New Jazz Releases – 03/24/2025
By Russell Perry
The Empress – Lauren Sevian, Erena Terakubo, Pureum Jin, Chelsea Baratz
What a great line up of music flowing in this week. I was especially thrilled to hear the debut of The Empress – a project of Pureum Jin! Featuring the diversity of jazz ensembles, we have duets from Tom Teasley / Charles Williams and Micelle Nicolle / Larry Koonse, Timo Lasso and his trio, Tomer Cohen in a quartet with Shai Maestro, and big bands from Dave Robbins and Ben Patterson. Whew! Get busy.
Timo Lassy Trio – Live in Helsinki (We Jazz, release 03/21/2025). Timo Lassy – tenor saxophone, Ville Herrala – double bass, Jaska Lukkarinen – drums.
Apparently Finnish saxophonist Timo Lasso is a significant player in Finland, but I only became aware of his work with last year’s release with trumpeter Julia Eskola (Nordic Stew, previewed 03/25/2024). This release places him in the comfortable setting of his everyday trio in a club in Helsinki and he soars. There is a familiar rawness to his playing, perhaps bringing to mind Gato Barbieri, as he plays with power and authority. The audience is responsive and he reciprocates. Highly recommended.
Tomer Cohen – Story of a Traveler (Hypnote Records, release 03/21/2025). Shai Maestro – piano, Tower Cohen – guitar, Cyrille Obermuller – bass, Gert-Jan Dreesen – drums.
Israel-born, New York-based guitarist Tomer Cohen (Not The Same River, previewed 01/16/2024) has released his second disc, every bit as sensitive and intense as the first. While the first was a guitar trio, this release adds the wonderful Shai Maestro (Michael Mayo, Avishai Cohen) on piano. Recommended.
Review: Flophouse Magazine
Hertzog – Ozark Concerto (Zoho Music, release 03/21/2025). Bill Gable, Ben Hay, Rich Rulli, Cameron Summers – trumpets, Cory Mixdorf, Shea Pierce, Michael Olefsky – trombones, Jason Hausback – bass trombone, Michael Hanna, Sarah Hetrick – alto saxophones, Alisha Pattillo, Austin Farnam – tenor saxophones, Rick Salonen – baritone saxophone, Matt Nelson – piano, Tomoko Kashiwagi – piano, Jake Herzog – guitar, Er-Gene Kahng, Dayton Strick – violin, Tim MacDuff – viola, Pecos Singer – cello, Garrett Jones – bass, Chris Peters – drums,
Big band music just keeps coming, this time in the hands of guitarist Jake Herzog and the Arkansas-based Ozark Jazz Philharmonic. Pause for a moment and consider how wonderful it is that there is a jazz big band in Fayetteville Arkansas. Herzog is a fluid and inventive guitarist but the composing is not nearly as rich.
Review: AllAboutJazz, Making A Scene
The Dave Robbins Big Band – Happy Faces (Reel to Real Records, release 03/21/2025). Donnie Clark – trumpet, Stew Barnet – trumpet, Arnie Chycoski – trumpet, Carse Sneddon – trumpet, Don Clark – trumpet, Bobby Hales – trumpet, Dick Forrest – trumpet, Dave Robbins – trombone, Doug Kent – French horn, Dave Quaren – alto saxophone, Fraser MacPherson – tenor saxophone / flute, Wally Snider – baritone saxophone, Chris Gage – piano, Don thompson – bass, Paul Ruhland – bass, Al Johnson – drums.
The 60s saw a resurgence of big band jazz with notable recordings from Ellington, Basie, Thad Jones – Mel Lewis, Quincy Jones and many others. Unknown to me, there was a thriving scene in Canada and one of the leading band leaders was trombonist Dave Robbins. This release is proof of the quality of the band and its book. What a nice surprise. Recommended.
Review: Jazz Views, Paris Move, AllAboutJazz
Jon Bentley – Go Ahead! (Cellar Music, release 03/21/2025). Jon Bentley – tenor saxophone, Chris Gestrin – organ, Tristan Paxton – guitar, Joe Poole – drums.
Vancouver-based saxophonist Jon Bentley has a swinging tenor – organ quartet with a program of five originals and covers of Brad Mehldau, Paul Simon, Wayne Shorter and Duke Ellington.
The Empress – Square One (Cellar Music, release 03/21/2025). Pureum Jin – soprano saxophone / alto saxophone, Erena Terakubo – alto saxophone, Chelsea Baratz – tenor saxophone, Lauren Sevian – baritone saxophone, Steve Ash – piano, Joey Ranieri – bass, and Pete Van Nostrand – drums.
A new all-woman saxophone quartet lead by Charlottesville-favorite Pureum Jim (The Real Blue Live In Barcelona, previewed 11/18/2024) has released their debut and it’s a stunner. Local fans will know Jin primarily as an alto player, but here she plays as much soprano to fill out the soprano – alto – tenor – baritone line-up. Unlike some other sax quartets, this ensemble includes a rhythm section. Baritone saxophonist Lauren Sevian is a well-regarded player (Bliss – 2019, Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra, Diego Rivera) but this disc is my first introduction to alto saxophonist Erena Terakubo and tenor saxophonist Chelsea Baratz. Michael Lutzeier did a great job arranging lush harmonies on a set of modern jazz standards (Cedar Walton, John Coltrane, Benny Golson, Horace Silver, John Lewis, Oliver Nelson) for the quartet. Boy, do I love this! Mainstream, swinging and highly recommended.
Review: Paris Move, Making The Scene
Bob Bennetta & Larry Bisgaier – Final Night At Fellini’s (Self Produced, release 3/14/2025). Bob Bennetta – piano, Larry Bisgaier – guitar.
This recording from the last days of the long departed venue Fellini’s is valuable as a record and momento of a very special place in the Charlottesville Jazz-O-Sphere. The players are strong and comfortable. Unfortunately, the crowd is the third player on the bandstand and the ambient noise is quite distracting.
Michelle Nicolle & Larry Koonse – The Silent Wish (Purple Lead Music, release 03/07/2025). Larry Koonse – guitar, Michelle Nicolle – vocals.
Australian vocalist Michelle Nicolle is not well-known in the US, but his is her 11th release and her first in duet with guitarist Larry Koonse. Koonse has developed a great reputation for his accompaniment of singers (Judy Wexler, Liz Cole, Julie Kelly, Marina Pacowski, Angie Wells). Nicolle and Koonse play extremely well together and she is one helluva singer – lovely voice, big range, creative phrasing, inspired scatting. I love this! Highly recommended.
Review: Paris Move, Making A Scene
Ben Patterson Jazz Orchestra – Mad Scientist Music (Origin Records, release 02/18/2025). Brian MacDonald, Kevin Burns, Luke Brandon, Alec Alfred – trumpets, Ben Patterson, Kevin Cerovich, Dave Perkel – trombones, Ben Polk – bass trombone, Antonio Orta – alto saxophone / soprano saxophone, Mike Cemprola – alto saxophone / flute / clarinet, Tedd Baker – tenor saxophone, Xavier Perez – tenor saxophone, Doug Morgan – baritone saxophone / bass clarinet, Bill Mulligan – flute / clarinet, Chris Ziemba – piano, Shawn Purcell – guitar, Paul Henry – bass, Todd Harrison – drums / percussion, Fran Vielma – congas / tamboras de fulía / percussion, Emily Davies – vocals.
Former Music Director for The Airmen of Note and trombonist Ben Patterson (Groove Junkies, previewed 05/20/2024) has assembled a collection of former colleagues for a program of six excellent original compositions. The soloists and ensemble are terrific but the star of the show is the writing. Highly recommended.
Review: Contemporary Fusion Reviews, AllAboutJazz
Tom Teasley – Tom Teasley Remembers Charles Williams (Self Produced, release 10/15/2024). Tom Teasley – percussion / melodica / rap drum, Charles Williams – vocals.
Percussionist Tom Teasley (Lunch Break, previewed 03/03/2025) and vocalist Charles Williams bring a lot of the black church along with African proverbs, poems and moral stories to this fine duo effort. Both these players bring their best to the proceedings. For Williams, this is a deep, rich and expressive voice, for Teasley this is an orchestra of percussion and tuned percussion instruments. Recommended.
Review: Jazz Weekly
Sorry to load you up with so much great music … not really.
Russell Perry, Jazz at 100 Now!
If your music isn’t changing your life, you’ve simply picked the wrong songs. – Ted Gioia
