Long before he became a world renowned jazz virtuoso, guitarist Pat Martino was a sideman in small combos that prominently featured the Hammond B-3 organ. He’s never lost his affection for that particular group dynamic, nor his quiet flair for moving back and forth between the roles of supporting player and compelling soloist. On his new CD — “Undeniable” — recorded live at Blues Alley in Washington D.C. with an all-star band, Martino sounds perfectly content enhancing the rhythm section’s soulful thrust while, at the same time, his post-bop, minor mode improvising is sleek and precise, and his use of sliding octaves colorfully underscore his stylistic ties to guitar great Wes Montgomery. Eric Alexander shines on tenor sax with Jeff “Tain” Watts propelling the band with his usual drive and Tony Monaco keeping the B-3 pedals to the metal.

Speaking of the B-3, Joey DeFrancesco remains the most comprehensive of jazz organ talent with the full spectrum of orchestral sounds and registrations at his finger tips and unparalleled musical sensibilities. Year after year, Joey D brings new life to jazz organ, a genre he almost single-handedly re-defined and brought into the new millennium. He has won the Down Beat Magazine Critics and Readers Polls as the top jazz organist every year since 2003. DeFrancesco’s new release — “40” — finds him celebrating a milestone in his life and career as he turns 40-years-old. His original compositions and cover tunes here run the gamut from jaw-dropping virtuosity to funky R&B and tender ballads.

“The sound of the West Coast Jazz that enjoyed great popularity in the 1950s…has been kept alive by several groups through the years. One of the preferred formats was the mid-sized group or small big band that was typified by Shorty Rogers and his Giants, the Marty Paich Dek-tette and the Dave Pell Octet. One keeper of the flame for this style of jazz is the Phil Norman Tentet. Their sixth album — “Encore” — is chock full of terrific music performed by some of the elite of the Los Angeles jazz scene (Carl Saunders, Scott Whitfield, Larry Koonse, Christian Jacob). The songs are first rate, the arrangements are sublime, and the blowing will knock your socks off.” – Jersey Jazz-

At the ripe old age of 30, Israeli native Yotam is being quickly recognized as a leading new voice of jazz guitar. Since being selected as a semi-finalist in the 2005 Thelonius Monk International Jazz Guitar Competition, he’s performed with jazz greats Benny Golson, James Moody, Curtis Fuller, Jimmy Heath and Frank Wess, to name just a few. On his new CD — “Brasil” — Yotam is joined by three of Brazil’s brightest stars, legendary guitarist Toninho Horta, pianist David Feldman, and percussionist Vanderlei Pereira, interpreting some of that country’s greatest composers, including Tom Jobim, Edu Lobo, and Chico Buarque. Yotam is also joined by special guests Roy Hargrove, Paquito D’Rivera and Cladio Roditi.

Since their explosive touring days as the Jean-Michel Pilc Trio, Pilc, Francois Moutin and Ari Hoenig have grown considerably in stature both as leaders and sidemen. Pilc moved to New York City in 1994, continuing his steady rise as a major pianist on the European and Canadian circuits while also gaining a reputation in the U.S. as one of the most exciting and unpredictable pianist/composers in jazz. Bassist Moutin has since applied his lush tone, astonishing virtuosity and intelligent musicality in a host of settings, most notably as co-leader of the Moutin Reunion Quartet, a group which has successfully toured Europe and the United States to much acclaim in recent years. The skilled and iconoclastic drummer Hoenig, self-defined as a ‘punk-jazz artist’, has made several discs as a leader in the ensuing years, and is often in the press for his intense musical antics. “Threedom” is their first new recording together since 2003.

“Listening to the exquisite playing and arranging of the Afro Bop Alliance is always an experience. The mix they’ve achieved is so balanced you never feel the music is too Latin to be jazz, or too jazzy to be Latin.” So says Paquito D’Rivera about the 2008 Latin Grammy Award winners for Latin Jazz Album of the Year. The all-star fueled Afro Bop Alliance returns for another powerful recording of dynamic new compositions. “Una Mas” features special guests Dave Samuels on vibes and percussionist Roberto Quintero.

One of jazz’s most acclaimed, distinctive improvisers, virtuoso saxophonist James Carter, returns to a favored format and simpatico colleagues with “At the Crossroads” — his third release showcasing his long-standing Organ Trio. Enjoying consistently inspired play with fellow Motor City stars organist Gerard Gibbs and drummer Leonard King, Jr., Carter gets down in his inimitable way on a program boasting rollicking swingers, moving ballads, a gospel standard, and plenty of blues-drenched items. Special guests, also from Detroit, include vocalist Miche Braden, trumpeter Kenyon Harrold, trombonist Vincent Chandler and guitarist Brandon Ross.

Minneapolis-based pianist and composer Mary Louis Knutson has been called “one of the most exciting and innovative artists to happen to jazz in quite some time.” Her warm, inviting tone, broad range of emotional expression, and distinctive compositions have brought her much recognition on the national music scene, performing with jazz greats like Dizzy Gillespie, Ernie Watts and Peter Erskine. Knutson’s new CD — “In the Bubble” — showcases her tasteful playing and arranging as well her gift for composition. Twin Cities rhythm icons, bassist Gordon Johnson and drummer Phil Hey, are among Knutson’s bandmates for this release.

The songs sung by 2011 Grammy-nominee Freddy Cole speak of love and life in a voice that is as comforting as it is familiar. His is a well-seasoned sound which, while bearing a strong familial resemblance to his late brother Nat King Cole, is unmistakably all his own. It’s steeped in the earthiness of the blues, yet possesses a silky sound as suave as the debonair man himself. On “Talk to Me” Freddy explores an interesting program of music by the R&B great Bill Withers, a sprinkling of standards and one tune composed by his son. Trumpeter Terell Stafford and saxophonist Harry Allen are special guests of Freddy and his quartet.

A release that its creator Stanley Jordan cites as his most realized project to date finds him in challenging company: fellow guitarists Charlie Hunter, Russell Malone, Bucky Pizzarelli and Mike Stern; saxmen Kenny Garrett and Ronnie Laws; N’awlins trumpeter Nicholas Payton and the renowned violinist Regina Carter. Christian McBride guests on bass when not handled by Stanley’s long-time trio bassist Charnett Moffett. Truly, it’s a collection of “Friends” whose benefits push Jordan into a heightened musical reality.

It was about this time of year in 1994 that we lost Bill Bell. The KCCK personality was stricken during a meeting at the station and died a short time later at Mercy Medical Center at the age of 61. Bill had come to KCCK in 1984 and became known for his unique personality and short commentaries that he delivered during his jazz show. Before coming to Iowa, he had worked at top radio stations in San Francisco and Los Angeles and ran a recording studio in LA.

Click here for a full obituary.

Following his death, we ran a feature about Bill on our Local Color program. You can listen to that feature at www.kcck.org.

In a career that spans five decades, more than 30 recordings as a leader and 10 Grammy Awards, NEA Jazz Master George Benson has used his jazz roots as the foundation for an engaging mix of pop, R&B and other shades that add up to a style that appeals to a broad mainstream audience. Along the way, he has also established himself as a formidable jazz singer. But his new CD — “Guitar Man” — highlights Benson’s unparalleled guitar playing, perhaps more than any other disc he’s released in decades. The 12-song collection includes a mix of jazz and pop standards-some in a combo setting and some solo-and features veteran players Joe Sample on keyboards and Harvey Mason on drums.

Keyboardist Mike LeDonne has held court at the historic Smoke Jazz Club in New York City for probably more years than he cares to admit. But his new CD — “Keep the Faith” — finds him and his Hammond B-3 in the controlled atmosphere of the recording studio with his regular band mates Peter Bernstein on guitar and Joe Farnsworth on drums featuring Eric Alexander on tenor sax. LeDonne and company romp, stomp and burn through an imaginative set of pieces by Charles Earland, Michael Jackson and Horace Silver, along with a handful of originals which display LeDonne’s considerable skills as a composer.

For more than three decades as both a leader and a sideman, conguero Pancho Sanchez has stirred up a fiery stew of jazz, gritty soul music, and infectious melodies and rhythms from a variety of Latin American and South American sources. Among the more prominent figures that inform his music are two of the primary architects of Latin jazz-conga drummer and composer Chano Pozo and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. Sanchez pays tribute to these two titans on “Chano y Dizzy!” — his 25th recording as a leader. Joining Sanchez is multi-Grammy winning trumpeter Terence Blanchard, a New Orleans native who literally grew up amid the Cuban and Latin jazz scene and a longtime fan of the music’s multicultural underpinnings.

The phrase “living legend” has been applied many times over many years. Few figures in American music today are more deserving of this appellation than drummer and bandleader Roy Haynes. Often cited among the greatest jazz drummers of all time, the 86-year-old’s history of collaborations spans six decades and include those with Bud Powell, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane and Miles Davis. For his new CD — “Roy-alty” — Haynes is at the helm of his exciting Fountain of Youth band plus very special guests Chick Corea and Roy Hargrove.