CHICAGO FIRE

Legendary jazz writer Nat Hentoff wrote in a lengthy article about Jeremy Pelt in the Wall Street Journal, "It is the beat of Jeremy Pelt's heart... that underscores the future of jazz." High praise indeed but Pelt lives up to it on every gig and with every new recording. FACE FORWARD, JEREMY is a multi-textured, thought provoking release which incorporates a sparing use of electronica along with unexpected acoustic instruments such as the cello and harp. The result is a wildly imaginative sonic landscape that exists in it's own time and space as defined by the artist and the leader himself.

Pianist Larry Willis has had an important and distinguished 40 year career in jazz. Since making his recording debut of Jackie McLean's landmark 1965 album RIGHT NOW!, the New York-born Willis has played everything from free jazz to fusion to rock (he was a member of Blood, Sweat and Tears in the 70's), while performing as a valued sideman with such jazz titans as Dizzy Gillespie, Lee Morgan, Cannonball Adderley, Art Blakey and Woody Shaw. That versatility is highlighted on Larry's latest HighNote recording which finds him once again in the company of bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Billy Drummond. Also in attendance that day in the Rudy Van Gelder studio was, Eric Alexander, one of the busiest tenor men in jazz, lending his talents to the proceedings. Willis leads the group through a series of standards, originals, jazz classics and offers a new, jazz take on Gene Roddenberry's "Theme from Star Trek".

After decades in the music business, it's clear that David "Fathead" Newman has become one of the premier tenor players in a number of genres ranging from soul, funk, straight-ahead and post-bop jazz. His latest recordings for HighNote displays his formidable triple-threat skills on tenor sax, alto sax and flute. Newman's sultry tenor speaks volumes with his smooth and subtle phrasing, blowing masterfully with excellent accompaniment from keyboard great Cedar Walton and the legendary trombonist Curtis Fuller who gives the ensemble sound a pleasing new depth. Newman's playing remains at once forceful and delicate, noon-day bright and crepuscular, straight-forward and recondite and shows the many facets of both the man and the musician.

HIGH ART

There are a mere handful of guitarists that have changed the way we think about the guitar over the past five or six decades. Pat Martino is perhaps one of the greatest and best-known of those icons. The term "genius" is overused today, but Pat Martino was definitely one. His life story was the very definition of the word. Before Martino's passing in November, 2021, the Alternative Guitar Summit honored him and his enormous contribution to jazz in this set of studio recordings by 14 jazz guitarists playing selections from his imaginative and varied catalog of compositions. Producer Joel Harrison is thrilled to have brought together this crew of great musicians to show their love for him while HighNote Records is proud to present this first volume of their recordings.

Writing about Mary Stallings the New York Times declared that perhaps the best jazz singer singing today is a woman almost everybody seems to have missed. Bay Area jazz lovers chuckled ruefully over yet another blast of East Coast parochialism, long recognizing Ms. Stallings as a singular jazz treasure. For her latest High Note outing, here is Mary Stallings, enjoying her recording resurgence, singing with such confidence, poise and authority that every tune feels like a custom-tailored garment expertly made for her fine-grained tone, relaxed phrasing and supple sense of swing.

SOMEBODY'S CHILD

Heralded for years as one of the rising stars in jazz, Jeremy Pelt has earned accolades for his staggering virtuosity, which has elicited comparisons to trumpet icons like Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard, as well as for his studious, cerebral approach to the music. While he's clearly the man in charge here, Soul is very much a band-focused release, with all five members of the group heard distinctively and insistently throughout.

Jeremy Pelt stands as a strikingly unique musician, his work consistently sleek and polished yet bristling with the spirit of invention flourishing in a lean, modernist language influenced by classic bebop phraseology. He delivers his lines with authority and economy, the pinpoint accuracy of his tone well-suited to the heightened elegance of his delivery. With pianist Simona Premazzi laying down the changes and Ben Allison's bass lines, Jeremy is joined by the twin drums of Billy Drummond and Victor Lewis for a session of originals, standards and music by Wayne Shorter and Clifford Jordan.

Wesla Whitfield is one of the most charming singers of popular song. Here, on her latest effort, the Best Thing for You Would Be Me, she along with her husband, accompanist/arranger Mike Greensill, she explores the music of Irving Berlin.

HARBOR

FUNKY PIECES OF SILVER: HORACE SILVER SONGBOOK 1

NEA Jazz Master Cedar Walton has enjoyed an up-tempo career, which never seems to slow down. As a composer, Cedar is one of the finest in jazz whose works have been widely recorded with many now being recognized as jazz standards. For his latest HighNote recording, Walton returns to his favored quintet format with poll-winning trombonist Steve Turre adding his luxurious, velvet tone to Vincent Herring's saxophone sound.

Cedar Walton has been a steady contributor to the language of modern jazz for more than fifty years and he hasn't lost a step when it comes to delivering a rewarding listening experience. With saxophonist Vincent Herring, Buster Williams on bass and Willie Jones III on drums Cedar offers a program of standards, jazz tunes and also revisits a few of his own originals from his most fertile compositional period, all recorded at the famed Rudy Van Gelder Recording Studio.

For it's 10th anniversary release, the Black Art Jazz Collective (BAJC), hailed by DownBeat Magazine as "a powerhouse of contemporary jazz talent," offers ten exciting and unique works that speak to both artistic freedom and musical sensibility relative to the tenor of our times. The band features an all-star line-up, including founding members Wayne Escoffery, Jeremy Pelt, James Burton III, Xavier Davis and Johnathan Blake who are joined by current members Victor Gould, Rashaan Carter and Mark Whitfield Jr. Wayne Escoffery tells us, "I formed Black Art Jazz Collective as an ensemble of African American musicians, celebrating Black culture and the origins of the music through original compositions with unapologetic pride."

RUSSELL GUNN PLAYS MILES

Any attempt to explain or describe Thelonious Monk's music would be useless. His genius lay in his ability to transcend categorization and create a new musical landscape with each composition. Here are eleven artists exploring Monk's sound-world and commenting on, reinventing and even enhancing the composer's works via their own creativity. With performances by Frank Morgan, Larry Coryell, Houston Person, Arthur Blythe, Larry Willis and others this is one Monk anthology you will return to over and over.

PRIME: LIVE AT THE DOWNTOWN ROOM

Rare live performances from 1950-1958 featuring Bean a.k.a. Coleman Hawkins with such sidemen as Pee Wee Russell, Charlie Shavers, J.C. Higginbotham and others. Includes some of his best-known tunes, too- Body and Soul; the Man I Love, and a seven and a half minute rendition of Avalon !

Throughout his career, Zoot Sims was famous for epitomizing the swingin musician, never playing an inappropriate phrase. He always sounded inspired and from the 1950s onward, Zoot's enthusiasm and creative never wavered. A freelancer throughout most of his career, Sims often led his own combos and co-led bands with his friend Al Cohn. Zoot started doubling on soprano quite effectively in the 1970s. Through the years, he appeared in countless situations, and always exhibited impeccable musicianship, good taste and no small amount of improvisational heat. Here is a live session which finds Zoot in the company of pianist Jimmy Rowles, bassist, George Mraz and the underappreciated drummer, Mousey Alexander.

KEEP SEARCHIN

LUCKY TO BE ME

David 'Fathead' Newman had it all ? power, subtlety, soul and swing. Composer & master of all reed instruments, here is the definitive David Newman collection featuring the best recordings from his HighNote years.

The Pantheon of Jazz Piano Greats Is a Very Exclusive Club: Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Bud Powell, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and But a Few More of Their Stature. Certainly, By Now the Membership Has Voted to Admit Cedar Walton to Their Elite Ranks. A Fixture on the Jazz Scene for the Last 50 Years, Walton Is One of the Most Influential Musicians and Have Become Part of the Standard Jazz Repertoire. His Playing Regularly Receives Praise from Critics, Fellow Jazz Musicians and Audiences Around the World. Here He Is Surrounded By Some of His Regular Collaborators Including Vincent Herring Nad Jeremy Pelt in a Program of Standards and Walton Originals. Recorded By Ruby Van Gelder at the Legendary Van Gelder Studios.