Saxophonists Dominate Week's New Releases
It's a good week for lovers of the saxophone, because David Sanchez, Steve Lacy and Ken Vandermark all have new releases in stores.
Sanchez fuses Afro-Caribbean rhythms with jazz on his fifth album, Melaza (Columbia). The Puerto Rican saxophonist employs a large ensemble that includes sax men Branford Marsalis and Miguel Zenon, pianist Edsel Gomez, percussionist William Cepeda and drummer Adam Cruz, among others. Melaza is the follow-up to Sanchez's Grammy-nominated Obsession and contains the track "Puerto San Juan" (RealAudio excerpt).
Steve Lacy, the New York-born soprano sax great who expatriated to Europe in 1967, returned to New York to play his first U.S. solo sax concert in 1976, and a recording of the show finally has been released. The double-disc set Snips (Jazz Magnet) was taped at abstract painter John Fischer's loft, Environ.
Burn the Incline (Atavistic) is the Vandermark 5's fourth album since their formation in 1996. Saxophonist Vandermark leads the group of trombonist Jeb Bishop, saxophonist Mars Williams, bassist Kent Kessler and drummer Tim Mulvenna.
Also out this week is trombonist Steve Davis' Portrait in Sound (Stretch). The former Chick Corea bandmember features pianist Brad Mehldau and Origin bandmates Steve Wilson, Avishai Cohen and Jeff Ballard.
Violinist Didier Lockwood enlists guitarist Bireli Lagrene and bassist Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen for his Tribute to Stephane Grappelli (Dreyfus), and brothers John and Jeff Clayton team up with their quintet for Siblingity (Qwest). Singer Susannah McCorkle's 15-track Hearts and Minds (Concord Jazz) contains numerous love ballads, tunes about technology and a song for "My Attorney Bernie."
The Knitting Factory pumps out three reissues this week including drummer Rahied Ali and violinist Leroy Jenkins' Swift Are the Winds of Life. The improvisational geniuses teamed up for the duet recording in 1975. The other reissues are drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson's Talkeye and percussionist Stoker's Syncopate.
Other New Releases This Week:
Compilations:
