“Love Grows Deep” reunites vibraphonist Dick Sisto and pianist Fred Hersch in a luminous duo setting, drawing from their long musical friendship and the acclaimed 2001 concert at the Kentucky Center for the Arts. Sisto — a deeply melodic player shaped by Chicago’s golden age jazz scene and decades of artistic life in Louisville — finds an ideal partner in Hersch, whose lyricism and harmonic imagination have made him one of modern jazz’s most celebrated pianists.
This hybrid release combines newly selected performances from the original Duo Live album with additional, previously unreleased material from the same concert. Originals by both artists sit alongside works by Wayne Shorter, Thelonious Monk, and Benny Carter, revealing a rapport marked by clarity, warmth, and effortless interplay.
A quarter century after its recording, “Love Grows Deep” stands as a testament to two master musicians whose shared sensibility turns every piece into an intimate conversation.
This release is a new live recording from the legendary Jazzhus Montmartre in the heart of Copenhagen, this time with Rodney Green Quartet and Warren Wolf on vibraphone. The recordings on this release are chosen from three terrific evenings at Montmartre in February 2016. Christian Brorsen, Music Director at Montmartre 2011-2016, says: “Dexter Gordon said it himself when he returned to the United States after 14 years in Copenhagen: “I miss the American drummers.” If you have been lucky enough to experience one of them live, you know why. Among the masterful drummers who have visited Montmartre in the course of time, we find the likes of Art Blakey, Art Taylor, Ed Thigpen and Billy Higgins. Rodney Green belongs to a new generation of great drummers. Brought up by elite musicians such as Mulgrew Miller and Charlie Haden, he knows something about the nature of jazz and what it takes to perform on a level so few others are capable of. Rodney’s got it all: good taste, a dazzling technique, and a formidable beat”. For Rodney Green, the music always comes first. It all looks so simple when he’s sitting there, behind the drum set. There’s no showing off, but it always sounds incredibly good, so there’s a good reason why he is so much in demand. Simplicity and authenticity also underpinned these three terrific evenings at Montmartre, where he was asked to put together a quartet of musicians who, like himself, are capable of being present in the moment, doing away with long rehearsals. “As far as I’m concerned, real jazz musicians must be able to meet and play without discussions or long rehearsals, and just let their instruments speak,” says Green. And that is how these sessions unfolded at Montmartre, to the delight of an enthusiastic audience who couldn’t get enough of this ardent quartet of musicians that, besides Rodney Green, comprised Danish pianist Jacob Christoffersen and American bassist David Wong. Together the three laid a hard-swinging foundation for Warren Wolf´, also from the U.S. and possibly the greatest vibraphone virtuoso ever.
Award-winning Vibraphonist Lewis Wright returns to Signum following the success of his recording 'Duets' in 2018, with a selection of new compositions this time performed with Matt Brewer (Double-Bass) and Marcus Gilmore (Drums). "The Colour of Intention refers to the creative process itself: that in order to express yourself honestly in music, you have to generate clear intentions developed from thoughts and emotions which then color the work rather than explaining every aspect of it. In the moment of performance, the goal then becomes to put all these previous investigations out of mind and exist in the present. The color of intention is describing everything except performance; the slower processes of development, reflection and refinement and how they'll seep, often unpredictably, into everything that ends up being realized. Working with Matt (Brewer) and Marcus (Gilmore) adds the last and most engaging dimension. How they interpret the music, interact and bring their own highly developed languages to bare, creates something that's both a reflection of my intentions and also infinitely more sophisticated than it's possible for me to conceive of. I think in this sense, human connection is the greatest element of what it is we do as musicians." (Lewis Wright)
Since the time vibraphone was invented in 1921 (could be 1916) there has been an impressive and growing list of exceptional practitioners of this mallet instrument. And one of them is Tony Miceli whom Victor Schermer of All About Jazz describes as, “a vibraphonist of astonishing virtuosity, musical resilience, and inventiveness. His vibes playing is nothing short of phenomenal.”
Miceli performs and gives masterclasses in the US and abroad. This is Tony Miceli’s leader debut album on SteepleChase.
A long-awaited release that features the late guitar master at his most lyrical and inventive was recorded in January 2017 but held back until now. This session led by vibraphonist Tony Miceli is a poignant tribute to Vic Juris’s boundless musicality and deep connection to the jazz tradition. Inspired by the spirit of Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club legacy, the quartet reimagines classic French repertoire with fresh arrangements and modern interplay. The interpretations of “Nuages” and “La Vie En Rose” are especially moving, revealing a depth of emotion that resonates even more powerfully in light of his passing. Miceli, who spearheaded the project, recalls Juris’s uncanny ability to absorb and reproduce any tune—“like an iPod with soul.”
This recording, lovingly restored by SteepleChase producer Nils Winther, transforms what was once a shelved session into a sonic gem. It stands as both a celebration of Vic Juris’s artistry and a testament to the enduring power of collaboration.
Incidentally Miceli’s witty and heartfelt liner notes reads as an ode to Vic the stellar artist.
With over 30 leader/co-leader albums on SteepleChase, Andy LaVerne stands as one of jazz’s most quietly fearless innovators. His new project, Crystal Night, expands the dynamic chemistry of his acclaimed trio—bassist Mike Richmond and drummer Jason Tiemann—by adding vibraphone’s rising star Sasha Berliner, whose artistry evokes the spirit of Bobby Hutcherson and Gary Burton while charting her own path.
This quartet offering features ten newly written LaVerne compositions, each meticulously designed to explore subtle harmonic colors, metric shifts, and emotional depth. From the title track’s crystalline lyricism to the explosive energy of “Power Play” and the gently introspective “Second Thoughts,” Crystal Night is a study in texture, trust, and ensemble clarity.
“If you haven’t known Andy LaVene ever, This ine is a perfect introduction. It’s lyrical, musicaly intensive and most eloquent.” (Ole Mayyiemen – Jazz Special on SCCD 31818 Genesis)
Recorded in the summer of 1978 in Manhattan’s C. I. Recording Studio this rare encounter of jazz’s supreme instrumentalists and individualists Walt Dickerson (1928 – 2008) and Sun Ra (1914 – 1993) became an instant cult album among the followers of Avant Garde jazz of the 70s.
The author of the newly added liner notes Neil Tesser remarks, “Nearly a half-century after the fact, Visions now stands as a milestone of free improvisation
Almost half a century ago Trevor Tolley of Canadian jazz publication CODA enthused, “This is a tremendous record.... outstanding collaborations throughout this beautiful record, as well as some gloriously sustained solo passages.... it is the work of two masters in the full certainty of their powers.” 180g Audiophile Vinyl
A Vibraphone Dialogue Like No Other.
Glow, which is dedicated to the late vibraphone master Dave Samuels, is a landmark recording that redefines what’s possible in jazz vibraphone performance. Featuring two of the world’s most accomplished mallet percussionists—David Friedman and Tony Miceli—this album is not just a duet; it’s a revelation. It’s the first jazz album composed entirely of vibraphone duets, and it succeeds where others have hesitated: by solving the long-standing challenge of sonic overlap and range limitation.
What sets Glow apart is its innovative approach to range and texture. The vibraphone, with its three-octave span, presents a unique challenge when paired with another of its kind. Historically, artists have sidestepped this issue by pairing vibes with marimba, which offers a broader tonal palette. But Friedman and Miceli dared to go where others faltered: two vibraphones, no safety net.
Their solution? Instant arranging—a dynamic, real-time negotiation of register and role. If Miceli plays a melody in the upper octaves, Friedman anchors the sound in the lower range. If Miceli shifts to the middle, Friedman “sandwiches” him with left-hand bass and right-hand treble. This constant awareness of spatial and harmonic placement creates a rich, layered sound that feels orchestral despite the duo format.
Each player adjusts not only to avoid clashing but to enhance the other’s voice. The result is a seamless interplay where melody, harmony, and rhythm breathe together.
From Hampton to Burton, in passing by Jackson and Hutcherson, the vibraphone, a most complete and unlikely percussion instrument has established itself as a jazz chromatic keyboard, as rich as any piano. Under the inspired mallets of Jean-Michel Davis, with elegance and fluidity, the vibraphone is affirmed in this triptych-like album as a wonderful instrument of caressing bars: long notes lingering in the ear, cascades of crystal beads, gentle tumbling of percussions, refinement of dosages, subtlety of nuances, friction and high frequency tremors, in short, everything that gives meaning to the etymology of the vibraphone: nearer and nearer to real voice vibrations. The great French percussionist Jean-Michel Davis (Les Movies Swingers, Les Primitifs du futur, Novelty Fox,…) author of two historic vibraphone-jazz method books, presents, for the first time on record, compositions and arrangements from these works. These ethereal tracks, like swirls of smoke, are reminiscent of the masterful contribution of this unique instrument to jazz history.
His compositions are ambitious, idiosyncratic and imaginative. Nevertheless, the purely physical component of making music is an essential factor for Jonathan Salvi. "When I play the vibraphone, I dance!" This is also conveyed when you experience him live, as people tell him time and again. The impression of dancing is reinforced by the fact that the Swiss musician always plays with four mallets. His excellent technique goes hand in hand with improvisational brilliance
