Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
The music of Herbie Hancock has affected the lives of generations of jazz performers. Like many of these musicians, it was the opportunity to play with the great pianist/composer that introduced the drummer Mike Clark to the jazz world at large. Hancock initially had Harvey Mason in the drum chair for his band the Headhunters, but when work constraints prevented him from continuing in the band, Clark was recommended by his friend and bassist Paul Jackson. Clark chose longtime collaborators bassist Leon Lee Dorsey and pianist Jon Davis for his new project, “Mike Clark Plays Herbie Hancock.”

Jim Alfredson brings everyone together for his first release as a leader for Posi-Tone Records. With all-star horn players supporting a top-notch organ trio in combination with a stunning program of new compositions and innovative arrangements, “Family Business” demonstrates  Alfredson’s musical leadership and his total mastery of the Hammond organ. This hard-hitting sextet session features the inspired front line playing of Diego Rivera on tenor sax, Alex Sipiagin on trumpet and Michael Dease on trombone, along with the cool comping of Will Bernard on guitar, and the steady metrics of EJ Strickland on drums.

Also this week, bassist and composer Gabriel Espinosa, recently retired as head of the jazz program at Central College in Pella, is joined by special guest Kim Nazarian of New York Voices for “Bossas and Boleros”;

saxophonist Dave McMurray delves into another batch of songs from the Grateful Dead songbook for his latest, “Grateful Deadication 2”;

 and the highly esteemed saxophonist T.K. Blue creates a remarkable album of melodic romantic music on “The Tide of Love,” featuring vibraphonist Stefon Harris and pianist James Weidman.

Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify 
Drummer Joe Farnsworth sets out on a bold new path in answer to the question, “In What Direction Are You Headed?” The new disc marks a turning point in his career, as he’s assembled a new quintet featuring not his renowned forebears but esteemed talents from his own generation and a younger, rising class. While Joe has honed his skills through decades of work with some of jazz’s greatest elders—iconic names like McCoy Tyner, Pharoah Sanders, Horace Silver, Benny Golson, Cedar Walton, Curtis Fuller, Johnny Griffin and others—in recent years, he’s seen many of his mentors pass away. His new stellar all-star quintet includes guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, pianist Julius Rodriguez, and bassist Robert Hurst.

Bass player Dewayne Pate is so busy working as a sideman that it’s taken him 14 years and a pandemic lockdown to find the time to record his second album as a leader. He’s a master of many styles and has performed around the world with many top acts, like Arturo Sandoval, Huey Lewis, Robben Ford, Boz Scaggs, Maria Muldaur and Tower of Power, to name a few. “On the Upside” comprises funk, blues and fusion jazz tunes performed with a variety of instrumentation, and features an all-star band that includes Ford, Barry Finnerty, Ray Obiedo, Dennis Chambers, Norbert Stachel, Marc Russo and Michael Spiro.

Also this week, the 6^th album in the Smalls Living Masters series finds tenor titan George Coleman “Live at Smalls Jazz Club,” in the company of pianist Spike Wilner, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Joe Farnsworth;

“Conversations With Birds,” the sixth recording by saxophonist Michael O’Neill, brings his expressive, lyrical playing to a beautiful range of original compositions;

 and guitarist/composer Dan Wilson gathers hope and inspiration from ancestral wisdom, dedicated to the enduring quality of the human spirit, throughout a curated selection of 12 songs on “Things Eternal.”