Hey, Jazz fans!!!

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

Justly famous for his gorgeous compositions and arrangements for a long list of singers including Natalie Cole, Diana Krall and Paul McCartney, Alan Broadbent is also a pianist’s pianist: possessed of fierce technique; exquisitely emotional, when the moment calls for it; and as hard-swinging as they come. Throughout the performances on his new CD “New York Notes,” there is a remarkable polish and sense of order while maintaining the unmistakable sound of the classic piano trios, live and off-the-cuff. With his long-time associates Harvie S and Billy Mintz on hand it is little surprise that their almost telepathic communication gives the session an extremely wide emotional range.

     Once you have listened to acclaimed vocalist, composer and arranger Alicia Olatuja, you won’t soon forget her.  Praised in the New York Times as “a singer with a strong and luscious tone,” Olatuja combines the earthy with the sublime, bringing a grounded relatability to genres as lofty as classical, as venerated as jazz, and as gritty as R&B. For her new project, “Intuition: Songs from the Minds of Women,” Olatuja celebrates the musical contributions of women composers by reinterpreting their songs through her own lens of classic, jazzy soul. She features songs by Sade, Angela Bofill, Brenda Russell, Tracy Chapman, Kate Bush, and others.

Also this week, celebrated Canadian vocalist Holly Cole explores the classic American songbook on her 17^th recording as a leader, “Holly”;

guitarist Dave Stryker offers up another batch of his favorite melodies from the ‘70s on “Eight Track III,” featuring Stefon Harris  and Jared Gold;

       and composer and arranger Peter Drew presents a second batch of his big band charts with “And What’s More.”

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

 The Guardian has called Joshua Redman “one of the 21^st century’s finest jazz improvisers,” and the New York Times says, “Mr. Redman’s place is secure as one of the most effusive and engaging tenor saxophonists in straight-ahead jazz.” The new release for the Joshua Redman Quartet, “Come What May,” is the first recording in almost two decades for this group of musicians: the recently Grammy-nominated saxophonist and his longtime friends and colleagues pianist Aaron Goldberg, bassist Reuben Rogers, and drummer Gregory Hutchinson. “We’ve played so much over the years and have been together on the road so much,” Redman remarks, “there’s just that sort of camaraderie and friendship and genuine love for and understanding of each other that, for me, is the ideal situation for making music…it allows you to be totally relaxed and free.”

     George Benson was a Pittsburgh-raised child prodigy who paid his dues touring with organist Jack McDuff before recording his debut album in 1964. In his own words, he describes his career: ”…from blues cat to blues-jazz cat…from blues-jazz cat to jazz cat…from jazz cat to soul-jazz cat…and from soul-jazz cat to R&B-jazz cat.” The guitarist-singer gets back to Americana basics on “Walking to New Orleans,” his tribute to both Crescent City legend Fats Domino and the original guitar hero and poet Chuck Berry. The disc toggles between tracks written and/or recorded by Berry and Domino as though Benson were moderating a musical conversation between Missouri and Louisiana.

 Also this week, trombonist and composer Peter Lin has special guest saxophonist JD Allen on his latest effort, “New Age Old Way”;

Reedman Jerry Bergonzi takes as inspiration for his new CD “The Seven Rays” concept, which represents personalities and energy levels that have been part of many different types of philosophies and religions over the past 1500 years;

      And trumpeter Josh Lawrence offers up his third release as a leader, “Triptych.”