Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify Fifteen years after the release of his first album as a leader, keyboardist, composer and arranger Martin Bejerano still insists his is not a great Latin piano player. “I’m not someone who is satisfied with doing just one kind of music,” he readily admits, pointing to the broad stylistic diversity …
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and SpotifyCarol Sloane is not a household name, but it should be. Legions of ardent jazz fans are more than acquainted with her smooth yet agile vocal stylings and the ease with which she delivers the most challenging standards. Jazz greats such as Oscar Peterson, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald …
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify Born in Yaroslavl, Russia, trumpeter Alex Sipiagin won top honors at the 1990 International Louis Armstrong Competition. After relocating to New York City, he’s been a favored player for various bands including the Gil Evans Orchestra, the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band, the Mingus Big Band, Dynasty and …
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify It was in 2017 that the trio known as 3 More Sounds was formed, a co-op group with former Gene Harris & Three Sounds bassist Henry “Skipper” Franklin and drummer Carl Burnett, along with pianist Robert Turner. With Franklin’s three years with Harris and Burnett’s ten years, they …
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify Guitarist George Freeman is jazz history. His memories burn bright from a childhood surrounded by jazz greats Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller stopping by his home for a visit and to play the piano. His life in music has taken him around the world as a spirited sideman for …
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify “Late Bloomin’ Jazzman,” the newest album by vocalist and songwriter Mark Winkler, is an homage to growing older and all the blessings and drawbacks that come with it. The album is Winkler’s 20th as a leader. He wrote lyrics to eight of the 12 tunes, and covers a lot of …
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify On “Glass Spheres,” 24-year-old Nashville bassist and composer Chris Mondak looks to the future while showing a deep reverence for the jazz tradition’s rich past. Mondak, who was born in Venezuela, is a 2020 graduate of the New England Conservatory, where he trained with jazz legends Cecil McBee, …
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify Trumpeter, composer and author Jeremy Pelt has certainly never shied away from themed albums, so one might expect something cinematic from the enigmatically-titled “Soundtrack.” However, as Pelt himself explains, “I’ve certainly done plenty of conceptual albums, but in this case there’s nothing I’m on a soapbox about. It’s …
