Label: Mack Avenue, 2024 Personnel - Kenny Garrett: alto and soprano saxophone, vocals; Svoy: programming, vocals, piano, keyboards. Mighty saxophonist Kenny Garrett hasn’t lost any of his improvisational soulfulness while playing over a totally electronic backdrop in Who Killed AI?, a duo album with pop/electronica star Svoy. The album kicks off with “Ascendance”, a keyboards-soaked piece driven by invigorating rhythms and punctuated by warped chords over which Garrett’s sweltering phrases stand out with angular hooks and an effortless inside/outside malleability. “Miles Running Down AI” cha ..read more

Label: Red Hook Records, 2024 Personnel - Wadada Leo Smith: trumpet; Amina Claudine Myers: piano, organ. In their enlightened duo recording, trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith and pianist Amina Claudine Myers venture into magnetic sonic terrain. The album, titled Central Park’s Mosaic of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens, includes seven moving and contemplative tracks - six by Smith and one by Myers - inspired by New York’s Central Park and the world’s urgent need for peace and justice. It marks the first collaboration of these two musicians since their early days in the AACM (Association for the Ad ..read more

Label: Otherly Love, 2024 Personnel - Kenny Wollesen: vibraphone, marimba, congas, tenor sax, organ, wollesonics; Anthony Coleman: electric piano, synths;  Tony Scherr: guitar; Christopher Thomas: bass; Nasheet Waits: drums. Kenny Wollesen, a fixture in the downtown New York music scene and most known for his fabulous drumming with the likes of Bill Frisell, John Zorn, and Steven Bernstein, unveils his latest project, Latrala. Here, Wollesen showcases his mastery of mallet instruments, including marimba and vibraphone, alongside a simpatico quintet comprising drummer Nasheet Waits, guita ..read more

Label: Pi Recordings, 2024 Personnel - Brian Settles; tenor saxophone; Luke Stewart: bass; Trae Crudup: drums (#1-4); Chad Taylor: drums (#5-7). Esteemed bassist Luke Stewart, who has been enriching the creative jazz scene through projects like Irreversible Entanglements and his Exposure Quintet, makes his debut on Pi Recordings with Unknown Rivers, a daring exploration in the trio format. Consisting of seven tracks, the album showcases Stewart's versatility and innovation, featuring drummer Trae Crudup on the first four studio recordings and Chad Taylor on the final three tracks from a live ..read more

Label: Intakt Records, 2024 Personnel - Marta Sanchez: piano; Chris Tordini: bass; Savannah Harris: drums. Spanish-born, New York-based pianist and composer Marta Sanchez embarks on a fresh chapter in her career with Perpetual Void, her seventh album as a leader and the first in the piano trio format since 2008. Departing from her previous projects leading a forward-thinking two-horn frontline quintet from 2015 to 2022, which resulted in four remarkable albums, Sanchez now presents a stripped-down approach that remains bold in its aesthetic, holding ground with the avant-garde and modern comp ..read more

Label: Self released, 2024 Personnel - John Aruda: tenor saxophone; Christophe Bilodeau: piano; Russell Fortunato: bass; Michael Aiello: drums. Bassist, composer, and bandleader Russell Fortunato discloses previously unreleased material recorded with his flagship project - featuring saxophonist John Aruda, pianist Christophe Bilodeau, and drummer Michael Aiello - in the ‘90s and ‘00s and adds a solo bass track from 2022. The group launches the set with Coltrane’s “Tunji”, firmly embedded in the sounds of modal jazz and spiritual post-bop. Here, we can savor an intense, tonally-nuanced atmosph ..read more

Label: Sunnyside Records, 2024 Personnel - Andy Milne: piano; John Hébert; bass; Clarence Penn: drums + Ingrid Laubrock: tenor saxophone (#1,4,6,9); Yoko Reikanu Kimura: koto (#2,4,6,9) Pianist and composer Andy Milne reunites his Unison trio, featuring bassist John Hébert and drummer Clarence Penn, to present the ten captivating compositions that make up Time Will Tell, an album that feels invigoratingly fresh and demands attention. Milne’s previous album, The ReMission (2020), was inspired by his cancer diagnosis, treatment, and cure, but for this new one he was highly influenced by finding ..read more

Label: Sunnyside Records, 2024 Personnel - Brandon Ross: electric guitar, soprano guitar, vocals; Graham Haynes: cornet, electronics; David Virelles: piano, keyboards; JT Lewis: drums; Hardedge: sound design. American guitarist Brandon Ross ventures into the realm of free experimentalism with Phantom Station, a project that originated as a duo with sound designer Hardedge but has now expanded into a quintet with the addition of seasoned cornetist Graham Haynes, skillful Cuban pianist David Virelles, and versatile drummer JT Lewis. Off the End is a sprawling live suite that spans over an hour ..read more

Label: ECM Records, 2024 Personnel - Fred Hersch: piano. Pianist and composer Fred Hersch, a 17-time Grammy nominee with collaborations alongside jazz legends like Art Framer and Gary Burton, possesses a unique ability to emphasize beautiful melodies within sophisticated harmonizations as well as explore uncharted territory in the moment. These qualities are on full display in Silent, Listening, an introspective solo album that reasserts his stature as a prime pianist with a broad artistic vision. Presenting brilliantly crafted nocturnals, the set begins with Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn’s ..read more

Label: Blue Note Records, 2024 Personnel - Bill Frisell: guitar; Thomas Morgan: bass; Rudy Royston: drums + Brussels Philharmonic and Umbria Jazz Orchestra. The incomparable Bill Frisell, whose remarkable guitar prowess and compositional genius have left an indelible mark on the jazz scene for over four decades, ventures into new territory with Orchestras, a double album that sees him expanding his trio sound with the accompaniment of two European orchestras. This ambitious project features arrangements of some of Frisell's most iconic original compositions, along with a jazz standard, a coup ..read more