Tenor saxophonist Matt Garcia makes a compelling SteepleChase debut with Three's Up, revealing a mature voice shaped by deep study, hard work, and a fast rising presence on the New York scene. A Texas native now at Juilliard, Garcia brings a blend of tradition with modern clarity that reflects his years in NYO Jazz (Carnegie Hall's National Youth Orchestra), his award winning early career, and formative mentorship from artists such as Dave Pietro and Christian McBride. Joined by bassist Martin Wind and drummer Billy Drummond, he leads a vibrant trio through standards, bebop classics, and five originals that highlight his melodic focus and rhythmic drive. Pieces like 'White Silence' and 'Dance's Dance' showcase a young composer with a clear artistic identity. Three's Up introduces a tenor saxophonist whose expressive depth mark him as a significant new voice to watch.

Baritone saxophonists Gary Smulyan and Frank Basile reunite their powerhouse quintet for You Are The One, a vibrant follow up to Boss Baritones (SCCD 31963) that again showcases the rare chemistry between two masters of the instrument. Drawing on a mix of classic repertoire - Thad Jones, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie - and newly minted originals by both leaders, the album highlights the duo's deep command of bebop language, contrapuntal writing, and the propulsive blend only two baritones can create. Smulyan's witty muscular swing pair beautifully with Basile's lyrical clarity, while pianist Steve Ash, bassist Mike Karn, and drummer Aaron Seeber provide a responsive, hard driving foundation. You Are The One is a spirited, straight-ahead session that celebrates tradition with unmistakable joy. 'Boss Baritones is a fine example of how jazz praxes originating in the mid-to-late 20th century can-in the right hands-sound fresh and invigorating in the present day.' (David A. Orthmann - All About Jazz on SCCD 31963)

Drummer composer Steve Johns returns to SteepleChase with Extrasensory, his most fully realized statement since his acclaimed 2024 release Mythology (SCCD 31971). Reuniting the same core ensemble - guitarist John Hart, vibraphonist/harmonica player Monte Croft, pianist Greg Murphy, and bassist Joris Teepe - Johns builds on the band's deepening chemistry, now sharpened by the fiery presence of saxophonist Troy Roberts on select tracks. The program highlights Johns' dual gifts: modern, structurally inventive writing and dynamic, deeply musical drumming shaped by decades on the New York scene. Contrafacts, reharmonized standards, soulful vocals, and vibrant originals form a wide stylistic arc, from angular modern swing to luminous ballads and earthy shuffles. Throughout, Johns shapes textures and grooves with masterful clarity, guiding a group whose intuitive interplay truly earns the album's title. Extrasensory affirms Johns as a drummer leader of imagination and unmistakable voice. 'Mythology' is an album full of imagination, stories and some fantastic playing by this amazing lineup of world-class musicians.' (A Green Review on SCCD 31971)

Only a few, famous jazz bassists have ever gone beyond the limitations of their instruments and sought new opportunities on the cello. The cellist Valentin Radutiu turns the tables to show how well the cello suits jazz - at times taking the role of the traditional string bass, at others a resonant tenor guitar while at others giving it's voice wings. The repertoire on Remembering The Rain: A Jazz View, comes mainly from the "Great American Songbook", supplementing that glorious heritage with standards by John Lewis (MJQ) and Bill Evans, both of whom had their own anchors in classical music as well.

Horace Parlan’s Glad I Found You is his second quintet date for SteepleChase which captures a rare meeting of inspired musicians at a peak moment, recorded in Copenhagen with Thad Jones — making a vibrant late career comeback — and the always inventive Eddie Harris. Parlan leads the quintet full of warmth, swing and spontaneous interplay. The album blends Parlan’s own tunes, soulful obscurities, and modern jazz classics like “Afternoon in Paris,” all delivered with the rhythmic looseness and deep blues feeling that defined his style. This new 24bit/96kHz remaster brings fresh clarity to one of Parlan’s most spirited SteepleChase sessions, revealing the nuance and energy of a group of masters enjoying every moment together. “...it’s another fine addition to Parlan’s discography.” (Jazz Journal)

John McNeil (March 23, 1948 – September 27, 2024) launched his professional career with debut LP "Embarkation” SCS 1099) on SteepleChase in 1978 a few hours before he turned 30. Age 30 was his goal to release his first and he remarked “I just made it!” John McNeil’s There Is No Greater Love (SCCD 34007) unveils a previously unheard 1983 Odense, Denmark session, capturing the trumpeter at a creative peak during his extensive Scandinavian tour. Joined by Danish masters Jesper Lundgaard (bass) and Aage Tanggaard (drums), McNeil delivers a warm, incisive set blending standards, bebop classics, and his own “Out”. His bright, agile phrasing — long praised for its roots in Miles, Hubbard, and the Parker lineage—meets a deeply swinging Nordic rhythm team. This newly discovered trio date highlights McNeil’s lyrical clarity, spontaneous invention, and enduring place in the modern jazz tradition.

Multiquarium Big band feat. Biréli Lagrène: "Remembering Jaco" is a tribute to Jaco Pastorius's music, made by André Charlier (drums) and Benoit Sourisse (piano) from the Multiquarium Big band, one of the best French Big Bands. Jaco Pastorius is a big star in the Jazz-Rock scene (and beyond), an icon for the bass players all around the world, the one who brought to electric bass the possibility of becoming in some case a soloist instrument in a band. Jaco Pastorius made very famous solo albums and wrote amazing big band music. He played with Pat Metheny, Joni Mitchell but was also a very important member of the famous Jazz-rock band, Weather Report with Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul, Peter Erskine (who participates to this album with some spoken words!)... The virtuoso gypsy guitar player, Biréli Lagrène, has been invited to play electric fretless bass on the album. Biréli, who, as a young genius of the guitar, began to play in Montreux when he was 14, he is now 50 and played one year and a half with Jaco Pastorius on stage when he was 19 years old. Biréli is an amazing bass player, he perfectly integrated how Jaco's Music was working and pushed it beyond it's borders.

The Guesthouse is about collaboration, inclusion, and the essence of welcoming which is the essence of an open door. It's my most ambitious project to date, sonically and compositionally. It involves so many incredibly talented people: some are in the front, playing music together with me, offering their insight, time, effort, and love, and some incredibly talented and hardworking people are behind the scenes, facilitating, allowing, and inspiring me to keep pushing forward. Musically speaking, the color palette on The Guesthouse is huge. It introduces many musical guests that I admire deeply: MARO, Immanuel Wilkins, Michael Mayo, and many more. It includes lyric writing for the first time, electronic instruments, guitars, trumpets, flutes, flamenco musicians, in-depth production work, my quartet, solo piano, odd meter explorations, improvisations, songs with no time, strings, two pianos conversing and more and more and more.. I dove as deep as I could into these deep waters. The result is my attempt to turn the creative chaos that lives in mind mind into one coherent artistic statement, always having a simple melody as a thread that tells the story of this collective. Shai Maestro Shai Maestro (b. 1987) is one of the most inventive and influential pianists of his generation. Since debuting with his own trio in 2011, he has developed a distinctive musical voice that is fluid, expressive, and profoundly lyrical. His artistry has made him a defining figure in contemporary jazz, merging improvisation, composition, and global influences into a sound that is both cinematic and deeply personal. Maestro began studying classical piano at the age of five and discovered jazz at eight through the recordings of Keith Jarrett and Oscar Peterson. At nineteen, he joined bassist Avishai Cohen's trio, co-writing the acclaimed Gently Disturbed and performing worldwide. In 2011, he formed his own trio, recording six albums that solidified his reputation as a singular voice in modern jazz. His years with ECM Records, under the guidance of Manfred Eicher, placed him among the lineage of pianists such as Keith Jarrett, Paul Bley, and Chick Corea. With drummer Ofri Nehemya and bassist Jorge Roeder, he recorded his first ECM album "The Dream Thief", later joined by trumpeter Philip Dizack for the second - "Human", both expanding the expressive language of the modern jazz quartet. Today, Maestro continues to evolve artistically with a new quartet featuring keyboardist Gadi Lehavi, drummer Ofri Nehemya, and bassist Jorge Roeder. Gadi, the new wild card in the group, brings a distinctive energy and vision; his presence as another pianist opens fresh possibilities for dialogue, texture, and experimentation between two keyboards. This lineup functions as a powerful, cohesive engine driving Maestro's musical exploration, blending jazz improvisation with modern production into a sound that is organic, cinematic, and forward-looking. In 2025, Maestro signed a long-term partnership with the Paris-based label naive records, a defining milestone that opened an expansive new chapter in his artistic life. The collaboration with naive marked a moment of renewal and bold creative ambition, setting the stage for a period of profound exploration. The first fruit of this partnership was his solo piano album, Solo: Miniatures & Tales. Introspective and deeply personal, it revealed the most intimate side of Maestro's artistry; a work of quiet reflection, nuance, and restraint. This album stands in deliberate contrast to the broader, outward-looking vision of his forthcoming project, The Guesthouse, highlighting the duality at the heart of Maestro's creative world: the tension between introspection and expansion. In March 2026, Maestro will release The Guesthouse, a record that features Portuguese singer MARO alongside Immanuel Wilkins, and Michael Mayo. The album represents a bold leap forward, combining the sensitivity of modern jazz with electronic sound design and the harmonic depth of classical music. The Guesthouse creates a lush, cinematic space where boundaries dissolve, embodying Maestro's exploration of openness and collaboration.

After two years of solo touring, Yaron Herman presents his new album Radio Paradise. He returns with an exceptional ensemble, joining forces with two of the finest saxophonists in the world: Maria Grand, a rising international star, and Alexandra Grimal, a major figure in improvised music. This album takes us on a quest for lyricism, depth and sincerity, with elegant melodies and powerful rhythms, in a project that is both spiritual and deeply moving. "When I started working on this album, the first thing that came to my mind was melody. I have been writing a lot over the last few years, mostly in my notebooks, for myself. On the road or at home, anything from long lines to short fragments. With time, (and hard work) these "motifs" started to take shape and turn into "songs". While playing them, exploring what they could become, I realized I was looking for a sound that wasn't "just» the piano. These melodies required another voice. Saxophonists Maria Grand and Alexandra Grimal have different approaches, yet both have a mysterious, powerful and lyrical quality that I was looking for. Those qualities, combined with Haggai Cohen Milo's beautiful tone and rhythmic versatility and the playing and precious ideas throughout the Process of my longtime musical brother, Ziv Ravitz, made these songs truly come to life. In the studio we were fortunate to have the experience and perspective of producer Daniel Yvinec who encouraged us to push the music further, taking risks. I imagined each composition as a different scenario, a landscape offering a fertile ground from which improvisation could grow. Improvisation: a quest for the sweet spot between freedom and constraint. The playfulness of it all. Providing the tools but not the final edifice, providing the canvas but not dictating what to paint on it. That's how Radio Paradise happened. We stumbled upon the title in the studio, while discussing how opposites complete each other, and how our role as artists is to try and reconcile that which seems in opposition. To find the space where music flows effortlessly, and from the heart." YARON HERMAN

Guitarist John Hart returns to the classic guitar-bass-drums trio format for his seventh SteepleChase release. After several adventurous outings, New Mantra marks a melodic homecoming, reuniting Hart with longtime collaborators Bill Moring and Tim Horner. Known for his lyrical phrasing and harmonic depth, Hart emphasizes melody and clarity, crafting originals like “Think” and “Abyss” alongside fresh takes on standards such as “Stella by Starlight” and “Some Other Time.” With over 100 sideman credits and decades of leadership, Hart continues to shape modern jazz guitar — blending tradition, intellect, and soul in every note. “Resonance resonates…and how. Mucho bravos to John Hart and his bandmates for providing jazz guitar fans with a refreshing and inspired offering which exhibits the time-honoured legacy of the instrument.” (UK JazzNews on SCCD 31948 Resonance)

Renowned Russian jazz pianist Ivan Farmakovskiy makes his highly anticipated debut on SteepleChase Records with a stunning new album. Blending his signature hard-bop style with modern jazz sensibilities, Farmakovskiy delivers a masterful performance that bridges tradition and innovation with American rhythm section of Christian McBride and Jack DeJohnette. Ivan won the 1994 bi-annual Russia Jazz Competition, the biggest contest for young Russian performers and he won another prize at the 1997 Europe Jazz Contest in Belgium.

Last year, Tigran Hamasyan composed his greatest work, inspired by a traditional Armenian tale of the same name: The Bird of a Thousand Voices, is rediscovering this story in a transmedia project, consisting of an innovative livestaged play (world premiere at the Holland Festival on June 8, 2024), two ambitious cinematic fiction music videos, a documentary music video and an online game. The original story of the firebird has been orally transmitted over the centuries and cultures. The folk tale requires a multi-layered, transdisciplinary approach to provide an artistic context for this fascinating story. The mystical bird of a thousand voices is a beautiful metaphor of our times: a world in search of connection and harmony, faced with ecological, psychological and spiritual crises. Any form of recognition and new means of transmitting this beautiful music of the ancient traditions of the Caucasus is therefore important and sets the tone for world curiosity and diversity. "The Bird Of A Thousand Voices" is part of this context. Tigran is one of the most remarkable jazz pianists and composers of his generation. He combines improvisation with the rich traditional music of his native Armenia. Ten years ago, Tigran and award-winning filmmaker Ruben Van Leer met during a collaboration at the Cite de la Musique in Paris, creating "Shadow Theater", a visual musical experience (see ARTE broadcast). They went on to create several music videos together (see Cave of Rebirth & Fides Tua). Armenian culture, geopolitically situated between globalized powers such as Russia, Turkey and Azerbaijan, has been under pressure for centuries. Most recently, in September 2023, Azerbaijan took over Armenian territory. Right after, almost the entire population was expelled from the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh as part of an "ethnic cleansing", in the words of the European Parliament. Azerbaijan is now expressly ordering the burning of ancient historical manuscripts in Armenian monasteries. Deluxe vinyl 2LP box set with 3 superb illustrated booklets (80 pages in total).

The magic of art needs a frame, a somewhat solid container to hold the freedom that can only be found once we integrate some form of structure. And that also holds in every other area of life. We all need a frame, a structure, a rhythm, or else, we fall apart. This human form needs the body, and yet it transcends the limitations of the body - through art.

Originally released in 1979 and reissued on CD in 1996 with bonus material, G1128 stands as a vibrant snapshot of two masterful trumpeters—John McNeil and Tom Harrell—at a pivotal moment in modern jazz. Now, for the first time, this landmark session returns in stunning 24bit/96kHz remastered fidelity on heavyweight 180g vinyl, preserving the warmth and swing of the original analog tapes. Backed by a stellar rhythm section featuring Kenny Barron (piano), Buster Williams (bass), and Billy Hart (drums), McNeil and Harrell engage in a spirited, lyrical dialogue that’s as respectful of tradition as it is forward-looking. Their interplay is marked by mutual admiration rather than rivalry—Harrell’s bright, unflappable tone contrasts beautifully with McNeil’s introspective, saxophone-inspired phrasing. For audiophiles, collectors, and jazz devotees alike, this is not just a reissue—it’s a rediscovery. “...it’s never a duel of trumpets here but it’s the duet of trumpets... When the two trumpeters share technique and inspiration, one cannot but enjoy the inevitable result...” (Alain Tercinet, JAZZ HOT).