Jazz CDs
Jazz CDs
5524 products
CRITICAL MASS
VIA BRASIL 1
I AM THREE
ENCORE ENCORE ENCORE
PEACE BETWEEN OUR COMPANIES
YOUTH ORIENTED
DAYS OF WINE & ROSES: OWL YEARS 1981-1985
I'M PETE RODRIGUEZ VOL. 1
The Word / Davy Mooney & Ko Omura
PLANETARIUM
THREE BLIND MICE
New York / Happy Apple
For over 25 years, the Minneapolis based collective, Happy Apple, has delivered it's own enigmatic vision of jazz and improvised music to an adoring cognoscenti of listeners. Though they've found favor from the jazz community at large, the trio of saxophonist Michael Lewis, bassist Erik Fratzke, and drummer Dave King remains a band of outsiders, three independent personalities with eclectic tastes and styles providing music with an obtuse Midwestern charm.
Mostly known for their electric live performances, Happy Apple has been a hard beast to capture on record. Though they recorded frequently in the early 2000s, the members admit they never truly captured their "real" band sound. So, when Happy Apple decided to record after a long hiatus, they decided to get it right. "New York CD" is the recording that the band agrees finally captures the essence of Happy Apple. The music they recorded included pieces that had been regular parts of their sets for 20 years along with brand new compositions, written especially for the recording sessions. Most of the pieces were done in first takes and without overdubs.
RIO FANTASIA
SO WE SPEAK
RED BRICK HILL
Estrellero 2 / Genovese, Cabaud, Cavaleiro
Estrellero 2 is the follow-up album to "Estrellero" released in July 2023.
It is accepted for creative artists to tug on the reigns of the expected. In the worlds of jazz and contemporary music, musicians are instructed to respect the conventional parameters of the genre they learn. But it is for the musicians to push the limits of the rules in order to make new discoveries. The trio of Leo Genovese, Demian Cabaud, and Marcos Cavaleiro take such an unbridled approach to music making on their new recording, Estrellero.
Argentinean pianist Leo Genovese met his fellow countryman, bassist Demian Cabaud, while they both attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Their twenty-year friendship has never diminished, even as Cabaud settled in Porto, Portugal. It was in Portugal, that the duo met drummer Marcos Cavaleiro, a perfect musical match to Genovese and Cabaud.
The three musicians have developed a deep trust born from years of camaraderie, a feeling that brings comfort on the bandstand through their intuitive approach to group performance. The rarity of their meetings was magnified by the pandemic, leaving the triumvirate dreaming of getting together again. Once the travel restrictions were lifted, Genovese made sure to return to his friends in Portugal to perform and record. Genovese and Cabaud were introduced to the idea of the estrellero by an Argentinean gaucho friend, Orlando Vera Cruz. An estrellero is a horse that can never be fully trained and, even when harnessed, continues to pull away, typically looking up toward the stars. The musicians found this a perfect metaphor for their musical journey, always being tethered to the rules of music but trying to look beyond and race ahead.
LION DANCE
Star Dreams / Glenn Zaleski
Glenn Zaleski's trio is an ideal example of a group that holds true to jazz traditions while trying to add something more. Originally from Massachusetts, Zaleski has become a notable leader and sideman in New York City's jazz scene over the past decade and a half. He decided that it would be ideal to record the trio, as their performances had felt amazing and rewarded the audience and band alike. In deciding on the material, Zaleski chose to continue his tradition of honoring his contemporaries and friends by adding their music to the band's book along with his originals and better-known standards.
The program begins with a bouncy take on Harry Warren's "I Wish I Knew," this version based on an arrangement by Adam Kolker. "Two Days" was the first tune Zaleski ever wrote, but he shelved it initially. He began to reinvestigate the piece over the past few years, finding it's ingredients leading to interesting group interpretation. Touring with singer Cécile McLorin Salvant introduced Zaleski to the singer's original, "Monday." The trio presents the piece's first instrumental interpretation with poise and taste. Horace Silver's "Opus de Funk" is a jaunty tune that the pianist fell in love with after hearing the wailing version on Milt Jackson's album, Opus de Jazz. Zaleski's gorgeous ballad "Wayne" was written while the pianist was in Paris shortly after the legendary saxophonist/composer passed away. The uplifting, playful quality of the title tune is balanced by a dream-like mysterious quality. On Charlie Parker's "Passport," presents challenges that the trio handle with verve. The program concludes with Zaleski's favorite ballad, Jimmy McHugh's "I'm In The Mood for Love." The quietly intimate take provides a lovely way to end the album.Ideal jazz performances provide audiences with many things. They can provide joy, surprise, and romance. A great performance should also give a nod to the past while providing glimpses of the future. Glenn Zaleski and his trio deliver their new album, Star Dreams, a view on the modern jazz piano and it's blend of tradition and mystery.
" "Glenn Zaleski has quickly become one of the most important pianists of his generation and it's easy to see why." - All About Jazz
Synchronicity / Jeong Lim Yang
Panoply / Denny Zeitlin
The past few decades have seen legendary pianist and composer Denny Zeitlin focus on a few vehicles for his adventurous journeys in music making. Playing solo, with his trio, or in the acoustic-electronic duo with George Marsh have provided ample avenues for exploration, which Zeitlin hopes to provide a wide scope of on his new, varied collection, Panoply.
For nearly 15 years, Zeitlin has released new recordings yearly on Sunnyside Records. These documents highlight the different methods he has centered upon as a leader. Zeitlin's trio that features bassist Buster Williams and drummer Matt Wilson is a seasoned and adventurous ensemble that continues to generate fire in performance. Zeitlin's nearly six-decade long collaboration with drummer/percussionist George Marsh continues to yield extraordinary results, especially as they have continually broadened their color and textural palettes with electronic sounds. Finally, Zeitlin continues to perform solo piano recitals, maintaining his status as one of the foremost solo improvisers and musical interpreters.
For Panoply, Zeitlin has collected unreleased performances from the past decade that highlight his and his musical partners' fantastic command in improvisation regardless of genre or medium. Zeitlin carefully curated this program to provide a sequence that blends acoustic and electronic music which transitions well and let's the music unfold.
The solo piano pieces come from a recording made on December 1, 2012 at the Piedmont Piano Company in Oakland, while the trio recordings were captured live at Mezzrow Jazz Club in New York City from May 3 to 4, 2019. The duo pieces with Marsh were collected over a decade of home recordings at Zeitlin's Double Helix Studio from 2013 to 2023.
The Bounding Line / Greg Reitan
The English poet and artist William Blake wrote of the intentionality and originality in art as being demarcated by a "bounding line," meaning that the more "sharp and distinct" the boundaries of the piece are drawn, the more perfect the art. Pianist Greg Reitan took this idea to heart for his new recording, The Bounding Line.
As a composer, Reitan has an appreciation for the work and genius of Aaron Copland. He was honored to have been awarded a residency that enabled him to live and work at Copland's Rock Hill, the composer's home from 1960 until his passing in 1990. The residency provided Reitan an opportunity to refine his work and hone these compositions under Blake's ethos of strong and defined boundaries of style and form. At the end of Reitan's stay, Daro and Koba joined him at Rock Hill for a series of performances featuring works inspired by the residency. Four years later, Reitan reconvened the trio to record the work begun at Rock Hill, along with a handful of thoughtfully chosen but rarely heard covers, in Los Angeles in October 2023.
STANDARDS II
SANCTUARY
BLUTOPIA
Hidden Objects / Holman Alvarez
The pianist and composer Holman Alvarez was born in Barranquilla and raised in Cali - Colombia. He enjoys finding connections between things. This kind of thinking has allowed him to use in his music ideas coming from several influences: Colombian and Latin American music, Jazz, classic and contemporary music, salsa, and free improvisation.
In November 2024 Sunnyside Records released his new album called Hidden Objects along with NY-based musicians Adam O'Farril, Drew Gress, and Satoshi Takeishi. Since 2022 he has been playing actively in the NYC scene along with musicians John Benitez, Sean Conly, Billy Mintz, Michael Veal, Rachel Therrien among others. Collaboration opportunities: Moving to New York has allowed Alvarez to collaborate with renowned NYC-based musicians. His upcoming album "Hidden Objects" features collaborations with local artists like Adam O'Farril, Drew Gress, and Satoshi Takeishi.
