New Jazz Releases – 04/21/2025
By Russell Perry
Royce Campbell
Some terrific big band records this week – our own Royce Campbell with the Vosbein Magee Big Band from Lexington, VA, Sean Imboden with an Indianapolis big band and New York’s Arturo O’Farrill Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra playing Carla Bley’s last compositions. In addition, we have a late career live quintet date from Charles Mingus and a contemporary sextet date from Portland’s Medler Sextet.
Phil Haynes – Return To Electric (Corner Store Jazz, release 04/21/2025). Steve Salerno – guitar, Drew Gress – bass, Phil Haynes – drums.
Veteran free jazz drummer Phil Haynes has joined with long-time collaborators to fulfill a dream of making a fusion record. The program includes selections by John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, George Russell & Wayne Shorter.
Review: Downbeat, Making A Scene, Paris Move
Phil Haynes & Ben Monder – Transitions(Corner Store Jazz, release 04/21/2025 ). Ben Monder – guitar, Phil Haynes – drums / percussion
Drummer Phil Haynes (Day Dream Trio – Duke & Strays Live, previewed 11/18/2024) teams with guitarist Ben Monder (Ingrid Laubrock, The Bad Plus, Maria Schneider) for a largely free set, much from a dark and moody place.
Review: Paris Move, AllAboutJazz, Making A Scene
Royce Campbell and the Vosbein Magee Big Band – Vagabond (Max Frank Music, release 04/21/2025). Chris Magee, Alec Moser, Brian Quackenbush, Kerry Moffit – trumpets, Matt Niess, Tom Lundberg, Tom McKensie, Tyler Bare – trombones, Bill Schnepper, Greg Moody, James Cotton, Kelli Birchfield, Kyle Greaney – saxophones, Matthew Billings – paino, Royce Campbell – guitar, Bob Bowen – bass, DeWayne Peters – drums.
On Charlottesville-based guitarist Royce Campbell’s latest, we get to hear what a fine composer he is, in addition to his instrumental prowess. Campbell toured for decades with Henry Mancini and his latest has him in the company of the Lexington, VA-based Vosbein Magee Big Band. They nail these charts and the whole effort sparkles with energy. Highly recommended.
Review: AllAboutJazz
Charles Mingus – Charles Mingus In Argentina (Resonance Records, release 04/18/2025). Jack Walrath – trumpet, Ricky Ford – tenor saxophone, Robert Neloms – piano, Charles Mingus – bass, Dannie Richmond – drums.
Not only is the music swinging and the recording well-done, but this is perhaps the only recording of this particular late-career Charles Mingus Quintet. Recorded live on a South American tour in November 1977, Mingus would succumb to ALS in 14 months. The early stages of the disease are not evident in his playing and certainly not in the energy of the ensemble. Trumpeter Jack Walrath and tenorist Ricky Ford make a fine front line. Another first-class release from Record Store Day. Recommended.
Review: Paris Move, AllAboutJazz, Audiophile Audition
Sean Imboden – Communal Heart (Self Produced, release 04/18/2025). Clark Hunt – trumpet / flugelhorn, John Raymond – trumpet / flugelhorn, Scott Belk – trumpet / flugelhorn, Kent Hickey – trumpet / flugelhorn, Tucker Woerner – trombone, Andrew Danforth – trombone, Chaz Rhodes – trombone, Rich Dole – bass trombone, Sean Imboden – tenor saxophone / soprano saxophone, Matt Pivec – alto saxophone / soprano saxophone / flute, LaMont Webb – alto saxophone / flute, Mark O’Connor – tenor saxophone / soprano saxophone, Cecily Terhune – tenor saxophone, Evan Drybread – baritone saxophone / bass clarinet, Chris Pitts – piano, Joel Tucker – guitar, Nick Tucker – bass, Cassius Goens – drums.
Indianapolis-based saxophonist / composer / bandleader finds inspiration in the music of the Maria Schneider Orchestra in a program of five originals for 17-piece ensemble. Recommended.
Doug Wyatt – Days of Gypsy Nights (Sonosphere, release 04/18/2025). Michael Rosen – tenor saxophone / soprano saxophone, Doug Wyatt – piano / synthesizer, Tim Reppert – electric bass / double bass, Giuseppe Bassi – double bass, Francesco Ponticelli – double bass, Marcello Pellitteri – drums, Michael Waldrop – drums / marimba, with Little Big Sound Strings, New Zealand String Quartet
Ithaca-based pianist Doug Wyatt has released his first disc in almost twenty years. With a saxophone quartet and one of two string ensembles, Wyatt explores the intersection of jazz and classical music in a third stream sort of way.
Review: Mainly Piano
Medler Sextet – River Paths(OA2 Records, release 04/18/2025). Paul Mazzio – trumpet, John Moak – trombone, Michelle Medler – tenor saxophone, Clay Giberson – piano, Ben Medler – bass, Todd Bishop – drums.
Portland-based Medler Sextet brings a memories of Charles Mingus and Horace Silver to this well-played date featuring the compositions of life-partners Ben and Michelle Medler. The classic trumpet / trombone / saxophone sextet is comfortably relaxed on the ballads and swinging when they go uptempo. Although they are breaking no new ground, the furrow they are plowing is fcomfortable and welcomed. Highly recommended.
Review: Paris Move, AllAboutJazz, JazzWeekly
Gerald Clayton – Ones & Twos (Blue Note, release 04/14/2025). Marquis Hill – trumpet, Elena Pinderhughes – flute, Gerald Clayton – piano, Joel Ross – vibraphone, Kendrick Scott – drums.
Pianist Gerald Clayton (Out Of / Into, Wayne Escoffery, Ben Wendel) has collected an all-star ensemble for his latest with a front line of trumpeter Marquis Hill (New Gospel Revisited, 2022) and flutist Elena Pinderhighes (Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah) plus Joel Ross (NuBlues, previewed 02/12/2024) on vibes and Kendrick Scott (Corridors, previewed 02/27/2023) on drums. In a curious play, the tracks on “Side 1” are the same length as the tracks on “Side 2” and the sides can be mixed back an forth, DJ-style (or so they say, I haven’t tried it).
Review: Everything Jazz, Glide Magazine, All Music
The Reid Hoyson Project – In Your Dreams (Reid Hoyson Productions, release 04/11/2025). Keith Bishop – saxophones / flutes / clarinets, Hendrik Meurkens – vibraphone / harmonica, Billy Test – piano, Tony DePaolis – bass, Reid Hoyson – drums.
Pittsburgh drummer Reid Robson is out with another pairing with old-school flutist / saxophonist Keith Bishop. The sound is completed by Hendrik Meurkens doubling on vibraphone in addition two his more customary harmonica. The program consists of nine by members of the band plus one cover of Gerald Wilson’s Detroit.
Hiromi’s Sonicwonder – Out There (Telarc, release 04/04/2025). Adam O’Farrill – trumpet / pedals, Hiromi – piano / keyboards, Hadrien Feraud – bass, Gene Coye – drums with Michelle Willis – vocals.
Pianist Hiromi is back with a second disc with her quartet Sonicwonder featuring the powerful trumpet of Adam O’Farrill (from the Latin Jazz dynasty). Other than a ballad with singer Michelle Willis, the proceedings are a high-energy affair. Half the record is the Out There suite, where Hiromi exercises her fusion chops.
Review: UK Jazz News, All Music
Arturo O’Farrill Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra – Mundoagua: Celebrating Carla Bley (Zoho Records, release 02/07/2025). Adam O’Farrill, Seneca Black, Bryan Davis, Rachel Therrien – trumpets, Rafi Malkiel, Remee Ashley, Abdulrahman Amer, Earl McIntyre – trombones, Ivan Renta, Adison Evans, Jasper Dutz, Roman Filiu, Larry Bustamante – reeds, Arturo O’Farrill, piano, Andrew Andron – piano, Patricia Brennan – vibraphone, Sergio Ramirez – guitar, Ricardo Rodriguez – bass, Vince Cherico – drums, Carlos Maldonado – percussion, Keisel Jimenez – percussion.
Composer and bandleader Arturo O’Farrill has brought to his legendary ensemble a program of three suites – two of his composition. The third suite, Blue Palestine, is Carla Bley’s final composition, written specifically for the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra. Bley gave O’Farrill his first big break, hiring him as the pianist for her Big Band when he was a teenager! These remarkable compositions are played by an ensemble that includes such luminaries as Adam O’Farrill and Rachel Therrien on trumpet, Ivan Renta and Jasper Dütz on reeds, and Patricia Bennan on vibes. Highly recommended.
Review: AllAboutJazz, Chalked Up Reviews
Now that the Rock Fundraising Marathon is complete, we will be starting our planning for the upcoming Jazz Fundraising Marathon in the Fall. Now more than ever, community support for our community radio station is so important.
Russell Perry
Jazz at 100 Now!
If your music isn’t changing your life, you’ve simply picked the wrong songs. – Ted Gioia
