Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
  
The Los Angeles-based trio of guitarist Mike Clinco, Hammond organist John Van Tongeren and drummer Kendall Kay formed in 2013 as Trinom3 and began honing their unique approach to the organ trio sound. With a shared vision for improvisational music, and a list of collective credits that includes everybody from  Tony Williams to Jeff Beck, Ella Fitzgerald to Rod Stewart, their sound is groove-oriented, and informed by Van Tongeren and Clinco’s experience in jazz, rock, R&B, and film scoring music. In 2015, the group released its debut album. They expand their musical palette on their new CD, “Just a Bit Further,” recorded at the Blue Room in L.A., with the addition of special guests Bob Sheppard on tenor sax and Walt Fowler on trumpet.

     Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7 put themselves firmly on the jazz map after their debut album of 2016 was a hit with jazz aficionados all over the world, a disc recorded live during their weekly gig at the Green Lady Lounge in Kansas City. Their sophomore record, “The Basement Beat,” is not only a nod to Hazelton’s Sunflower Soul studio, which is located in the basement of a dentist’s office, but also the group’s monthly residency at the Eighth Street Tap Room in Lawrence, Kansas, also located in a basement. This authentic slice of soul-jazz includes four Hazelton originals, a blazing cover of a tune by legendary guitarist Melvin Sparks, and a proper tribute to the late soul queen Sharon Jones.

 Also this week, keyboardist Ben Paterson gathered his trio and a busload of people into the hallowed grounds of Rudy Van Gelder’s Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, studio for the concert recording “Live at Van Gelder’s”.

Singer Cyrille Aimee was in concert at Le Poisson Rouge in New York for her new “Live” CD.

Veteran vocalist Marty Elkins offers up her fourth release as a leader, “Fat Daddy.”

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

Greg Fishman is a dynamic tenor saxophonist who has been on the Chicago jazz scene for the past twenty-five years. His bright and appealing tone and his steady stream of creative ideas have made him a major force in both the Chicago and international jazz world. He has performed everywhere from the North Sea and Monterey Jazz Festivals to concerts and clubs in Southeast Asia. His collaborations with pianist and singer Judy Roberts, guitarist and singer Paulinho Garcia, and as the leader of his own quartets, display his talents as a multi-faceted improviser. Greg is also well known for his work in jazz education as a teacher and as a publisher of more than twenty highly acclaimed books focusing on jazz saxophone, music theory and improvisation. On his new CD, “So You Say,” he teams up with famed L.A. saxophonist Doug Webb and an all-star rhythm section with keyboardist Mitchel Forman, bassist Kevin Axt and drummer Dan Schnelle.

     Stephen Holden, in a New York Times concert review, praised Karrin Allyson as “one of the most grounded singers working today,” with an “exceptionally keen eye for the smart, semi-obscure pop or jazz number that speaks directly to the moments.” In his Wall Street Journal preview, writer Will Friedwald buzzed, “she sings with amazing subtlety.” And in his lead Jazztimes Magazine CD review, critic Christopher Loudon said Allyson’s songs “shimmer with tender vibrancy.” Now, on a brand new album, “Some of That Sunshine,” Karrin steps forward commandingly in a new role—as songwriter, revealing thirteen new songs in an astonishing range of styles and moods. Special guests include saxophonist Houston Person, violinist Regina Carter and bassist Lee Sklar.

Also this week, the Verve Jazz Ensemble expands from a quintet to a septet for their fifth disc, “Connect the Dots”.                                                                       
            

After paying tribute to her musical heroes on her 2016 debut, baritone saxophonist Adison Evans’ own compositions take center stage on her sophomore release, “Meridian,” inspired by the Tuscan countryside.

Drummer Jay Lawrence is joined by bassist John Patitucci, pianist Renee Rosnes, and saxophonist Harry Allen on the all-star session, “Sonic Paragon.”