jazz2love

    New Release:  What Next? from Russ Anixter and The Hippie Big Band   Label: RussAnixter.com Release Date: August 7, 2026 Artist Website: https://russanixter.com Orchestrator, arranger and bandleader Russ Anixter presents his second endeavor with the Hippie Big band, entitled What Next?   The 11 piece ensemble of brass, woodwinds, percussion, drums, guitar, bass, along with Danny Louis on organ, and Bill Hayes on vibes, xylo and toys, creates an energetic collection.  Retooling and improvising through such jazz and pop classics as Paul McCartney and John Lennon's "I Saw Her Standing There," Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia's "Shakedown Street," and a mashup of Led Zepplin's "No Quarter" with Miles Davis's "Bitches Brew," Anixter demonstrates a modern ingenuity that breathes new life into vintage material.  The marching band cadence of Dr. John Creaux and Mac Rebennack's "I Walk on Guilded Splinters" is tweaked with ...

  New Release:  Songs From Thin Air from Scott Sadlon Release Date: January 28, 2026 Label: Buddha Boy Records Website:  https://scottsadlon1.bandcamp.com/album/songs-from-thin-air https://www.timlefebvremusic.com/ https://www.racheleckroth.com/ Eclectic, abstract, and cinematic, drummer Scott Sadlon collaborates with keyboardist Rachel Eckroth and bassist Tim Lefebvre on his 2026 effort Songs From Thin Air .  Harmonic forms are discovered during the process of performing rather than being formally structured, opening the creators to formulating avenues and fluidity on the spur of the moment as each artist responds to the others movements and interjections.  The outcome is music built from the creators listening to one another as much as performing collectively.  The press release states, "Songs From Thin Air was recorded in June 2022 at Saltmine Studios in Mesa, Arizona, capturing a single-session meeting of three musicians drawing on decades of musical an...

  New Release:  Hard Bop: For The Record from Greg Chako Label: Mint400 Records Release Date: September 4, 2026 Website:  https://gregchako.com Hard Bop: For The Record is the 25th offering from composer-leader-guitarist Greg Chako, a piano-less two-horn quintet recording that places Chako's guitar at the center of the ensemble while demonstrating his commitment to the hard bop language and traditional jazz idioms.  Inspired by the classic quintets of Horace Silver and Art Blakey, the album features shards of swing alongside hard bop, blues, and chillout jazz, most notable in the tribute tune "Bop for Bud," paying homage to pianist-composer Bud Powell.  Chako's improvised thrumming on the guitar is embellished by the frilly tooling of Brooks Giles's saxophone on "Mr. Higgins," a nod to drummer Billy Higgins that is keeled by the steady pulse of David Lloyd's bass and Alex Merk's drumming, while Spencer Mark's lyrical phrasing on the trombone...

  New Release:  Sea Spell from Jeff Rupert Quartet Release Date:  June 26, 2026 Label:  Rupe Media Website:    https://www.facebook.com/JeffRupertSax/ https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxg1Yv6cuyD5f8AaZdfvSlALbKqXInpKm Smooth jazz tenor saxophonist Jeff Rupert leads his quartet on a blissful voyage along his 2026 installment Sea Spell from Rupe Media.  Joining him are Richard Drexler on piano, Ben Kramer on bass, and Marty Morell on drums.  The sumptuous raptures of his sax elevate the senses in tracks like "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most" and "A Breeze Through the Keys," inducing waves of calm in numbers like "Blue Steel" and the title track.  The quartet shines on the Latin swing shimmies of "Mambo Inn," and shifts to a ballroom waltz through "Polka Dots and Moonbeams," illuminating a romantic mood. The swinging pulse of "Orca-Stration" has an undercurrent of jumping blues beats, and softens to a caressing bree...

  New Release:  In Motion from Jeremy Green  Release Date:  July 17, 2026 Label:  Independent Website:  https://jeremygreenguitar.com/ Canadian songwriter-leader-guitarist Jeremy Green bridges improvised jazz surges with power rock riffs and soul-funk grooves on his 2026 project In Motion , loaded with all original material written by Green.  His chords soar while intermittently amplified by additional guitarists: Mark Lettieri, Mike Stern, Tim Lefebvre, Rich Brown, Oz Noy, Jared James Nichols, and Allen Hinds.  The arrangements are securely moored by Keith Carlock's pulsating drumbeats, sporadically infused with Chase Baird's billowing saxophone curls, Jimmy Haslip's jaunty bass pumps, Moto Fukushima's animated bass romps on the track "Queen West," and Will Lee's vibrating bass tremors on the title track.  Green's tune "The 55" is a tribute to the now closed Manhattan club 55 Bar, filled with personalized musings by Green, Mike Stern, and Ti...

    New Release:  Let's Take A Trip from Anthony Caceres Release Date:  February 27, 2026 Label:  Jig In G Website:  www.anthonycaceres.com Jazz crooner, bass player and leader Anthony Caceres serenades audiences with a vocal prowess reminiscent of Wayne Newton and a swinging strut reflective of Michael Feinstein.  His 2026 release Let's Take A Trip shows his affinity for swing.  Accompanied by Tamir Hendelman on piano, Jostein Gulbrandsen on guitar and Joe Farnsworth on drums, Caceres's vocals drive the melodies while his performance on the upright bass subtly brushes across the tracks.  "A Slow Hot Wind," written by Henry Mancini and Norman Gimbel, displays Caceres's sensitive vocalese as a penetrative narrator.  His poignant vocal inflections along "I Just Dropped By To Say Hello," a Johnny Hartman gem, is laden with emotional depth.  Caceres's retooling of Depeche Mode's hit song "Strange Love" is refashioned with swing jazz tr...