Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify  
Fifteen years after the release of his first album as a leader, keyboardist, composer and arranger Martin Bejerano still insists his is not a great Latin piano player. “I’m not someone who is satisfied with doing just one kind of music,” he readily admits, pointing to the broad stylistic diversity represented by the ten tracks that make up the program on his new album “#CubanAmerican,” his fourth release as a leader. Significantly, he is joined by the same two rhythm section partners who have been with him since the inception of his trio in 2007. Havana-born drummer Ludwig Afonso has performed with an eclectic group of artists, from Spyro Gyra to guitarist Richard Bona, while Edward Perez is a first call bassist in New York City who has worked with Paquito D’Rivera and Lee Konitz, among other notables.

     Alan Broadbent is one of New Zealand’s favorite musical sons and perhaps the most well-known and multi-talented of them all. Many are familiar with his arranging and conducting for Sir Paul McCartney, Diana Krall, Pat Metheny and Michael Buble. Others may know Broadbent has received 8 Grammy nominations, winning 2 for Best Orchestral Arrangement Accompanying a Vocal, one for Natalie Cole and one for Shirley Horn. On “Like Minds,” he takes a seat on the piano bench for his third recording with his trio featuring the great bassist Harvie S and the colorful drumming of Billy Mintz.

 Also this week, Pittsburgh-born organist Bill Heid, who worked often early in his career with greats like Sonny Stitt and David “Fathead” Newman, unveils a new set of originals on “Dealin’ Wid It”;

celebrated American tenor sax icon Scott Hamilton is joined by a Swedish rhythm section on “Classics”;

     and Europe’s new jazz big band star, Danish Katherine Windfeld, devotes her compositions to maritime themes on “Orca.”

    Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
Carol Sloane is not a household name, but it should be. Legions of ardent jazz fans are more than acquainted with her smooth yet agile vocal stylings and the ease with which she delivers the most challenging standards. Jazz greats such as Oscar Peterson, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and Carmen McRae were contemporaries she not only shared a stage with, but friends with whom she shared her life. Now in her eighties, Carol returned to the legendary Birdland Jazz Club in Manhattan for a triumphant final recording. She is backed up on “Live at Birdland” by pianist Mike Renzi, bassist Jay Leonhart and saxophonist Scott Hamilton.

     For the past fifteen years, former Yellowjackets bassist Jimmy Haslip has had a fruitful working relationship with prolific German composer MSM Schmidt. Now collaborating on their sixth album, the chemistry reaches new heights with “ARCeology: The Music of MSM Schmidt.” The dynamic project finds Haslip and members of his ARC Trio (keyboardist Scott Kinsey and Hungarian drummer Gergo Borlai) joining forces with the Grammy Award-winning John Daversa Big Band on greatly expanded versions of Schmidt material, along with one of Kinsey’s compositions. The result is a powerhouse collection of swaggering big band fusion, along the lines of the legendary Jaco Pastorius Big Band.

Also this week, singer-songwriter-pianist Ben Sidran dips into the 1930’s standards songbook on a new instrumental disc, “Swing State,” with his longtime bassist Billy Peterson and son Leo on drums;

 Australian-born, long-time New York based saxophonist and composer Troy Roberts  unveils the fourth release with his Nu-Jive band, “Nations United”;

    and singer CeCe Gable keeps company with Harvie S, Matt Wilson, Alan Broadbent and Roni Ben-Hur on “Next Year’s Song.”