Old friends Edward Simon, Scott Colley, and Brian Blade have reformed their trio for Three Visitors, their lyrical new jazz album, and a new friend, French-Dominican-Canadian pianist Thélonius García, offers an often captivating solo recording, Marche Nocturne, in more of a classical outing.
One of the leading jazz artists from Latin America and perhaps best known as a member of the SF Jazz Collective, award-winning Venezuelan composer and pianist Edward Simon makes good use of both his jazz chops and his Latin background on his latest release, Las Femeninas, Songs of Latin American Women, which features jewels from the Latin American songbook—all by female songwriters—in exquisite jazz settings. In addition to those songs, Simon’s Latino Soy suite graces the album with three original compositions. Simon’s trio, with Reuben Rogers on bass and Adam Cruz on drums, will bring that music to the Outpost this week, along with two guest artists, Grammy-nominated Mexican vocalist Magos Herrera and Venezuelan percussionist Luis Quintero.
Markus Gottschlich’s keen mind, lively imagination, and positive energy helped rejuvenate the New Mexico Jazz Workshop during his all too brief residence as its executive director in 2019. Those same qualities inform his compositional skills, and his dazzling pianism gives full rein to his expressive spirit, as heard on his latest recording, Found Sounds (available November 27). With 25 Years, Edward Simon treats us to a self-curated tour through some of the high points of his two and a half decades of recorded work, reminding us that he deserves to be ranked among the foremost practitioners of his art.
Steel House, a leaderless trio made up of Edward Simon (piano, keyboards), Scott Colley (bass), and Brian Blade (drums, pump organ), offers expressive original music whose inviting transparency is suffused with intelligence and grace. On Friday, November 15, the trio will grace the stage at the Outpost for what promises to be a highlight of the musical season.
Both Venezuelan pianist/composer Edward Simon and Hungarian-American singer/songwriter Zoltán Székely combine different musical influences into a unique voice, but with very different results. Continue reading
