The Book of Chet is Luciana's inspired interpretation of the music of trumpet player and singer Chet Baker. An iconoclastic musical figure, Chet had a unique and lyrical approach to singing - informed by his superb musicianship, his singing was heartfelt, yet detached. "It is a well known fact that musicians like Jo�o Gilberto were listening a lot to Chet Baker and the sounds coming out of the West Coast of the US. That kind of quiet, introspective singing was started by Chet while Miles' playing, tone and sensibility ended up influencing many musicians in Brazil."

Grammy winner Luciana Souza was raised in S�o Paulo, Brazil, where she grew up in a family of Bossa Nova composers. A respected composer and vocalist, she defies categories bringing her outstanding musicianship and unique sound to any project. Whether performing works by Osvaldo Golijov, Paul Simon, or Herbie Hancock, singing with the big bands with Maria Schneider and Kenny Wheeler, or performing in small jazz groups, Souza brings something to the music that has been called "transcendental." Her new CD, Duos III closes the trilogy, while the simultaneously released the Book of Chet is Luciana's highly introspective exploration of the singing of Chet Baker. Both records are to be released on August 28th, 2012, on Sunnyside Records.

TONGOS

FIGURATIONS

The violin has a long history in western music, including an important part in the early stages of jazz. Even with this history, the instrument hasn't been much a fixture in the contemporary jazz scene. The French bred, Brooklyn based Scott Tixier presents his Brooklyn Bazaar as an introduction to a new improvisational voice on the violin.

2012 album from the Austrian-born Jazz bassist. Hans had decided on a trio setting because of his regard for the smaller ensembles of Sonny Rollins and Charlie Haden. The musicians that he chose for the group are exceptional young talents, saxophonist Samir Zarif and drummer Eric Doob.

Guitarist Scott DuBois has made a concerted effort to create a focused ensemble with a sound custom fit for his emotive compositional voice. He has found the perfect foils in reed player Gebhard Ullmann, bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Kresten Osgood.

2013 release from the internationally renowned saxophonist composer/educator. A fluid, vigorous soloist with a warm, soulful sound, Dayna has also proven himself a master of composition and arrangement, a highly acclaimed band leader and an "in-demand" side-man for some of Jazz' contemporary masters, such as Kenny Barron, Idris Mohammed, Taylor Eigsti. In recent years, Stephens has appeared on stage with numerous major musicians, including Terence Blanchard, Herbie Hancock, Albert "Tootie" Heath, Matt Wilson, Carlos Santana, Stefon Harris, Stevie Wonder, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Tom Harrell, Roy Hargrove, Gretchen Parlato, and many others. He is a graduate of Berklee College of Music and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance.

The engaging and elegant, seventy-eight year old Savannah, Georgia-born, Harlem-raised drummer Ben Riley - a mainstay in Thelonious Monk's magnificent sixties combos and a founding member of the monk repertory ensemble Sphere - takes a giant step forward as a leader on his Sunnyside recording, Grown Folks Music, featuring tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery. Backed by bassist Ray Drummond and guitarists Avi Rothbard and Freddie Bryant, this piano-less quartet grooves on seven songs associated with the famed Monk playbook.

Good things come to those who wait. Those waiting for the debut recording of drummer/composer Johnathan Blake, an important part of the New York jazz community as an adept accompanist and collaborator, should be completely satisfied with his new CD the Eleventh Hour (Sunnyside, Feb. 28, 2012). The program of forward leaning originals and two fantastic covers was performed by an impressive cast, including keyboardist Kevin Hayes, bassist Ben Street, saxophonists Jaleel Shaw, Tim Warfield and Mark Turner, along with special guests trumpeter Tom Harrell, harmonica player Gr�goire Maret and pianist Robert Glasper.

Davy Mooney is New Orleans born but now resides in Brooklyn, NY. Perrier Street is a gumbo of jazz, folk, rock & blues!

Aru�n Ortiz, "the latest Cuban wunderkind to arrive in the United States" (BET Jazz), hit the ground running when he came on the American jazz scene in 2003. a former classically trained violist and pianist, this Santiago de Cuba native's sound is as marked by the influence of the contemporary classical composers such as Schoenberg, Ravel, and Copland as by traditional Afro Cuban sounds and jazz greats Bud Powell, Art Tatum, and Thelonious Monk. Ballet music but all Cuban flavored jazz.

A fine pianist who is quite literate (and even wrote What Jazz Is, a book on jazz that focused on the Young Lions), Jonny King has strong potential for the future. He started playing piano when he was nine (Earl Hines and Teddy Wilson were early influences) and within a few years as a teenager he was already playing some gigs in New York clubs. In addition to his music career, King graduated from Princeton and Harvard Law School and has been an attorney at a copyright practice!

In 1999 guitarist/composer/singer/arranger Joel Harrison relocated to New York City from the West Coast, where the multi-talented musician spent years leading various groups and ensembles, as well as freelancing as a much in-demand session player around the San Francisco area. His electrifying blend of creative jazz, modern classical and ethnic fusion has spawned seven critically lauded albums as well as numerous film and documentary scores.

DIALOGUE