Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
The Tokyo born, New York based Miho Hazama has made quite a name for herself as an arranger, composer and conductor. She has composed pieces for the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and Siena Wind Ochestra and has arranged for artists and ensembles as diverse as the Danish Radio Big Band and Ryuichi Sakamoto. In 2011, she was invited, as one of eight arrangers from around the world, to take part in the famed Metropole Orkest’s residency program, led by the legendary Vince Mendoza. There were master classes and rehearsals all week for arrangements the residents would write, in four days, to be performed by the Big Band. The trial by fire made Hazama crave another chance to arrange for the Orkest. She got that chance last year when her project to arrange original pieces and orchestrate solo pieces by Thelonious Monk, in his centennial year, was selected for the orchestra. The results can be heard on the new recording, “The Monk: Live at Bimhuis.”

     Watching Joni Mitchell morph from acoustic chanteuse to sophisticated interpreter of jazz, accompanied by geniuses like Pastorius, Shorter, Metheny and Brecker truly floored Debra Mann. The pianist and vocalist seized on the idea of taking Mitchell’s material further into jazz and began trying it out at clubs. It captivated her audiences in the same way it did Mann herself. Now, “Full Circle” reflects on a lifetime of admiration for an artist who has been uncompromising in her approach to music and in writing, and this on the occasion of Mitchell turning 75 years old this year. The disc reimagines some of Mitchell’s most popular tunes, holding onto the timeless melodies while overlaying them with an irrepressible swing feel.

Also this week, the twenty-five year collaboration between saxophonist Houston Person and bassist Ron Carter continues with their sixth release as a duo, “Remember Love”.

 Vibraphonist Mike Freeman pays tribute to Tito Puente and Bobby Hutcherson on his new disc, “Venetian Blinds”.

Vocalists Mark Winkler and Cheryl Bentyne team up for the second time on record with “Eastern Standard Time.”