Over the past two or three months, a number of personal and professional commitments have greatly reduced the time available for listening to and reviewing new releases, and I’ve watched quite a few pass under the Bridge of Timely Review and out to sea. So I hope now to get up to speed again with some short reviews of new and newish releases, such as El Arte del Bolero from Miguel Zenón and Luis Perdomo, Mar Adentro from Oscar Rossignoli, and Illumination from Alex Murzyn.

Miguel Zenón and Luis Perdomo
El Arte del Bolero, Vol. 3 (Miel Music)
A review
If you’ve heard Volume 1 and Volume 2 of El Arte del Bolero from saxophonist Miguel Zenón and pianist Luis Perdomo, you are probably already on your way to Zenón’s Bandcamp page or his website or any of the usual streaming services to have a listen or make a purchase. If you haven’t heard them, Volume 3 is an equally good place to get a taste of this deeply romantic music, which first originated in Cuba in the 19th century before taking Latin America by storm, performed by two jazz artists who have a lifelong connection to it. The subject of Volume 3 is romantic love in a variety of conditions: betrayed, aspirational, impossible, ecstatic, unrequited. The songs come from Spain, Argentina, Cuba, and Ecuador and immigrate into contemporary jazz, without losing their delicious accents, via the wonderfully expressive performances from two virtuosi whose remarkably telepathic connection has been developed over nearly 30 years of performing together in Zenón’s quartet. Among the many highpoints are “La Gloria Eres Tu,” with its beautifully filigreed feeling from Zenón; the longing of “El Día Que Me Quieras, with an outstanding solo from Perdomo; and “Verdad Amarga,” with its emotionally articulate reading. El Arte del Bolero, Vol.3 plumbs the heart’s romantic recesses and opens up the listener’s.

Oscar Rossignoli
Mar Adentro (Euclid Jazz)
A review
When our piano-playing New Orleans friend Tom McDermott passed through this way on his annual summer tour, we had a nice listening session together. Among his contributions were a couple of solo cuts from Inertia by fellow pianist Oscar Rossignoli, a Honduran native residing in NOLA for about 10 years now and previously unknown to me. I was knocked out, and just a few weeks later came the announcement of Mar Adentro, a new album from Rossignoli, with the simpático addition of bassist Lex Warshawsky and drummer Peter Varnado—an ear-opening experience. The classically trained Rossignoli combines dazzling technique, a translucent touch, a daring harmonic and melodic imagination, a Latin-infused rhythmic sensibility, and wide-ranging influences into a memorably unique voice compositionally and improvisationally. Five of the nine tracks on the CD version are originals, along with tunes by Ernesto Lecuona, Billy Strayhorn, Belisario Romero, and Ellis Marsalis (the LP version loses the Marsalis and one original). The album opens with a delightfully manic take on Lecuona’s “Gitanerías,” which Rossignoli then transforms with a thoroughly contemporary jazz improvisation before returning to the written line over a modern jazz foundation. His originals incorporate similarly shifting scenarios—in particular, “Shifting Contexts,” with its collection of settings as similar and different as a set of siblings. Two of the originals, the title track and “Serpent,” offer richly expressive and extended storytelling. The crystalline lamentation of Strayhorn’s “Star-Crossed Lovers”, with its cogent dissonance, and the hard-swinging take on Marsalis’s “Swinging at the Haven” demonstrate the range of Rossignoli’s—and the trio’s—abilities. Mar Adentro releases on November 27, but you can visit Rossignoli’s Bandcamp page and check out his solo releases while you wait. Here’s a sample, “Preludio for Chick,” a freely improvised homage to Chick Corea:

Alex Murzyn
Illumination (indie)
A review
New Mexico is a pretty well-kept secret, and an even better-kept secret is the outstanding quality of the musicians living here in the Santa Fe–Albuquerque corridor. Saxophonist/flutist Alex Murzyn relocated here a few years ago from the San Francisco area, where he played with the likes of Huey Lewis and the News, Ray Obiedo, Pete Escovedo, and the Stan Kenton Legacy Orchestra. He’s become a welcome fixture on the New Mexico scene, and his new album, Illumination, presents Murzyn’s bona fides as both a composer and a player. Five originals, three jazz standards, and one jazzed country standard are on offer, and Murzyn’s tunes stand up to the standards. Five of the tracks were recorded live at Paradiso in Santa Fe, and Murzyn makes use of a variety quintet and quartet formations, and one duo. Murzyn possesses an exciting devil-may-care quality in his performances, riding a bold tone calibrated with nuanced expression. Of particular note are the reflective title track; the brawny attitude of the opener, Murzyn’s “That’s What You Get;” the intimacy of his “Blue Noir;” the romp through “Stella by Starlight,” featuring Tim Hagans on trumpet; and a moving take of “Body and Soul,” with Murzyn in duo with pianist Bevan Manson. Additional players include Bob Fox (piano); Keenan Story (vibes); Russell Scanlon (guitar); Cyrus Campbell and Gordon Johnson (bass); and Arnaldo Acosta, Joe Chellman, Rich Malloy, and John Trentacosta (drums). Illumination delivers well-lit straight-ahead jazz from a stable of accomplished performers. The album is digitally available on the usual streaming services and Murzyn’s website, and in the near future, it will be found on Bandcamp.

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