Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify     
The incredible journey of Alex Acuna has seen the renowned percussionist travel from his small rural hometown in Peru to being a first-call session drummer in the country’s capital of Lima, then touring the U.S. with mambo king Perez Prado, gigging in Las Vegas with Elvis Presley and ultimately touring internationally with Weather Report, the premiere fusion band of the mid-1970s. An in-demand Los Angles session musician for decades, he has appeared on nearly 900 studio records and movie soundtracks while also releasing half a dozen albums under his own names. Acuna’s latest as a leader, the dynamic “Gifts,” reunites him with his musical cohorts from The Unknowns along with Peruvian tenor sax powerhouse Lorenzo Ferrero.

     “Fade to Black,” the 16^th album from multi-talented and multi-faceted Grammy-nominated vocalist Carmen Lundy, is a stunning and provocative song cycle created during the turbulent and often isolating times of the Covid-19 pandemic. Featuring 11 tracks all written by Carmen, the disc explores such themes as the rethinking of our personal values, loss, a woman’s right to vote and choice, the invasive culture of modern technology, and police brutality. A stellar group of musicians  accompany Ms. Lundy including bassist Kenny Davis, trumpeter Giveton Gelin, drummer Terreon Gully, bassist (and brother) Curtis Lundy and saxophonist Camille Thurman.

Also this week, pianist Jon Cowherd and his trio mates John Patitucci and Brian Blade are joined by guests Chris Potter and percussionist Alex Acuna on “Pride and Joy”;

pianist Art Hirahara unearths the heavenly landscapes of “Verdant Valley” on his eighth album as a leader;

 and Jean and Marcus Baylor’s Baylor Project are in concert in New York City on “The Evening: Live at Apparatus.”