PROMISE LAND

As the highly conspicuous drummer for rocker Lenny Kravitz, Cindy has developed a loyal following which transcends the jazz boundaries. Lenny is actually having Cindy & her jazz band open for him so her jazz persona can shine in the limelight. This, her 3rd jazz recording for HighNote, finds her playing at it's richest & most well-integrated. With her colleagues J.D. Allen, Carlton Holmes & George Mitchell, she offers a program of standards & originals bound together into one work of art with a leitmotiv of interludes composed especially for the album.

Wesla Whitfield is known for her deft sense of swing and incisive ballad readings. Now she returns to release IN MY LIFE, a gorgeous collection of 15 wonderful works by such diverse composers as Leonard Bernstein, Vernon Duke and Lennon/McCarney.

Vocalist Jones once again joins sidekick Houston Person on a selection of tunes that represent all the greats of Tin Pan Alley & Broadway, inc. Frank Loesser, Irving Berlin, Dietz & Schwartz, Anthony Newley & others

KEEPERS OF THE FLAME

Featuring wonderful standards perfromed by: Houston Person, Norman Simmons, Charles Earland, Wallace roney, Lenny White, Mike Renzi, Gerri Allen and others.

DEAD CENTER

SILENT LISTENING

A Time To Remember is a continuation of the special synergy that inhabited Elina Duni's acclaimed Lost Ships and finds her regrouping with that album's quartet of guitarist Rob Luft, Matthieu Michel on flugelhorn and Fred Thomas on percussion and piano. The notion of 'time' pulls through the program like a theme, connecting music from different parts of the world - traditionals, popular songs and original compositions - in performances of deep lyricism but also fleet-footed folklore.

Ever since his arrival in New York back in 1984, Don Braden has been one of the most impressive tenor saxophonists of his generation. He has uplifted the bands of the Harper Bros., Betty Carter, Wynton Marsalis, Freddie Hubbard, Tony Williams & others along the way, yet it is his work as a leader that is most significant. From start to finish, this CD is one of his finest recordings & it shows why he is rated as one of the top sax men of the early 21st Century. Together with his quartet, his chosen medium now, Braden offers a program of jazz classics, as well as a sprinkling of original tunes, including an innovative tenor sax/drum duet.

REFLECTIONS

Hear history in the making as saxophonist Ventura & trombonist Harris team up on this astounding session, captured live in 1947, and unavailable on any format for over 25 years; Harris shows his inimitable way with ballads, while Ventura leaps into his famous "High On An Open Mike," propelled by drummer Davey Tough

2022 release. On the album Opening, Tord Gustavsen reveals a fresh angle to his particularly unique trio investigations into Scandinavian folk hymns, gospel, chorale and jazz. With a new fellow-traveller on board, the trio discovers inspired new ways to interact with each other, using innovative approaches to sound and technique in the process. The group's conversations bring an enticing unfamiliarity to the language the Norwegian pianist has developed over almost two decades of collaboration with ECM.

RUSTY RIDES AGAIN

JAZZ BALLADS WITH A BLUE FEELING / VARIOUS

Jazz voclaist Carol Sloane's newest effort featuring a collection of favorites and some rarely heard gems.

WOODY SHAW LIVE 2

The Mighty Burner, who passed away recently, rips it up on this album, which was his last recording with his "regular" band, feat. sax smoker Eric Alexander, Michael Karn & James Rotondi - together they create a real "little big band" sound on originals & standards

MOOD SWINGS

Recorded in live settings by Jerry Newman, these 1940-41 tracks contain the very earliest recordings by Thelonius Monk; it is reissued from the Onyx LP

As difficult times often beget new beginnings, the COVID-19 quagmire gave birth to alto saxophonist Eric Alexander. To some, a tenor-to-alto switch may not seem to be a newsworthy matter, but for the initiated it's the stuff of headlines. An inveterate tenor at the apex of the scene for more than three decades, Eric put the alto away in his teen years and never looked back. "But with the dearth of opportunities to play during the pandemic, I started to work on it," he confesses. After successfully pitching the idea of using his second saxophone-with-strings project as a debut on alto, the present recording is quite simply astounding. Working with his regular rhythm section and adding ace string arrangements, this altoist delivers one revelatory performance after another.

Session dating from 1952 finds the wild man of the tenor sax in an exuberant mood - he & his band romp through 7 tunes, then Dinah Washington comes out for her set & sings a handful of her tunes before spying trumpeter Cootie Williams in the audience & inviting him up for a run-for-cover jam on "I Got It Bad"

Few can claim the title of living legend. Kenny Burrell is just such a person. In fact he's more he's living history, past, present and future. His credentials are voluminous and accomplishments staggering, and he hasn't stopped. Today, he is active recording and performing, a respected educator, and an elder statesman of the music. His legacy is pervasive. His soulful sound and approach have influenced virtually everyone claiming a jazz pedigree but extends to many outside the genre, a la Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Steve Howe, Andy Summers, and Freddie King. Here Burrell is backed by some of his favorite West Cost colleagues in a varied program of standards and few originals by the leader himself, including one brand new composition. Also on hand is the exuberant voice of Barbara Morrison who brings her tremendous talent and personality to three tracks.

Guitarist Joel Harrison's 25th CD, Anthem of Unity, brings together a once-in-a-lifetime ensemble that showcases his most pointed and focused work as a jazz musician yet. The team of Gary Versace, with his virtuosic and soul-drenched B-3 organ, Greg Tardy, one of our finest jazz woodwind players, and the legendary drummer Jack DeJohnette, exhibits extraordinary musicianship in a program of six Harrison originals, Sonny Rollins' "Doxy," and Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'." Tardy shows the range of his considerable abilities here, developing interesting ideas and phrases throughout his many solos. Versace has been about everywhere at this point, with giants such as Maria Schneider, the late John Abercrombie, Kurt Elling, Al Foster, and he anchors the bottom end on the Hammond as DeJohnette continually ignites the band. This is a blowing session, at times tender and at times volcanic, whose interplay and organic, visceral power is palpable from the first to last tune.

ALWAYS IN OUR HEARTS: ETTA JONES AS WE LOVED HER