Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
On May 15, 1953, five of jazz’s most influential musicians—Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Max Roach and Bud Powell—gathered at Toronto’s Massey Hall for what would result in their first and only known recording as a quintet. This historic evening was captured on tape and “The Quintet: Jazz at Massey Hall” would become one of the genre’s most essential and celebrated releases. Now commemorating the 70th anniversary of this singular concert, “The Hot House: The Complete Jazz at Massey Hall Recordings” is a new two CD set with meticulous 24-bit audio restoration and remastering by Grammy-winning engineer Paul Blakemore.
The group Trio Grande debuted to great acclaim in 2020, with Antonio Sanchez in the drum chair. Unfortunately, due to the Covid 19 pandemic, it was never able to perform in front of an audience. Now, prodigious drummer and multi-instrumentalist Nate Wood joins the fold on drums and bass in Sanchez’s stead, opening a new chapter in this ceaselessly creative partnership with coleaders Gilad Hekselman on guitar and Will Vinson on sax. “Urban Myth,” the group’s eagerly awaited follow-up album, is the thrilling result.
Also this week, “Shaping the Invisible” is Toronto-based pianist and composer Teri Parker’s sophomore album as a bandleader; “Echo Canyon” is pianist Art Hirahara’s ninth album for Posi-Tone Records, joined by his close collaborators Boris Kozlov on bass and Rudy Royston on drums; and Chicago-based saxophonist Geoff Bradfield and his quintet were captured live at the Green Mill in the Windy City for his new disc, “Quaver.”