Guitarist Samo Salamon hails from Marigor, Slovenia and splits his work and life between USA and European Continent, though in the last 10 plus years his activities has kept growing and expanding in the USA collecting numerous accolades from critics and public alike. “One of the more exciting and inventive improvising artists, Slovenian guitarist Samo Salamon’s stylistic modus operandi, coupled with massive chops has earned him prominence within global, progressive-jazz circles. (Glenn Astaria – Jazz Review 2012) “Guitarist Samo Salamon is one of those players quietly but fully engaged with moving the music forward.” (Nic Jones, AAJ 2011) “The guitarist is the star, though, and he is a star. He is a tremendous player, articulating each note and line with clarity and force, no matter the velocity … to say many things via many means, … without hesitation and with complete artistic conviction … exciting and satisfying.” (George Grella – The Big City 2011)

Burak Bedikyan is a burgeoning jazz pianist/composer from Turkey, one unlikely jazz country in spite of the nation’s historical and cultural heritage which is close to the Western world. Classically trained Bedikyan was introduced to jazz though workshop in modern theory conducted by Aydin Esen, a widely respected Turkish jazz pianist and composer in 1996. Since then Bedikyan has thrived in jazz and here his development culminates in this debut album in collaboration with three superb American jazz artists: Chris Potter (sax), Peter Washington (bass) and Bill Stewart (drums). “….his music sits at the gateway of East and West, opening a window into his native culture, and helping to raise the profile of yet another nation on the jazz stage….” (Neil Tesser from the liner notes)

Pianist/composer Carl Winther dedicates this album to his father, legendary Danish trumpeter/composer/bandleader Jens Winther, whose untimely death February 24, 2011 stunned his fans. Carl Winther himself is an award-winning artist who - while attributes his musical foundation to his famous father - is his own voice to establish himself in the international scene. “ .. If you are into highly modern jazz trio with American roots, this album has a lot to offer.” (Brian Petre – Jazz Special on SCCD 33130 “Deconstructing Mr. X”)

Full Moon

Pianist Phineas Newborn (1931 - 1989), despite his enormous talent characterised by his prodigious technique and extraordinary speed à la Art Tatum, remained in a relative obscurity throughout his professional life due to his illness. Fortunately for this overlooked and under-recorded genius, a private recording made during his visit to Sweden in 1958 survived. “Expertly cleaned up by Nils Winther, they sound fresh and bright enough to counterbalance the vagaries of a single-mike recording and a ropy piano. The music is of an unexpectedly high quality for a spontaneous session....” (The Penguin Guide To JAZZ)

Alto Blue

Guitarist Vic Juris has assembled another organ trio this time with Brian Charette at the keyboard to showcase his ever-evolving musicality in this format. His previous organ trio album “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (SCCD 31553) from 2004 attracted attention of Aaron Steinberg from JazzTimes who commented, “…. convincingly played, very impressive recording…” “Guitar-watchers should take note of this impressive and adventurous player” (Duck Baker – JazzTimes on “Songbook” SCCD 31483)

SteepleChase LookOut release # 10 here features one of the best drummers Denmark has to offer from the younger generation, Anders Mogensen, who studied at Berklee School Of Music (1990 - 1992) in Boston and graduated from the Danish Rhythmic Conservatory with Master Degree in music in 1996. Anders has been a most sought-after musician and an influential figure in European jazz scene performing with Brecker Brother, Bob Berg, Gary Thomas, Rick Margitza, Steve Swallow, Tim Hagans to mention a few. Anders Mogensen Quartet went into a studio after a successful month-long tour in Scandinavia early 2013 to record this album presented here.

Being a former classical pianist, Turkish-born Burak Bedikyan employs his enormous technical proficiency to elaborate his compositions here on this third album to illustrate the new depth in his creativity. “…his exponential growth as a performer, composer and arranger is chronicled with one of the finest releases for 2013 in Circle of Life ...” (Brent Black – Bob-N-Jazz on SCCD33109 Circle of Life)

New York-based pianist/composer Mark Soskin, following the successful previous (his first SteepleChase release) trio album “Hearts And Minds”, returns to the studio with his dream rhythm section in pursuit of perfecting the art of piano trio jazz. “…Here he is on his own ballgame as the leader of a vital, fine interacting trio … Soskin has a beautiful touch, a lyrical temper with unfailing ease. The music feels timeless and fresh as it often does when the recording session starts with the first take in house and completes in three and half hours,” (Ole Matthiessen – Jazz Special on SCCD 31834 “Hearts And Minds”) “…This is a very mindful session and holds the mind from beginning to end.” (Robert D. Rusch – Papatamus on SCCD 31834)

This 4th volume of the Jam Session series presents six musicians at the start of their career. Since the time of the recording took in 1997 all six have made major advancements in their career and build a name for themselves in the jazz world with recordings and performances with major jazz artists and in their own names.

Pianist LeeAnn Ledgerwood has been one of the major jazzwomen in the New York jazz scene in the past 15 years. This is her fi rst leader album on the label, though many SteepleChase listeners have long noticed her powerful and soulful playing from Ron McClure’s album “Sunburst”(SCCD 31306). “This recording represents a time in my life that I worked very hard to reach…. As you can tell, we truly had a good time playing together. All of this I had inside as I walked to this date. This music is why we were all together that day, and it is for you.” – LeeAnn

Composer/bassist Ronan Guilfoyle is a major figure on the Irish jazz scene and has developed an international reputation as a performer, teacher and composer. He began his career with Louis Stewart's group in the early 1980's and studied at the Banff Centre for the Arts in 1986 and 1987 where his teachers included John Abercrombie (who is featured on this CD), Dave Holland, and Steve Coleman. Performing on the acoustic bass guitar since the early 1980s, Ronan is now one of the instrument's leading exponents, and is now much in demand as a bassist, both in his native Ireland and on the international jazz scene. Guilfoyle is featured in Keith Copeland trio albums on SteepleChase (“Round Trip” SCCD31425 and “Live In Limerick” SCCD 31469). Ronan has been composing for classical ensembles since 1993, specialising in compositions which feature both improvised and written music. “Renaissance Man” is a superb example of Guilfoyle’s enormous compositional talent for contemporary music. The music on this CD is dedicated to Ronan Guilfoyle's father.

Award-winning pianist/composer Joel Weiskopf has long been established in the main-stream jazz scene in the USA and abroad. While he has released a number of leader albums, this is his debut leader outing on SteepleChase. On this new album Joel Weiskopf brings out his time-tested repertoire for quintet date with his Syracuse compatriots Joe Magnarelli (tp) and Andy Fusco (as). “…pianist Joel Weiskopf is a serious jazz pianist with an individualistic style that is an amalgam of a great number of influences from American jazz to Brazilian samba….” (C. Andrew Hovan, CD Review)

Camaraderie - a partnership of organist Mark Minchello and saxophonist Bob Hanlon - is a follow up to their first Steeplechase release Trinomial. This CD features the outstanding guitar work of Vic Juris and Bob Devos as well as newcomer Charlie Sigler and drummers Andy Watson and Pete McDonald. “AH! The Hammond B3 trio with sax and drums, and Hammond hitter Mark Minchello makes the team wheeze, groove and fog up an interesting and well thought collection of tunes. They keep away from the blues and instead venture into uncharted waters by doing tunes not usually associated with this genre.” (George W. Harris – Jazz Weekly on Trinomial SCCD33117)

One of Turkey’s leading pianists Burak Bedikyan has been rapidly establishing himself as a star player on the international jazz scene since the release of his first SteepleChase Lookout album “Circle Of Life” SCCD 33109 (2013). For his second album here Bedikyan further showcases an exciting process of on-going development as a performer and composer with unique musical background. “This is an interesting overture for the Turkish newcomer, but it sounds like there's much more in reserve.” (John Fordham – The Guardian on “Circle Of Life”) “Burak Bedikyan takes charge of the finest quartet recording for 2013, Circle Of Life… Bedikyan is a name to remember and an artist whose musical stock is an arrow pointing straight up!” (Brent Black – www.bop-N-jazz.com on “Circle Of Life”)

Harvey Siders in his JazzTimes review (Dec. 2002) of the first release (“Match Point” SCCD 31517) of this group concluded his writing by remarking, “Here’s hoping this two-year-old combo stays together.” Ron McClure Quartet does stay together, performing in and around New York area and dedicates another superb album here “For those affected by the tragic events of the recent past, we dedicate our music and express our hopes for a long overdue Age of Peace on our Earth”.(Ron McClure)

Brian Charette, one of the most innovative B3 organists today presents here his daring and exciting project departing from the traditional organ jazz approach. With “the sound of a reed choir plus organ” in mind Charette wrote challenging and dazzling original material for this special band and took the art of jazz organ to a new height. “Reliably smoking B3 player” (Bill Milkowski – JazzTimes)

Award winning jazz pianist/composer Carl Winther (b. 1984 in Denmark) has already established himself in the international elite instrumentalist circuit of younger generation. Growing up in a musical family with his father, renowned trumpeter Jens Winther (1960 – 2011) Carl embarked on his professional music career while still a teenager performing and recording with Billy Hart, Jerry Bergonzi, Bill Evans, George Garzone, Adam Nussbaum, Dick Oats, and Doug Raney to mention a few. “Carl Winther is an enterprising and original pianist and composer. He has toured all over the world, and is a representative of the high standard of Danish jazz internationally.” (Quintonic – album review)

Jason Palmer launched a series of homage recordings of songs composed or made famous by iconic singers of our time a couple of years ago with “Take A Little Trip” SCCD 31750 examining songs associated with Minnie Riperton, which was highly acclaimed by critics and public alike. Palmer here on this his 5th album on the label pays tribute to the artistry of Janell Monáe, a six-time Grammy nominated American psychedelic soul and R & B singer-songwriter. What a novel idea—refurbish songs associated with Minnie Riperton into modern jazz explorations. Fortunately, trumpeter Jason Palmer steered clear from the novelty route on this exquisite disc by mapping out a far richer path, marked by subtle interplay, elliptical phrasing and daring arrangements.” (John Murph – DownBeat on “Take A Little Trip” SCCD 31750)

Award-winning American saxophonist/composer Bob Rockwell grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota and after touring the USA with various rock and r&b bands in the late 60s and early 70s Rockwell settled in New York to seek his place in jazz. He established himself quickly playing with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Tito Puente, Ben Sidran, Freddie Hubbard, Ray Drummond, Billy Hart, Tom Harrell, Richie Beirach, among others, demonstrating his immense skills and versatility. Since 1983 Rockwell calls Denmark his home where he leads his band and performs and records all over Europe. Rockwell recorded eight leader albums for SteepleChase. This his second release features the late pianist Butch Lacy (1947-2018), another American expatriate of his generation. "Rockwell is simply one of the heaviest players in his genre anywhere." (Thomas Conrad – JazzTimes) “Bob Rockwell is a warm-toned tenor player whose love of Coltrane becomes most apparent at higher intensity levels. For most of the time this is spirited but non-too-aggressive modern tenor playing.” (John Robert Brown – Jazz Journal on On The Natch)

Korean-born New York based jazz vocalist/pianist/composer Soyoung Park presents her debut album on SteepleChase which starts with a phenomenal rendition of “Baker’s Mood”. Park studied at Berklee College of Music. She then finished her Master’s degree at Manhattan School of Music. Park received Korean singer-songwriter title in Yoo Jaeha Music Award in 2007 and was named a top 6 finalist in 2016 Mid-Atlantic Jazz Voice competition. She was semi-finalist in 2016 Montreux Jazz Voice competition.

While Eugenia Choe is a relatively new face on NY jazz scene, she has been one of the most sought-after pianists around and her own group presented here has been actively performing in NY area for some time. Korean-born Choe also a prolific composer compiles an intriguing repertoire mostly based on her original works fit for the debut album of a burgeoning young artist.

French-born saxophonist Jonathan Orland studied at the Berklee College Of Music in Boston with George Garzone, Bill Pierce, a. o. and furthered his studies at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Now back in Paris Orland recorded this his third leader album with the quartet he leads and performs regularly in Paris. “Between classicism and modernity, Orland’s playing is impressive with its inventiveness and virtuosic character.” (Christian Larrede – Jazz News) “Jonathan Orland belongs to a category of young musicians whose superlative technique allows them to dominate their instrument so perfectly that they give the impression to overcome every difficulty with ease, even on fast tempos. He demonstrates some uplifting boldness in the way he treats harmonies and a real capacity to compose beautiful melodies”. (Jacques Aboucaya – Jazz Magazine)

It is of certain significance to think of the fact that Martin Jacobsen was born and grew up in Copenhagen which has been arguably the European capital of jazz. Martin basically taught himself jazz at the age of 19 in this richly jazz-orientated city. He later moved to Paris, another European hot-spot of jazz. Like Jacobsen’s well-received SteepleChase debut album “Current State” SCCD 31548 this live recording from Copenhagen’s JAZZHOUSE features Doug Raney on guitar. "Martin Jacobsen, Danish saxophone star with a rich and smooth sound, well confirmed in the Coltrane tradition. Doug Raney, American guitarist launched by the Chet Baker Trio, the excellent descendant of the highly distinguished Jimmy Raney. Two acclaimed musicians both evolving in an aesthetic of their own which are not necessarily similar. The result, performed with a quartet de luxe, has chances to surprise many a listener!" Jazzman, France