Pianist Hicks pays tribute to jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams, once again assimilating the essence of another jazz musician & merging it with his own creativity to come up with a sound that is totally his own, yet reminiscent of the other player

LATIN TINGE

The history of jazz vocals extends back perhaps even farther than jazz instrumentals and in that long history you find a lot of pretty impressive names. None are more illustrious than that of singer Chris Connor. A must have collection of classics.

Hammond B-3 organist is back in the ring for a second round, bringing ten tunes to the middle of the mat, and cooking through them with white heat from first note to last, backed by Paul Bollenback & Byron Landham

Young jazz lion, trumpeter, Russell Gunn reutns with this Blue on the D.L., a great blues-based, classic jazz album containing a fierceness of attack! It's refreshing to find jazz of such aggressive tension and darkenss amid today's "smooth" and "tehcno" trends.

On this, his 4th effort for the HighNote label, Randy Johnston provide ample evidence of his never ceasing evolution as a musician. He is passionate in his quest for new avenues of expression. On IS IT YOU?, the band swings and grooves, soars and sings through seven standards and three new R. Johnston originals.

Here's a compilation featuring tracks inspired by that lonesome feeling we've all felt a few times in our lives... The blues; includes songs from Johnnie Bassett, Irene Reid, J.J. Malone, Fillmore Slim, Etta Jones, Big Al Dupree, Charles Earland, Robert "Bilbo" Walker, Willie Willis, Arthur Williams & Tommy Bankhead

Throughout the history of jazz, there has been a number of players who chose to remain in one locale to practice their art. Teddy Edwards is one of them. Though he chose to immerse himself in L.A.'s lucrative TV & radio scene, he also toured through the '60s &'70s with the likes of Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Hines, Milt Jackson & others. With his roots still firmly planted in L.A., he brings his wealth of experience to tunes titled with women's names on this CD. These are not all slow, smoochy ballads - included are chop-busters, such as Charlie Parker's "Donna Lee" & the straight-ahead swing of Duke Pearson's "Jeannine".

Puerto Rican trumpeter Charlie Sepulveda has been a fixture of the Latin jazz world since the late 1980s when he played in the band of pianist and composer Eddie Palmieri. During the 1990s the brassman toured and recorded with an array of great artists including Tito Puente and the Golden Latin Jazz All Stars, Dizzy Gillespie, Wynton Marsalis, Hilton Ruiz, Dave Valentin, Danilo Perez, and Paul Simon among others. He launched his own group, The Turnaround and has been turning the tables on the traditional Latin jazz format ever since.

The Black Art Jazz Collective was founded in 2012 by Wayne Escoffery and Jeremy Pelt with the aim of honoring and preserving the art of some of the progenitors of jazz who inspired them, hired them and mentored them first hand. And while the band does pay homage to the greats of the past they also continue the evolving tradition of jazz with a body of work that remains firmly entrenched in the modernism of today. From the angular melody of Escoffery's "Involuntary Servitude," to the ingratiating groove of Pelt's "For the Kids," the ensemble extends the range and potential established by their illustrious predecessors with innovative original compositions, solos that run the gamut from thoughtful to virtuosic and a shared sense of purpose that is unique on today's jazz landscape.

2020 release. Dena DeRose's music is like a cool breeze; she's wry, wise, impeccably musical, no-nonsense, and fun. After her three decades as a pianist-singer, DeRose's voice and her fingers are on the most harmonious of terms. She's not afraid of simplicity; DeRose has no time for hollow sentiment, nor does she feel a compulsion to outsmart the makers of the Great American Songbook. Her approach to jazz resides mainly in her swinging rhythm and pianistic phrasing. Her eleventh album as a leader takes it's name from a breezy tune, full of hip changes, that was composed by Alan Broadbent. The lyrics, provided by the legendary Mark Murphy, resonated deeply with DeRose since when she's not teaching at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria, she's frequently on tour. Appropriately enough she is joined by three other HighNote artists-singer Sheila Jordan, saxophonist Houston Person, and trumpeter Jeremy Pelt-all of whom have appeared with DeRose on her global travels. With her long-time rhythm section of Martin Wind and Matt Wilson DeRose delivers recording that celebrates the life of the jazz artist and the friendships they make.

The Philadelphia-born trumpeter-bandleader Wallace Roney has been a significant force on the jazz scene from the age 16. With twenty one recordings as a leader, and some impressive work with McCoy Tyner, Dizzy Gillespie, Elvin Jones, Chick Corea, and as the protege of Miles Davis. Roney has secured his place in jazz history as a member of VSOP. This new CD, features Roney as the mentor and guiding light of a quicksilver group of the Next Generation Jazz Artists: Emilio Modeste (saxes), Oscar Williams II (piano), Paul Cuffari (bass) and Kojo Odu Roney (drums). The core group is augmented by Philadelphia guitarist Quitin Zoto and the legendary drummer, Lenny White, who played on Miles Davis' classic Bitches Brew recording. From the pointillistically beautiful "Why Should There Be Stars" to the new sounds of Dave Liebman's "New Breed" Roney and company offer a rare glimpse into the future of jazz.

2020 release. Jeremy Pelt's unquenchable curiosity has made him one of the most multi-faceted of jazz artists. Whether it be as a leader, a sideman, an accompanist or a composer, Pelt has investigated nearly every aspect and genre in jazz - from electric to eclectic, Be-Bop to Free-Bop. Here Pelt joins forces with the legendary George Cables on piano and Peter Washington laying down the bass lines. All but one tune on the setlist are slow-ish numbers but this is not your father's ballad record. Each member of the trio is able to pour some old wine into new bottles, aware of and perhaps shaped by the past but operating very much in the moment. Together with Cables' lush voicings and solid tone and Washinton's always-inspired bass lines and solos, Pelt's new recording sets a high bar for all trio recordings that follow in the remainder of 2020.

The dynamic duo of pianist David Kikoski and bassist Boris Kozlov is a triumph of musicality and virtuosity. There's some kind of magic happening between the two kindred spirits that goes beyond the notes. The musical connection between the two goes back more than 20 years. They have continued to play together regularly over the years in groups like the Mingus Big Band, in Kikoski's own trio and the all-star post-bop cooperative Opus 5. You can feel their sense of telepathy throughout Sure Thing and it is readily apparent on Kikoski's original compositions like "B Flat Tune," "E" and "Strength for Change," on the swinging version of John Coltrane's "Satellite" and the duo's faithful reading of keyboardist Keith Emerson's classically influenced "Fugue" from "The Endless Enigma". Their playful, relaxed chemistry permeates all eight tunes here and makes Sure Thing a true work of collaborative genius.

2020 release. It may be somewhat ironic, yet ultimately fitting that this, the final recording by Larry Willis, brought the veteran pianist/composer right back to the place where he first began his impressive career as recording artist that spanned over a period of six decades. The Harlem, New York born Willis first entered the hallowed halls of Rudy Van Gelder's legendary Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey studio as a twenty-two year old graduate of the Manhattan School of Music on January 29, 1965 to record with Jackie McLean for Blue Note Records. Willis's expansive resume includes entries with the likes of Cannonball Adderley, Nat Adderley, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Stan Getz, Jerry Gonzalez and the Fort Apache Band, Clifford Jordan, Carmen McRae, David "Fathead" Newman, Woody Shaw, and many more. He appeared on hundreds of albums as a sideman and dozens more as a leader of his own impressive bands. The music played here with long-time friends Victor Lewis and Joe Ford, and his relatively new colleague Jeremy Pelt shows Larry Willis displaying the intense creativity and impeccable taste which made him once of the most respected keyboard artists in jazz.

2018 release. Recorded live in Paris at the famed Sunside/Sunset Jazz Club, Jeremy and his colleagues deliver a set of searing intensity and unparalleled musicianship. Pelt's group is that rarest of all things in jazz, a working band, and the communication that comes from extensive time spent playing together is evident. All the players are among the foremost 30-something neo-bop players in jazz today giving the group an all-star-type reputation with a well-rehearsed sound that comes only with familiarity and countless gigs. Pelt's own playing 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. On this particular night in Paris, Pelt focused all his attention on creating the perfect phrase to fit each musical moment, sculpting long lines that let the music breathe and while building spontaneous ideas into finely-crafted miniatures.

2018 release. The music of Joel Harrison stubbornly defies categorizing. You can try using all the post-this, proto-that gibberish you can think of but it is impossible. From the new-age of Paul Winter to the no-wave of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks; from the complex poly-everything of Charles Ives to the deceptively simple deconstruction of American folk ballads, Joel Harrison is perhaps the most imaginative, inventive and inclusive artist in contemporary jazz music. Angel Band is the third in his acclaimed Free Country series of projects and, like it's predecessors, features a unique mix of jazz interpretations of unlikely material drawn from various forms of Americana. Saxophonist David Binney obviously shares Harrison's musical vision as does pianist Uri Caine whose pianism here ranges from pointillistic to pugilistic. But for all the considerable talents of the side artists this is Harrison's show. As today's emaciated, blog-fed music scene staggers around looking for the newest trend (no matter how shallow) Harrison continues to cross and combine genres in order to communicate with his listener, challenge pre-conceived notions of "how it should go," and bring out new qualities in familiar music.

It is only natural that Jeremy Pelt's voracious curiosity would lead him to investigate the West African Griot tradition where stories, reminiscences and accomplishments from times past are handed down as oral histories. Researchers such as Art Taylor, William Russell and Alan Lomax have preserved interviews with older jazzmen but for his Griot odyssey, Pelt turns to his own peer group to record their thoughts on creating jazz, playing jazz and experiencing the life of a jazz musician of color in our own time. Each brief interview is followed by a composition by Pelt which perfectly captures the sentiments and emotions of it's spoken-word prelude. To help him bring his vision to life, Pelt has assembled a hand-picked group of colleagues, featuring vibraphonist Chien Chien Lu, pianist Victor Gould, bassist Vicente Archer, harpist Brandee Younger and others. The tunes themselves run the gamut from the remarkable mixing of the sacred and the secular in "Carry Christ Wherever You Are," to the Monk-like gallumphing opening unison in "Don't Dog the Source," and the urgent, "Underdog." As Pelt himself says, "I want people to understand that this is for everybody," that the project was undertaken to perhaps help them "understand that whatever they might be going through, their perspectives might run parallel to those of people who are generations apart from them. Maybe, to a certain extent, these younger people will find themselves in these stories."

2018 release. Jazz duo recordings can provide an exceedingly wide range of musical expression including but not limited to, profundity, humor, tenderness, introspection, exuberance and a whole host of others which can all change at the drop of a flatted-fifth. This type of mercurial interplay is on full display on this live gig from the Theatre Port-Royal in Montreal, Canada. Morgan and Cables played together frequently and their improvising is imbued with an almost telepathic communication. Cables' large piano tone is the perfect accompaniment to Morgan's slightly dry, Bird-like sound. At the same time, their spontaneity and sheer joy of music making succeeds in even making the chestnut "All the Things You Are" sound fresh and newly wrought.

2019 release. Eric Alexander's prowess on the tenor saxophone, his unimpeachable virtuosity and technical skill, is obvious to anyone who has paid attention to his fluent and stirring work over the past three decades. His reputation as a hard-blowing jazz gladiator has stood him well with fellow musicians and loyal listeners. Admired and enjoyed for his exceptional powers, Alexander is a model of mainstream jazz expertise. However, on this HighNote recording Eric, backed by three of his favorite colleagues and the lush sounds of a string orchestra, brings his lyrical side to the fore. "I wanted to get straight into the beauty of a song, always putting the melody first, " Alexander states about his expressed intentions for the album. "Improvisations are the icing on the cake." With the fruition of this dream project Alexander has again succeeded in proving that his long obvious gifts as a player are equaled by his respect for the gift of song.

When pianist Bill Charlap featured Tom Harrell at a recent gig with his trio at New York's Jazz Standard, he summarized the trumpeter's genius as concisely as anyone could. "It is our honor and privilege," he announced, "To share the bandstand with a man who is a living, breathing melody." For this latest HighNote release, featuring a razor-sharp quintet with saxophonist Mark Turner and guitarist Charles Altura, Harrell & company combine complex compositions, seductive rhythms, advanced harmonic concepts, vibrant solos and sheer inspiration in an album which transcends the jazz idiom. This is perhaps Harrell's most imaginative recording to-date, with the scoring for the piano-less, tenor sax and guitar front line ensemble sui generis among his work.

2018 release. It will come as no surprise to fans of Azar Lawrence that his life's work is to bridge the gap between his listeners and the Elementals (the spiritual essences of the four elements earth, air, fire and water). For over four decades he has unstintingly explored music as a healing force, and the mystical connections between past and future, myth and fact, the physical world and that which is beyond. Lawrence hopes that in a holistic sense, Elementals encourages a spiritual awakening. "All of this music is healing music; that's our whole concept is to heal and uplift," he explains. "If it's delivered and received on the right level, it will raise our own vibrations and bring us in touch with those higher spirits that respond when the music is pure with love and joy." It also happens to be an intensely powerful and swinging recording.