The Sunday Jazz Brunch Presents

New Instrumentals

Air Date: 4/7/2024 on 90.5 WICN 8am-12pm ET

I've always said that good jazz comes in waves. Well, we are in a wave right now. We are getting in some really great releases. It was a bit slow at the beginning of the year but it has really picked up. 

I'd like to talk about some of the fine instrumental CDs that have been released. There are also a ton of new vocal albums, all female vocalists for some reason. I'm planning to highlight the vocalists next week.

Charles Lloyd

What an interesting musician with such a unique sound on the tenor saxophone.  His latest CD is The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow, released on his 86th birthday, March 15. Some have said that this  ensemble is the most impressive yet in a long list of collaborators, with Jason Moran, Larry Grenadier, and Brian Blade (cool name!) on the new CD. I am finding this hard to believe, but I read somewhere that this is the first time the three have played together!

This is a two-CD set with thirteen original compositions plus two additional pieces. Check out the final set of the first hour, around 8:40am ET, to hear two original songs, the first a tenor sax composition, and the second a solo featuring alto and bass flutes.

Jim Rotondi

He has performed with the big bands of Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton, Grammy-winner Toshiko Akiyoshi, and Bob Mintzer, as well as the  small groups of Lou Donaldson, Curtis Fuller and Joe Chambers.  Jim Rotondi is a fine trumpeter, as well as a composer, arranger, and educator. 

The new CD is an interesting mix of big band and orchestra, with Mr. Rotondi's superb trumpet playing thrown in for good measure! If you listen regularly to the Sunday Jazz Brunch, you know that I really like to play such less-typical ensembles, especially when a good orchestra is involved. The two tracks we'll hear are both quite beautiful and are perfect for your Contemplative Morning. The strings are delicious!

Brian Bromberg

If I had to make a list of favorite bassists, Brian Bromberg would absolutely be on the list. Easily one of the most facile bassists I have heard, he often sounds more like a guitarist, especially when he plays one of his piccolo basses. He is also famous for having a very old bass that has an amazing tone, kind of like a Stradivarius violin I suppose. He featured a picture of this bass on his two releases Wood and Wood II, and it looks like he might be playing that one on this cover as well.

His latest CD, LaFaro, is a tribute to bassist Scott LaFaro, who joined the Bill Evans Trio in 1959. Mr. LaFaro created a counter-melodic style of accompaniment, as opposed to the traditional walking bassline. Says Mr. Bromberg: “I hope you can appreciate the spirit in this recording and the respect I have for Scott LaFaro’s enormous contribution to jazz bass playing and jazz music in general. Thank you, Scotty, for paving the way and opening the door for the rest of us who have dedicated our lives to being a jazz bassist.”

Gary Urwin

I had never heard the phrase 'progressive big band music' until I read up about Gary Urwin and his big band. While regular big band music is considered to be like a dance band from the 1940s, a progressive big band plays like a concert band, typically not in a dance hall but in a concert hall. I think you would consider much of the Duke Ellington repertoire to be of the progressive big band variety.
 
Gary Urwin has put together what is essentially a Los-Angeles-based all star 18 piece big band, including the likes of Pete Christlieb, Wayne Bergeron, Bobby Shew, Carl Saunders, Kim Richmond, Charlie Loper, Alex Iles, Christian Jacob, and Trey Henry,  among others. Hear Mr. Urwin's original song during the second hour.

Yours in jazz,
Marty

HOUR ONE: Contemplative Morning

Noah Haidu\Standards II 2024\Someone to Watch Over Me feat Buster Williams
Willie Morris\Attentive Listening 2024\Terminal Lucidity
Tierney Sutton and San Gabriel 7-Good People 2024-Autumn Love

Lori Bell Quartet-Recorda  Me, Remembering Joe Henderson 2024-08 Punjab
Kandace Springs\Run Your Race 2024\Closer To Me
Hendrik Meurkens-The Jazz Meurkengers 2024-06 Dreamsville

Charles Lloyd, Jason Moran, Larry Grenadier & Brian Blade-The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow 2024-04 The Water Is Rising
Jacqui Naylor-Treasures of the Heart 2024-03 All That We Could Be
Jim Rotondi\Finesse 2024\Prelude for 14 Strings and Flute
Jim Rotondi\Finesse 2024\Dark Blue
Charles Lloyd, Jason Moran, Larry Grenadier & Brian Blade-The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow 2024-05 Late Bloom

HOUR TWO: New For You

Brian Bromberg\LaFaro 2024\Israel feat Chas Zinc on piano
Kandace Springs\Run Your Race 2024\Chasing Shadows
Remy Le Boeuf\Heartland Radio  2024\New Beginnings
George Mraz-Jazz-11 Cinema Paradiso (Reprise) 1995

Lori Bell Quartet-Recorda  Me, Remembering Joe Henderson 2024-04 Serenity
Tierney Sutton and San Gabriel 7-Good People 2024-10 Wait for Me
Stacey Kent\Summer Me Winter Me 2024\Show Me
The Gary Urwin Jazz Orchestra-Flying Colors 2024-03 Spur of the Moment

Geoffrey Dean Quartet\Foundations 2024\My Conception
Vanessa Perea\This is the Moment 2024\Somehting Happens to Me
Robert Edwards\Upswing 2024\Baubles, Bangles, and Beads
Stella Bass\Look for the Silver Lining 2024\I Believe in You

HOUR THREE: Brazil/World

Diego Figueiredo\My World 2023\003 Por Las Calles De New York
Stacey Kent\Summer Me Winter Me 2024\Corcovado
Ed Johnson\For Every Living Thing 2024\Out of Time
Stella Bass\Look for the Silver Lining 2024\All the Colors of My Love

Gaea Schell\In Your Own Sweet Way 2023\10 Un Sueño De La Noche
Daniela Soledade\Pretty World 2022\Circo Da Vida
Jun Iida\Evergreen 2024\Bella Rosa
Roberto Menescal-Nosd Eo Mar 2023-08 A Morete De Um Deus De Sal-

Danilo Perez-Danilo Perez-09 Friday Morning 1993
Dmitri Matheny-Jazz Hour-08 Estate 2016
The Ed Palermo Big Band - The Great Un​-​American Songbook Vol. III- Run for Your Life - 04 Glad (Traffic)
Dominick Farinacci-Lovers, Tales and Dancers-09 Love Dance 2009

HOUR FOUR: Groove, Baby

Edy Forey\Culture Today 2024\Take Your Time
Incognito-Into You 2023-06 The Lowrider
Huey Lewis-Soulsville-01 Don't Fight It 2010
Jacqui Naylor-Treasures of the Heart 2024-06 Love's Around

Brian Bromberg\LaFaro 2024\Alice in Wonderland
Tony Monaco-Over Over 2024-01 Da Daddy
Kandace Springs\Run Your Race 2024\Pulse
Lizz Wright-Salt-12 Silence 2003

Hil St. Soul\Back in Love 2022\Love and Fire
Tony Monaco-Over Over 2024-03 My Lil Rosie Girl
Tony Monaco\Over Over 2024\Ready Set Go

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