This wild jazz trio consisting of Javon Jackson on saxophone, Ron Carter on bass, and Billy Drummond on drums release an album consisting of both originals and standards. This album is part of the Chesky Records "Binaural +" series, recorded as a live performance on a single microphone capable of capturing spacial nuances to come as close as possible to imitating a live performance even through headphones.

On Live at Smalls, the 52-year-old Ries leads an acoustic quintet and splits time between tenor and soprano saxophones. He’s put himself in closer contact with the jazz tradition, but still treats the genre as a tool rather than a domain. The first three tracks are Ries originals, ranging from swinging postbop (“A Summer to Remember”) to straight-eighths progressivism (“The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon”) to Metheny-esque folk resplendency (“New View”). The remaining two tracks are rooted in Western classical: a Ries arrangement of Franz Schubert’s lieder masterwork, “Death and the Maiden,” and a fleeting solo piano finale by Kalman Olah, “Prelude to Bach Cello Suite.”

Throughout a career of a half-century and counting, Steve Kuhn has earned renown as one of the most lyrical and affecting pianists in jazz, with an unfailingly beautiful touch and a sophisticated sense of swing. Recorded over the same three-day stretch in May 2002 as "Waltz: Red Side", Steve Kuhn features nine standards and originals with Gary Peacock on bass and Billy Drummond on drums.

Throughout a career of a half-century and counting, Steve Kuhn has earned renown as one of the most lyrical and affecting pianists in jazz, with an unfailingly beautiful touch and a sophisticated sense of swing. Recorded over the same three-day stretch in May 2002 as "Waltz: Blue Side", Steve Kuhn features nine standards and originals with Gary Peacock on bass and Billy Drummond on drums.

Vocalist Tessa Souter dazzled listeners with her excellent debut album, Night Of Key Largo, which was awarded the Swing Journal Gold Disc. With her next album, Beyond the Blue, Souter embarked on an ambitious task: writing lyrics to well-known classical compositions and performing them in a jazz setting. Being a gifted writer, Souter herself wrote the lyrics for all but three of the songs. For this release, Souter is supported by outstanding New York-based jazz musicians. She sings gracefully and intelligently, using her beautiful voice to the fullest.

Since arriving in New York City, Tessa Souter has built a dedicated following. She was a relative latecomer to jazz, taking time out to raise a family at a young age and work as a journalist before studying at the Manhattan School of Music and privately with vocal great Mark Murphy, though she has developed into a formidable singer in a relatively short time.

"Manhattan" is an album that captures the dynamic moods of the world's greatest city as interpreted through the supple interplay of this skillful threesome. - "Hazeltine, Mraz and Drummond have established an easy chemistry that hinges on their shared sense of time and conversational exchanges within the structure of each song", according to the album's liner notes.

One of the veteran American pianists who release new recordings from Venus Records regularly, Steve Kuhn has been admired and loved by jazz fans both in the U.S. and Japan. I Will Wait For You features recording of the music of Michel Legrand. The lyrical, romantic and memorable melodies written by the French composer — many of which have become part of the standard jazz repertoire — are brilliantly interpreted and performed by a superb trio that includes George Mraz on bass and Billy Drummond on drums. Kuhn and co. add a muscular, driving sense of swing to the faster tunes while digging deep emotionally on beautiful ballads. A wonderful piano trio release!

One of the veteran American pianists who release new recordings from Venus Records regularly, Steve Kuhn has been admired and loved by jazz fans both in the U.S. and Japan. This trio session includes classical works and pieces adapted into pop songs decades ago. Bassist Dave Finck and Billy Drummond accompany Steve Kuhn.

Nicki Parrott is a premier jazz vocalist and string bass player. Born in Newcastle, Australia, Nicki started her musical training at age four with the piano, followed by the flute, soon after. Nicki switched to double bass at the age of 15. "Moon River" is Nicki Parrott's debut as a leader. The album received Swing Journal's "Best Jazz Vocal Album" award.

Great musicians need to play with great musicians. It's not an ego-driven game, it's tug-of-war. The way to get better, expand one's horizons as both technician and visionary, is to have someone capable of challenging one's established ability. Artists travel new paths most often because someone or something pushes us. Perhaps it's for that reason that Jeremy Pelt has long entertained a wish to make a recording with Ron Carter, a solid claimant to the title of Greatest Living Bassist.

Listening to the Mysterious Shorter SACD in Surround Sound, you'll discover some interesting takes on Shorter's music. As Bob Belden suggests in the liner notes, they've taken some of his upbeat compositions and arranged them to take advantage of the Organ, Guitar, Sax and Trumpet in the group. The SACD also does a fine job of reproducing the performances. It definitely provides a "you are there" level of performance and Chesky's minimalist recording approach with no compression and overdubs offers a nice change of pace from the very compressed sounds we all too often hear in many of today's conventional audio disc releases. Weather Report and Jazz fans will enjoy this one.

Jazz vocalist Louise Rogers has been gradually winning over converts with her beautiful burnished tone, clear diction, flawless intonation, and impeccable musicianship. Her natural, unforced delivery harkens back to such pure singers as Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Chris Connor, and Doris Day. And while she may possess considerable technique and a capacity to improvise and scat up a storm like her most significant role model, Ella, Rogers takes a more relaxed and restrained approach on Black Coffee, her fifth recording overall and first for Chesky Records.

Beat Kaestli turns his attention to the Great American Songbook on Invitation, his auspicious debut for Chesky Records. Recorded at St. Peter's Church in Chelsea, this stirring collection of jazz standards is the perfect showcase for Kaestli's hauntingly beautiful voice, which falls somewhere in the Chet Baker-Kenny Rankin range. His voice is imbued with clarion articulation, naturally relaxed phrasing and uncanny feeling.

Jazz vocalist Louise Rogers has been gradually winning over converts with her beautiful burnished tone, clear diction, flawless intonation, and impeccable musicianship. Her natural, unforced delivery harkens back to such pure singers as Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Chris Connor, and Doris Day. And while she may possess considerable technique and a capacity to improvise and scat up a storm like her most significant role model, Ella, Rogers takes a more relaxed and restrained approach on "Black Coffee", her fifth recording overall and first for Chesky Records.