When my Producer and long-time friend Pat Philips Stratta called to tell me that I had received the 2023 Living Masters award from the SmallsLIVE Foundation, I felt so honored! I was particularly pleased because it also gave me the opportunity to play at Mezzrow for two nights and record a CD in the afternoon of day three. For the first time in many years, I chose to change my Trio format and go back to Piano, Bass and Drums. For the last 20 years, my trio was piano, bass and guitar inspired by the great trios of Nat King Cole and Oscar Peterson. That requires everything to be arranged and lots of rehearsals, and I’ve been living in Ojai, California for the last 30 years, so rehearsals are not easy. This occasion gave me the opportunity to come East, and just kick back and play with my long-time colleague, Jay Leonhart on bass, and a musician I deeply admire (new to my trio) Dennis Mackrel on drums. For repertoire, I decided to choose mostly historical jazz standards that I’ve always loved, but I couldn’t stay away from arranging or guitar totally, so I invited Guitarist Roni Ben-Hur to be my special guest.

Ben Webster's final American recording was one of his greatest. At 55, the tenor saxophonist was still very much in his prime but considered out of style in the U.S. He would soon permanently move to Europe where he was better appreciated. This CD has the nine selections originally included on the LP of the same name, a quartet set with either Hank Jones or Roger Kellaway on piano, bassist Richard Davis, and drummer Osie Johnson. Webster's tone has rarely sounded more beautiful than on "Someone to Watch Over Me" and "Our Love Is Here to Stay." In addition, one song from the same session (but originally released on a sampler) and two tunes featuring Webster on an Oliver Nelson date (More Blues and the Abstract Truth) wrap up this definitive CD.

September 8, 1960 Oscar Pettiford, American bassist/cellist/composer with unparalleled recognition died abruptly at age 38 due to a virus disease in Copenhagen where he had made his permanent residence. He was one of American jazz players Denmark welcomed in in the 60s and 70s. A few weeks after Pettiford's passing a circle of Danish jazz fans organized a memorial concert presented here to raise funds for his children with a star-studded program that included Stan Getz, Alice Babs, among others.

On January 30, 1977 - a day after the sold out 3-day concerts celebrating legendary US saxophonist Stan Getz's 50th birthday in Copenhagen - Stan and his crew including Danish ace bassist Orsted Pedersen were in studio to record. The huge success of the double live album kept us in suspense for three decades for the release of the unissued material. Well, here it is for us to enjoy.

Jazz from The Pacific Northwest combines two previously unissued concert recordings from one of the greatest jazz drummers of all-time, Shelly Manne. The first recording features Monty Budwig on bass, Russ Freeman on piano, Stu Williamson on trumpet, and Herb Geller on flute and alto saxophone recorded at the Monterey Jazz Festival on October 4, 1958. The second recording features Hampton Hawes on piano, Frank Strozier on flute and alto saxophone, Conte Condoli on trumpet and guest vocalist Ruth Price on two tracks recorded at the Penthouse jazz club in Seattle on September 7 and 15, 1966.

Even when music is notated relatively precisely, as in music, a performer must make many decisions because the notation does not specify all elements of the music. The process of deciding how to perform music that has been previously composed and notated is called "interpretation". Interpretations of the same piece of music by different performers can be very different in terms of the tempos chosen, the style of playing or singing, or the phrasing of the melodies. Composers and songwriters who perform their own music interpret their songs in the same way as those who perform the music of others. The standard choices and techniques available at a particular time and place are referred to as performance practice, while interpretation generally refers to the individual choices of a performer.

With Frames, Antoine Karacostas delivers an album of seven compositions and an arrangement of rebetiko, the band's signature sound. In this opus, he drew his inspiration from painting and pictorial as well as musical impressionism, from French composers such as Emmanuel Chabrier. This album is also a reflection on the notion of framework, both the one we find ourselves in and the one we wish to go beyond, in our personal quest for freedom.

This five-LP box set (which has been reissued on CD) contains nearly all of Stan Getz's classic bossa nova sessions, five wonderful yet diverse LPs (Jazz Samba, Big Band Bossa Nova, Jazz Samba Encore, Stan Getz/Laurindo Almedia, and Getz/Gilberto). The cool-toned tenor is heard on his groundbreaking collaboration with guitarist Charlie Byrd (which resulted in the best-selling "Desafinado"), is showcased with a big band arranged by Gary McFarland (introducing "No More Blues" and "One Note Samba"), stars in recordings with guitarists Laurindo Almeida and Luiz Bonfa, and is heard at the famous meeting with composer/pianist Antonio Carlos Jobim, guitarist João Gilberto, and singer Astrud Gilberto, which resulted in the major hit "The Girl From Ipanema." This essential set finishes off with three previously unissued performances from a 1964 Carnegie Hall Concert, concluding with a remake of "The Girl From Ipanema." These recordings stand as proof that it is possible for good music to sell.

The legendary Four Brothers reed section of Woody Herman's famous "Second Herd" big band of 1947, (Herbie Steward, Zoot Sims, Stan Getz and Serge Chaloff) is reimagined and reinvigorated by jazz icons Harry Allen, Eric Alexander, Grant Stewart and Gary Smulyan on the exciting, swinging and audacious recording of The Candy Men by Harry Allen's All Star New York Saxophone Band. Offering a sensational set of twelve bop-infused tunes containing some hard-driving, mid-tempo swing pieces to breathy and bossa-styled ballads, one sampling of this disc is just not enough. The material and the musicianship is so outstanding, that the late, great bandleader Woody Herman himself, would be proud of the way this group of jazz icons, has so elegantly represented the original Brothers section.

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.

Reel To Real returns with more top notch live archival music from Bob Mover and Walter Davis Jr. Recorded in Salerno, the recording beautifully captures the short-­lived duo association between two musical legends deserving greater attention.

Laid back, jazz of great subtlety and artistry by two masters of their instruments.
Joe Pass did the near-impossible. He was able to play up-tempo versions of bop tunes such as "Cherokee" and "How High the Moon" unaccompanied on the guitar. Unlike Stanley Jordan, Pass used conventional (but superb) technique, and his Virtuoso series on Pablo still sounds remarkable decades later.
Joe Pass had a false start in his career. He played in a few swing bands (including Tony Pastor's) before graduating from high school, and was with Charlie Barnet for a time in 1947. But after serving in the military, Pass became a drug addict, serving time in prison and essentially wasting a decade…

Composer Valtteri Laurell Pöyhönen presents his Nonet formation of We Jazz Records. Their debut album "Tigers Are Better Looking" is released 3 Feb and the ensemble features internationally renowned Finnish clarinetist Antti Sarpila, plus a strong cast of Helsinki-based musicians from several of the top Finnish groups. Based on the writings of British-Caribbean author Jean Rhys (1890–1979), the 6-track album is a melancholy, intimate chamber jazz creation. Laurell's music swings, yet he doesn't stop there, but moves further to paint an original, richly-toned sonic image with the highly potent Nonet.

Marian McPartland has continued to grow as a musician over her long career, constantly exploring new songs and new styles while rekindling standards and jazz classics with her own distinctive touch at the keyboard. This pair of 1995 sessions at the Yoshi's Nitespot in Oakland, CA, feature her in a trio setting with bassist Bill Douglass and drummer Glenn Davis. She slowly percolates a driving bop arrangement of "Like Someone in Love," and her striking approach to "If I Should Lose You" conveys the emotion of the song even though the lyric isn't heard. She also ventures into modern Broadway with a mesmerizing waltz interpretation of the ballad "Pretty Women" (from Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd)…