For over 25 years, the Minneapolis based collective, Happy Apple, has delivered it's own enigmatic vision of jazz and improvised music to an adoring cognoscenti of listeners. Though they've found favor from the jazz community at large, the trio of saxophonist Michael Lewis, bassist Erik Fratzke, and drummer Dave King remains a band of outsiders, three independent personalities with eclectic tastes and styles providing music with an obtuse Midwestern charm.

Mostly known for their electric live performances, Happy Apple has been a hard beast to capture on record. Though they recorded frequently in the early 2000s, the members admit they never truly captured their "real" band sound. So, when Happy Apple decided to record after a long hiatus, they decided to get it right. "New York CD" is the recording that the band agrees finally captures the essence of Happy Apple. The music they recorded included pieces that had been regular parts of their sets for 20 years along with brand new compositions, written especially for the recording sessions. Most of the pieces were done in first takes and without overdubs.

Written through the lens of an immaginari girl named Margie, So We Speak Explorer teme of vulnerabilit�, resiliente, and strength. A story of transformation unfolds as Margie dedicatesherself to following Nati (Korean for butterfly) and learn to adapt, indur, and await her time to flyer. So we Speaf emerge from a process of reflection on my identity as musician, woman, and human in this franti world. In one sense, this album serves as a current self-portrait of the moment I am living in. Buy it's also a deliberate declaration of hope for those of us who challenge norma, blend culture, and voice our truths. This album is not just about a female artist - it's about my journey of sorpassino expectations and reshaping the narrative of what it means to be a strong, multifaceted artist today. -Eugenia Choe

Things of beauty can come from the release of one's traumas. Harry Skoler experienced the loss of a friend as a teenager, a passing that deeply impacted the clarinetist/composer and left an indelible mark on his person. On his new recording, Red Brick Hill, Skoler revisits the past and delivers the story instrumentally with an incredible array of musicians in an effort to cleanse his soul, keep his friend's legacy alive, and to, hopefully, help others with such burdens through the gift of music. Skoler grew up in a house his father designed at the top of a red brick hill. Though there weren't many children in their neighborhood, Skoler was able to develop deep friendships with a young girl named Nancy and a quiet, serious boy named Bill. When they were teenagers, Bill moved away from the hill but first brought Skoler a box of his childhood toys and trinkets. It wasn't until later that Skoler was walking with a friend and saw Bill's mother pulling into his friend's house. Curious as to her appearance, Skoler asked his friend about Bill. His friend told Skoler that he wasn't supposed to tell him anything. Pressing the friend, Skoler found out that Bill was dead. Running back to his house in a frenzy, Skoler dove into the past weeks' newspapers, only to find an article relating Bill's suicide. Devastated, Skoler received no solace from his parents and found that they had even asked that others not tell him of Bill's demise. The loss and the actions of those around him had lasting effects on Skoler. It was only through making music that he was able to deal with the loss and feel the spirit of his lost friend. Through time and with help, Skoler was able to confront his emotions and find appropriate outlets to express them. In 2022 Skoler began work on a new project and it was producer Walter Smith III who encouraged Skoler's decision to take the story and work it into a musical narrative. In August 2022, Skoler and his son went to New York City to record the album at Sear Sound. Prior to the session, Skoler told the story to which his son replied that Skoler should tell the ensemble that he and Smith had assembled, which included vibraphonist Joel Ross, bassist Dezron Douglas, and drummer Johnathan Blake, the story. The musicians listened to the story with empathy and promised to tell the tale through their playing. The recording evidences the ensemble's empathy, as the music highlights the ensemble's connection throughout. The recording is programmatic. Skoler first introduces his first friendship with "NanCee," a bittersweet theme song for his dear friend led by Ross's resonant vibes. The lovely ballad "Last Star, Last Night" reflects on how even though there are millions of stars in the sky, like people on earth, it may be that star's last moment, as Bill probably realized it was near his last moment when no one else could. The piece also features a touching guest appearance by pianist Christian Sands. "ascent" is the first of three duo pieces. This duet with Douglas represents Bill's walk up the hill with the box to deliver to Skoler. Marquis Hill adds his emotive trumpet to Skoler's strident clarinet frontline on the emotionally diminished "blue, mostly," while "abyss" is a thoughtful duo between Skoler and Blake, interpreting Skoler's frantic run up the snow-covered red brick hill upon learning of his friend's shocking loss.

Estrellero 2 is the follow-up album to "Estrellero" released in July 2023.

It is accepted for creative artists to tug on the reigns of the expected. In the worlds of jazz and contemporary music, musicians are instructed to respect the conventional parameters of the genre they learn. But it is for the musicians to push the limits of the rules in order to make new discoveries. The trio of Leo Genovese, Demian Cabaud, and Marcos Cavaleiro take such an unbridled approach to music making on their new recording, Estrellero.

Argentinean pianist Leo Genovese met his fellow countryman, bassist Demian Cabaud, while they both attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Their twenty-year friendship has never diminished, even as Cabaud settled in Porto, Portugal. It was in Portugal, that the duo met drummer Marcos Cavaleiro, a perfect musical match to Genovese and Cabaud.

The three musicians have developed a deep trust born from years of camaraderie, a feeling that brings comfort on the bandstand through their intuitive approach to group performance. The rarity of their meetings was magnified by the pandemic, leaving the triumvirate dreaming of getting together again. Once the travel restrictions were lifted, Genovese made sure to return to his friends in Portugal to perform and record. Genovese and Cabaud were introduced to the idea of the estrellero by an Argentinean gaucho friend, Orlando Vera Cruz. An estrellero is a horse that can never be fully trained and, even when harnessed, continues to pull away, typically looking up toward the stars. The musicians found this a perfect metaphor for their musical journey, always being tethered to the rules of music but trying to look beyond and race ahead.

Like Matt Slocum's six previous albums, Lion Dance is a work of high distinction. On his first investigation of the tenor saxophone-bass-drumset trio format, in the company of world-class practitioners Walter Smith III and Larry Grenadier, Slocum - less widely known than his bandmates - operates fully as a peer, surefootedly navigating them through five original pieces whose subtle challenges enhance freedom of expression, and three Jazz and American Songbook standards addressed more or less straight-no-chaser. The end result can stand in the same conversation as equilateral triangle oriented recordings by such 21st century avatars of the genre as Fly Trio, a long-standing unit with Grenadier, Mark Turner, and Jeff Ballard; Smith's own "TWIO" outing with bassist Harish Raghavan and Eric Harland; the Bill Stewart Trio with Grenadier and Smith; and the Kendrick Scott Trio with Smith and Reuben Rogers. One reason, Walter Smith suggests, is Slocum's thematic focus, his ability to shape, sculpt, and refine the beats and drumkit tonalities to ensemble imperatives in the heat of the moment. "It seems to me that Matt usually thinks about how things will build," says Smith, who makes his fourth appearance on a Slocum-led project. They've been friends and musical collaborators since both were young aspirants in Los Angeles during the mid-'00s. At the time, Slocum, who'd earned a scholarship to the jazz program at the University of Southern California, was studying with Peter Erskine, and gigging with luminaries-to-be like Gerald Clayton, Massimo Biolcati, Dayna Stephens, and Taylor Eigsti, all participants on his earlier records. "Different sections have a different feel, a specific beat, but it's more the song's overall arc, the shape of the music, than the details of what chord or melody note goes here or there," Smith adds. "Matt has the overall picture in view, which is the mark of a good bandleader, because you don't get deeply into the weeds." "Gerald initially told me about Matt," says Grenadier, who played with Clayton and Slocum on the 2019 release Sanctuary, and on the critically acclaimed With Love and Sadness (2022), in quartet with Smith and Eigsti. "He gets a great sound on the drums, and he knows how to tune them and complement the other instruments. His compositions leave you a lot of space, less complex than the current generation of jazz writing, more like the classic writers of the 20th century - one-page charts, for the most part." "Matt is melodically driven; he writes stuff that's singable and makes sense and hooks you," adds producer Jerome Sabbagh, who has led six of his own tenor-bass-drum trios as of this writing. "I'd describe his sound as intentional and very balanced. James Farber, the engineer, who places a mic on every single part of the drumkit, told me that Matt's thorough conception made it easy - James didn't have to do much else than capture what Matt was doing." In Slocum's view, the harmonic possibilities of the sax trio environment "decomplexified" the writing process. In the months leading up to the December 2023 session, he worked out repertoire with Smith and Grenadier, eliciting their input on "what would work, what wouldn't work, and what would work if it had revisions, so we could zero in on what the material would be." That's one reason why the proceedings transpired at such a synchronous level of inspiration after one rehearsal, with all members recording in the same room, direct-to-two-track analog tape, eliminating the safety net provided when punch-ins or solo redos are possible. "I've always wanted to do a sax trio record," Slocum says. "I feel it's a benchmark for drummers - for saxophonists, too. -excerpts from the liner notes by Ted Panken.

Glenn Zaleski's trio is an ideal example of a group that holds true to jazz traditions while trying to add something more. Originally from Massachusetts, Zaleski has become a notable leader and sideman in New York City's jazz scene over the past decade and a half. He decided that it would be ideal to record the trio, as their performances had felt amazing and rewarded the audience and band alike. In deciding on the material, Zaleski chose to continue his tradition of honoring his contemporaries and friends by adding their music to the band's book along with his originals and better-known standards.

The program begins with a bouncy take on Harry Warren's "I Wish I Knew," this version based on an arrangement by Adam Kolker. "Two Days" was the first tune Zaleski ever wrote, but he shelved it initially. He began to reinvestigate the piece over the past few years, finding it's ingredients leading to interesting group interpretation. Touring with singer Cécile McLorin Salvant introduced Zaleski to the singer's original, "Monday." The trio presents the piece's first instrumental interpretation with poise and taste. Horace Silver's "Opus de Funk" is a jaunty tune that the pianist fell in love with after hearing the wailing version on Milt Jackson's album, Opus de Jazz. Zaleski's gorgeous ballad "Wayne" was written while the pianist was in Paris shortly after the legendary saxophonist/composer passed away. The uplifting, playful quality of the title tune is balanced by a dream-like mysterious quality. On Charlie Parker's "Passport," presents challenges that the trio handle with verve. The program concludes with Zaleski's favorite ballad, Jimmy McHugh's "I'm In The Mood for Love." The quietly intimate take provides a lovely way to end the album.Ideal jazz performances provide audiences with many things. They can provide joy, surprise, and romance. A great performance should also give a nod to the past while providing glimpses of the future. Glenn Zaleski and his trio deliver their new album, Star Dreams, a view on the modern jazz piano and it's blend of tradition and mystery.

" "Glenn Zaleski has quickly become one of the most important pianists of his generation and it's easy to see why." - All About Jazz

Jeong Lim Yang has collaborated with several notable musicians and bands in New York City since her arrival in 2011. Here are some key associations: Jason Moran: Yang has performed extensively as a sideman with this acclaimed jazz pianist and composer, contributing to various projects and performances. Zodiac Trio: This group features Yang alongside Argentinean pianist Santiago Leibson and drummer Tom Rainey. They have performed at prominent venues like Jazz at Lincoln Center, showcasing their interpretations of jazz standards and original compositions13. Lim Yang Trio: Another ensemble she leads, which focuses on her compositions and arrangements, further establishing her presence in the jazz scene5. Through these collaborations, Jeong Lim Yang has made significant contributions to the vibrant New York jazz community.

The past few decades have seen legendary pianist and composer Denny Zeitlin focus on a few vehicles for his adventurous journeys in music making. Playing solo, with his trio, or in the acoustic-electronic duo with George Marsh have provided ample avenues for exploration, which Zeitlin hopes to provide a wide scope of on his new, varied collection, Panoply.

For nearly 15 years, Zeitlin has released new recordings yearly on Sunnyside Records. These documents highlight the different methods he has centered upon as a leader. Zeitlin's trio that features bassist Buster Williams and drummer Matt Wilson is a seasoned and adventurous ensemble that continues to generate fire in performance. Zeitlin's nearly six-decade long collaboration with drummer/percussionist George Marsh continues to yield extraordinary results, especially as they have continually broadened their color and textural palettes with electronic sounds. Finally, Zeitlin continues to perform solo piano recitals, maintaining his status as one of the foremost solo improvisers and musical interpreters.

For Panoply, Zeitlin has collected unreleased performances from the past decade that highlight his and his musical partners' fantastic command in improvisation regardless of genre or medium. Zeitlin carefully curated this program to provide a sequence that blends acoustic and electronic music which transitions well and let's the music unfold.

The solo piano pieces come from a recording made on December 1, 2012 at the Piedmont Piano Company in Oakland, while the trio recordings were captured live at Mezzrow Jazz Club in New York City from May 3 to 4, 2019. The duo pieces with Marsh were collected over a decade of home recordings at Zeitlin's Double Helix Studio from 2013 to 2023.

The English poet and artist William Blake wrote of the intentionality and originality in art as being demarcated by a "bounding line," meaning that the more "sharp and distinct" the boundaries of the piece are drawn, the more perfect the art. Pianist Greg Reitan took this idea to heart for his new recording, The Bounding Line.

As a composer, Reitan has an appreciation for the work and genius of Aaron Copland. He was honored to have been awarded a residency that enabled him to live and work at Copland's Rock Hill, the composer's home from 1960 until his passing in 1990. The residency provided Reitan an opportunity to refine his work and hone these compositions under Blake's ethos of strong and defined boundaries of style and form. At the end of Reitan's stay, Daro and Koba joined him at Rock Hill for a series of performances featuring works inspired by the residency. Four years later, Reitan reconvened the trio to record the work begun at Rock Hill, along with a handful of thoughtfully chosen but rarely heard covers, in Los Angeles in October 2023.

Pianist Noah Haidu sees a certain irony in his current recorded output. "I love composing but improvisation has always been my greatest passion. When I started releasing music in 2011 I relied on my songwriting to make a unique artistic statement, but I've come full circle and realized that finding my own voice on a simple, unadorned standard is a rare and necessary endeavor." Haidu embraced that endeavor on his 2023 release Standards, and on Standards II, due out April 12, 2024 on Sunnyside Records. The new album is a breathtaking masterpiece featuring Haidu with two of the music's most esteemed players, Buster Williams on bass and Billy Hart on drums. "With Standards II, I've committed to performing with my own Standards Trio as a regular part of my touring schedule, " Haidu says. "I'm grateful for the opportunity to build a voice in this canon, and for the amazing response from audiences on our recent tours. While I'm still composing my own music and continuing with various projects outside of the American Songbook repertoire, my Standards Trio is an important statement for me and an integral part of my identity as a musician."

In some way, each and every one of us is searching for sanctuary. In certain cases, that search reflects a vital need - a home, a country, a safe haven. For those of us fortunate to have those crucial needs met, sanctuary comes to mean something more personal and metaphorical - the embrace of loved ones, a cherished memory, a quiet space in nature. On Sanctuary, their extraordinary second album as co-leaders, violinist Jason Anick and pianist Jason Yeager explore the vast spectrum of what the concept can mean through the medium of their own personal sanctuary - the music they create. Due out October 11, 2024 via Sunnyside Records, Sanctuary builds on the foundation set by the pair's previous outing, 2017's United. That album marked the culmination of a nearly lifelong friendship and collaboration; Anick and Yeager met for the first time at a local jam session as teens in the Boston area. Since then, both have continued to collaborate while establishing flourishing careers as composers, performers and educators, with both serving on the faculty at Berklee College of Music. In advance of the album release, on June 28, 2024, the duo will publish Yeager's composition "Nublado" (Spanish for "overcast"), a single culled from the sessions that yielded Sanctuary. Featuring leading trumpet titan Jason Palmer, "Nublado" will be available exclusively as a digital single on all streaming platforms. Where United represented a convergence of their distinct voices, with each contributing individual pieces, Sanctuary is a melding of the two, with more than half of the tracks credited to both composers. In addition, the debut's rotating cast of musicians has settled into a core quintet, with Anick and Yeager joined by trumpeter and flugelhorn player Billy Buss, bassist Greg Loughman and drummer Mike Connors, with guest appearances by trumpet great Jason Palmer, tenor saxophonist Edmar Col�n and cellist Naseem Alatrash. Sanctuary is a direct result of not only the personal evolution that Anick and Yeager have undergone over the last several years, but of the times in which it was created. The project was interrupted by the pandemic, providing time for the co-creators to further develop the music they'd prepared for their cancelled April 2020 recording date. At the same time, headlines around the globe have been filled with stories of refugee crises and immigration battles, bringing home the profound importance of the core idea. "We had two goals at the outset of this album, " Anick explains. "First, we wanted to develop a cohesive music from our shared voices by composing together. Second, we really wanted to reflect the things that were going on in the world around us. The central theme coalesced around sanctuary, because at the end of the day it's what we're all trying to find." Time and memory both play important roles in the narrative that unfolds over the course of the album. Opener "Futures Past" muses on the way that the future we imagine for ourselves can change in a moment as the result of present events. "When something catastrophic happens, " Yeager explains, "you're not only losing your present circumstance but you're potentially losing the dreams, hopes and fantasies you had for the future. The tune wrestles with the loss of the futures that now only exist as memories."

The relationship between Alex Harding and Lucian Ban has been long and fruitful. Their combination of elements of improvisational music native to their homelands, namely the United States and Romania, have helped the pair develop a unique musical language that transcends the expectations of the jazz genre. Their new recording, Blutopia, highlights their attuned rapport while allowing their music to unfold with their own singular ensemble. Pianist Lucian Ban arrived in New York City from Romania to study at the New School in the early 2000s. As he first began to immerse himself into the local scene, Ban was fortunate to hear baritone saxophonist Alex Harding. The two hit it off immediately and formed a fast friendship leading to musical collaboration. This led to Ban providing a handful of songs for Harding and Harding becoming an essential voice on Ban's debut album, Somethin' Holy (CIMP, 2002). It was Harding's unique voice that attracted Ban. His heartfelt and blues-drenched baritone sax playing lent well to Ban's open-minded and improvisatory approach to music. Harding's visceral style lent an edge and authenticity to their music, a sound and feeling anchored in the blues that Ban came to the States to try to discover and absorb. Their communion was a true celebration of the spirit, as both found something in the other to help free their spirit in performance. Harding was essential in introducing the young pianist to the luminaries of the jazz scene, including the incredible tuba players Bob Stewart and Howard Johnson. These relationships have been long lasting and essential to the pair's musical development. As the years have gone by, the duo has been growing and evolving. The pair's most recent release was a duo album, entitled Dark Blue (Sunnyside, 2019), which showcased their inspiring level of communication in a transparent setting. The past few decades have provided Ban and Harding a number of new regular musical partners with whom they have established an equal level of rapport, most notably Mat Maneri, a truly unique voice on viola. On Blutopia, Harding and Ban have decided to bring together an ensemble that bridges their two musical worlds even further by including old friends Bob Stewart, Brandon Lewis, and Maneri. Of course, Stewart is well known as one of the most heralded improvising tuba players. Drummer Lewis remains a longtime collaborator and a regular on the New York jazz scene. The quintet came together to record Blutopia at The Bunker Studio in Brooklyn on August 29, 2023. The music that they created leans into the blues, in feeling, sound, and color. The tones are mysterious yet rooted. The tuba speaking to early traditional sounds of jazz but Ban's use of Fender Rhodes and Maneri's electronic effects giving a contemporary, Afro-Futurist meets new music tint.

The pianist and composer Holman Alvarez was born in Barranquilla and raised in Cali - Colombia. He enjoys finding connections between things. This kind of thinking has allowed him to use in his music ideas coming from several influences: Colombian and Latin American music, Jazz, classic and contemporary music, salsa, and free improvisation.

In November 2024 Sunnyside Records released his new album called Hidden Objects along with NY-based musicians Adam O'Farril, Drew Gress, and Satoshi Takeishi. Since 2022 he has been playing actively in the NYC scene along with musicians John Benitez, Sean Conly, Billy Mintz, Michael Veal, Rachel Therrien among others. Collaboration opportunities: Moving to New York has allowed Alvarez to collaborate with renowned NYC-based musicians. His upcoming album "Hidden Objects" features collaborations with local artists like Adam O'Farril, Drew Gress, and Satoshi Takeishi.

The album title, Disciplinary Architecture, comes from a twentieth century architectural concept of influencing public behavior through design of public spaces, like putting spikes on benches to prevent sleeping or ridges on curbs to discourage skateboarding.

Though it would seem from this title that Pavolka would be setting up roadblocks for his ensemble, he readily affords them vehicles for their dynamic performances, which were finally recorded on May 31, 2022. The recording presents the pieces in the order they were recorded, usually in a single take, lending it a very visceral, live feeling.

As drummer Alex Kautz sees it, there are two parts to his musical brain: the Brazilian side, developed while growing up in São Paolo, and the jazz side, which came later, opening his ears to a wide world of musical possibilities. Those two approaches developed separately for Kautz and were initially fueled by different inspirations. Upon moving to New York City in 2007, though, he found a musical community that encouraged both, soon pushing him to new heights.

On Where We Begin, the drummer's debut recording as a bandleader, Kautz has assembled a band that includes saxophonist John Ellis, pianist Helio Alves, bassist Joe Martin, and his frequent collaborator Chico Pinheiro on guitar. Vocalist Magos Herrera-with whom Kautz has worked extensively-serves as co-producer and contributes vocals on two tracks. Together, the ensemble explores the musical common ground between New York's jazz and Brazilian musical communities.