Virtuoso trumpeter/composer Gabriel Alegría’s latest release with his Afro-Peruvian Sextet, Social Distancing, chronicles a raging pandemic and the justified rage over racial injustice, and it offers uplift without ignoring the harsh reality of these difficult times.
Pianist Russ Lossing’s astonishing quartet brings his idiosyncratic compositions to life on Metamorphism, with adventurous, expressive jazz that feeds the brain and the heart.
If you’re in a romantic mood or wish to be, you’re well advised to put on the new release from alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón and pianist Luis Perdomo, El Arte del Bolero, turn down the lights, and . . . Well, you know what to do, right?
Grammy-winning Dafnis Prieto is universally acknowledged to be a drummer of prodigious skill. His sextet’s superb new recording, Transparency, makes it abundantly clear that his skills as a composer and arranger are on the same plane as his drumming.
Saxophonist Alex Murzyn and drummer Cal Haines met one another playing in the Friday afternoon jams at trumpeter Bobby Shew’s studio in Corrales, NM, and Haines was introduced to bassist Terry Burns on a local gig behind trumpeter Christine Fawson. Haines thought the three of them might work well together. He was correct, and the proof is their new album, Llano.
