Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
Sonny Rollins is never far from Bobby Broom’s mind. He spent more time in the tenor sax titan’s band than any other guitarist, and his new trio album, “Notes of Thanks,” is a deep dive into Sonny’s songbook. Featuring veteran bassist Dennis Carroll, a Broom collaborator since the early ‘90s, and Kobie Watkins, Broom’s decades-long drummer and Rollins sideman who for six years held down the drum chair in the saxophonist’s last band, the Bobby Broom Trio as been a working unit for over two decades. Rather than rounding up the usual suspects, Broom casts a wider net, sweeping in an idiosyncratic array of Rollins’ tunes, including several undeserved obscurities.
With “The Stillness of July,” Milwaukee-based guitarist Paul Silbergleit presents a long-overdue recording debut for his trio with bassist Clay Schaub and drummer Devin Drobka, a unit whose chemistry comes through whether in performance of intricate new material or the most straightforward reading of a standard. Drawing on an eclectic repertoire of original compositions, unique arrangements, and off-the-beaten-path gems from Charlie Parker, Stevie Wonder, and Broadway, the album moves from old-school swinging to spacious ballad to something more modern, unified through what Silbergleit describes as “both creativity and a natural songfulness.”
Also this week, Stacey Kent’s elegant and unadorned vocal approach is enhanced by the virtuosic musicianship of pianist Art Hirahara and saxophonist Jim Tomlinson on “A Time for Love”; baritone saxophonist and Chicago native Dave Schumacher, who’s been a fixture on the New York jazz scene for over 40 years, is joined by his Afro-Latin jazz septet Cubeye on “Agua Con Gas”; and Bobby Sanabria and his Multiverse Big Band were recorded live at the Bronx Music Hall, presenting the work of the Father of mambo and son montuno, Arsenio Rodriguez, on “Arsenio and Beyond.”