New Music From Reed, Elia, McGuinness & More
World of Jazz 741
On this show an eclectic mix of new material and older recordings brought back to live from the archives. Well established artists are featured as are fresh faces on the jazz scene
AUDIO
PLAYLIST
Eric Scott Reed “Glow” from Out Late (Smoke Sessions Records) 00:00
Dave Liebman, Billy Hart, Adam Rudolph “Transmutation” from Beingness (Meta Records) 03:32
Eduardo Elia “III” from Desvíos (577 Records) 10:37
Clifford Jordan “Cal Massey” from Glass Bead Games (Strata-East) 14:34
The Pete McGuinness Jazz Orchestra “Down The Rabbit Hole” from Mixed Bag (Summit Records) 17:08
Mira Choquette “Que Feras-tu De Ta Vie” from Hier Encore (Self Released) 22:14
Anthony Braxton “On Green Dolphin Street (Birmingham Soundcheck) from Quartet (England) 1985 (Burning Ambulance Music) 27:06
Sabeth Pérez “Petrichor” from Searching For Beauty (Self Released) 35:27
Luke Stewart / Silt Remembrance Ensemble “Attention” from The Order (Cuneiform Records) 38:14
Mehmet Ali Sanlikol featuring Ingrid Jensen “My Blues” from 7 Shades of Melancholia (Dunya) 50:03
Carol Liebowitz and Nick Lyons “Imaginary Colors” from The Inner Senses (Steeplechase/LookOut) 59:14
Sam Dickinson “Shadwell” from Gemini Duets (TQM Recording Co) 1:07:50
Nacho Moze “Puente Viejo” from El Carnaval No Es Joda (Self Released) 1:14:26
Anneleen Boehme “The Tempest” from Eunoia (W.E.R.F. Records) 1:20:42
Jason Miles “Chude (Dream Mix)” from The Lisbon Electric 4tet (Self Released) 1:26:42
The Ostara Project “Rajalakshm” from Roots (Rhea Records) 1:33:00
Alessandro Sgobbio “Forte Rocca” from Piano Music 3 (AMP Music & Records) 1:39:35
Joshua Banks “Burning Bridges” from Para Sayo (Self Released) 1:43:37
Satoko Fujii This Is It “Ernesto” from Message (Libra Records) 1:54:51
NOTES
Eric Scott Reed - Jazz musicians are nocturnal by nature. Almost as essential as time spent on the bandstand are the hours celebrated in the hang, where bonds are forged that inevitably feed back into the spirit and camaraderie of the music. Those strong ties, lifelong relationships, and late-night revelries are vibrantly illustrated on Out Late, the exhilarating and inventive new album from pianist and composer Eric Scott Reed. Released o May 16, 2025, via Smoke Sessions Records, Out Late boasts a striking stellar quintet whose members share deep histories with one another as well as with the label’s namesake Manhattan club. The date features Reed with trumpeter Nicholas Payton, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, bassist Peter Washington, and drummer Joe Farnsworth.
Dave Liebman, Billy Hart, Adam Rudolph - Beingness brings together three masters of creative music: award-winning percussionist Rudolph, soprano sax player and NEA Jazz Master Liebman, and drummer and NEA Jazz Master Hart. The CD and digital album was available via Rudolph’s Meta Records from May 23, 2025 with LPs to follow on July 15. The live album, recorded in the spring of 2023 at New York City’s iconic creative music venue The Stone, marks the fourth in a series of trio recordings released by Liebman and Rudolph.
The trio’s genesis evolved naturally. Hart and Liebman, who met performing on Miles Davis’ historic 1972 recording On the Corner, have played together for over 30 years in configurations including their Quest quartet. Liebman and Rudolph began playing as a duo in 2016, developing a trio with rotating drum chairs.
“When we found out Tyshawn (Sorey) was unavailable for The Stone concert, Dave suggested we ask Billy Hart,” remembers Rudolph. “I enthusiastically agreed. I’ve admired Billy’s playing since I first heard him with Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi Sextet at the Smiling Dog in Cleveland. I loved his playing then and I love it now.”
Working with Liebman and Hart was a dream come true for Rudolph. “Both Billy and Dave inspired me so much when I was a teenager first getting into playing music,” he said. “It was a real honor to create the spontaneous compositions on Beingness with these two masters.”
Together, Hart, Liebman and Rudolph bring decades of performance experience in the full range of contemporary jazz and creative improvised music. Their embodied experience of playing these forms allows them to spontaneously generate new forms though melodic and rhythmic dialogues. These factors, along with the unique combination of instruments Liebman’s wood flutes and Rudolph’s array of percussion bring to the trio, make Beingness a completely original and soulful addition to the evolution of creative music.
Liebman, Hart and Rudolph channel their unique and evolved rhythm and sonic languages through inspired, spirited musical dialogue. The result is music that exists on its own terms, reflecting the wonderful alchemy of the artists as they spontaneously create dialogues, orchestrations, and sonic moods. “The three of us were committed to open our ears and hearts,” says Liebman. “The results were magical.”
Hart concurs: “You have to come to a creative situation like this with open ears, an open heart, and free-flowing imagination. The preparation is also years of practice, composing and performance so that we can be free to play anything we can imagine to play.”
For the live performance, Rudolph employed his “organic” orchestrations and electronic processing. He recalls, “Dave was so inspired by the electronic processing I did during the concert that he asked me to do more of it post production.” Rudolph spent hours diving deep into the music to subtly expand the orchestral palate and create a shadow world of harmonic colours.
While maintaining awareness of the precedent of post-production processes in classic recordings like Bitches Brew and Weather Report, Rudolph incorporated additional ideas from his world music experience: “My primary inspiration for the electronic orchestrations is the ancient African practice of complexifying the sound of instruments, for example by attaching rattles or putting gut strings on skins, so that when they’re played, a parallel 'shadow line” of sound is heard. These rhythm overtones are sometimes called ‘the voice of the ancestors’ and add a transcendent quality to the music.”
As Rudolph reflects in the liner notes “Beingness is the source of inspiration which moves silence towards its manifestation as form in sound. Each gesture animates in the infinite space between thought and non-thought awareness. The fluidity of spontaneous sonic projections reflect the essential being of nature, which is change.”
Eduardo Elia - Listen as improv wizard and rising pianist Eduardo Elia leads us on a spontaneous journey that delivers raw emotion, whimsy, tones of deep mystery, and unbridled exploration. It's all happening inside Desvíos, his upcoming album and his first with 577 Records. The recording is comprised of unique pieces that will instantly drive you to the internet in search of more. If Eduardo’s name sounds familiar to 577 fans, it is because he previously released two albums on the company’s sub-label, Orbit577. The Argentina-born artist is much-adored in his country and has begun to build an international name for himself. He has performed solo and with other artists all over Latin America. Recorded in late 2024 in Córdoba's Teatro del Libertador San Martín, Desvíos was fully improvised from Eduardo’s heart. His vast creativity drips from his fingertips onto the ivories. If the album is an adventure, then each of its twelve incredible tracks follows its own thrilling detour from the path. Experience it yourself on digital download, starting June 20, 2025.
Clifford Jordan - another in the Strata East/Mack Avenue re-release series. Highly regarded as Clifford Jordan’s most celebrated work, Glass Bead Games seamlessly blends hard bop traditions with spiritual and avant-garde elements. Released by the highly influential Strata-East label, the album showcases Jordan’s technical mastery and emotional depth. Released in 1974, it features two alternating quartets anchored by Jordan and drummer Billy Higgins, with Cedar Walton and Stanley Cowell sharing piano duties and Sam Jones and Bill Lee alternating on bass. This collaborative lineup creates a dynamic yet cohesive album that reflects Jordan’s vision as a bandleader and his ability to push jazz into new territories while remaining deeply soulful. Widely regarded as a masterpiece of 1970s jazz, Glass Bead Games cements Clifford Jordan’s legacy as a visionary artist, channeling the spiritual and communal essence of jazz into a timeless recording. Listen to this album in its purest form for the first time ever as a digital release, remastered from the original analog tapes at the highest resolution!
The Pete McGuinness Jazz Orchestra - Approaching the 20th anniversary of his stellar orchestra, which has been hailed as, “a fleet of inspired and virtuosic soloists coupled with exemplary ensemble prowess” by UK Jazz News, McGuinness shows off the encyclopedic breadth of his well-seasoned crew as well as his own expansive imagination. Released on May 23, 2025 via Summit Records, the fourth album by the Pete McGuinness Orchestra, Mixed Bag is the band’s most ambitious offering to date, ranging from unbridled swing to simmering bossa nova, elegant balladry to bracing modernism.
Mira Choquette - has a warm voice, a wide range, and the uncanny ability to make every note count. For her latest recording Hier Encore, the multi-lingual vocalist has teamed up with the superb Armenian jazz pianist Samvel Gasparyan for a set of thoughtful and quietly emotive music. This collection finds Ms. Choquette giving a fresh spin to songs by Michel Legrand, Blossom Dearie, Tadd Dameron, Thelonious Monk, Charles Aznavour, John Klenner, and Mexican composer Armando Manzanero. While many of these performances are duets with the tasteful and soulful pianist Gasparyan, a few also include bassist Dave Geodakyan (who is also a well-respected educator, composer, and conductor), drummer Arman Mnatsakanyan (who plays with Tigran Hamasyan) and, on Just Friends, three of the best horn players in Yerevan. Among the highlights of this rewarding album are heart-warming versions of If You Could See Me Now, Thelonious Monk’s ballad Reflections, two Legrand songs (including featured track What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?, which is one of three selections performed in French), Charles Aznavour’s Hier Encore (Yesterday When I Was Young), and the beautiful ballad Contigo Aperendí, which is sung in Spanish. A change of pace to the often-haunting music is offered in a swinging rendition of John Klenners’ Just Friends and Blossom Dearie’s lowdown Long Daddy Green. Following her previous three albums (Something Cool, the EP It Felt Like A Fall Affair, and In Reel Time), the release of Hier Encore is a major accomplishment, and a beautiful addition to Choquette’s catalogue. “Recording in Armenia with these amazing players was a great experience,” recalls Choquette. “The wet weather, the culture, and the atmosphere lent itself to melancholy songs and resulted in what I like to call a jazz album for grownups.”
Anthony Braxton - Burning Ambulance Music has announced the release of Quartet (England) 1985, a digital box set of four complete, previously unreleased concerts by the Anthony Braxton Quartet (Marilyn Crispell, piano; Mark Dresser, bass; Gerry Hemingway, percussion) from its 1985 tour of England. The recordings will be released exclusively on Bandcamp on Anthony Braxton's 80th birthday, June 4, 2025, and are available for pre-order now. The four concerts — from Sheffield, Leicester, Bristol, and Southampton — were recorded on cassette by writer Graham Lock, who accompanied the quartet on the tour and subsequently wrote the book Forces In Motion: Anthony Braxton and the Meta-Reality of Creative Music, a landmark work of jazz scholarship. The recordings have been restored by engineer and Sun Ra discographer Chris Trent. Each concert is available separately, but the full set also includes bonus recordings of the group playing John Coltrane's "After the Rain," Miles Davis's "Four," and the standards "All the Things You Are" and the featured track "On Green Dolphin Street" at soundchecks. The package also includes new liner notes from Lock and photos from Nick White, with cover art by Burning Ambulance Music co-founder I.A. Freeman. Because each set is over 40 minutes long and it would be wrong to edit them for podcast purposes I featured one of the shorter bonus recordings.
Sabeth Pérez - The vocalist/composer is known for her crystal clear voice, cinnamon-like sound and genre-fluid, soulful compositions. She has captivated audiences worldwide with her deep-rooted connection to jazz and South American folklore. Following her collaborations with esteemed ensembles like the WDR Big Band, the Frankfurt Radio Big Band, EOS Chamber Orchestra and internationally renowned musicians like Billy Childs, she now unveils Searching for Beauty, an homage to the quiet wonders that surround us – if we only pause to see them. Available worldwide, June 1, 2025.
Pérez commented on the concept & inspiration behind the album, “I see it as my everlasting duty to spend my life searching for beauty, beauty to absorb my mind. Flurries of humility, like white noise. Solace in the thought this is not caused (but just is). Grace has lost its place, baffled by our pointless race – against whom anyways? We call it prayer, rule or resolution. Everyone seeks absolution.” The music on Searching for Beauty is a meditation on impermanence, human connection, and the delicate moments where beauty reveals itself in memories, landscapes, and the simple act of being present.
Musically, this album aims to capture the spirit of stillness and movement, of longing and contentment. A blend of Argentine folkloristic rhythms like Chacarera, Carnavalito and Zamba, jazz improvisation, and harmonies borrowed from classical impressionist music, Searching for Beauty is an invitation to slow down, to find wonder in the fleeting, and to embrace the simple yet profound magic of existing in the present.
Musicians featured on the album are Sabeth Pérez – vocals, Ingrid Jensen – trumpet, Nicola Caminiti – saxophone, Gabriel Pérez – flute, saxophone, Charles Altura – guitar, Jon Cowherd – piano, Ben Tiberio – upright bass, Keita Ogawa – percussion, drums, Martin Bruhn – percussion , Henry Cole – drums
Luke Stewart/Silt Remembrance Ensemble - Bassist Stewart isn’t afraid of blurring boundaries and blending bands, with astonishing results. An essential creative force in the fertile jazz and improvised music scenes of the East Coast and beyond for nearly two decades, he seized a promising moment to combine musicians from two volatile working combos. As the name suggests, his new album credited to Silt Remembrance Ensemble, brings together two players from his Remembrance Quintet (introduced on an eponymous 2023 album)– Jamal Moore on reeds and percussion and veteran master Daniel Carter on alto sax and flute–and Silt Trio, featuring powerhouse tenor saxophonist Brian Settles and drum maestro Chad Taylor.
What had initially been planned as an album release concert for the Remembrance Quintet project Do You Remember? evolved into an entirely new situation. Stewart had an opportunity to perform at Tonal Park Studios in Takoma Park, MD, around the same time that Silt Trio was recording Unknown Rivers, “and I used the opportunity to gather this special mix of those two groups,” he says. The recording isn’t a document of the two-hour-plus concert. Rather, Stewart crafted the album after the fact, distilling and sequencing the music to create its own narrative arc, “editing and arranging the performance so that it would make sense in an album form,” he says.
Stewart resides at the centre of a tangled skein of relationships running between the four other players. They’re joined on several short pieces by spoken word artists Janice Lowe and No Land, with verse that ties this music to the Remembrance Quintet album. Themes of ancestral recall, the flow of time and water, and the preciousness of shared moments run through the session, starting with a setting for text by No Lands designed to feature Carter, it’s a trio piece with Stewart that prepares the audience for the “molten experience” to come.
Together, these players share a depth of knowledge and spirit of adventure that makes The Order a milestone collaboration that excavates and honours the past while embracing the unknown.
The album was released April 25, 2025.
The musicians are:
Daniel Carter – alto saxophone, trumpet
Brian Settles – tenor saxophone
Jamal Moore – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, woodwinds, percussion
Luke Stewart – bass, poetry
Chad Taylor – drums, percussion
Mehmet Ali Sanlikol - Having started his career in jazz in the mid ’90s, Sanlıkol is distinguished by his eclectic musical experiences in traditional Turkish music, classical, and progressive rock, which in turn has inspired his innovative approach to his original jazz compositions. In his own words, he eschews the common pitfalls of artists arranging traditional music, by virtue of the decade he spent immersed in scholarly research and performance of the music of his Turkish heritage. He is not only influenced by the “world music” of Turkey; he instead has internalized its vocabulary and depth of meaning to become a unique vessel for it as a refreshed vernacular through the lens of jazz. Having recorded with his jazz orchestra Whatsnext? since 2014, Sanlıkol released his first-ever trio recording, An Elegant Ritual, in 2021—followed by his next release with Whatsnext?, Turkish Hipster, in 2023. For 7 Shades of Melancholia, Sanlıkol revisited recording with a small group, where his ensemble comprises James Heazlewood-Dale on acoustic bass, George Lernis on drums and gongs, Ingrid Jensen on trumpet, and Lihi Haruvi-Means on soprano saxophone. Sanlıkol performs on piano and voice, as well as a patent-pending instrument of his own invention—a digital microtonal piano, dubbed Renaissance 17 (R17).
Carol Liebowitz and Nick Lyons - Pianist Carol Liebowitz and Alto Saxophonist Nick Lyons have a highly personal duo concept that has developed through nearly two decades of playing together (their collaboration began in 2007). Their original music possesses a natural and beautiful ensemble sound and incorporates wide ranges of texture, dynamics, mood, rhythm, and form. Through a shared drive to express their musical imaginations spontaneously and intuitively, and through their instrumental virtuosity, Carol and Nick create pieces of intrinsic character and feeling, each unique to their moment and setting. Their range on standard tune repertoire stretches from the momentum and expansive exploration of a hard-swinging jazz band to the poignancy of pure song, and their music created through “free” improvisation (with no set song form or structure) emerges through the discovery of each next note and musical gesture. The music flows seamlessly through these dimensions in a continuous exchange.
Sam Dickinson - Guitarist Dickinson is back with a sophomore album, and this time he let the band stay home. Gemini Duets was envisioned as a mainly solo guitar album “with a few overdubs”, but quickly grew into a broader project offering dense contemporary soundscapes, multi-tracked duets, and unaccompanied vignettes. This exciting new music was captured at the historic Sharon Temple in Aurora, Ontario by Ron Skinner, and marks Dickinson’s first release with TQM Recording Co. Sam Dickinson has appeared on stages across North America and Europe. He is gaining notoriety for his contemporary yet grounded approach to jazz guitar in Toronto, where he currently resides. Alongside solo, trio, and quartet endeavors, Dickinson is a busy sideman, adding electric and acoustic guitar to countless groups across Canada.
Nacho Moze - Moze's new album is now available on all digital platforms. A musical essay on Latin American traditions that interweaves jazz with popular music from the continent. The group is completed by Reimon Lesbegueris on trumpet, Santiago Bustos on alto saxophone, Lucas Goicoechea on tenor saxophone, Gonzo Pérez on trombone, Agustín Spina on piano, and Leo Valle Figueroa on double bass.
Anneleen Boehme - is a virtuoso double bass player, a ten year veteran in the iconic band LABtrio. Also she was in the 9-piece classical-meets-jazz outfit Grand Picture Palace. I played the single 'Lament For The Worried' from this album a couple of shows back. Here’s another track from the album where she focuses on the acoustic sound of the instrument and, without too much extra, highlights that pure low voice. .
Jason Miles - Grammy-winning producer, composer, and keyboardist Jason Miles — known for his pioneering work with legends like Miles Davis, Marcus Miller, and Luther Vandross — unveils his latest project: The Lisbon Electric 4tet. This exciting new release marks a powerful new phase in a career defined by innovation, groove, and global collaboration. Having shaped the sound of modern music with his groundbreaking synthesizer work for artists such as Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, and Chaka Khan, Jason Miles has never been one to stand still. After decades at the heart of New York’s vibrant music scene, and a legacy that includes three albums with Miles Davis (Tutu, Amandla, Music from Siesta), Jason and his wife Kathy made the bold decision to start a new life in Lisbon, Portugal.
There, inspired by a fresh creative landscape and new musical partnerships, Jason formed The Lisbon Electric 4tet. The group — featuring Vicky Marques (drums), Yami Aloelela (bass), and Tiago Oliveira (guitar) — channels Jason’s signature blend of jazz, funk, and deep groove into a vibrant transatlantic sound. Their explosive live debut at the Super Bock em Stock festival in Lisbon set the tone for their self-titled album, mixed and mastered by Grammy-winner Jimmy Bralower.
The Ostara Project - This album is a stunning instrumental homage by the award- winning jazz musicians of the Ostara Project, Canada's all-female supergroup. 'Roots' pays tribute to the foundations of musical, personal, and ancestral journeys—explored, inspired, and distilled into a piece of art destined to be played on repeat. Vocalist and composer Shruti Ramani paints a musical portrait of her grandmother with the composition Rajalakshmi. The song is an exquisite intertwining of Hindustani and jazz styles, a fusion that Ramani showcases with expert precision. The exploration of different tempos throughout the song, coupled with the inclusion of both traditional and contemporary jazz sounds, brilliantly achieves Ramani’s goal of introducing her grandmother as a multi-faceted human being with personality and warmth.
Featuring
Amanda Tosoff - piano, fender rhodes
Rachel Therrien - trumpet, flugelhorn, spoken word
Allison Au - alto and soprano saxophone
Jodi Proznick - bass
Valérie Lacombe - drums
Shruti Ramani - vocals
Alessandro Sgobbio - Composer and pianist Sgobbio with his third solo album of intimate piano epistles and dedications. The eight tracks showcase Sgobbio’s piano style as well as his use of electronic soundscapes. Piano Music 3 completes the trilogy initiated by the logically named Piano Music (2022) & Piano Music 2 (2023). Performed on a stunning Fazioli F278 Grand Piano, the album was recorded, mixed and mastered by Stefano Amerio at the Artesuono Studios in Italy
Joshua Banks - With his first recording project, Para Sayo, Edmonton pianist Joshua Banks has proven himself to be a thrilling new compositional force in contemporary jazz. After studying the sounds of illustrious Asian pianists Hiromi Uehara, Kie Katagi, and Nahre Sol, Banks called upon his formidable technical facility developed through years of classical study to craft an album featuring a distinctive fusion of styles that strives to expand the presence of Asian-inspired jazz in North America. Banks refined the music of Para Sayo over the course of two years. After affirming his personal sound, he connected with his good friend, lyricist Hazel Cavida. “I approached Hazel about collaborating on a lyric in both English and Tagalog. As someone who often feels disconnected from my heritage, I leaned on her a lot to flesh out the album’s themes, titles, and stories. When Hazel came on board, the album really began to get its legs, not just as an exploration of Asian musical identities, but of my own identity as an Asian/Filipino-Canadian in general. I was born ‘here’ in Canada, and so I have nothing from ‘there’— my family’s homeland. The album is an exploration of what it means to find space as an Asian artist, and what it means to find space for ourselves, our families, our people, and our culture in the west.”
In addition to Cavida’s contributions, Para Sayo showcases the artistry of many of Western Canada’s most exciting up and coming young musicians. Banks’ own mother, Corazon Banks, recorded a spoken word contribution in her native Ibaloi— the language belonging to her indigenous group native to the Philippine Cordillera mountains— as a way to honour her ancestral contribution to his music. The result is a scintillating modern jazz album that is deeply grounded in both musical and emotional storytelling.
Para Sayo was released worldwide on Friday, May 16th
Satoko Fujii This Is It! - Pianist-composer Satoko Fujii has an uncanny talent for picking musicians who can bring out unexpected aspects of her music. That ability is in full display on Message, the third album by her trio This Is It!, featuring long-time collaborator and life partner, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, and the buoyant, unpredictable percussionist Takashi Itani. They are all deep listeners who are unafraid to strike off in new directions, and together they seemingly travel anywhere they like. The result is an album of boundless creativity and bubbling high spirits. The album was released May 9, 2025, via Libra Records.
“I always like having the ‘voice’ of my bandmates in my music,” Fujii says. “All my collaborators are great improvisers and they each have a different approach to my music. When they put their voice in my music, I feel like it has so much more life. Takashi Itani is a crazy percussion player. My compositions are sometimes too serious, but with him they can be full of humour.”
Featured track “Ernesto” was inspired by a biography of Ernesto “Che” Guevara that Fujii read during the pandemic. Fujii’s piano is in the foreground throughout the moody, turbulent piece, along with some gritty trumpet work from Tamura. “I couldn’t agree with violent revolution, but I was moved with his passion,” she says. “I would like to live like him—without compromise and dedicated to pursuing the things that I believe in.”
