Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
After appearing on a number of universally acclaimed jazz recordings last year, including those by Jazzmeia Horn, Charles Tolliver, and Gregory Tardy, multi-faceted pianist, composer and arranger Keith Brown fulfills a long-held artistic vision on “African Ripples.” The music, Brown explains, “was composed and collected to convey my personal experiences through Black music and how it has rippled out in so many different directions.” On this long-awaited third release, he introduces a new iteration of his trio now anchored by bassist Dezron Douglas and rotating drummers Darrell Green and Terreon Gully. Trumpeter Russell Gunn and saxophonist Anthony Ware are also utilized on several tunes.
Morris Goldberg performs nine attractive originals that pay tribute to his South African heritage and his love of melodic jazz on “Ojoyo Plays Safrojazz.” The saxophonist, penny whistle master and composer was born and raised in Cape Town, learning from an early age how to blend together bebop with music that reflected his African heritage. For his 1959 debut, he took part in one of the very first jazz sessions recorded in South Africa. He started working with Hugh Masekela in 1965, an association that lasted for decades. In 1996, Goldberg formed Ojoyo as a vehicle for his compositions, a group that continues to the present time. “Ojoyo Plays Safrojazz” is the 25th anniversary reissue of the band’s first album, which has been enhance by remastering.
Also this week, the Dave Weckl Band reunites for a special performance in the drummer’s hometown for “Live in St. Louis,” the band’s first album since 2005;
organist Brian Charette features his innovative sextet consisting of the keyboardist, a drummer and four horns on “Power from the Air”;
and singer Freda Payne is featured in duets with Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kurt Elling and Johnny Mathis on “Let There Be Love.”