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

Jerry Bergonzi, a Bostonian who has been plying his trade for more than four decades, has had a notable career as a player/educator that has included quality time with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, among others, and this is the twenty-sixth recording he has made as leader of his own groups. The tourist is a long-established master of extracting maximum artistry with a minimum of fuss, which masks the fact that there is nothing simple about either the contents or the execution of this release. Spurred by a first-class rhythm section, Bergonzi swings through a program of tricky originals and ingeniously harmonized standards with unrelenting plan, deploying a richly textured tone, an authoritative time feel, and a storyteller's sense of how to unfold a narrative arc in notes and tones. Featuring Bruce Barth on piano.

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

Peter Hand has been a prolific and active presence on the New York Jazz scene for many years and has worked with and/or written music for Carmen Lundy, the George Coleman Octet and the Lee Konitz Nonet. On his debut release for Savant Records, the Peter Hand Big Band featuring tenor sax giant Houston Person pays tribute to the music of Harold Arlen and features a lineup of stellar musicians including Don Braden, Ralph Lalama, Cecil Bridgewater, Valery Ponomarev, Jim Rotondi, Richard Wyands and Harvie S, putting a fresh and swinging spin on some of the most memorable songs in the Harold Arlen Songbook. Album includes such Arlen classics as "Come Rain or Come Shine", "The Man That Got Away", "Let's Fall in Love", "Stormy Weather" and more.

Giacomo Gates is an extraordinary vocal stylist. He's often credited as a contemporary Eddie Jefferson, but remains a true innovator, not an imitator. For his Savant debut, Gates has chosen a stimulating selection of songs by the influential and controversial Gil Scott-Heron. Scott-Heron made music that reflected the turbulence and increasing pessimism of the early 70s. This material is tailor-made for Gates, who without question is the best-suited performer to deliver the satirical and insightful lyrics of a true American original, Gil Scott-Heron.