Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
Celebrating a half-century of life and a quarter century of trailblazing music, Venezuelan-born turned San Francisco Bay Area-based pianist, composer, educator and bandleader Edward Simon releases a two-disc career retrospective, “25 Years.” Brimming with arrestingly beautiful music drawn from 13 albums spanning 1995-2018, the disc features a brilliant cadre of Simon’s closest collaborators including tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, altoist David Binney, bassists Scott Colley, John Patitucci and Ben Street and drummers Brian Blade and Adam Cruz.

     Leon Lee Dorsey’s new release, “Thank You, Mr. Mabern!” is a posthumous release featuring and in honor of jazz luminary Harold Mabern. The album echoes the sentiments of jazz fans everywhere in appreciation for Mabern’s prolific 60 years. The Memphis-born pianist was characterized musically by an authentic soul-infused jazz and deep blues swing. This, coupled with a profound command of the Great American Songbook, amassed the admiration of generations of musicians, including bassist-producer Leon Lee Dorsey.

 Also this week, guitarist and composer Henry Robinett and his quartet release “Jazz Standards, Volume 2: Then Again,” a previously unreleased set from 2000;

clarinetist Joe Traina releases his fifth recording as a leader, “Tip of the Hat,” which pays tribute to Artie Shaw, Bennie Goodman, Duke Ellington and Chet Baker;

    and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Septet with Wynton Marsalis unveils “The Democracy Suite.”

      Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
After last year’s successful big band outing, guitarist Dave Stryker is back with his hard-driving, deep-grooving B3 organ group on his new recording, “Baker’s Circle.” With the addition of cutting-edge tenor player Walter Smith III, the disc features Stryker originals, a couple of covers and a tip of the hat to his former boss Stanley Turrentine. The title of the disc is a reference to David Baker. Says Stryker, “Composer and educator David Baker was in my corner from the time I met him at jazz camp when I was 17 till he hired me to take over as guitar professor at Indiana University a few years ago. I used to see him standing outside the Music School on a circular drive waiting for his wife to pick him up. I named the song (and CD) in his memory.”

     “Cartoon Bebop,” the newest release by composer/arranger Dan Bonsanti’s band, the 14 Jazz Orchestra, is a swinging contemporary take on jazz compositions by modern masters. Bonsanti is a sax player who performed with big bands like The Stan Kenton Orchestra, Jaco Pastorius’ Word of Mouth Orchestra, and Doc Severinsen. He also wrote charts for The Jaco Pastorius Big Band and the Atlantean Driftwood Band. The compositions on the album represent a variety of styles, with compositions by Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Airto Moreira and others, including two tunes by Bonasanti.

Also this week, trombonist and composer Clifton Anderson returns with his fourth solo album, “Been Down This Road Before”;

 saxophonist Tivon Pennicot, a member of singer Gregory Porter’s band, is a triple threat on his sophomore release “Spirit Garden,” showcasing his illuminated orchestrations, creative compositions and masterful performance;

    and “The VJE: Very Live!” features the Verve Jazz Ensemble in a live set recorded just before the pandemic shut down performances everywhere.