New Music from Azmeh, Imboden, Lehman & More
World of Jazz 731
This edition of the show features twelve brand new album releases with a broad variety of jazz, varied line-ups and disparate subject matter
SHOW AUDIO
PLAYLIST
Show Intro 00:00
Kinan Azmeh And City Band “Dance” from Live In Berlin (Dreyer Gaido) 00:28
Sean Imboden Large Ensemble “Someone To Watch Over Us” from Communal Heart (Self Released) 13:53
Atlantic Jazz Collective (feat. Norma Winstone and Joe LaBarbera) “Raffish” from
Seascape (Alma Records) 22:37
Steve Lehman Trio + Mark Turner “40b” from The Music of Anthony Braxton (Pi Recordings) 29:50
Chris Alford Luke Stewart Justin Peak “Live By Night” from Live at the Twilight Lounge (Ramble Records) 41:12
Caili O'doherty “Riffin’ The Blues” from Bluer Than Blue (Outside In Music) 49:05
Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson “Bone Bells” from Bone Bells (Pyroclastic Records) 56:29
Rachel Therrien “Fiestas Campesinas” from Mi Hogar II (Lulaworld Records) 1:02:53
Artemis “Komorebi” from ARBORESQUE (Blue Note) 1:11:38
Jackie Myers “When You Think You’ve Seen It All” from What About The Butterfly (577 Records) 1:17:07
Satoko Fujii Tokyo Trio “Dream A Dream” from Dream A Dream (Libra Records) 1:24:52
Anupam Shobhakar “Ladders To The Show” Liquid Reality (AGS Recordings) 1:43:29
SHOW NOTES
Kinan Azmeh And City Band - Hailed as “intensely soulful (The New York Times)” and “spellbinding (The New Yorker),” Syrian-born, Brooklyn-based composer/clarinetist Kinan Azmeh with the February 28th release of his 14th album Live in Berlin (Dreyer Gaido), for which he reconvened his New York-based genre-bending City Band quartet featuring guitarist Kyle Sanna, bassist Josh Myers, and drummer John Hadfield. Influenced by the music of Azmeh’s homeland of Syria, Live in Berlin captures the arc of personal and collective anger, frustration, sadness and hope felt in the face of atrocities. Conceived during the 2011 Syrian uprising, the album presents six of Azmeh’s own deeply personal compositions (in addition to a piece by Kyle Sanna) recorded in front of a live audience 10 years later on the Pierre Boulez Saal stage in Berlin. Crossing boundaries between styles and genres, between composition and improvisation, the quartet plays “music that is inspired by a multitude of traditions without being limited by any of them,” as Azmeh describes it. Azmeh’s expressive clarinet meets Kyle Sanna’s rustic guitar, soaring at times over the dynamic and volatile backdrop of John Hadfield’s drums and Josh Myers’ double bass. Live in Berlin presents the quartet at an elevated level of consciousness and artistry.
Sean Imboden Large Ensemble - While he cites the possibilities for “compositional power” and “orchestrational (sic) ideas” inherent to the big band, the main reason that Indianapolis-based saxophonist/composer Sean Imboden formed his own 17-piece orchestra is captured in the title of the ensemble’s brilliant debut album. Communal Heart vibrantly captures the community spirit that Imboden has fostered not only within the ranks of his Sean Imboden Large Ensemble, but between the band and its fervent, ever-growing audience of loyal fans. Due out April 18, 2025, Communal Heart is not only the result of Imboden’s journey towards gathering and nurturing both his band and his audience, but in a way tells that personal story in musical form. Though unintentional, Imboden’s multi-hued compositions are autobiographical in giving voice to the ambitious drive and imagination that led the saxophonist from a comfortable career as a journeyman musician to take a leap of faith into the daunting big band arena.
Atlantic Jazz Collective - with their first-ever album, Seascape, a breath-taking exploration of modern jazz that features legendary artists Norma Winstone and Joe LaBarbera. The Atlantic Jazz Collective, comprising Juno Award winners Mike Murley and Florian Hoefner, alongside renowned bassist Jim Vivian, present their highly anticipated debut album, Seascape. Joined by the celebrated vocalist Norma Winstone and legendary drummer Joe LaBarbera. The group delivers a stunning collection of modern jazz originals, reimagined with poetic vocal interpretations. Recorded in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Seascape is a testament to the power of collaboration and musical storytelling. Inspired by the rhythm and mystery of the ocean, the album embodies the spirit of exploration and the depth of jazz improvisation.
Steve Lehman Trio + Mark Turner - Lehman – who The New York Times has hailed as a “virtuoso alto saxophonist” and a “state-of-the-art musical thinker” – returns with a highly-anticipated new release with his long-running trio featuring bassist Matt Brewer and drummer Damion Reid, this time joined by special guest tenor saxophonist Mark Turner. On the self-evidently entitled The Music of Anthony Braxton, Lehman pays homage to one of his earliest mentors, with a hard-swinging live album, commemorating the 80th anniversary of Braxton's birth. Recorded in front of a boisterous crowd at ETA in Los Angeles – the since shuttered venue that hosted guitarist Jeff Parker’s well-loved jam session. To breathe new life into the music, Lehman enlisted the help of his long-standing trio and Mark Turner, one of the most influential jazz musicians of the past 30 years. Lehman and Turner’s distinctive saxophone voices are thrown into relief by the rhythm section’s ultramodern rhythmic approach, featuring Brewer’s nimble precision and Reid’s electrifying dexterity. The compositional forms morph and evolve instead of staying static, different from the standard modern jazz norm but still inextricably connected to those roots, solidify the idea of a continuum of radical experimentation that permeates the entire jazz canon.
Chris Alford Luke Stewart Justin Peak - In January of 2020, Luke Stewart was an artist in residency in New Orleans thanks to KO Arts. Through this residency, Stewart returned to the region of his childhood and performed, collaborated and recorded with many of the local creative artists. This album features the captivating first musical meeting of Luke Stewart, Justin Peake, and Chris Alford. This live gig recording represents one specific night of collaborations and a first meeting for Alford and Stewart. The music was performed as two 40-minute sets that have been split up on this recording for ease of navigation and listening.
Caili O'doherty - Lillian “Lil” Hardin Armstrong is a name most jazz aficionados recognize, having read it in the annals and footnotes of jazz history, but often mistakenly gloss over it in passing as a detail in the broader narrative. For pianist Caili O’Doherty, the story of Lil Hardin Armstrong became the caper of an unsung heroine of jazz history. While most will remember that Armstrong was the second wife of jazz icon Louis Armstrong who is often credited with spurring him forward to greatness, few may know the extent of her influence. For O’Doherty, what started as a few lines in a textbook at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College quickly turned into an enigmatic journey of discovery. Through research, study, and the music itself, O’Doherty discovered that not only did Lil Hardin Armstrong’s music become the staple foundation of her husband Louis’s career, but she went on to write hits for greats throughout history such as Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin. With Bluer Than Blue, O’Doherty goes directly to the source, drawing on beloved and deep works from Lil Hardin Armstrong’s and instilling them with new vigor and reinterpretations of O’Doherty’s own masterful devising. The central trio at the core of this album comprises the bandleader Caili O’Doherty on piano, bassist Tamir Shmerling, and drummer Cory Cox. Throughout the album, the various featured personnel rotates per track, and consists of a stellar cast of Nicole Glover on tenor saxophone and vocalists Tahira Clayton and Michael Mayo.
Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson - Individually, both pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and guitarist Mary Halvorson are revered among the most distinctive and innovative voices in modern creative music. Adeptly shifting between the realms of contemporary chamber music and avant-garde jazz, Courvoisier has been hailed as “a pianist of equal parts audacity and poise” by The New York Times. With her transformative approach to jazz guitar, Halvorson has been called “the most future-seeking guitarist working right now” by NPR. Over the course of a collaboration that has become vital in less than a decade’s time, Courvoisier and Halvorson have merged those two remarkably singular voices into a single, dauntless vision. With Bone Bells, their third album as a duo and second release for Pyroclastic Records, the pair affirms their place as one of the most thrilling and venturesome piano/guitar tandems in that pairing’s relatively small pantheon. Bone Bells splits its compositions evenly between the two artists, alternating their contributions from one track to the next. Both insist that the credits shouldn’t be considered so strictly defined, however, as each piece has been shaped by the collaborative process during rehearsals and performances. That’s been the case since their 2017 debut, Crop Circles, through their acclaimed 2021 follow-up, Searching for the Disappeared Hour. Bone Bells takes its name from a passage in Trust, the Pulitzer Prize-winning 2022 novel by Argentine-American author Hernan Diaz. Like so many decisions made by the pair – from their in-the-moment sonic interactions to the seamless integration of piano preparations and guitar pedals – the choice of the succinct yet evocative phrase was made largely by instinct. Its borrowing has less to do with the words’ original meaning or intention than with the implications they take on when divorced from that context and appended to the mysterious, discordant title track.
Rachel Therrien - Trumpeter Rachel Therrien's eighth album Mi Hogar II continues her exploration of Latin jazz, building upon the foundation she laid with her 2023 release Mi Hogar. The title, which translates to "my home", reflects Therrien's deep connection to her musical community and the myriad influences that have shaped her sound. In Mi Hogar II, Therrien collaborates with a distinguished ensemble of musicians, enriching the album's sonic palette. Notable guest artists include the legendary bassist John Benítez; the acclaimed Cuban-Canadian duo OKAN; Cuban piano virtuoso Danae Olano; Grammy- winning vocalist and violinist Mireya Ramos; renowned Cuban pianist and composer Manuel Valera; powerhouse Cuban percussionist Keisel Jiménez; and the powerful and expressive Puerto Rican
Artemis - The genesis of the acclaimed jazz group ARTEMIS can be traced back to 2016 when pianist Renee Rosnes first assembled an all-star ensemble to celebrate International Women’s Day with live performances in Europe. Nine years on, as the band releases its third Blue Note album, ARBORESQUE, the collective continues to demonstrate its staying power and prove how the music transcends any notion of patriarchy. But ARTEMIS’ purpose has also expanded, reaching beyond special projects, cultural initiatives, or the supergroup concept. On the new recording, they explore a loose theme of natural and environmental beauty. Even more so, however, ARBORESQUE is a paean to the sheer joy of collaboration and creativity. The quintet lineup of ARTEMIS features five talents who represent the pinnacle of their generations: Rosnes, on piano and Rhodes, alongside trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, tenor saxophonist Nicole Glover, bassist Noriko Ueda, and drummer Allison Miller. And like other working-band institutions in Blue Note Records history — Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers come to mind — ARTEMIS has nurtured and elevated game-changing musicians through natural shifts in the personnel. ARTEMIS alumni comprise some of jazz’s absolute luminaries: Cécile McLorin Salvant, Melissa Aldana, Anat Cohen, and Alexa Tarantino.
Jackie Myers - There is something intensely alluring, almost addictive, about Kansas City-based artist Jackie Meyers. Known for her innovation and fluidity on the keys and her sultry, bluesy vocals that could spark warmth in even the iciest of souls, she has a way of leaving all your flabbers ghasted and with a voracious appetite for more. Now, 577 Records is ecstatic to present her latest work of art, What About the Butterfly, a technical masterpiece born from the depths of this her beautiful soul and enviable mind. Every sound and beat in these arrangements projects Jackie’s meticulous approach to composition, technique, and innovation. Her use of spectral composition and microtonality pays homage to the French spectral composition movement’s Gérard Grisey and Tristan Murial, who she says has shown us “how to embrace the perspective that the physics of sound should inform the compositional process”. This album uses a 24tet scale in many of the arrangements while still allowing for the improvisers to solo using a 12tet scale. The challenge was trying to find ways to use the microtonal arrangements to support the diatonic chord progressions and melodies rather than juxtapose the two scales against each other.” Although she had envisioned most of the work for this record between 2022 and 2023, Meyers took her time to procure the right band members and refine the arrangements. In What About the Butterfly, she is joined by three members of Fountain City String Quartet, including their lead, Alyssa Bell (on viola), Matthew Bennett on the violin, and cellist Sascha Groschang. She specifically chose quarter sharps and three-quarter flats for the string players, pushing them beyond their norms in a way that required many rehearsals supported by carefully prepared tools and materials. To satisfy her need for an experienced horn section, she turned to her mentor, former member of the Jazz Messengers, Bobby Watson, who was thrilled to be a part of the project. Meyers also extended a special invite to Alaturka tenor saxist Rich Wheeler, thanks to his notable experience in blending jazz and classical music and his knack for microtonal composition. Longtime friends and collaborators, trumpeter Trent Austin and baritone saxist Aryana Nemati, were the perfect fit, contributing much from their multi-genre backgrounds. Keeping time is Project H’s Matt Leifer, while Kansas City’s Seth Lee and Iowa City’s Blake Shaw bring their bass magic to several of the tracks in the new release – all of whom have performed with Jackie many times.
Satoko Fujii Tokyo Trio - After two previous live recordings, pianist-composer Satoko Fujii’s Tokyo Trio made their third release, Dream a Dream in the studio. The beautifully detailed recording cements their place as one of the leading piano trios of our time. The players have an innate chemistry that allows them to navigate Fujii’s compositions as well as improvise with telepathic unity. It’s an unbeatable combination of individual and collective expression that keeps the music always lively and surprising. Since they debuted at Tokyo’s legendary jazz club, Pitt Inn, in 2019, the trio has devoted itself to perfecting their collective sound. The music on the new album was recorded in the middle of a 2024 European tour, but they had also worked on the material during an earlier tour of Japan. They honed their approach to Fujii’s compositions until improvisation and composition co-exist “without borders,” as Fujii puts it. It’s a delight to hear how Fujii uses the trio’s many resources to create beauty and surprise in a new approach to a familiar jazz combo format.
Anupam Shobhakar - After witnessing a life-changing performance by the great sarod master Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, the aspiring teen took up the North Indian instrument and eventually established a flourishing career as a sarod player that took him around the globe. But much like John McLaughlin and Ustad Zakir Hussain’s groundbreaking Shakti ensemble found a common language between Indian classical music and Western jazz and guitar traditions in the 1970s, Shobhakar always dreamed of bringing together the two distinct sounds that so deeply inspired him. On Liquid Reality—released March 14, 2025, on the Hindu festival of Holi—he does just that, crossing firmly placed boundaries of musical vocabulary and aesthetic to create a thrilling new sonic vision for the 21st century. And it took the discovery of a literal dream instrument to bring everything together. With guitar virtuosos on his headphones, it was Shakti who first gave the teenaged Shobhakar (pronounced sho BOK ker) the idea he could combine styles. “Listening to the first Shakti record,” he remembers, “I heard John McLaughlin play all of this Indian music on the guitar, and that just blew my mind. I was like, ‘Wow, the guitar can do this!? It can play Indian music?’” As McLaughlin turned to his studies on the veena, a fretted string instrument, to immerse himself in the vocabulary of Indian classical music, Shobhakar took to the sarod, a fretless 25-string instrument that looks guitar-like but has its own unique technical demands.
