Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify

Undersung in the art world despite a prolific 50-year career, abstract artist Peter Bradley has finally begun receiving his due acclaim. That continues with the release of a new film which documents the artist’s dedicated daily practice. Bradley’s work is inextricably linked with his love of jazz, which provides the atmosphere and inspiration for all of his paintings. Saxophonist and composer Javon Jackson provides a score for the documentary, “With Peter Bradley,” that nods to some of Bradley’s favorite jazz icons while vibrantly capturing the moods and personalities of the film and its subject.

From country music to rhythm & blues, Robin McKelle has made an entire career exploring the rich vastness of American music. For her latest effort, “Impressions of Ella,” she returns to her traditional jazz roots, drawing from only one source and perhaps her greatest artistic influence, Ella Fitzgerald. To help bring her concept to life, McKelle enlists a brand new trio of venerated jazz players: Kenny Washington on drums, bassist Peter Washington, and NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron on piano.

Also this week, fresh off his appearance at the Iowa City Jazz Festival, trumpeter Benny Benack III builds on the signature style of his previous releases with the new album, “Third Time’s the Charm”; pianist Michael Costantino is joined by consummate veterans Harvie S on bass and drummer Thierry Arpino for a program of standards, classic TV and pop tunes, and even a Beethoven ballad on “The Song Inside the Tune”; and pianist and composer Will Bonness follows up his Juno Award-winning album from 2020 with his fourth album, “Is This a Dream.”

                                      

Marking his sixth release in two years, Grammy-winning artist Steven Feifke steps into the spotlight on “Catalyst,” his most personal album to date. Following his recent victory as the youngest Grammy winner ever for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album, the new disc debuts 10 brand new tracks which uniquely showcase Feifke’s multifaceted abilities as bandleader, composer, arranger, pianist and soloist. The all-star big band lineup is augmented with guest features by Tony-nominated drummer/vocalist Bryan Carter, vocalist Martina DaSilva, trumpeter/vocalist Benny Benack III and saxophonists Chad Lefkowitz-Brown and Alexa Tarantino.

On their latest release, “Synchronicity: An Interpretation of the Album by the Police,” the Hazelrigg Brothers celebrate the 40^th anniversary of this classic album and deliver an audiophile experience full of the fire, power and dynamics that has become their trademark. Perfectly expressing the political and social temper of the early 1980s, the original landmark album was the near-constant soundtrack to George and Geoff Hazelrigg’s upbringing and a huge influence on their artistic future.

Also this week saxophonist Don Braden interprets the music of Earth Wind and Fire and Stevie Wonder for a second time on “Earth Wind and Wonder Volume 2”; Montreal-based saxophonist and composer Christine Jensen is joined by her longtime pianist friend Steve Amirault and her regular rhythm team of bassist Adrian Vedady and drummer Jim Doxas on “Day Moon”; and the Harry Allen Orchestra features the music of composer Roger Frankham and lyricists Bruce Brown, Roger Schore and Mark Winkler on “With Roses.”