Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
Hailing from Indianapolis, David Childs has worked as a professional pianist in the Northeastern United States for over 30 years. He has shared the stage with jazz greats like Jimmy Heath, James Moody, Bill Watrous and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra. “Playing music well is not child’s play; however, with the right people in the right setting, it can feel easy, instinctive, and unrestrained,” say Childs of his new release, “Childs Play.” Along with world-renowned bassist Brian Torff and New York Ciy-based drummer Greg Burrows, Childs features a set of songs that highlights his intrigue with “the inherent dualities and contrasts in this music we call jazz.”

     Ulas Hazar, known professionally as Hazar, is a superb guitarist who deserves to be discovered in North America. A virtuoso who is classically trained, he is also a brilliant jazz improviser and a swinging soloist. Hazar, who grew up in Germany, spent years dealing with the saz, a three-stringed long-necked lute, microtonal music, and polyrhythms, inspired by Paco de Lucia. Following the advice of John McLaughlin, he then took up the acoustic guitar. On his new CD, “Reincarnated,” Hazar and his quartet are teamed with guest guitarist Al Di Meola on a set of material that ranges from Brazilian music to Gypsy Swing to hard-swinging bebop.

Also this week, Russian-born Los Angeles-based bassist and bandleader Igor Kogan offers up nine original compositions written for his quintet on “In a Big City”;

saxophonist Derek Brown’s third studio album, “All Figured Out,” features his original music as performed by the Holland, Michigan, Concert Jazz Orchestra;

 and Vancouver-based flutist Tom Keenlyside unveils a new quartet recording, “Fortune Teller.”

     Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
 With “Cachai,” New York-based Chilean saxophonist Anibal Rojas presents his own sound: self-professed ‘immigrant music’ which fuses the rhythmic drive of Latin with the soul of R&B and the creative freedom of contemporary jazz. In the 20-plus years since Anibal emigrated to the U.S. from his native Chile, he’s built a reputation as an in-demand East Coast sax player. His all-around musical force is on display whether on tour with Blood, Sweat & Tears, on television with Kelly Clarkson, or in the studio with Ralph Irizarry & Timbalaye. Eastern Iowans may remember Ani’s work in Mean Street and the Hell Horns while he was getting his Music Performance degree at the University of Iowa.

     Order of Canda recipient Dr. Dave Young is one of Canada’s most celebrated and valued bassists, composers, arrangers, and educators. Originally from Winnipeg, Young has made his name known on both Canadian and international stages in both jazz and classical music for the last five decades. Known for his elegant tone, impeccable time, and immense knowledge of musical history, Young has been a first call bassist for the likes of Oscar Peterson, Cedar Walton, Renee Rosnes, Oliver Jones, Lenny Breau and Guido Basso. His new quartet album, “Ides of March,” was recorded in early 2020 and named after one of his compositions, a title which turned out to be prophetic in light of the Covid 19 pandemic.

Also this week, “This Dream of You” is Diana Krall’s previously unreleased sessions from 2016 and 2017, which were her final recordings with her late longtime producer Tommy LiPuma;

The Nimmons Tribute’s “Volume 1—To the Nth” honors the legacy of living legend Phil Nimmons, often referred to as the “Dean of Canadian jazz”;

      and “Straight Round” is the ninth album from Four80East, the Toronto-based electro-jazz duo of Rob DeBoer and Tony Grace.