Bob Stewart Hollis Monroe Ron Adkins Bob DeForest Saul Lubaroff

Bob Stewart: Monday-Friday 6 a.m. – 10 a.m.

1) Dave McMurray   – Grateful Deadication (Blue Note)

It’s not every day one hears the rock band the Grateful Dead used as source material for a jazz artist. But that’s exactly what saxophonist Dave McMurray did on this groovy disc. He had worked with the Dead’s Bob Weir on a side project and was taken by the band’s odd measures, complex chords and great melodies. They became a wonderful vehicle for McMurray’s jazz expression.

2) Ethan Iverson – Bud Powell in the 21^st Century (Sunnyside)

3) Kurt Elling Monk’estra – SuperBlue (Edition)

4) Julian Lage  – Squint (Blue Note)

5) Helen Sung  – Quartet+  (Sunnyside)

6) Band of Other Brothers – Look Up! (Ear Up)

7) Charles Lloyd & the Marvels  – Tone Poem (Blue Note)

8) Damani Phillips  – No More Apologies (OpenMInd)

9) Veronica Swift – This Bitter Earth (Mack Avenue)

10) The Dave Weckl Band  Live in St. Louis (Autumn Hill)

Hollis Monroe: Monday-Friday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

1) 3D Jazz Trio – Christmas in 3D (Diva Jazz)

2) Basie Orchestra – Live at Birdland (Candid)

3) Alan Broadbent – Trio in Motion (Savant)

4) Chick Corea – Plays (Concord)

5) Cunliffe/Patitucci/Colaita – Trio (Le Coq)

6) Eliane Elias – Mirror Mirror (Candid)

7) Jeff Hamilon – Merry & Bright (Capri)

8) Houston Person – Live in Paris (High Note)

9)Damani Phillips No More Apologies (Damani Phillips)

10) Diego Urcola – El Duelo (Sunnyside)

Ron Adkins: Monday-Friday 2-6 p.m. 

1) Erroll Garner – Symphony Hall Concert.

It thrills me to no end when another treasure trove of lost recordings is uncovered. Just when we’ve closed the catalog, some forgotten album from Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Sheila Jordan, or John Coltrane is unearthed. Languishing in a vault somewhere, or on some collector’s shelf, this new addition to the canon can either be a diamond or coal. But whether musicologists deem it “good” or “bad,” every new discovery offers a snapshot of the artist at a certain creative period, or with a certain band, or it was a live show where someone had the presence of mind to roll tape. Erroll Garner’s January, 1959 gig at Boston’s Symphony Hall is one of those shows. Someone, thank goodness, had the sense to record it. This album finds the Garner trio (Eddie Calhoun on bass and drummer Kelly Martin) playing as a solid unit. Garner on piano sounds like he was ready to make an impact. He could have merely run through such standards as “But Not For Me” and “Misty” and the audience would have been delighted. But there’s a sense of innovation to every piece he played that night. One not only hears exceptional playing, but also tastes of the gospel, blues, and stride that Garner held so dear. One can’t listen and not take the hint that Garner is reminding his audience that jazz is rooted firmly in Black America. The Symphony Hall Concert is a remarkable listen back to a trio at the height of its powers. Jazz lovers, and Erroll Garner’s discography, are much richer for its rediscovery.

2) Yellowjackets & WDR Big Band – Jackets XL

3) Chick Corea Akoustic Band – Live  

4) Alexa Tarantino – Firefly  

5) Damani Phillips – No More Apologies 

6) Jennifer Wharton’s Bonegasm – Not a Novelty 

7) Behn Gillece – Still Doing Our Thing 

8) Lorraine Feather – My Own Particular Life  

9) Bob Mintzer & WDR Big Band – Soundscapes  

10) Jeff Lorber Fusion – Space-Time

Saul Lubaroff: Saturday 8 a.m. – Noon, Sunday 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.

1) Anibal Rojas – Cachai.

Anibal is a long time friend and college buddy. I have played with him many times and was able to interview him last year. The album is brilliant.

2) Damani Philips – No More Apologies 

3) Pat Metheny – Side -Eye NYC V1.VI 

4) Jiyhe Lee Orchestra – Daring Mind 

5) Jennifer Wharton’s Bonegasm – Not a Novelty

6) Bob Mintzer & the WDR Big Band – Soundscapes 

7) Eliane Elias – Mirror Mirror 

8) Joey DeFrancesco – More Music

9) Michael Dease – Give It All You Got 

10) Ulysses Owens, Jr Big Band –  Soul Conversation

Gerry Gibbs’ Thrasher Dream Trios “Songs From My Father” was the Number-1 album in KCCK’s Top 88 jazz releases of 2021.  Rahsaan Barber’s “Mosaic”  was Number-88.  Following is the list of everything else in between.

   Click here for printable list.

1.  Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trios “Songs From My Father” (Whaling City Sound)
2. Veronica Swift “This Bitter Earth” (Mack Avenue)
3. Helen Sung “Quartet+”   (Sunnyside)
4. Roy Hargrove & Mulgrew Miller “In Harmony” (Resonance)
5. Till Bronner & Bob James “On Vacation”  (Sony Masterworks)
6. Matthew Whitaker “Connections”  (Resilience)
7. Diana Krall “This Dream of You” (Verve)
8. Ethan Iverson “Bud Powell in the 21^st Century”  (Sunnyside)
9. Jennifer Wharton’s Bonegasm “Not a Novelty”  (Sunnyside
10. Marc Cary “Life Lessons” (Sessionheads)
11. Leo Sidran “The Art of Conversation” (Bonsai)
12. David Larsen “The Mulligan Chronicles” (David Larsen)
13. Quincy Davis “Q Vision” (Qore)
14. Dave McMurray “Grateful Deadication” (Blue Note)
15. Dave Stryker “Baker’s Circle” (Strikezone)
16. Nnenna Freeelon “Time Traveler” (Origin)
17. George Kahn “Dream Catcher” (Playing Records)
18. Julian Lage “Squint” (Blue Note)
19. Anibal Rojas “Cachai” (Anibal Rojas)
20. Dave Zinno Unisphere “Fetish” (Whaling City Sound)
21. Alexa Tarantino “Firefly” (Posi-Tone)
22. Behn Gillece “Still Doing Our Thing” (Posi-Tone)
23. Melody Gardot “Sunset in the Blue” (Decca)
24. Bob Mintzer & the WDR Big Band “Soundscapes” (MCG Jazz)
25. Charles Lloyd & the Marvels “Tone Poem” (Blue Note)
26. Victor Gould “In Our Time” (Blue Room)’
27. Band of Other Brothers “Look Up!” (Ear Up)
28. Julian Gerstin “Music for the Exploration of Elusive Phenomena” (Zabap)
29. Art Hirahara “Open Sky” (Posi-Tone)
30. Rebeca Kilgore Trio “Volume 1” (Heavywood)
31. Antonio Adolfo “Jobim Forever” (AAM)
32. Tom Kubis Big Band “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” (Ray Kat)
33. George Cables “Too Close for Comfort” (High Note)
34. Professor Cunningham & His Old School “The Lockdown Blues” (Arbors)
35. Mark Masters Ensemble “Masters & Baron Meet Blanton & Webster” (Capri)
36. Greg Murphy “Cool Water” (Whaling City Sound)
37. Samara Joy “Samara Joy” (Whirlwind)
38. Ulysses Owens, Jr. Big Band “Soul Conversation” (Outside In)
39. Renee Rosnes “Kinds of Love” (Smoke Sessions)
40. Mike LeDonne “It’s All Your Fault” (Savant)
41. Diego Rivera “Indigenous” (Posi-Tone)
42. Dave Weckl Band “Live in St. Louis” (Autumn Hill)
43. Terence Blanchard “Absence” (Blue Note)
44. Norah Jones “…’Til We Meet Again” (Blue Note)
45. Lisa Hilton “More Than Another Day” (Ruby Slippers)
46. Vincent Herring “Preaching to the Choir” (Smoke Sessions)
47. Keith Brown Trio “African Ripples” (Space Time)
48. Eric Lilley “Follow Up” (Twin Goat)
49. Ray Obiedo “Latin Jazz Project Vol. 2” (Rhythmus)
50. Ojoyo “Ojoyo Plays Safrojazz” (Sunnyside)
51. Patricia Barber “Clique” (Impex)
52. Michael Dease “Give It All You Got” (Posi-Tone)
53. Code Quartet “Genealogy” (Justin Time)
54. Santi Debriano “Flash of the Spirit” (Truth Revolution)
55. Joey De Francesco “More Music” (Mack Avenue)
56. Steven Feifke Big Band “Kinetic” (Outside In)
57. Harold Land “Westward Bound” (Reel to Real)
58. Stacey Kent “Songs from Other Places” (Candid)
59. Chad Lefkowitz-Brown & the Global Big Band “Open World” (LaReserve)
60. Smithsonian Masterworks Orchestra “Bernstein Reimagined” (MCG Jazz)
61. Out to Dinner “Play On” (Posi-Tone)
62. Jacques Schwarz-Bart “Sone Ka-La 2: Odyssey” (Enja)
63. Lunar Octet “Convergence” (Summit)
64. John Stein “Serendipity” (Whaling City Sound)
65. Mark Winkler and David Benoit “Old Friends” (Café Pacific)
66. New Faces “New Sounds” (Posi-Tone)
67. David Sills Double Guitar Quintet “Natural Lines” (Gut String)
68. Throttle Elevator Music “Final Floor” (Wide Hive)
69. Larry Carlton & Paul Brown “Soul Searchin’” (Shanachie)
70. Emmet Cohen “Future Stride” (Mack Avenue)
71. Eliane Elias “Mirror Mirror” (Candid)
72. Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Septet “The Democracy Suite” (Blue Engine)
73. Arturo O’Farrill Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble “…dreaming in lions…” (Blue Note)
74. Eric Reed “For Such a Time as This” (Smoke Sessions)
75. Leon Lee Dorsey “Freedom Jazz Dance” (Jazz Avenue 1)
76. Judy Wexler “Back to the Garden” (Jewel City Jazz)
77. Kyle Asche Organ Trio “Five Down Blues” (Cellar)
78. Willie Jones III “Fallen Heroes” (WJ3)
79. Jihye Lee Orchestra “Daring Mind” (Motema)
80. Pat Metheny “Side-Eye NYC V1.VI (Modern)
81. Troy Roberts and Tim Jago “Best Buddies” (Toy Robot)
82. Anais Reno “Lovesome Thing” (Harbinger)
83. Jae Sinnett “Altered Egos” (Jae Sinnett)
84. Damani Phillips “No More Apologies” (Openmind)
85. Leni Stern “Dance” (Leni Stern)
86. Roseanna Vitro “Sing a Song of Bird” (Skyline)
87. Baylor Project “Generations” (Be a Light)
88. Rahsaan Barber “Mosaic” (Jazz Music City)