A veteran of the groups of Nicholas Payton and Adonis Rose, saxophonistTim Warfield breaks significantly from the format of the four previous Criss Cross sides. One for Shirley pays homage to the legendary organist Shirley Scott, with whom Warfield played on numerous occasions back in the early 90's. Terell Stafford makes for a perfect front-line partner, the trumpeter obviously comfortable in the organ combo format thanks to his current work in Matt Wilson's Arts and Crafts. Rising Organ star Pat Bianchi tips his hat to Scott, but does so in a way that proves he's an individualist worthy of wider recognition. On drums the great Byron Landham. Daniel G. Sadownick plays congas and percussion.

On his sixth Criss Cross leader date, saxophonist Tim Warfield reconvenes his bandmates - trumpeter extraordinaire Terell Stafford, Hammond B3 master Pat Bianchi, and Joey de Francesco's drummer-of-choice Byron Landham - from the 2007 date One for Shirley (CRC 1304) for an informed, soulful exploration of American songbook repertoire. A life-long Pennsylvanian, Warfield learned how to navigate such terrain during a long association with the legendary Philadelphia keyboardist Shirley Scott. He applies those lessons to great effect, unfailingly channeling technicalderring-do towards imperatives of emotional expression and swing.

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.

Quartet albums with trumpet as a lead voice are rare and only the most skilled improvisers can tackle such a challenge. In the tradition of iconic masterpieces as Lee Morgan's "Candy" or Kenny Dorham's "Quiet Kenny," Joe Magnarelli leads a quartet with pianist Gary Versace, bassist Paul Gill, and drummer Anthony Reedus through a diverse set that includes three Monk classics. Guitarist Peter Bernstein adds additional color on a few tracks, contributing to Magnarelli's most mature statement to date.

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.

On his third Criss Cross date, tenor saxophonist Jimmy Greene presents a recital of originals and standards as Evidence and My Ideal, with a band of young New York A-listers: Jeremy Pelt (trumpet), Xavier Davis (piano), Reuben Rogers (bass), and Eric Harland (drums). Mixing an individual harmonic palette with an up-to-the-second rhythmic sensibility and an open mind, Greene and company produce a worthy follow up to 2004's Forever, a strong quartet session with Jeff "Tain" Watts.

Nurtured on bebop during long tenures with Art Blakey, Horace Silver and Phil Woods, trumpeter Brian Lynch has learned Latin music from the inside-out during two decades with Eddie Palmieri. Here Lynch and a state-of-the-art ensemble (Criss Cross veteran Ralph Bowen on tenor sax; Venezuelan pianist Luis Perdomo, piano; Russian bassist Boris Kozlov; Cubans Ernesto Simpson on trap drums and Roberto Quintero, percussion) perform 7 Lynch originals that blend the leader's ultra-sophisticated harmonic language with idiomatic Afro-Caribbean rhythms, and the standard "Invitation."

On his second Criss Cross date, Herlin Riley, drummer with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra since 1992, assembles an all-star lineup from different eras of the band. The front line comprises Criss Cross veteran Wycliffe Gordon on trombone, Victor Goines on saxes and clarinet, and Wynton Marsalis, Riley's employer since 1988, on trumpet, with bassist Reginald Veal and pianist Eric Lewis, the band's youngster, rounding out the group. The sound is New Orleans, modern, touching on the legacy of such original Crescent City thinkers as James Black, Alvin Batiste and Ellis Marsalis; the execution is replete with nuance and sublime grooves.

In the grand tradition of such inspired pairings as Johnny Griffin and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis or Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt, tenor titans Eric Alexander and Grant Stewart team up again as Reeds and Deeds for a new outing that again highlights the saxophonists' complementary styles. Ably supported by David Hazeltine, John Webber, and Joe Farnsworth the pair covers a smart mix of standards from the bossa strains of "Black Orpheus" to the soulful Ammons classic "Hittin the Jug."

Grant Stewart's third Criss Cross date as a leader features the spirited interplay between the tenor saxophonist and his longtime band mate, guitarist Joe Cohn. Stewart's brawny, expressive solos contrast nicely with Cohn's fleet yet temperate lines. Supported by an active rhythm section, including star pianist Bill Charlap, bassist Paul Gill, and drummer Willie Jones III, Stewart and Cohn burn through a program of standards, plus an original composition by Cohn's father, jazz great Al Cohn.

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.

Burnouts, ballads and the blues coexist felicitously on drummer Adonis Rose's third Criss Cross date, on the Verge. As he did on Song for Donise and the Unity, the New Orleans born drummer deploys former boss Nicholas Payton and ex-Payton Quintet members, tenorist Tim Warfield and bassist Reuben Rogers, augmenting the group with pianist Aaron Goldberg and vibraphonist Warren Wolf, his former front-line partners in Payton's quintet. Rose knits together the proceedings with fluid, precisely executed grooves, dotting all the i's and crossing all the t's.

Brazilian influenced rhythms, loose-limbed swing and secondline groove are all part of Joel Weiskopf's fourth Criss Cross session as a leader. His incisive piano improvisations are enhanced by two of the label's star sidemen, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Eric Harland, each of whom also take advantage of a plentiful amount of solo space. The program includes Weiskopf's melodically opulent compositions, the standard You Must Believe in Spring, the spiritual Wondrous Love, and a rousing rendition of Martin Luther's hymn a Mighty Fortress.

Pianist David Hazeltine has a history with Criss Cross. To be specific, between 1995 and 2010, Gerry Teekens, the label's founder, presented eight albums on which Hazeltine led trios, quartets and quintets featuring his impeccable, individualistic pianism, original compositions and arrangements; another five with the cooperative all-star sextet One For All (tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, trombonist Steve Davis, trumpeter Jim Rotondi, bassists Peter Washington or John Webber, and drummer Joe Farnsworth), whose grooving, harmonically acute charts bear his stamp; and another 17 as a sideman with the aforementioned luminaries, trumpeter Brian Lynch, alto saxophonist Jim Snidero, and other high-level jazzfolk who now hold pride of place in the hardcore jazz ecosystem.Hazeltine returns to the fold with Blues For Gerry, his first Criss Cross leader date since Inversions (2010, Criss 1326), a lovely quintet date that included Alexander and vibraphonist Steve Nelson. Recorded in a single six-hour session on December 1, 2022, it's his third state of the art trio recital for Criss Cross with modern masters Peter Washington and Joe Farnsworth, following the equally accomplished Perambulation (2005, Criss 1276) and Close To You (2003, Criss 1247).The album was recorded December 1, 2022 at the Samurai Hotel Recording Studio in NY. Recording engineer Mike Marciano also did the editing, mixing and mastering at Systems Two in NY. Photography by Anna Yatskevich.

On his Criss Cross debut New Adventures, Victor Goines, a long standing member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and Director of the Jazz Department at New York's prestigious Juilliard School of Music, presented his swaggering, romantic approach to the tenor saxophone and his pure melodic concept on the soprano. On Love Dance, the excellent follow-up, joined by pianist Peter Martin, bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Greg Hutchinson, each an A-lister of modern swing, Goines focuses more on the clarinet, which he plays with assured virtuosity and creative flair. He developed an international reputation on the instrument during his tenure with the Wynton Marsalis Septet, but also uncorks a series of authoritative tenor improvisations.

For his debut recording, Los Angeles-born pianist Danny Grissett, who played frequently in 2004-05 with such artists as Vincent Herring, Tom Harrell and Nicholas Payton, displays his mastery of the piano trio function. Joined by Vicente Archer (bass), his frequent partner in Payton's quartet, and drummer Kendrick Scott, best known for his work with Terence Blanchard in recent years, Grissett uncorks a polished set of standards (Autumn Nocturne, Everything Happens to Me, Moment's Notice, You Must Believe in Spring) and well-wrought originals.

John Escreet's Criss Cross debut is one of the singular recordings in the Criss Cross catalog. Out of Doncaster, England, and a New Yorker since 2006, the 26-year-old pianist-composer deploys the talents of New York first-callers David Binney, who incorporates live electronics into the flow as well as his alto sax, Eivind Opsvik on bass, and Nasheet Waits on drums. Synthesizing a broad template of sources into his own sonic vision, Escreet presents a stimulating, kinetic, heady program that solidifies his reputation as a musical ground breaker rooted in the verities of groove and high craft.

INTRODUCING OPUS 5

Lovabye follows Groover's formidable first full-length album, Negro Spiritual Songbook, Vol. 2 (The Message), performed by his excellent Boston band in quartet or quintet configurations, contains Groover's arrangements of, as he then wrote, "Black America's praise music through jazz's evolving language to produce a radical theology that connects you to a higher power, ". Recorded in August 2019, it was released two years later, as society unwound from the Covid-19 pandemic. During the lockdown, Groover had generated a group of "love songs and songs of people I love." In spring 2023, he brought this music to Walter Smith III, who Groover had idolized as a teenager, and is now his friend and colleague at Berklee School of Music, their mutual alma mater, where Groover serves as Assistant Chair of the Ensemble Department. "I told Walter I'd like to play with some of my other heroes and peers, " Groover recalls. "He said, 'What's stopping you? The music is there.' Luckily for me, everyone who I wanted to record with was available and happy to do it." The Album was recorded August 16, 2023 at the GSI Studios, NYC. Producer Walter Smith III. Recording engineer Chris Allen. Sound engineer Mike Marciano did the mixing and mastering at Systems Two in NYC. Photography by Saito Ogata.

In 2021 Criss Cross owner Jerry Teekens called to ascertain Lund's interest in making another album. For Lund, 45 when the Most Peculiar session transpired in June 2022, the offer was an opportunity to reunite with a band he launched in 2014. Pianist Sullivan Fortner (35) and drummer Tyshawn Sorey (41), both among the most gifted practitioners ever to improvise on their respective instruments, contributed their unique mojo to Lund's 2019 Criss-Cross release, Terrible Animals. Virtuoso bassist Matt Brewer (39), played on Lund's first leader date in 2006, had Lund play guitar on his own Criss Cross debut (Mythology-Criss 1373), and recently played on a Lund trio covers recital. The Album was recorded June 17, 2022 at the Samurai Hotel Recording Studio in Astoria, New York. Recording engineer Mike Marciano also did the editing, mixing and mastering at Systems Two Studio in New York. Photography by Anna Yatskevich.

Like it's predecessor, Painter of Dreams features two highly reworked standards along with six recent melody-forward compositions, to which Tsiganov applies his signature blend of radical reharmonization, mixed meters, shifting tempos, and changing keys. Otherwise, this ambitious recital presents documents several "firsts." For one thing, Tsiganov expands beyond the saxophone-trumpet-piano-bass-drums format, scoring five of the eight selections for either three or four horns. For another, he broadens his tonal palette beyond the almost entirely acoustic soundscape of his prior Criss Cross oeuvre, liberally weaving the Rhodes and Minimoog into the flow, as well as the preternaturally flexible voice of Hiske Oosterwijk, who also contributes two lyrics. Also, for the first time as a leader, Tsiganov augments the luminous trumpeter-flugelhornist (and 13-time Criss Cross leader) Alex Sipiagin on the front line with alto sax titan Miguel Zen�n, who plays for the entirety of the proceedings, and - on three pieces - the transcendent Chris Potter on tenor and soprano saxophones.

On his third Criss Cross leader date, Mike Moreno convenes drummer Kendrick Scott, who played on his fellow Houstonian's prior Criss Cross outings (Third Wish and First In Mind) and bassist Doug Weiss, who played on Third Wish. They frame the 39-year-old guitarist's sui generis tonal on a program culled from the corpuses of a multigenerational cohort of heroes: jazz songs by Charlie Parker("Perhaps'), Wayne Shorter ("The Big Push"), Joe Henderson ("Serenity") and Mulgrew Miller ("For Those Who Do"); Songbook gems by Michel Legrand "You Must Believe In Spring"), Johnny Mandel ("A Time For Love") and Vernon Duke ("April In Paris"); plus one apiece by Radiohead ("Glass Eyes") and Lo Borges ("Clube Da Esquina M.1").

On his Criss Cross leader debut, Transitions, guitarist David Gilmore pays tribute to recently deceased masters Bobby Hutcherson, Toots Thielemans and Victor Bailey, the legendary trumpeter Woody Shaw, and living elders Annette Peacock and Hermeto Pascoal, by interpreting their music along with two original compositions. Joined by a top-shelf New York quartet comprising tenor saxophonist Mark Shim, pianist Victor Gould, bassist Carlo DeRosa and drummer E.J. Strickland (vibraphonist Bill Ware plays on Hutcherson's "Farallone"; harmonicist Gregoire Maret plays on Thieleman's "Bluesette"), Gilmore navigates both the acoustic and plugged-in spaces with equal fluency, showcasing his lovely sound, improvisational prowess and focused intention within an array of stylistic formats.

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