Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify. 

 “He wasn’t just one of the guys. For me, he was beyond that,” says Miguel Zenon about Ismael Rivera, the subject of his latest project, “Sonero.” “He exemplified the highest level of artistry. He was like Bird, Mozart, Einstein, Ali—he was that guy.” Zenon and his quartet offer a tribute to a musician who influenced him from childhood. Familiarly known as Maelo, Rivera is a popular hero in Puerto Rico today, even more than thirty years after his death. Tutored in the repertoire of bomba and plena by the patriarch Don Rafael Cepeda, the two men stand at the head of a movement that turned those rhythms into contemporary dance-band music. “…people talk about him as you would a legendary figure,” Zenon adds, “…I want everyone to know him.”

Houston Person may be one of the few still-active players in the long history of blues-drenched ‘boss tenors’ that stretches back to Gene Ammons, Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis, Arnett Cobb and others.  Person has long exhibited a keen ear for simpatico musicians. Ranging from his classic partnership with Etta Jones to his series of superb duo encounters with bass master Ron Carter, the man chooses his company skillfully. For his new CD, “I’m Just a Lucky So and So,” he negotiates his tenor in the company of first class players including trumpeter Eddie Allen, guitarist Rodney Jones, and drummer Kenny Washington, among others.

 Also this week, tenor man Scott Hamilton follows up his Swedish ballads project by crossing over the Scandinavian waters to Denmark, thrusting himself into songs taken from the Danish pop culture and beyond for “Danish Ballads & More”.

saxophonist Roxy Coss offers up invigorating new takes on her originals for “Quintet”;

     and alto saxophonist and flutist Markus Howell, a product of the Michigan State University jazz program, is joined by trumpet Joe Magnarelli and trombonist Michael Dease has he unleashes a big sound on his strong debut, “Get Right!”