After his successful gospel and mainstream albums, trombone star Wycliffe Gordon presents his new all-star band on "United Soul Experience" playing some groovy, soul-oriented, hard swinging jazz. The band features new star tourist Seamus Blake, David Kikoski on piano, Larry Grenadier on bass and Bill Stewart on drums.

This is trombonist Wycliffe Gordon's fifth outing as a leader on Criss Cross and perhaps his most personal statement. Augmenting a strong roots-to-modern jazz sextet with a gospel choir from Georgia, his home state, Gordon presents a joyful noise, referencing the vocabularies of Armstrong, Ellington and Jelly Roll Morton with an eye keenly honed in on the present day. In the band: Marcus Printup on trumpet, Victor Goines on saxes and clarinet, Eric Reed on piano with bassist Reginald Veal and drummer Alvin Atkinson Jr..

On his sixth session as a leader for Criss Cross Jazz, One for All trumpeter Jim Rotondi pushes the hard bop envelope, broadening the music's horizons with a new quintet that utilizes veteran vibraphonist Steve Nelson in place of the usual piano. Criss Cross. 2006.

For his fourth Criss Cross leader date, alto saxophonist-composer David Binney convenes his primary New York working quartet of the 2000's (pianist Jacob Sacks, bassist Eivind Opsvik, and drummer Dan Weiss), adds to the mix guitar hero Wayne Krantz, with whom he works frequently in an electronica-oriented group, and augments the proceedings with several appearances by British pianist-composer John Escreet, a frequent partner in recent years. The leader plays with deep emotion and the concision of an old master; it's as strong a date as any in Binney's now sizable discography.

Pianist David Kikoski, who's partnered so ably on past Criss Cross albums with horn men like Alex Sipiagin, Seamus Blake, Conrad Herwig and Wycliffe Gordon, is perhaps best known for a series of compelling trio albums he's recorded for the label over the past decade. Now along comes Almost Standards, on which he mixes it up with bassist Eric Revis (Betty Carter, Louis Hayes, Billy Harper and a bunch of Marsalis family members), and much-in-demand drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts (Branford Marsalis), and an invigorating presence on two earlier Kikoski CDs. The new album's a mix of material serving as takeoff points this time out: harmonically intriguing tunes that are already standards or probably ought to be.

With Generations, his eighth Criss Cross outing as a leader, trumpeter Alex Sipiagin honors the legacy of the great Woody Shaw, with five stellar pieces from Shaw's repertoire and balancing the program with four originals. The quartet lineup here Sipiagin, guitarist Adam Rogers, bassist Boris Kozlov, drummer Antonio Sanchez at one time formed the core of the brilliant Michael Brecker Sextet. Together, these four players bring years worth of mutual collaborative experience to the music at hand. Woody Shaw himself appeared just once on Criss Cross, lending his extraordinary horn voice to Introducing Kenny Garrett (CRC 1014) in 1985. Shaw's influence has long been implicit in Sipiagin's playing - not only in the Russian-born trumpeter's work as a leader, but also in his scorching solos with Dave Holland's Big Band and Octet, the Mingus Big Band, the late Michael Brecker's Sextet and Quindectet and many more. With Generations Sipiagin makes his debt to Shaw more explicit, but he approaches these canonical works with his own individuality and imagination foremost in mind, in the determined spirit of Shaw's song title: Beyond All Limits.

When it comes to New York's top-shelf gigs, few pianists get the job done like David Hazeltine. Much sought for his sensitivity as an accompanist, Hazeltine is also an inventive composer and arranger who is able to bring a fresh approach to the mainstream. For his eighth set as a leader for Criss Cross, the pianist brings his talents to the fore with three originals, including a dedicatory for Cedar. Rounding out the set are a few select standards including a new twist on Dizzy Gillespie's Tin Tin Deo. Longtime collaborators Eric Alexander (tenor sax), John Webber (bass), and Joe Farnsworth (drums) mix it up with expert vibist Steve Nelson for a colorful set that puts all of Hazeltine's wares on full display.

For his sixth Criss Cross release, trumpeter Alex Sipiagin focuses more heavily on his own writing than on 2005's Returning. Clearly rooted in the jazz tradition, Sipiagin's compositions continue to evolve his distinctly modernistic approach to harmony, meter and form. Eminently approachable despite their inherent depth and complexity, Sipiagin's five compositions remain as focused and lyrical as his playing. Sipiagin reinvents Thelonious Monk's Epistrophy and Bill Evans' rarely covered Orbit (Unless It's You), both seamlessly fitting within his musical universe while remaining true to their essence. Prints is a definitive statement from an artist whose star continues to rise.

On Wycliffe Gordon's eighth effort as a leader for Criss Cross the multi-talented former Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra trombonist who they call Cone teams up with versatile trumpeter Terell Stafford (aka Staff) in a brassy quintet with a smoking rhythm section that features label regulars, pianist Mike LeDonne and Kenny Washington (back from Gordon's previous date) and the gifted young bassist David Wong, making his first Criss Cross appearance. The players all shine, both individually and as a cohesive unit, on a appealing swing-to-bop program comprised of jazz originals and classics, standards and blues.

Wycliffe Gordon's sixth effort for Criss Cross features the trombonist with the biggest sound around in a program comprised predominantly of original blues. Gordon demonstrates his mastery of that most versatile African American art form, playing slow, fast, sad, reverent and raucous variations, accompanied by his regular working trio of Jazz Messengers alumnus Johnny O'Neal at the piano and the New Orleans rhythm team of bassist Reginald Veal, and drummer Herlin Riley. Joining the quartet, making his Criss Cross debut, is Muskegon Heights and Michigan tenor saxophonist Stacy Dillard, whose deep dark soulful tone perfectly complements the similarly endowed leader.

This is pianist David Kikoski's seventh and perhaps most ambitious recording for Criss Cross. Helping the leader navigate seven harmonically rich originals with melodies that stick are tenor saxophonist Seamus Blake, who performed on two previous Kikoski quartet sessions, and the incomparable bass-drum team of Larry Grenadier and Bill Stewart, each a musician with tonal personalities defined by limitless imagination. All are in peak form.

Since his first appearance on record (Randy Brecker's album, In the Idiom), pianist David Kikoski has demonstrated an infinite capacity to swing, a rare sensitivity as a ballad interpreter and genuine harmonic savvy as a composer. He delivers once again on all counts on Kayemode.

By titling his eighth Criss Cross album Over Here!, trumpeter Jim Rotondi picks up on the sentiments he signified with The Move, his seventh for the label. "It doesn't necessarily mean moving somewhere else, but rather returning home, playing tunes with a lot of straight-ahead swing and interesting chord sequences with guys I'm comfortable with, " Rotondi stated in the liner notes I wrote for that kinetic 2009 recital. The Album was recorded May 10, 2023 at the Artesuono Recording Studio in Udine (Italy). Recording engineer Mike Marciano did the editing, mixing and mastering at Systems Two in NY. Photography by Mauro Cionci

Glamorous Hollywood Gala with Blockbuster Movie Hits. The Danish National Symphony Orchestra rolls out the red carpet for a sparkling Hollywood Gala with a musical fireworks display from Oscar-winning films such as: The Bodyguard · Moulin Rouge · The Umbrellas of Cherbourg · Gladiator · Harriet · A Star Is Born. The successful Blu-ray and CD release now available on vinyl. A riveting and emotional selection of movie hits: from dramas about love and jealousy to the wildest journeys and the world's fastest cars - spiced with murder and gangsters. The evening also features a special section dedicated to music favourites from iconic Oscar-winning movies. The evening's two vocal soloists have taken audiences and the Danish press by storm. Andrea Oehlenschlæger, only 23, made headlines when she broke out as a musical star in Bodyguard - The Musical in autumn of 2021. In this concert Andrea gives her debut in the concert hall with Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You. Dilukshan Jeyaratnam, has received a Reumert Talent Award for his performance in the musical "The Prince of Egypt" and has most recently starred in musicals such as American Idiot, Urinetown, and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

A must-have for all sci-fi fans, this double vinyl includes the best tracks of Galaxymphony I & II, a symphonic space journey. Travel the universe with the best tracks from Apollo 13, Avatar, Blade Runner, Gravity, Interstellar, Star Trek, Star Wars, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and The Mandalorian.

Never released in the US, FUNKIFINO, pronounced funk-if-i-know, is Bernard Allison's ground- breaking album the takes the tradition of black music he grew up with and melting it with the blues from Koko Taylor and Luther Allison to Johnny Winter. A must for any fan of the blues.

There's nothing like the sound of a world-class bluesman getting back to business. Last October, when Bernard Allison returned to his old haunt of Bessie Blue Studios, Tennessee, to be greeted by fabled producer and career-long collaborator Jim Gaines, it felt like coming home. And when Allison fired up the amps, counted in the band and embarked upon his latest studio album, Highs And Lows, everything felt right with the world. "Just to be able to create music again after the pandemic," he says of that long-awaited rebirth, "was incredible." For 56 years, music has been Bernard Allison's essence. As the youngest son of the much-missed Chicago bandleader Luther Allison, he was a bluesman from birth, naturally drawn to this ancient music that seemed to heal deep wounds, and held spellbound by early encounters with heavyweights like Muddy Waters, Albert King and Hound Dog Taylor.

2022 release. There's nothing like the sound of a world-class bluesman getting back to business. Last October, when son of the late blues legend Luther Allison, Bernard Allison, returned to his old haunt of Bessie Blue Studios, Tennessee, to be greeted by fabled producer and career-long collaborator Jim Gaines, it felt like coming home. And when Allison fired up the amps, counted in the band and embarked upon his latest studio album, Highs And Lows, everything felt right with the world. "Just to be able to create music again after the pandemic," he says of that long-awaited rebirth, "was incredible."