pump House Music Works,” captures a vibrant performance dedicated to the legendary composer and saxophonist, blending the genius of Shorter’s compositions with the dynamic rhythms of Latin jazz. The stellar lineup of musicians includes Latin Jazz Grammy winner Oscar Stagnaro from Peru on bass, Maxim Lubarsky from Ukraine on piano, Ernesto Diaz of Columbia on percussion, and Steve Langone from Boston on drums.
“Holding Space” is an intimate musical conversation between two friends and longtime musical collaborators, saxophonist Dennis Mitcheltree and pianist Johannes Wallmann. Their musical partnership originated in the New York City of the late ‘90s when Mitcheltree, on a recommendation from Jim McNeely, recruited Wallmann to join his quartet. Twenty-seven years later, their collaborations span six quartet tours of the U.S., two duo and quartet tours of Germany, countless other performances in venues throughout North America, four albums together, as well as many joint educational and festival workshops throughout the U.S.
Also this week, tenor saxophonist Dan Zinn marks a bold new creative direction with “Two Roads,” navigating a personal and professional turning point with eight open, edgy compositions that plumb the depths of his musical inspirations; tenor saxophonist Willie Morris taps into a wellspring of creativity from the “Unbound Inner” on his third album as a leader; and “Dark Moon” is the new self-produced project from multi-award winning Canadian vocalist Holly Cole featuring new adaptations of American standards, old and new.