Father & son duke it out on B-3 organs on this funky family fued, recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's place, feat. Bootsie Barnes, Houston Person, Melvin Sparks & Byron Landham

Having absorbed a huge variety of sounds and styles and incorporated them into his playing - from harmonically adventurous post-bop to gospel-tinged blues - pianist George Cables mines the mother load of jazz elements on his newest HighNote release, fusing Bud Powell's feeling, Fats Waller's juke joint geniality and Art Tatum's quick wit into his own persuasive utterances. Cables' searching and intense interpretations use the source material as a jumping-off point for his unique and quirky improvisations, and his writing is more profound and more expressive than ever.

At first, there was the Blues and Jazz and then there was Latin music-lots of it-traditional Cuban, Purto Rican, Caribbean, Brazilian and more. Once Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo joined their creative and music forces the percolating & uplifting beats & rhythms of Latin music were infused with significant doses of the expression, fire and heat of jazz improvisation and chord changes... The music world itself was changed. And, it appears to have changed forever.

Larry Willis sits down in the famed Fazioli piano showroom in Italy for this 2012 HighNote solo piano recording which highlights his inexhaustible imagination, the stunning sound of the Fazioli piano and songwriting abilities of the composers represented here. Whether it be Kurt Weill's hauntingly beautiful "My Ship," the pop-tinged "True Love," by Cole Porter or his own compositions, Larry Willis displays the intense creativity and impeccable taste which made him the preferred pianist of greats such as Jackie McLean, Nat Adderley, Carmen McRae, Lee Morgan, Woody Shaw and others.

Tomorrow's Another Day may be trumpeter and composer Jeremy Pelt's most experimental recording to-date, with greater emphasis on the dynamic aspects of sound. This thought-provoking record gets a huge lift from the participation of drummer/technologist Deantoni Parks, who previously has lent his remarkable talents to such visionaries as Meshell Ndegeocello and Andr� 3000. Pelt's newest band features Jalen Baker (vibes), Wintz (gtr), Leighton McKinley Harrell (bs) and Allan Mednard (dms), with Frank LoCrasto (pno) on two tracks. The ensemble seamlessly works together to produce a unique galaxy of sounds which have the ability to evoke gritty scenes that pulse with primal energy or surge transcendently skyward. Through it all, it is the trumpet and creative presence of Pelt which provides a sense of ballast to the myriad sounds and textures, with an intensely personal and mesmerizing weave of arguably some of the most stunningly imaginative and communicative work he has given us so far.

Soul-Jazz artists such as Gene Ammons, Hank Crawford, Jack McDuff, Cannonball Adderley, Ray Bryant and Ray Charles are among the most-liked favorites. This compilation evokes that 'groove' of the great Soul-Jazz artists who were heard regularly on radio stations and jukeboxes all across the US. 'Soul-Jazz' brought together the best of the Blues, Gospel and Soul then added that extra spice of Jazz to create it's irresistible grooves.

As a leader and a sideman, George Cables defines mainstream jazz piano. In addition to composing and arranging for his own albums, George Cables has contributed to recordings by Dexter Gordon, Art Pepper, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, Bobby Hutcherson and many others. George Cables spent a great deal of time in San Francisco and this live performance was recorded at the famed Keystone Korner in 1980.

Kenny Burrell has appeared on so many essential Jazz recordings that Jazz history and his biography seem irretrievably intertwined. Billie Holiday's valedictory rumination Lady Sings the Blues, Jimmy Smith's epochal funk throwdown Back at the Chicken Shack, Tony Bennett's Carnegie Hall debut - Kenny Burrell played guitar for them all. Even Jimi Hendrix once remarked, "Kenny Burrell - that's the sound I'm looking for." Here is Burrell captured live at the West Coast Jazz mecca, Catalina's, in an easy-going program of some of his most-requested tunes along with a few of his personal favorites thrown in. Jazz tunes by Benny Golson, Freddie Hubbard, the Duke and others, standards and even Kenny's classic original 'Chitlins Con Carne' are here, all given the ever-tasteful Burrell treatment.

Steve Turre has won any number of Downbeat Critic's and Reader's Polls and has been a fixture in the SNL TV band for nearly 30 years. He has, almost single-handedly squashed the trumpet-saxophone front line monopoly and has circumnavigated the globe several times. With Steve Davis, Frank Lacy and Robin Eubanks, Steve and company give ample testimony to the fact that the golden age of the trombone is now and put on display the many moods and capabilities of perhaps the noblest instrument in Jazz.

Etta Jones could do it all. You could hear it in every note she sang. You heard it best on up-tempo tunes when she would swing with a joyful abandon and an almost godlike authority. But even when she sang the most tragic and heart wrenching of ballads Jones conveyed a resilient inner core. Those traits are here in abundance on this live concert recording of Etta and her long-time partner Houston Person at the 2000 Tri-C Jazz Festival. Etta's voice remained remarkably consistent throughout her career and she sounds particularly vibrant here on her featured tracks.

Put Pittsburgh guitarist Jimmy Ponder in a recording studio & he acts like a magnet attracting the best names in jazz - Don Braden, John Hicks, Dwayne Dolphin & Cecil Brooks III join him, swinging, dreaming, grooving & making beautiful bossa nova - the session combines the excitement of a club date with the control of the studio & shows why the Pittsburgh Post Gazette hailed Jimmy as "the Segovia of jazz".

More recordings from the closely guarded vaults of the legendary Onyx Records, inc. 2 unforgettable sets of late Lester circa 1956, when Pres' playing was at it's most communicative & introverted; here he shines on a selection of standards & 2 signature tunes, "Lester Leaps In" & "Lester's European Blues," which have been unavailable since their initial release on LP in '73

Woody Shaw is widely revered across the globe as the last major innovator to significantly revolutionize modern jazz trumpet playing. Shaw's innovations vastly extended the harmonic and technical vocabulary of the instrument and remain largely unparalleled in the world of music. Shaw is also remembered as one of the great, modern jazz composers to have developed a distinct musical sound and identity through his original compositions. Here is a program of Woody Shaw playing his own works with some of his favorite sidemen.

Foot stompin', swingin' jazz is represented on this budget priced compilation feat. Joey DeFrancesco, "Papa" John Defrancesco, Eric Alexander, Charles Earland, Bootsie Barns, Houston Person, Melvin Sparks, Byron Landham, Randy Johnson, Uri Caine, Mickey Roker, Tracy Wormworth, Bernard Purdie, Jimmy Ponder & many more

UNDERSTANDING