New Jazz Releases – 03/17/2025
By Russell Perry
Jarod Bufe
So many new releases this week. Chicago came through this week with two sets from Calligram Records (vibraphonist Chris Varga and tenor saxophonist Jarod Bufe) plus a piano trio from Kevin Fort with Joe Policastro on bass. From not far to the south Steve Allee brings us a big band from Indianapolis. Regular readers here will remember that I find comfort in almost everything from the Posi-Tone Records imprint and the latest from the Posi-Tone Swinget is no exception. Throw in stimulating releases from veteran guitarist Nels Cline and the debut from Ecuadorian-born bassist Carlos Mena and you’ve got a lot to listen to.
Carlos Mena – Con Personas “With The People” (Pinch Records, release 03/17/2025). Martha Cato – piano, Carlos Mena – bass, Franco Pinna – drums with Katherine Yew – vocals, Jorge Mena – harp.
Ecuadorian-born, New York-based bassist Carlos Mena and his first-rate trio have released a stirring collection of the leader’s compositions with a few guests along the way. The band integrates South American folk traditions into jazz with skill. Recommended.
Review: Paris Move, Bass Musician Magazine
Silke Eberhard – Being-a-ling (Intakt Records, release 03/14/2025). Silke Eberhard – alto saxophone, Jan Roder – bass, Kay Lübke – drums.
Berlin alto saxophonist Silke Eberhard and her trio of almost twenty years have released a challenging set of original compositions.
Emily Allison & Boris Schmidt – Treehouse Days (Hypnote Records, release 03/14/2025). Emily Allison – vocals / keyboards / effects, Boris Schimdt – double bass / backing vocals, Claire Parsons – vocals, Leander Moens – vocals.
Vocalist Emily Allison and bassist Boris Schmidt are both unknown to me (until now). They have created a very personal release that features both of their voices plus double bass in a suite of their own compositions with compelling lyrics. Not always jazz, but always related and listenable.
Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorspon – Bone Bells (Pyroclastic Records, release 03/14/2025). Sylvie Courvoisier – piano, Mary Halvorson – guitar.
Swiss pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and American guitarist Mary Halvorson have released their third duo collaboration (Crop Circles – 2017, Searching For the Disappeared Hour – 2021), this time shining a sharp light on their compositional skills. In a departure, there are no fully improvised tracks in this release. As we have come to expect, these are two of the most identifiable instrumentalists on the scene and they don’t disappoint.
Review: AllAboutJazz, Glide Magazine, Jazz Trail
Rodney Jordan – Memphis Blue (Baxter Music Enterprises, release 03/14/2025). Melvin Jones – trumpet, Mark Sterbank – tenor saxophone, Louis Heriveaux – piano, Rodney Jordan – bass, Quentin E. Baxter – drums.
Dedicated to his hometown, bassist Rodney Jordan (Conversations, previewed 12/04/2024) has released a Soul Jazz / Hard Bop romp in many shades of blue. The leader wrote half of the tunes with one each dedicated to Roy Hargrove and Art Blakey. Add a cover of Mulgrew Miller (Small Portion) and Gigi Grace (Minority) and you have a satisfying package.
Review: Making A Scene, Paris Move, AllAboutJazz
John Ellis – Heroes (Blue Room Music, release 03/14/2025). Michael Rodriguez – trumpet, John Ellis – tenor saxophone, Gary Versace – piano, Reuben Rogers – bass, Kush Abadey – drums.
Saxophonist John Ellis has returned in the company of pianist Gary Versace (Ed Neumeister, Joel Harrison, Project O, Kris Davis) and bassist Reuben Rogers (Walter Smith III, April Varner, Edward Simon, Kendrick Scott) who graced his last release (Bizet: Carmen In Jazz, previewed 01/08/2024). Ellis brings to the front line the lyrical trumpet of Peter Michael Rodreguez (Carlos Henriquez, SF Jazz Collective) for a classic tenor – trumpet sound. The eight original compositions honor a variety of influences, for example the song Fort Worth honors native sons, Dewey Rodman and Ornette Coleman. Straight ahead and swinging. Recommended.
Review: Paris Move, Making A Scene
Nels Cline – Consentrik Quartet (Blue Note Records, release 03/14/2025). Ingrid Laubrock – saxophones, Nels Cline – guitar, Chris Lightcap – bass, Tom Rainey – drums.
For his fourth Blue Note release, guitarist Nels Cline has introduced a new quartet made up of elite avant-garde players – Ingrid Laubrock (The Last Quiet Place, previewed 3/13/2023) on sax, Chris Lightcap (Darius Jones, Matt Wilson, John Irabagon, Craig Taborn) on bass and Tom Rainey (Tim Berne, Mark Helias, Fay Victor) on drums. All of these players have some challenging releases in their discography, but this is a surprisingly “inside” disc and a very satisfying one. Highly recommended.
Review: Jazz Trail
Peter Madsen Trio – Faces of Love (Playscape, release 03/11/2025). Peter Madsen – piano, Herwig Hammerl – double bass, Martin Grabher – drums / percussion.
Finding inspiration in love poems from around the world, pianist Peter Madsen composed eleven lovely tracks for his long-standing trio.
Steve Allee Big Band – Naptown Sound (Jazzville, release 03/11/2025). Joey Tartell, Derrick Gardner, Ansyn Banks, John Raymond, Jeff Conrad – trumpets / flugelhorns, Jim Pugh, Zach Granger, Rich Dole – trombones, Jared Rodin – bass trombone, Michael Stricklin – flute / soprano saxophone / alto saxophone, Matt Pivec – clarinet / alto saxophone, Chip McNeill – clarinet / tenor saxophone, Rob Dixon – soprano & tenor saxophone, Ned Boyd – bass clarinet / baritone saxophone, Frank Glover – clarinet, Steve Allee – piano / Fender Rhodes, Russell Burge – vibes & percussion, Sandy Williams – guitar, Dave Stryker – guitar, Brian Kilgore – percussion, Jeremy Allen – bass, Steve Houghton – drums, Erin Benedict – vocals.
There seems to be a renaissance in big band music underway. There certainly are a lot of large ensemble releases these days and this is another good one. Led by pianist / composer Steve Allee (Zebra Stories, previewed 11/11/2024) and conducted by John Clayton, the ensemble and the repertoire are anchored in Indianapolis (“Naptown”). The single cover is of Wes Montgomery’s Full House and another great Indianapolis player, Freddie Hubbard, is remembered in the tune Hubbub. Highly recommended.
Review: Paris Move, Making A Scene, Jazz Wax
Daniel Garbin – Rising (6X20 Records, release 03/10/2025). Scott Litroff – alto saxophone, Camila Cortina – piano / keyboards, Daniel Garbin – guitar / sitar, Eddy Khaimovich – electric bass / acoustic bass, Brian Woodruff – drums.
Guitarist Daniel Garbin doubles on sitar for a few tracks and it’s the first time I’ve encountered a sitar on a new jazz release in who knows how long. As you might expect, there are elements of Indian classical music, but also samba and Afro-Cuban rhythms. Lots of variety.
Review: Contemporary Fusion Review
Chris Varga – Breathe (Calligram Records, release 03/07/2025). Geof Bradfield – tenor saxophone, Chris Varga – vibraphone, Dave Miller – guitar, Clark Sommers – acoustic bass, Neil Hemphill – drums.
Chicago’s Calligram Records is out with two new releases this week, this one from vibraphonist Chris Varga, his second release and Calligram debut. Varga has been professionally active in Korea (where his first disc was released) for over 20 years, but recorded this when he was back in Chicago. He is a first rate vibes player. All eight tunes are composed by the leader and Calligram Records co-founder Geof Bradfield enlivens half the tracks. Recommended.
Jarod Bufe – Brighter Days (Calligram Records, release 03/07/2025). Jarod Bufe – tenor saxophone, Tim Stine – guitar, Matt Elderly – bass, Jon Deitemyer – drums.
Tenor saxophonist Jarod Bufe and his quartet have released the second Calligram disc this week. This is Bufe’s second release and his Calligram debut. A straight-forward tenor quartet date of nine originals – no gimmicks, just solid mainstream jazz of the highest caliber featuring a strong tenor lead. Highly recommended.
Review: AllAboutJazz, Downbeat
Posi-Tone Swingtet – In Jazz We Trust (Posi-Tone Records, release 02/28/2025). Alex Sipiagin – trumpet / flugelhorn, Michael Dease – trombone, Diego Rivera – tenor saxophone / clarinet, Patrick Cornelius – alto saxophone / flute, Art Hirahara – piano, Boris Kozlov – bass, Rudy Royston – drums
For those players who have established themselves on Posi-Tone Records, the label acts as a repertory company with compositions and sidemen moving from one leader’s release to another. Occasionally the label puts out collective releases (Blue Moods – Force and Grace, previewed 01/20/2025 & Something Else – Personal Preference, previewed 01/30/2023), and to celebrate the label’s thirtieth anniversary they have collected a septet of their regulars for a swinging set of eight tunes by the band members plus two by other Posi-Tone colleagues. In the past it was not unusual for label to stick by their artists, helping them develop and providing opportunities to play and record, but that is no longer typical. As a measure of Posi-Tone’s consistency, six of these seven players were on hand for the 25th anniversary release (One For 25, 2020). Swinging and highly recommended.
Review: AllAboutJazz, Making A Scene
Jonah David – Waltz For Eli (Swish Tap Records, release 02/28/2025). Jeremy Pelt – trumpet, Jason Arce – tenor saxophone / flute, Joel Sanford – piano, Etienne Stadwijk – Rhodes / organ, Bryan Carrott – vibraphone, Jake Stith – guitar, Joe Bussey – bass, Anna Perkins – vocals.
Drummer Jonah David is an instructor at the Naval School of Music in Virginia Beach and an active contributor to the club scene in Hampton Rhodes. With his trio mates (Joel Sanford on piano and Joe Bussey on bass) and a few guests he has released his debut consisting of seven well known standards and one original. Swinging mainstream jazz..
Review: The Jazz Page, Drummerworld, The Tonearm
Brian Felix Organ Trio – Level Up (Slimtrim Records, release 02/21/2025). Brian Felix – organ, Tim Fischer – guitar, Evan Martin – drums.
Twenty-two years ago, keyborardist Brian Felix and the jazz-rock OM Trio recorded their last release and disbanded. Now, Felix is back after a long hiatus with an organ – guitar – drums trio and they serve up twelve original tunes of straight-ahead jazz.
Kevin Fort – Everything I Hope(Jeru Jazz Records, release 01/31/2025). Kevin Fort – piano, Joe Policastro – bass, Jon Deitemyer – drums.
Pianist Kevin Fort leads a Chicago-based trio with Joe Policastro on bass (Joe Policastro Trio, Andy Pratt) and John Deitemyer on drums (Jarod Bufe, Chad McCullough, Patricia Barber). And what a fine trio this is, sparkling piano playing, lyrical bass and lively drumming. Five originals plus five covers of familiar tunes – If You Could See Me Now, Spring Is Here, Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans? Highly recommended.
Max Leake – Threads (MCG Jazz, release 01/24/2025). Jay Ashby – trombone, Eric DeFade – saxophone, Max Leake – piano / organ, Marty Ashby – guitar, Mark Strickland – guitar, Dwayne Dolphin – bass, Roger Humphries – drums, Thomas Wendt – drums, George Heid III – percussion, George Jones – congas.
Veteran Pittsburgh-based pianist Max Leake has released a program of selections that are meaningful to him professionally. The ensemble is mostly a piano – guitar – bass – drums quartet, but saxophone or trombone are added on several tracks.
I hope you find something here to tickle your ears.
Russell Perry
Jazz at 100 Now!
If your music isn’t changing your life, you’ve simply picked the wrong songs. – Ted Gioia
