jazz2love

  New Release:  Spooky Jazz Vol. 3 from Hannah Gill Label:  Turtle Bay Records Release Date:  August 22, 2025 Website:  https://www.hannahgillmusic.com Whimsical and sweetly pulsating, vocalist Hannah Gill dishes up a classic jazz cuisine with Halloween themed hor d'oeuvres whipped up in a swinging blues-pop palette on her 2025 release Spooky Jazz Vol. 3 .  Opening with the bluesy rockabilly grooves of "Spider in the Web," Gill spins a gossamer-like sheath around the listener, toying and teasing with her bewitching vocals.  Moving into the chic swagger of "Old Devil Moon," she basks in the swinging rhythm, and continues with a smooth burlesque resonance purring along "The Richest Guy in the Graveyard," cracking into a ragtime flair on the outro.  She has fun with these tunes, wrapping her vocals around the trotting stride of Gordon Webster's keys and the staggered beats of Philip Ambuel's bass and Ben Zweig's drums.  Rounding out her band i...

  New Release:  Very Early:  Remembering Bill Evans from Jim Witzel Label:  Joplin & Sweeney Records Release Date: August 15, 2025 Website:  https://www.jimwitzelmusic.com Jim Witzel's 4th album, Very Early:  Remembering Bill Evans is a memorial to the works of pianist Bill Evans, performed on guitar by Witzel.  His slant on Evans's material draws out the reflective and relaxing qualities of the music.  Teaming up with pianist Phil Aaron, bass player Dan Feiszli, and drummer Jason Lewis, Witzel merges collective improvisation with introspective musings and straight-ahead jazz elements found in Evans's music.  Inspired by Evans's recording Sunday at the Village Vanguard, Witzel recreates a relaxing Sunday afternoon vibe in his recompositions of Evans's material as he, Aaron and Lewis trade motifs and choruses.  Their harmonies move like poetry in motion standing out on "Israel" with the swinging stride of the rhythm section collabora...

  Treasury, Volume 2 from Terry Waldo Label:  Turtle Bay Records Release Date:  May 30, 2025 Website:  https://terrywaldo.com The foxtrot, the Charleston, the Lindy Hop, and the Collegiate Shag are all social dances that emerged out of ragtime, Dixieland bluegrass, and swing music.  Pianist and bandleader Terry Waldo is a jazz historian, who specializes in the music and dances of such turn of the century-Prohibition Era trademarks.  Audiences will find samples of this musical stock on his 2025 recording Treasury, Vol. 2 , as well as on his podcast edition of Waldo's radio show "This is Ragtime."  Subsequently, Waldo has a book about this stock, by the same title as the radio series, published by Jazz at Lincoln Center.  The music on his recording sizzles, soars, and shimmers, grilling a bubbly fare of Dixieland boot-tapping hoots, ragtime blues and swinging romps.  His rendition of "Wabash Bash" features the ruminating wails of Jerron Paxton'...

  Album:  Live at Birdland  Artist:  High Society New Orleans Jazz Band Label:  Turtle Bay Records Release Date:  September 18, 2025 Website:  https://www.conalfowkes.com Invoking merriment and laughter from beginning to end, the High Society New Orleans Jazz Band poured it on thick and steadfast during their live shows at Birdland Jazz Club in Manhattan.  Recorded during their performances on August 22 and 29, 2024 for Live at Birdland, their production is released by Turtle Bay Records.  From Dixieland jazz to ragtime, and from Tin Pan Alley swing to vaudeville showtunes, the band demonstrates the high octane of Jelly Roll Morton, the crisp synchronicity of Bix Beiderbecke, and the buoyancy and vigorous improvising on a melody reflective of Louis Armstrong.  Co-led by  Conal Fowkes on piano and Simon Wettenhall on trumpet and occasional vocals, the band is filled out by Kevin Dorn on drums, Josh Dunn on banjo and guitar, Harvey Ti...

Elizabeth Shapiro, the founder, lead singer, and frontwoman of Lizzy and the Triggermen, was infatuated with Swing Era music and its glamorous artists while growing up.  What she did not realize is how swing music has become a global phenomenon in present day circles.  Serendipitously, she is relishing being a part of it. She reveals, "I have always enjoyed listening to music from the Swing Era - but I had no idea that swing music was so alive and well in modern times until I was putting together my band." "In search of an arranger," she recalls, "I went to hear a band play at a little dive bar in Burbank that hosted swing music every Monday.  As I pulled up to what looked like a sports bar, I was shocked to find inside a room full of young people in vintage outfits dancing their hearts out to a super swinging band. It felt like being transported to another time."  "Turns out," she illuminates, "there is this whole vibrant scene of swing da...

  Album:  New Jazz Standards Vol 7:  The Music of Carl Saunders  Artist:  Marina Pacowski Label:  Summit Records Release Date:  May 9, 2025 Website:  https://marinapacowski.com French vocalist-pianist Marina Pacowski pays tribute to her friend, composer and trumpet player Carl Saunders on her 2025 recording New Jazz Standards Vol. 7:  The Music of Carl Saunders.   Performing Saunder's material with Pacowski on vocals are:  Roy McCurdy on drums, John Clayton on bass,  Josh Nelson on piano, Rickey Woodard on saxophones, Ron Stout on trumpet, Larry Koonse on guitar, Ken Wild on bass, Scott Whitfield on trombone, and special guests: John Proulx on vocals and Ken Peplowski on clarinet.   A classic jazz crooner and scat improviser, Pacowski keeps the melodies focused and palliative, projecting a consolatory voicing, particularly prevalent in "Feels Like Home" as her vocals rise and fall congruent with the palpitating beats ...

  Words Underlined from Patrick Smith Label:  Lit Soc Records Release Date:  December 12, 2025 Website:  https://www.patricksmithsax.com https://litsocrecords.bandcamp.com Saxophonist-composer Patrick Smith plays with a soulful script and unwavering determination, displaying a sensitivity that is penetrative and an instinct that moves in sync with his collaborators.  His 2025 program Words Underlined is an 11-track disc that evokes introspection, willpower and solace.  The mournful wails of his sax construct an ecclesiastical edifice for "Hazel," contrasting the fiery blazes roaring across "Banff" kettled by guitarist Dan Pitt and drummer Lowell Whitty, and ignited by Smith's belting saxophone howls.  He plays a swinging ragtime-like shuffle across "I've Found A New Nemesis," nimbly moving into a hollering squeal.  Smith halos "As Years Go By" with amorous, cool jazz flutters that evoke reflection and solace as his sax soars and ebbs, sl...

  Self-Titled Release from Arid Landscapes Label:  Signal Chain Records Release Date:  September 19, 2025  Website:  https://aridlandscapes.bandcamp.com/album/arid-landscapes https://www.dan-pitt.com https://www.noahfranche-nolanmusic.com The self-titled release from Arid Landscapes, comprised of Canadian musicians Dan Pitt on guitar and electronics and Noah Franche-Nolan on piano, synthesizers, and electronics, is a compilation of voluminous and celestial excursions.  Their glacial-like soundscapes are malleable structures, fluidly mutating and traveling like ghostly shadows.  Employing techno and electronica tools, the duo craft a subtle rhythmic beat in the undertow of the sonic pulsations.  An art form reminiscent of the esoteric emanations and weightless formations shaped by Philip Glass and Brian Eno.  A combination of earthly and otherworldly communications transpire through "Weathered," stringing repetitive robotic-like phrases, ambie...

  New Release:  LateNights from Brad Schrader Label: Self-Released Release Date: November 21, 2025 Website:  www.latenightsjazz.com After hours jazz with a candlelight ambience is what vocalist Brad Schrader offers for his 2025 self-released LateNights , bringing together "a cross-section of standards – and not-so-standards – with fresh arrangements to make things easy and interesting. Our superb band of jazz veterans builds a chill groove under and around the vocals, drawing the listener in to the track,” explains Schrader in the press release.  Classic jazz at its most amicable pipes through the tracks, creating a fireside atmosphere through "I Wish I Knew" and transitioning into a light, swinging rhythm along "It's Alright with Me." a signature piece by Cole Porter.  His sensitive articulation is reminiscent of vocalist Mark Winkler, intimating thoughts and images to the listener with poignant pauses and emotive vocal inflections.   His interpretati...

  Live at Joe's Pub from Lizzy & the Triggermen Label:  Self-Released Release Date:  August 14, 2025 Website:  https://lizzyandthetriggermen.com/home Lizzy & the Triggermen is a 10-piece indie swing band who came into 2025 with the release of their live album, Live at Joe's Pub , recorded at the New York City venue in April 2024.  The live session follows their debut EP Good Songs for Bad Times in 2020.  Helmed by vocalist Elizabeth "Lizzy" Shapiro, she is accompanied by Christopher Dawson on piano, Bobby Hawk on fiddle/violin, Luca Pina on guitar, Gary Wicks on upright bass, Anthony Ty Johnson on drums, Nate Ketner on alto clarinet, Ricky Alexander on tenor and baritone clarinet, Gordon Au on trumpet, and John Allred on trombone.  Their 23-track collection pairs jazz favorites like "Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead" and "Everything's Coming Up Roses" alongside original tunes including the sensual curves of "I Know a Man" and the...

  New Release: Alchemy from Wayne Alpern Label:  Henri Elkan Music Release Date:  December 19, 2025 Website:  https://www.waynealpern.com Endowed with the gift to set poetry to music reminiscent of Tchaikovsky, Mozart and Stravinsky, compounded by the acumen to interlace, juxtapose, and coalesce improvised components with the instincts of Broadway Theatre's perennial trailblazers like George and Ira Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein, composer-visionist-stylist Wayne Alpern continues to flex his creative imagination and infatuate audiences with his twelfth musical album Alchemy on his label Henri Elkan Music.  A collection of a dozen pieces of original music for woodwind quintet, the recording is produced by Judith Sherman and performed by the Grammy-winning Imani Winds, whose members are: Brandon Patrick George (flute), Toyin Spellman-Diaz (oboe), Kevin Newton (French horn), Mark Dover (Clarinet), and Monica Ellis (bassoon).  The frilly winds circling across ...

  So Do It from Jimbo Ross Label:  Bodacious Records Release Date: October 17, 2025  Website:  https://bodaciousrecords.com/about-jimbo-ross Live performer and viola player, Jimbo Ross, builds his longevity with his 2025 offering So Do It .  Opening the recording with Kurt Weill’s “Speak Low,” Ross pillars the straight ahead, up-tempo jazz groove with a bevy of twists and curves crisscrossing along the melodic structure, keeping it evolving with molten activity.  Ross follows a similar recipe fomenting nimble patterns with his viola, catapulted by the Chattanooga chugging beat bolstering "Twisted Blues," a Wes Montgomery standard.  His interpretation of Lee Morgan’s fan favorite “The Gigolo” is blanketed in earthy textures from the bustling riffs of his viola to the glistening doodles of Stuart Elster on the piano.   From the warm strokes of Joe Gaeta on guitar to the pummeling beats of Ron Wagner on drums and the frothy bounce of Peter Marsh...

  Tatum's Swingin' Session!!! from Shout Section Big Band Label:  Self-Release Release Date:  September 10, 2025 Website:  https://www.shoutsection.com/albums Shout Section Big Band (SSBB) is an 18-piece ensemble dedicated to big band swing, Great American Songbook classics, and pop songs from multiple decades, performing for audiences in the Chicago area and throughout the Midwest.  Tatum's Swingin's Session!!! is the band’s fifth album, a 14-song assortment showcasing vocalist Tatum Langley, a Chicago-based singer and band member for several years.  The repertoire encompasses classic favorites by such luminaries as Cole Porter, Cy Coleman, The Carpenters, and The Beatles.  Joining Langley is the band's founder and conductor Brett Dean on trumpet, Ben Crino on guitar, and Nick Roach on trombone, along with trumpeters Andrew Egizio, Will Schmalbeck, and John Dorhauer, and saxophonists Ted Holtz, Bill Rank, Andy Schlinder, Michael Kennedy, and Jimmy Fa...

  Multi-lingual jazz vocalist Sacha Boutros reimagines 100 years of popular music by French and American composers on her 2025 effort Paris After Dark .   Demonstrating her flare for jazz, blues, soul, adult pop, and swing, Boutros shares her interpretation of tunes taken from the Great American Songbook as well as from classic French pop catalogs, singing alternately in French and English with a little Italian.  The 10-track collection is Boutros's fifth full-length album and the second in a series of After Dark recordings, initiated by New York After Dark in 2013, and soon to be followed by Las Vegas After Dark and Mexico After Dark .  Each recording shows her fondness for these cities, representing their spirit at night with music heard in the cafés, clubs, taxis, and on the streets.  This latest addition to the series gives the listener an impression of Paris at night with its smooth cocktail-imbued ambiences and the refined textures of Boutros's voca...

  So Many Memories from Loren Schoenberg and his Jazz Orchestra Label:  Turtle Bay Records Release Date: November 7, 2025 Website:  https://www.lorenschoenbergjazz.com Recalling the Big Band era of the later half of the 1930's, bandleader-tenor saxophonist-pianist Loren Schoenberg and his 15-piece Jazz Orchestra recapture the melodic luster, harmonic elegance, and radiant opulence of speakeasy, Post-World War I, Post-Prohibition Age, Café Society jazz on their compilation So Many Memories.   Having served for 40 years overseeing the Benny Goodman Archives at Yale University and a longtime Juilliard jazz history professor, Schoenberg mints a selection of nostalgic tunes from yesteryear, encouraging listeners to delve into America's memory bank.  The 16-track collection features previously unheard arrangements penned from 1936-39 by swing era composer/arranger Eddie Sauter, and created for bandleader and early jazz vibraphonist Red Norvo and his wife, singer Mildr...

  We Had A Moment from Deborah Shulman Label:  Summit Records Release Date:  October 24, 2025 Website:  http://deborahshulman.com Deborah Shulman is an evocative singer and penetrative interpreter of jazz and pop standards. For her sixth offering, We Had A Moment , she chose songs that express the irony, grief, grace, and love that she has experienced over the years.  She approaches each song with heart for its message and an emotional connection to its content.  The album evolves like a gripping novel, each track depicting a chapter that examines a pivotal event in the story told, as its narrator moves forward through the forest of life's journey.  Each track stops at a junction in the forest, opening with her remake of Stephen Sondheim’s “Anyone Can Whistle."  Here, the press release claims, "relates to her struggle in the music industry."  The next track “No Moon at All," written by David Mann and Redd Evans, is another junction in the for...

  The Nutcracker Remix from the Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra (CCJO) Label:  Self-Release Release Date:  October 31, 2025 Website:  www.cincinnatijazz.org The Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchesta (CCJO), a 17 piece ensemble, presents The Nutcracker Remix ,  a 12-track album featuring nine reimagined tracks from the Tchaikovsky's timeless suite "The Nutcracker" ballet, alongside three bonus Christmas-themed tracks sung by frequent CCJO collaborator Mandy Gaines, which include the candlelight shimmers of "Christmas Time Is Here," a bluesy soul spin on "Merry Christmas Baby," and the cushiony, lulling swells of Gaines’s original number “Christmas This Year."  Preceding is the orchestra's reinterpretation of Tchaikovsky's original compositions with a jazz twist, incorporating many different styles including bop, western swing, smooth jazz, and jive, all of which are sequenced fluidly and cozily into a roaring rendition of gyrating h...

    New Release:  Kickin' It from Josie Falbo Release Date: October 17, 2025 Label:  Self-Release Website:  https://www.josiefalbo.net https://www.facebook.com/josiefalbo Chicago-based leader and vocal stylist Josie Falbo releases her third solo project Kickin' It , a collage of torchlight blues, Latin swing, Brazilian samba, and rhapsodic scat, sung with an affinity for classic jazz elegance.  Her timbres have a smoky, satiny texture that bodes well with the torchlight repertoire and empowers her to shower "I Get A Kick Out of You" with a ballroom glitz emblematic of Ella Fitzgerald.  Her sense of rhythmic timing is perceptive, aligned with the likes of the listener's favorite vocalists.  Eight of the songs are arranged by Carey Deadman, while the other three tunes are Brazilian in contrast and arranged by Marshall Vente, the host of the Jazz Tropicale program on WDCB radio.  Accompanying Falbo on the recording are:  pianist Jeremy Kahn...

  Skybound from Laurent Ziliani Release Date:  August 18, 2025 Website:  https://www.laurentziliani.com Composer-pianist Laurent Ziliani pays tribute to his friend and violinist Ben Powell on his single "Skybound".  The piece resounds with all the qualities Ziliani discerned in Powell's music, crafting sound passages that move gracefully and effortlessly, filled with warmth and quiet brilliance.  Bringing his vision into physical form are Nicholas Daley on trombones, Peter Erskine on drums, Nick Mancini on vibraphone, Kyle Newmaster on trumpet and flugelhorns, Darius Scheider on guitar, Michael Valerio on upright bass, Leah Zeger on violin, and Zac Zinger on saxophones, alto flute and clarinets with Ziliani on piano.  The instruments glide breezily, choreographed into a panoply of elegant crescendos and balladry sways.  French born, Ziliani is a graduate of Berklee College of Music and now resides in Los Angeles.  His imaginings have a heavenly te...

  Album:  Little Leaf Artist:  Chris McKhool Release Date: November 7, 2025 Label:  Fontana North Website:  https://fiddlefire.com YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/11AvH7YR2OQ One of Canada's most prolific songwriters, singers, and guitarists/violinists, Chris McKhool of Sultans of String and Fiddle Fire notoriety, has emerged with a nature loving, family fun, sing-along medley of catchy jazz folk-induced pop tunes for his 2025 release Little Leaf .  A disc of 11 songs that celebrate planet Earth and the connection all living creatures and their families have to it. Participating in the jamboree are Kevin Laliberté (guitar), Drew Birston (guitar) and Saskia Tomkins (violin and fiddle) from Sultans of String.  In addition, the recording encapsulates appearances by special guests: Marito Marques (drums), Rebecca Campbell (singer), Chris Coole (banjo), Chris and Ken Whiteley (guitars), Doug Banwell (saxophone, flute, and clarinet), Ernie Tollar (woodwind an...

  Reimagine from Jennifer Madsen Label: SingBaby Productions, LLC Release Date: August 1, 2025 Website: https://www.jennifermadsen.com Reimagine , the 2025 recording from vocalist Jennifer Madsen sees her performing with pianist and arranger Brent Edstrom.  Her rhythm section features Clipper Anderson on bass and Mark Ivester on drums.  Also on the roster are GRAMMY-winning guests Sean Jones (trumpet) and Howard Levy (harmonica).  Endowed with a classically feminine compass, her vocal register is rooted in smooth blues hues.  Tender in character and harnessing a bond with tunes that express soul and human vulnerabilities.  She tweaks iconic jazz standards, crafting vocal phrasings that shine light on new facets to familiar tunes, showcasing a classic repertoire with her own melodic sensibilities.  Delivering Fats Waller's fan favorite "Honeysuckle Rose" with a fiery slant, and flooding "Beyond the Sea" with a sentimental longing that tugs at the listen...

  Oblivity from Shawn Purcell  Label:  Origin Records Release Date: September 19, 2025 Website: www.shawnpurcell.com As a composer, arranger, leader, and guitarist, Shawn Purcell original works layer instruments, forming a massive conglomerate that quakes, rattles, simmers, thrusts, roars, and reels on his 2025 project Oblivity.   Performing alongside tenor saxophonist Walt Weiskopf, trombonist Ben Patterson, keyboardist Chris Ziemba, acoustic bass player Jeff Reed, drummer/percussionist Steve Fidyk, and vocalist Darden Purcell, his material jumps out at listeners, calling for their undivided attention.  Indeed, he achieves this feat by utilizing the whirling motion of the horns, the heady throbs of the bass and drums, the cascading doodles engineered by the keys, and Purcell's own percolating strings.  From hardcore bop to soulful blues, swing, and smooth jazz interludes, Purcell's music isn't compacted with signature traits but rather he travels across a ...

  For the Record from Pete Mills Label:  Mighty Ernie Records Release Date:  Street Date: September 5, 2025 Website:  https://petemills.com Tenor saxophonist Pete Mills explores the alchemy that arises when the sax is united with the Hammond B3 Organ, performed by Jon Eshelman on his 2025 offering For the Record .  Joining the pair are Tom Davis on electric guitar and Zach Compston on drums.  There is a feature that is native, innately tribal and spirited in their combination, even homelike, that emerges at the start of the recording with the title track.  Engaged in the moment, the musicians are guided by a stream of conscientiousness radar, navigating by intuition through the melodic progressions, looking to one another to build from, and being each other's catalyst.  The musicians cruise comfortably through the arrangements, making space for the impromptu jaunts steered by the sax and B3 organ.  Keeled by traditional bebop stock, the band ...

  Rose-Anna from Noah Franche-Nolan Label:  Cellar Music Release Date:  November 7, 2025 Website:  https://noahfranche-nolan.bandcamp.com/album/rose-anna Fraught with lofty arias and enigmatic figures that shift from weeping to floating and from surging to puttering, composer-keyboardist Noah Franche-Nolan fascinates listeners with his original compositions on Rose-Anna . The adventurous Vancouver-based artist crafts sonic excursions that dazzle the mind.  Performing with Nolan are Jodi Proznick on bass and Nicholas Bracewell on drums.  The agility displayed by the trio resonates a youthful imagination, and their melodic sensibilities pulsate a predilection for exploration.  The album's press release describes the "title is an homage to Nolan's Acadian great-grandmother, Rose Anna Chassée, a church organist from Grand Falls, New Brunswick."  The tracks personify human stories framed in a spiritual arc, continually affecting the listener as Nolan's...

  Playing Favorites from Chris Rottmayer Label: Pilars Jazz Release Date: October 17, 2025 Website: https://chrisrottmayer.com Playing Favorites is composer-pianist Chris Rottmayer's sixth album as a leader. His choice of material embraces American adult contemporary and jazz standards by such luminaries as Frank Loesser and Kenny Barron to name a few.  Backed by vocalist Kelsey Wallner along with Clark Sommers on bass and Matt Endres on drums, the recording is gilded in straight-ahead jazz trimmings accented by flecks of Latin shimmer as Wallner contributes a handful of her own original tunes to the assortment.  Wallner's soul-studded bluesy vocalese shapes "On The Street Where You Live" into an memorable arrangement as the sauntering pace of the bass and drums cling to her rhythmic strokes.  The shuffling pace of Rottmayer's keys imbue "Firm Roots" with a straight-ahead jazz revving, turning to a candlelight glow through "Sail Away".  Wallne...

  The Light & The Fury from The Outernet (led by Phil Turcio)  Release Date: July 30, 2025 Website: https://www.theouternetband.com www.foundation80.com The Light and the Fury from The Outernet band is the definition of jazz fusion, merging jazz improvisation with rock, pop, R&B, and soul.  Listeners will hear all these elements synthesized into a stunning amalgam.  Helmed by bandleader and keyboardist Phil Turcio, The Outernet band, along with Turcio, is comprised of Pete Drummond on drums, Pete Mollica on bass, and Emilio Kormanic on guitar.  The band's eclectic blend crackles with an elasticity liken to Pat Metheny, slowly burns with the emotive sensibilities emblematic of Carlos Santana, and gyrates with a feral vitality reminiscent of vintage Rush.  The band whittles searing hooks and chord progressions into blazing infernos, amassing an electric synergy that prompts listeners to stop in their tracks, and turn their heads in the direction of th...

  Dream Dancing: Celebrating Zoot Sims at 100 from The Scott Silbert Quartet Label:  Self-Released Release Date:  November 7, 2025 Website: https://www.scottsilbertmusic.com From the press release, "The Scott Silbert Quartet marks the centennial of one of jazz’s most beloved voices, tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims (1925–1985), with a heartfelt tribute recording, Dream Dancing . Released in 2025 to coincide with Sims’ 100th birthday on October 29, the album captures the warmth, humor, and effortless swing that made Sims a cornerstone of the jazz tradition."  Sparsely layered with Silbert on tenor and soprano saxophone, Amy Shook (of 3D Jazz Trio fame) on bass, Robert Redd on piano, and Chuck Redd on drums, the band fuses bop, swing, torchlight blues, and straight-ahead jazz into an easy listening package. The hynotic sway of Silbert's saxophone is bolstered by the brushed strokes of Chuck Redd's drumming, wrapped in the soft kayaking strums of Shook's bass, and the spr...