Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify 

In the summer of 2023, saxophonist and composer Wayne Escoffery found himself alone in a way that he’d never quite experienced before. He was away from home, on sabbatical in Europe with a month to himself between tours. A long-term relationship had just ended, and he was confronted with the loss of a friendship that he’d once valued. Worst of all, he’d suffered a broken finger that left him unable to play for the first time since he’d picked up the horn in high school. He made good use of this alone time, conceptualizing the music that makes up his new album, “Alone,” which features an all-star quartet with Ron Carter, Carl Allen and Gerald Clayton.

Legendary guitarist Mike Stern has been celebrated for his versatile playing style since he first hit the scene in the 1970s, transcending genre by performing with Blood, Sweat & Tears, Miles Davis, Jaco Pastorius, the Brecker Brothers, David Sanborn, Bela Fleck, Yellowjackets and more. With his new project, “Echoes and Other Songs,” Stern brings together an all-star group of musicians (including Chris Potter, Christian McBride, Antonio Sanchez, Richard Bona and Dennis Chambers) for eleven brand new originals that will captivate and unite guitar and jazz fans of all generations.

Also this week, after 27 years and nearly 20 albums, one of the great working jazz groups of our day, the Bill Charlap Trio, is showcased at the Village Vanguard for their new disc, “And Then Again”; acclaimed Grammy-nominated vocalist Catherine Russell and rising-star pianist Sean Mason share a profound connection that transcends their impressive individual talents with “My Ideal”; and Bill Warfield and the Hell’s Kitchen Funk Orchestra are joined by special guests Gary Bartz, Conrad Herwig, Lou Marini and Paul Shaffer on “Chesapeake.”