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

Pianist Manuel Valera’s new trio CD, “The Planets,” draws upon and interprets the wisdom of the late Russian composer Nicolas Slonimsky whose “Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns,” originally published in 1947, became a seminal opus for musicians, composers, and educators. The likes of Arnold Schoenberg, Freddie Hubbard and John Coltrane cogitated Slonimsky’s analysis of pandiatonic progressions, double notes, and palindromic canons. Valera assumes the mantle of understanding and translating this iconic work for a new generation. Almost every piece is named for a celestial body, a planet or star in our galaxy, with Valera characterizing each with an impressionistic rendering.

For their second recording, the Electric Squeezebox Orchestra went into the legendary Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California, for a marathon two-day session, capturing the band’s eclectic spirit through nine original compositions along with an arrangement of McCoy Tyner’s “Senor Carlos.” Led by trumpeter Erik Jekabson, the band has held down a Sunday night gig for three years at Doc’s Lab in San Francisco’s vibrant North Beach neighborhood. Building a formidable book of originals and creative arrangements, a dynamic group aesthetic, and a loyal fan-base ready for anything, the ESO takes chances and explores options while never veering from their pursuit of heart, soul and groove.

Also this week, “Here’s to Life” is the newest from As Is, featuring guitarist Alan Schulman and vocalist Stacey Shulman, with an eclectic mix of tunes. 

Pianist Emmet Cohen’s “Masters Legacy Series Volume 2” is a collaboration and celebration with the great bassist, composer and arranger Ron Carter. 

Legendary reedman Ken Peplowski features a collection of some of his favorite big band arrangements on “Sunrise.”

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

In the course of its 30-year lifespan, the trio of Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette—the group colloquially known as The Standards Trio—made many outstanding recordings. And “After the Fall,” overflowing with sparkling playing and dynamic interaction, must rank with the very best of them. The performance—in Newark, New Jersey in November of 1998—marked Jarrett’s return to the stage after a two-year hiatus. As the pianist puts it, “For over two years, I suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome and could not play the piano in public. Near the end of this period, I decided to try playing with my trio in my studio. I immediately relapsed at dinner that evening. A little later we tried again, and I felt I had no option other than attempting a concert, preferably near my house in New Jersey. So what you are hearing was basically an experiment for me, and it proved that we could play again.”

The Calle Mambo story and how its debut CD, “See the Light,” became reality reads like a Hollywood movie: a drummer born and raised in Denver, whose career includes success leading house bands in Las Vegas, reconnects with an old music friend who writes a bunch of arrangements, lines up an A-List of Latin jazz musicians and enters a New York City studio to lay down tracks. That’s how drummer Chris Smith realized his dream—inspired by seeing and meeting Pete and Sheila Escovedo—to record a Latin jazz album. He formed Calle Mambo in 2008 and gained notoriety in the Rocky Mountain Region playing festivals and concerts. By 2016 it was time to record a CD. He contacted his friend from his Vegas days, pianist and arranger Mike Eckroth, who brought a couple of originals as well as charts of the music of George Duke and Earth, Wind & Fire. And the rest is history.

Also this week, Corcoran Holt, the regular bassist in the Kenny Garrett Quintet, unveils his debut as a leader, “The Mecca”.

Saxophonist Adrian Cunningham returns as Professor Cunningham and his Old School for “Swing It Out!”

California-based trumpeter Joe Mazzaferro features saxophonist Jeff Clayton on his new CD, “In Terms Of…”