The debut release by Chicago's newest hot jazz group, The Fat Babies. The band was started two years ago by string bassist and band leader, Beau Sample, and has held down a Sunday residency at Chicago's Honky Tonk BBQ ever since. The Fat Babies consists of Sample, bass; Andy Schumm, cornet; John Otto, clarinet/saxophone; Dave Bock, trombone; Paul Asaro, piano; Jake Sanders, tenor banjo; and Alex Hall, drums. Chicago Hot is a collection of 20s and 30s tunes mostly from Chicago's south side. The band takes on recordings by King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Erskine Tate, Freddie Keppard, Jimmy Noone, Bix Beiderbecke which are infectiously danceable and endlessly engaging.

LOUIS ARMSTRONG'S AMERICA VOLUME 1

Formed in 2002, the Fast Citizens are the Chicago-based sextet of Aram Shelton, Keefe Jackson, Josh Berman, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Anton Hatwich and Frank Rosaly. With a rotating leadership, they have made three records, each featuring a different member. Continuing the exploratory tradition of their first two albums - Jackson's Ready Everyday (DMK 571) and Shelton's Two Cities (DMK 590) - Gather augments their jazz, experimental and free improvised vocabulary with an ever expanding set of references ranging from the popular to the esoteric. "Fast Citizens continues to forge it's own direction, reaching beyond formulaic conventions to embrace new forms." - All About Jazz.

One of Dave McDonnell's biggest takeaways from putting time in with dozens of outfits is a desire for his own music to be immediate and reactive, mindful of pulse and the body's innate rhythm but also cerebral. A groove-oriented framework functions as rhythmic scaffolding for his complex harmonic motifs: witness the stacked polyrhythms on the hard-driving "Bullitt" and lithe "Vox Orion," or the lively Latin feel of "Nodes of the Moon." "Brandywine" is hook-laden and swings hard, similar to the bookends of "Bakers Man," the bulk of which is dominated by explosive free-improv fireworks.

BARRAGE

The debut album of the Jason Stein Quartet, the Story This Time, brings together Chicago bass clarinetist Jason Stein with three of his favorite improvisers. With Joshua Abrams on bass, Frank Rosaly on drums, and Keefe Jackson on tenor saxophone and contrabass clarinet, the album features five original compositions by Stein and six under explored compositions by jazz luminaries Lee Konitz, Warne Marsh, Lenny Tristano, and Thelonious Monk. Following three critically acclaimed albums with his trio Locksmith Isidore, Stein's new Chicago quartet seamlessly integrates rigorous written material with fierce and imaginative improvisational flights.

Jerry Bergonzi's quintessentially modern tenor sax style melds the linear, chromatic approach of such greats as Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter and John Coltrane. Featuring pianist Bruce Barth and trumpeter Phil Grenadier, this is Bergonzi's first quintet recording for Savant Records and finds in him in fine form as a player and as a composer.

Joe Chambers has been described as one of the great drummers to come out of the '60s. Also a master of all mallet instruments, piano and a composer, he has performed with most of the modern jazz giants, including Freddie Hubbard, Charles Mingus, Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie and the Max Roach M'Boom Ensemble. Joe Chambers, the composer, has scored soundtracks for several films and it is his composing and arranging talents which are spotlighted in his most recent recording with this all-star large jazz ensemble.

WE'LL BE TOGETHER AGAIN

When Cedar Walton talks, the jazz world listens and when Cedar came to Savant Records' asking to make a record with a young tenor sax player from Bologna, they knew that this would be a major talent. Piero Odorici has established quite a name for himself in Italy and is the tenor sax of choice for George Cables, Curtis Fuller, Jimmy Cobb, Ray Mantilla and others. For his US recording debut, Piero is 'backed' by the Cedar Walton Trio in 8 selections made up of jazz standards with a liberal sprinkling of original tunes by each band member.

2017 release, the final recording by legendary jazz fusion pioneers Larry Coryell and Alphonse Mouton in the reformed the Eleventh House. The late guitarist Coryell assembled founding members Randy Brecker (trumpet), long-timer John Lee (bass), the addition of son Julian (guitar) and the late Alphonse Mouzon (drums) to bring the rock and funk back to jazz again with a batch of eleven powerhouse tracks. The album is truly a group effort with Coryell relying on each member to contribute compositions to the new album (much like he did back in the 70's).

Described as being "soulful, swinging and yet utterly modern", New York based alto saxophonist Jim Snidero's music seems to encapsulate what is both unique and compelling about jazz. Snidero exercises his composing chops on INTERFACE as well, penning all the tunes on the set list and drawing an astonishing array of color from the sax-guitar-bass-drums quartet combination.

BACK TO CHICAGO

Among the most talented and resourceful figures in the exciting Miami Latin Jazz scene, Venezuelan pianist Silvano Monasterios leads the way. As a performer and composer he is among the most gifted today and his piano playing and compositions have appeared on recordings by artists such as Dave Liebman, Paquito D'Rivera, Arturo Sandoval and Dee Dee Bridgewater. With an insatiable appetite for challenge & change, Silvano has brought his quintet into the studio and recorded eight new compositions which combine his Venezuelan roots with the rich American Jazz Heritage.

I LOVE MUSIC

INTERSECTING LINES

BY ANY OTHER NAME

THREE FOR ALL

ADVENTUROUS MONK

Jason Ajemian's music conjures a fever dream of multiple musical universes. The bassist-composer has acquired a high profile during his years in Chicago & New York, performing with Marc Ribot's Sun Ship, Matt Bauder's Day In Pictures, Matana Robert's CoinCoin, Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra & Chicago Underground Trio. Folklords has an outstanding group of New York improvisers (Kid Bliss, Owen Stewart-Robertson & Jason Nazary) performing conceptual, visual & sonic landscapes: meditative Mingus ballads, imaginary conversations between Sun Ra & Thelonious Monk, poetic takes on pop culture, and an elegy for Malachi Rischter.

Curtis Fuller is a clearly one of the trombone's most distinctive voices and a consistently creative force in jazz for over forty years. His latest effort KEEP IT SIMPLE is a must hear for jazz fans!

FIVELIVE

Jim Snidero has developed a truly unique voice on the alto sax building on the foundation of the past while pointing the way to the future. With compositions that exploit the full potential of the alto saxophone's expressive range, Snidero has gathered side artists who all seem to be joined at the hip, with each providing sensitive support for the other, shadowing or provoking every move. This is challenging, thoughtful jazz which draws you in rather than alienates and which reveals no weaknesses in an unforgiving, nowhere-to-hide lineup.

GRACE

Beginning his career with Latin music greats such as Xavier Cugat and Monguito Conjunto, Ray has played with such wildly diverse personalities as Eartha Kitt, Freddie Hubbard, Larry Coryell, Morgana King, Gato Barbieri, Cedar Walton, Michael Urbaniak, Kenny Burrell, Shirley Scott and countless others. Together with Max Roach, he was a founding member of the popular percussion ensemble M'Boom. Here is a lesson in Latin music from the man who perhaps knows it best, having helped define it's evolution during the course of his remarkable career, Ray Mantilla.