Vocalist Catherine Russell is a native New Yorker born to musical royalty. Her father, the late Luis Russell, was a pioneering pianist/composer/bandleader and Louis Armstrong’s long-time side-kick. Her mother, Carline Ray, is a bassist, guitarist and vocalist who performed with Mary Lou Williams, among others. After graduating with honors from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Catherine embarked on a rich journey backing artists like Steely Dan, David Bowie, Paul Simon and Michael Feinstein. On “Strictly Romancin'” — her fourth release as a leader — the singer takes us on a journey; from Harlem dance hall, to Parisian café, to store front church, to New Orleans gin joint, to Uptown cabaret in a musical tour de force.

Seattle bassist Clipper Anderson has been an unassuming yet vital figure on the Northwest jazz scene for almost three decades. He’s lent his talents to countless recordings and live performances, including work with Michael Brecker, Benny Golson, Phil Woods and Buddy DeFranco. With “The Road Home”, Anderson makes his debut as a leader and composer. Supported by longtime collaborators, pianist Darin Clendenin and drummer Mark Ivester, Anderson has crafted a thoughtful collection of original music that reflects his influences and pays homage to his mentors.

“What comes through is Watts’ essential lyricism. There are some players with Ernie Watts’ total command of an instrument who focus more on showing their technical prowess than on creating music. They equate showers of notes with saying something.
But Watts is always saying something-as musicians put it-through the mastery of his horn. Never in the least tentative, his authority comes through from note one.
And he swings like a tidal wave.” So says legendary jazz journalist Nat Hentoff of Watts, who has delivered a brand new disc, “Oasis.” With his European quartet,
Watts creates a synergy of jazz ranging from Dizzy and Bird to Lennon & McCartney and everything in between, including three tunes of his own.

Jamie Ousley is professor of jazz bass at Florida International University in Miami.
He was named Best South Florida Jazz Musician of 2011 by Boca Life magazine, and
his previous CD was named Best Jazz Release in South Florida by the Palm Beach Post. He tours internationally with his own trio, as well as having performed with jazz royalty such as George Shearing, Benny Golson and James Moody. He decided to record his new CD — “A Sea of Voices” — featuring water-inspired compositions, as a not-for-profit to benefit the environment. “I found the Sunshine State Interfaith Power and Light organization, whose mission is to mobilize faith communities in Florida to care for creation,” Ousley explains. “Here, I could combine the worlds of diverse faiths and jazz to benefit a common cause: care of our planet.”

The contributions of pianist, composer, arranger and bandleader Bill Evans to the language and appreciation of jazz continue to have profound influence on musicians. Pianist Chick Corea leads Evans Trio alumni Eddie Gomez and the late Paul Motian on “Further Explorations”, a live set recorded at the Blue Note in New York in 2010. For bassist Gomez and drummer Motian, the connection to Evans was personal and emotionally deep, involving performing and recording with Evans during his most fertile and creative periods. Corea’s connection is that of a student, adapting many of Evans’ harmonic concepts and pianistic techniques and a mutual understanding of the piano trio as a singular jazz ensemble. Much of the performance features music written or associated with Evans, with each musician also contributing original material. Incidentally, 2011 marked the 50th anniversary of the release of Evans’ original Explorations album.

Legendary trumpeter, educator, and NEA Jazz Master Jimmy Owens leads a stellar septet on his new disc “The Monk Project”, a program of his own uniquely original arrangements of Thelonius Monk compositions. Owens, who has been heard on countless big band and small group recordings as a virtuoso sideman, has recorded only sporadically as a leader, making this date a special one. Longtime colleague and fellow NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron, well known for playing Monk’s music with the group Sphere, heads the rhythm section. The all-star ensemble also features drummer extraordinaire Winard Harper, front-line members Wycliffe Gordon on trombone, tenor saxophonist Marcus Strickland and the amazing multi-instrumentalist Howard Johnson on tuba and baritone sax.

The bond between old friends gives life meaning. When the friends are improvising musicians sharing the stage, their common language cements a mutual trust that can ignite the bandstand. Music has been the glue binding the friendship of bassist Omer Avital, pianist Aaron Goldberg and drummer Ali Jackson for nearly 20 years. Though they have performed in many combinations and under the aegis of different leaders for many years, the trio’s new CD — “Yes!” — is their first collaborative effort in the studio. The meeting of an Israeli of Yemeni/Moroccan descent, a Detroit-based Black American with Islamic roots and a Jewish Bostonian stands as a tremendous example of the call of jazz music transcending race, religion and politics.

An integral and influential behind-the-scenes player as a producer, composer, arranger, label entrepreneur, and educator in his native Rio de Janeiro, Antonio Adolfo has in recent years been devoting more time to recording his own music. While his first two CDs tapped into Brazilian and American standards by the likes of Cole Porter and Antonio Carlos Jobim, Adolfo’s new CD — “Chora Baiao” — focuses on the Brazilian styles choro and baiao, specifically in the works of the brilliant, innovative Brazilian composers Guinga and Chico Barque. “My passion’s for their harmonies and melodies that aren’t just sophisticated, but quite unusual in Brazilian music,” Adolfo says. “…with their harmonies you can’t use clichés. You must go into some really different directions.”

With hundreds of performances worldwide, a shelf full of music awards, and praise from jazz legends like Phil Woods, Lee Konitz and Dave Brubeck, 18-year-old Grace Kelly has firmly established herself as a star on the rise in the jazz world. Her new release “Grace” marks a new direction for the accomplished saxophonist into the genre of gospel jazz.

The journey to make a spiritually driven disc began with a performance at a convention of 2,000 ministers from all over the world in 2010. It turned out to be such a great and uplifting experience for Kelly that she contacted gospel pianist and luminary George Russell, Jr., to be her main collaborator on a new record.

While mostly duets between Kelly and Russell, it also features cameos from celebrated percussionist Jamey Haddad and classical guitarist Peter Clemente.

Over the years, Chick Corea has been a pioneer in two-piano performance, partnering with Herbie Hancock, Gonzalo Rubalcaba and others in acclaimed concerts and recordings. “Orvieto” is the first release by the exciting duo of Corea and Stefano Bollani, a live set drawn from New Year performances at the Umbria Jazz Winter Festival. Chick and Stefano have been giving such concerts, mostly in the context of Italian festivals, for more than two years now. Bollani points out he has been listening to Corea’s music since he was 11-years-old, taking what he could “from his style, his phrasing and his incredible rhythm.” Corea, from his side, has been monitoring Bollani’s playing for a few years, and has mentioned Stefano as a pianist who inspired him.

During a prolific career that spans more than four decades, tenor saxophonist Michael Pedicin has toured with such jazz greats as Maynard Ferguson, Dave Brubeck, Stanley Clarke and Pat Martino. He’s recorded ten albums under his own name since 1980 and considers his tenth one — “Ballads…Searching for Peace” — to be his crowning achievement. The disc was inspired, in part, by Pedicin’s main musical hero, John Coltrane. “From the time Trane did that “Ballads” album, I’ve always wanted to do a ballads album when I felt ready to do it.”

The name Cinque will be unfamiliar, but its membership includes some genuine musical legends. Joey DeFrancesco is considered by many to be the greatest exponent of B3 organ playing in jazz, while Steve Gadd has long been the first call drummer for Chick Corea, Al DiMeola, David Sanborn and others. Bassist Peter Cardinali’s lengthy resume includes the likes of Oscar Peterson, the Brecker Brothers and Toots Thielmans. Cinque was Cardinali’s brainchild. Also the head of Alma Records, he explains “I really wanted to start a jazz-funk band, and only with the top players. It was just a matter of assembling this musical dream team and giving them free rein.” The bulk of the compositions on “Catch a Corner” were written collectively in the studio and recorded on the spot.

David Budway is one of the most versatile pianists on the New York music scene today and an award-winning composer. After a fifteen-year teaching career at Duquesne University in his hometown of Pittsburgh, he moved to New York to pursue his dream playing with some of the greats of jazz. Since then, he’s been the pianist for groups led by jazz luminaries such as Stanley Turrentine, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie and Joe Pass. On his new CD — “A New Kiss” — Budway is joined by a top-notch rhythm section consisting of bassist Eric Revis and drummer Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts. Special guests include saxophonists Branford Marsalis and Marcus Strickland and guitarist Ron Affif.

As a title, “So Nice” might imply a sleepy and quite possibly uninspired session calculated to avoid challenges. That notion is quickly dispelled by the sprightly and imaginative solo Houston Person takes on “Blues Everywhere” that kicks off this collection. Person, of course, is a master of understated elegance, a balladeer of the highest order. But he’s equally capable of playing tough, soulful tenor with virile vigor. True to form, Person shows both his sides and delivers a program that alternates between creamy-smooth ballads and bluesier offerings with significant bite. With the amazing Warren Vache on cornet and Mark Patterson on trombone, the little big band sound here is stellar.

Since his return to ECM Records in 2003, Enrico Rava, grand master of Italian jazz, has made a number of recordings exceptional by any standards, with groups both national and international. “Tribe” belongs to the former category. The trumpeter is playing at a peak of lyrical invention, and his newest quintet is his strongest yet. Voted Rising Star Trombonist in the Downbeat Critics Poll of a few years back, Gianluca Petrella has a front-line relationship with Rava which recalls Enrico’s affinity with Roswell Rudd back in the heyday of the New Thing. Rava has always encouraged younger musicians, and pianist Giovanni Guidi and bassist Gabriele Evangelista are young players of much promise. Drummer Fabrizio Sferra’s resume includes work with Chet Baker, Paul Bley and Kenny Wheeler.