FORMIDABLE

Jazz artists from Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins, Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker, Ahmad Jamal, Miles, even Coltrane all relied on Tin Pan Alley, Broadway and the then current pop tunes as a basis for much of their most enduring recordings. To hear such respected jazz artists as those presented here re-casting songs written by the Fab Four, is evidence, if any is needed, that as popular composers, Lennon, McCartney and Harrison can probably be considered as leading voices in the New Pop Standard repertoire.

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.

Jaki Byard always personified the past, present and future of jazz, wherever or whenever one might have been fortunate enough to experience his challenging ideas. An icon in the history of jazz, Jaki was Art Tatum, Earl Hines, Bud Powell, Ran Blake, Cecil Taylor and Bill Evans, all in one. Yet, like these fellow icons, he was his own uncompromising, unique, living entity. He isn't a household name, but most likely his low profile is the result of an irresistible need to constantly reinvent himself, the sure sign of the consummate artist.

HIGH ART

Two CDs. Named for the Grateful Dead song that concludes this inspired double album, Uncle John's Band features masterful guitarist John Scofield at his most freewheeling. Wide ranging repertoire finds his trio with Vicente Archer and Bill Stewart tackling material from Bob Dylan to Neil Young, from Leonard Bernstein to Miles Davis. The red thread through the program is the trio's improvisational verve. "I feel like we can go anywhere," says John Scofield of the group's multi-directional versatility.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

FUNKY PIECES OF SILVER: HORACE SILVER SONGBOOK 1

HARBOR

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.

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

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.

PRIME: LIVE AT THE DOWNTOWN ROOM

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.

The extraordinarily popular, cool-toned and fragile singing trumpeter with the looks of a movie star is back in the jazz world's public eye again, with a new biography out and a movie deal in the works. Chet Baker started out on top in the 1950s gigging with Charlie Parker, joining the Gerry Mulligan Quartet and soon becoming one of the most popular trumpeters in jazz. The late 50s and early 60s found Baker at the nadir of his career and suddenly he was out of music. Against all odds he made a comeback in the mid-70s. This CD documents a set taken from a live performance at San Francisco's Keystone Korner.

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.

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.