Listening time has been sparse recently, but I have one good one to report on. Vocalist Catherine Russell and her excellent band have released their first live album, Live @ Jazz at Lincoln Center, and it delivers a delightful dose of Russell’s spirited interpretations of hot jazz and swing deeply rooted in the blues.
New albums from Puerto Rican guitarist and composer Gabriel Vicéns, Boston’s Club d’Elf, and Brazil’s Jamile and Vinícius Gomes deliver a wide range of musical offerings.
Pianist and composer Edward Simon beautifully recasts the music of his native Venezuela in a jazz idiom, and trumpeter and composer Adam O’Farrill blends minimalism and postbop in a dazzling contemporary offering.
Here are four noteworthy releases—from Flyways (Mara Rosenbloom, Anaïs Maviel, Jordyn Davis), Joel Harrison and the Alternative Guitar Summit, Adonis Rose and Phillip Manuel, Duo Corda (Jacqueline Ultan and Pavel Jany)—each inhabiting a completely different musical neighborhood. There’s something for everyone, and everything for some.
Two groups with activist genes—Dave Douglas’s new quartet and Bellbird—offer releases that take clear political and moral positions.
