Hey, Jazz fans!!!

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

With “Songs Were Made to Sing,” vocalist Mary Stallings has crafted an exquisite collection of classic songs that reflect a life well and passionately lived. Although she didn’t write any of the lyrics on the disc, each one represents a chapter in her life. The soulful chanteuse worked closely with pianist David Hazeltine, who tailored the disc’s vibrant arrangements to Stalling’s singular voice and to the stellar band that was assembled for the date, which brings together such greats as trumpeter Eddied Henderson, saxophonist Vincent Herring and drummer Joe Farnsworth. “It’s amazing how you can feel things in your heart and in your mind but not find the words to say them,” Ms. Stallings says. “So I pick tunes that seem to apply to me personally, and a story grows out of that.”

Trumpeter, bandleader, composer and arranger Rich Willey is firmly rooted in the jazz tradition. His horn playing draws upon the wellspring of bebop with a contemporary freshness. His compositions and arrangements are thoughtful and substantial. And he’s one of only a select few jazz trumpeters to add the bass trumpet to his musical palette. Over the years, he’s worked with Maynard Ferguson’s Big Bop Nouveau, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Hank Mobley, Tommy Flanagan and Chris Potter among other greats. For his fourth disc as a leader, “Down & Dirty,” Rich has collaborated with Michael Abene, Gordon Goodwin, Wally Minko and Chris Walden in arranging his compositions for the 18-piece Boptism Big Band.

Also this week, George Cables, who has been pianist of choice for Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Art Pepper and other jazz giants over the years, is joined by trio mates Essiet Essiet on bass and Victor Lewis on drums for “I’m All Smiles”;

the Anat Cohen Tentet follows up its 2017 debut with the stirring “Triple Helix”;

   and organist Akiko Tsuruga, guitarist Graham Dechter and drummer Jeff Hamilton, who appeared at the Iowa City Jazz Festival several years ago, unveil “Equal Time.”