Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
 Last year, organist Brian Charette had the idea for a new recording that would be more traditional then his other albums, which often placed the organ in a more unconventional role with electronics and wind ensembles. He wrote some swinging bebop tunes with a classic approach that would give a nod to all his biggest influences: Jack McDuff, Melvin Rhyne, Don Patterson, Larry Young and Jimmy Smith. The resulting disc, “Jackpot,” features Cory Weeds on saxophone and an NYC powerhouse rhythm section of Bill Stewart on drums and Ed Cherry on guitar.

       Albare started playing music at the age of 8 when his mother bought a classic acoustic guitar for his birthday. Living in Israel at the time, he became one of the first students of the freshly opened conservatory in Dimona. His love of the instrument only became obvious as his parents moved to France when he turned 10. His discovery of Django Reinhardt, Jimi Hendrix, Wes Montgomery and, later, Antonio Carlos Jobim, set Albare into a lifetime of study, composing and playing the instrument. The songs presented on his new album, “Freedom,” are all original compositions or his collaboration with pianist Phil Turcio, which has been ongoing for over thirty years.

Also this week, Melissa Stylianou, accomplished vocalist and one-third of the powerhouse vocal trio Duchess, explores well-loved standards on an intimate trio disc, “Dream Dancing”;

  “John Scofield” is the first solo recording of the guitarist’s 50-year career;

     and trumpeter Tom Harrell’s “Oak Tree” features one of his most symbiotic ensembles, including pianist Luis Perdomo, bassist Ugonna Okegwo and drummer Adam Cruz.