When I go into the studio with these guys, it's not like I feel pressure. It's like, oh boy, let's go have some fun, ays saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi, recalling how his previous Savant recordings came together. In short, the acclaimed veteran didn't want the fun to end. So now here we have another terrific recording to complement the reedman's impressive Savant discography and another chance to delight in the exceptionally responsive company he keeps. Revelling in the company of long-time partners bassist Dave Santoro and drummer Andrea Michelutti, Jerry also brings Pasadena-born pianist Bruce Barth into the studio. Jerry doesn't often record with a pianist a€" when one cuts their musical teeth with a pianist like Dave Brubeck the titan's shadow must loom large over the keyboard but he and Bruce have become muy simpatico over the years and their interplay here is remarkable indeed. With Jerry's imaginative compositions and his intense approach to music-making, this is jazz that cuts you no quarter. The whole session swings, communicates and challenges as only Jerry Bergonzi can.

There's an old saying that a great jazz musician never plays a song the same way once. That could certainly be said of Jerry Bergonzi. He is an intellectual artist of uncompromising integrity and a bold, original composer. On Jerry's new Savant recording he returns to the organ-tenor trio format after a long hiatus from it. From the opening track, Cy Coleman's "Witchcraft" with it's hypnotic organ vamp and "bewitching" chord substitutions Jerry gives to the first 8 bars, you know this isn't going to be your parents' organ-tenor gig. Bergonzi and his discmates, Renato Chicco on organ and Andrea Michelutti on drums, take these standards down new harmonic paths and use them as a launching pad for fertile and impressive improvisation. The playing is always intense and distinctive, fresh and spontaneous.

Danny Grissett is definitely one of today's most exciting and respected pianists. The go-to keyboard man for the likes of Tom Harrell, Jeremy Pelt, Wayne Escoffey and others Grissett also finds time to lead his own groups and is a composer of considerable merit. A rare artist who grips and holds attention, Grissett handles the classics of the American songbook with an aplomb equal to the way he deals with the rather complex structures of his own intricate compositions. A gifted improviser with splendid technique, the pianist can also offer warmth and affection in melodic lines, the balance of fine taste, pungent swing and a jubilant approach inevitably generating audience cheer. For his first recording as a leader for Savant, Grissett and company offer a varied and interesting set-list which mixes jazz standards and some of the pianist's own compositions.

THAT FEELIN'

It might strike as a paradox, but sometimes the brilliance of certain inventions can be measured by how obvious, how commonplace they seem. The music of Venezuelan pianist Silvano Monasterios is so easy-on-the-ear, so elegantly structured, and has such a casual, lived-in feel that it takes a bit to catch on to how sophisticated his work truly is. It's only after awhile that one notices the harmonic turns, the storytelling soloing, or his rhythmic vocabulary, especially his discreet use of traditional Venezuelan styles. Partly Sunny is Monasterios' second album for Savant, and his choices suggest that he feels no need to accommodate any conventional expectations about how Latin jazz should sound. Whatever someone might argue to be some essence of "Latin," is here integrated into the overall sound. With his working trio augemented with the great clarinetist Anat Cohen, saxman Troy Roberts and the colorful percussion of Robert Quintero, Monasterios has given us an album that is exuberant & visceral as well as personal & considered.

HEART BEAT

EVERYTHING IS COOL

Famed jazz percussionist and double-Grammy nominee Sammy Figueroa and Brazilian singer/songwriter Glaucia Nasser got together in Sao Paolo and created an album that presents a perfect balance of great musicianship and soaring vocals. Featuring guitarist Chico Pinheiro, pianist/composer Bianca Gismonti and pandeiro virtuoso Bernardo Aquilar this album is full of surprises. Sammy's percussion flows beneath the songs, with bursts of Uruguayan candombe, Cuban bata, Puerto Rican bomba and of course carnival samba, while Glaucia's pure sound is aspirational and heartfelt, transcending language.

RADIO FLYER

IMAGINARY WORLD

FIND A HEART

WHAT TIME IS IT

Tenor saxophonist J.D. Allen was born in Detroit, MI, on December 11, 1972. He is a member of the third wave of Young Lion mainstream jazz players. As a young man, he was influenced by the great musicians who stayed in Detroit, but upon his arrival in New York City his real apprenticeship began, as he worked with such notables as George Cables, Betty Carter, Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette, Frank Foster's Loud Minority big band, Butch Morris, David Murray, and Wallace Roney.

Alto saxophonist Jim Snidero brings the sum total of his experiences to the fore on Main Street, including those as a leader as well as a sideman with Frank Wess, the Mingus Big Band, Jack McDuff, and Toshiko Akiyoshi. Here he draws upon a quarter-century of touring experiences for a trip through some of the American experience via a cycle of new compositions and two covers. With bassist Linda Oh, drummer Rudy Royston and Cuban pianist Fabian Almazan, Main Street offers fresh original material, imaginative arrangements, inspired soloing, and cohesive yet spontaneous group interaction.

AWWLRIGHT

When you visit a franchise restaurant, you always know what will be on the menu and what it will taste like. When you listen to a Bill O'Connell recording you may not know what is on the menu, but you're guaranteed it'll be a gourmet delight. As in O'Connell's previous recording the gifted veterans and leaders in their own right, Conrad Herwig on trombone and saxophonist Steve Slagle add their prowess to the mix. O’Connell gives his arranging chops a workout with interesting takes on Willow Weep for Me and John Lennon's “Imagine” and penned some new tunes specifically for this recording.

BLUES CITIZENS

ON FIRE

Legendary soul groove acid jazz innovator release his latest funk masterpiece THIS IS IT.

NOW WAS THE TIME

Jim Snidero is known to spin out wonderfully clean, inventive lines. His transparent sound and rapid execution evoke the early Art Pepper, as well as one of Snidero's own teachers Phil Woods. He never resorts to aimless scribbling, even at the quickest tempos, while his ballad interpretations are filled with exquisitely oblique lines. This, the saxophonist's second release for Savant, presents a unique ensemble, with no keyboard of any kind, the rhythm section of Paul Gill, bass and Billy Drummond, drums propel the proceedings forward while fret-master Paul Bollenback lays down the changes.

MIND WINE

After years of playing with every major artist from Miles Davis to Mzariah Carey, Sammy Figueroa makes his recording debut on Savant Records with AND SAMMY WALKED IN.

Joe Chambers is one of the drummers from the fifties and sixties who, along with Max Roach and Art Blakey has influenced an entire generation of drummers. With an ensemble that includes stalwarts Eric Alexander on tenor saxophone, Xavier Davis on piano and others, Chambers here breathes fresh life into a number of well-known jazz classics. While the overall approach is mainstream, the sound is unequivocally contemporary. It remains reverential to tradition yet with a clear regard for jazz as a living, breathing entity.

HOT DOG