Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
The Birdland Big Band is a dynamic sixteen-piece jazz orchestra rooted in the classic tradition of Count Basie and Thad Jones, yet boldly pushing the sound of the big band into modern territory. Under the direction of alto saxophonist and educator David DeJesus, the ensemble holds court every Friday evening at the world-famous Birdland Jazz Club in the heart of midtown Manhattan. In recent years, the group has turned its creative focus toward cultivating a new book of original music, featuring arrangements by band members and collaborators. With “Storybook—the Music of Mark Miller,” the band offers its most focused vision yet: a full-length album dedicated to the voice of a single composer and arranger—their longtime lead trombonist Mark Miller.

Trombonist, composer and bandleader Nick Finzer is proud to announce the release of his first full-length big band album, “The Jazz Orchestra Volume 1.” Featuring an all-star lineup of New York’s finest rising star jazz musicians, the album pays tribute to the rich history of the jazz orchestra while offering a fresh, contemporary voice in the large ensemble tradition. The recording is a product of the post-pandemic era, captured in a fast-paced single day setting in 2022 that captured the raw energy and spontaneity of the music.

Also this week, pianist and composer Michael Wolff looked to beat-making and looping software to help him write new music, which he then arranged for his talented and dedicated trio, featuring bassist Ben Allison and drummer Allan Mednard, on the new disc, “Sunny Day”; pianist Brad Mehldau features his take on the music of the late American singer and songwriter Elliott Smith on “Ride Into the Sun”; and pianist and composer Paul Cornish, a product of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz and a member of Joshua Redman’s newest quartet, makes his recording debut with “You’re Exaggerating.”