Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
“Formidable” is the title of Pat Martino’s first studio recording as a bandleader in eleven years and it is an excellent metaphor for the guitarist’s fearless and virtuosic playing. Martino grew up in Philadelphia, a musical melting pot where many jazz greats began their journey, so perhaps it’s of little surprise that he emerged as one of the most exciting guitar players in the 1960s, having already developed a mature style by the age of 20. Today, he still plays with the same fiery enthusiasm, having lost none of his talent for furious, daring improvisations, or hard swinging grooves. Marino’s core trio featuring keyboardist Pat Bianchi and drummer Carmen Intorre, Jr., is augmented by saxophonist Adam Neiwood and trumpeter Alex Norris for the new recording.
Trombonist/composer/arranger Alan Ferber is doing major infrastructure work in the field of music. The Grammy Award nominee has led an acclaimed big band for six years, writes and arranges for numerous international ensembles, performs and records with a who’s who of big band luminaries, and provides scores and seminars to many student and amateur ensembles, spreading the word of large ensembles to welcoming ears. For his new recording, “Jigsaw,” Ferber revisits and re-arranges material that has lived with, either performing with his ensembles or with those led by others, generating arrangements that evolved on the bandstand, informed by the response of bandmates and audiences. The band features, among others, saxophonists John Ellis and Chris Cheek, trombonist John Fedchock, trumpeters Scott Wendholt, Clay Jenkins and Tony Kadleck and guitarist Anthony Wilson.
Also this week, vocalist Cheryl Bentyne reimagines the songs of iconic Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim with “ReArrangements of Shadows”.
Japanese pianist/composer Hiromi and Colombian harpist Edmar Castaneda forge a uniquely thrilling new sound on their debut duo album “Live in Montreal”.
Danny Grissett, the go-to pianist for the likes of Tom Harrell, Jeremy Pelt and Wayne Escoffery, mixes jazz standards and his originals on “Remembrance.”
Jazz Profiles with host Nancy Wilson 
Thursday at 11:00 PM
As part of Craig’s tribute to the recently departed record producer and label owner, JOE FIELDS, we survey another jazz record label founded and operated by Joe and his son Barney Fields … Savant Records. Craig spins a tasty variety of jazz gems from this classy label founded in 1996. Artists include Kenny Barron, JD Allen, Mike Ledonne, Eric Reed, Reuben Wilson, and many other present-day jazz masters!
Listen to this week’s playlist on 
Capping two extraordinary decades as a recording and performing artist, Kyle Eastwood’s stylistically eclectic new album “In Transit,” reflects the whirlwind reality of the breakneck schedule that he and his longtime ensemble keep as they perform three quarters of the year in Europe, with a yearly jaunt to Asian countries and occasional swings to the U.S. The Los Angeles bred, Paris based bassist and composer estimates that about half the tracks were road tested, with a few rendered fresh in the studio. Kyle’s powerhouse quintet of young English musicians includes longtime members Quentin Collins on flugelhorn and pianist Andrew McCormack.
Also this week, 14-year-old pianist and three-time Grammy nominee Joey Alexander honors the centennial of Thelonious Monk’s birthday with “Joey.Monk.Live!”, recorded in June at Lincoln Center.
Award-winning composer, arranger and trombonist Rick Davies began recording his last CD a few weeks before he passed away in December of 2015, his arrangement living on with “Thugtet”. 