New Jazz Releases – 10/27/2025
By Russell Perry
Horace Silver
This week saw a lovely solo guitar release from Jussi Reijonen, but the overwhelming tone for me was Hard Bop-O-Rama! Driving releases have come in from trumpeter David Sneider (his debut) and pianists Joe Elefante and Shawn Mason. To cap off a great week there is a new live release from 1965 by Horace Silver with Woody Shaw and Joe Henderson recorded between the sessions for Song For My Father and Cape Verdean Blues – a particularly fertile time in a legendary career. Hot!
Dave Gisler Trio – The Flying Mega Doghouse (Intakt Records, release10/24/2025). Dave Gisler – guitar, Raffaele Bossard – bass, Lionel Friedli – drums.
Explosive power trio jazz on the one hand and gentle guitar trio ballads on another, with lots in between, guitarist Dave Gisler and his long-time trio deliver a varied program in a live setting.
Patricia Brennan – Of Near And Far (Pyroclastic, release 10/24/2025). Sylvie Courvoisier – piano, Patricia Brennan – vibraphone / electronics / marimba, Miles Okazaki – guitar, Modney – violin, Pala Garcia – violin, Kyle Armbrust – viola, Michael Nicolas – cello, Kim Cass – bass, John Hollenbeck – drums / percussion, Arktureye – electronics
Vibraphonist Patricia Brennan’s 2024 release (Breaking Stretch, previewed 09/02/2024) was considered by many critics as one of the best and for some the best release of 2024. While she helmed a three-horn front line last time as the only chordal instrument, this time she skips the horns and adds Sylvie Couvoisier on piano (Angel Falls, preview 10/13/2025), and Miles Okazaki on guitar (Miniature America, preview 10/08/2024) plus a string quartet. Carefully constructed and voiced, much of the music could fit comfortably into a film setting. Well-played.
Review: AllAboutJazz,Jazz Trail, Jazz Views, Post Genre
Jussi Reijonen – Sayr: Salt / Thirst (Unmusic, release 10/24/2025). Jussi Reijonen – steel string acoustic guitar.
Probably just me, but this solo guitar recording brought back strong positive memories of John Fahey. Sure, this is a Finnish jazz artist with strong affinity for North African music and not a mid-Atlantic blues revivalist with strong folk influences from the American South, but the comparisons out-weigh the differences. The solo guitar music is contemplative, stately, rarely showy and rooted in a folk tradition that is abstracted through the artistry of the player. Independent of this association, this is a strong release. Taking the personal response into account, it is also quite nostalgic. Recommended.
Sean Mason – A Breath Of Fresh Air (Taylor Christian Records, release 10/24/2025). Tony Glausi – trumpet, Chris Lewis – tenor saxophone, Sean Mason – piano, Felix Moseholm – bass, Domo Branch – drums.
Pianist Sean Mason as made some noise in the last couple of years starting with his debut in 2023 (The Southern Suite, previewed 10/30/2023), followed in 2024 by his Grammy-nominated duo with Catherine Russell (My Ideal, previewed 09/09/2024) This release features the band from his 2023 debut. Together they make a hard bop and groove heavy interpretation of eight swinging original compositions. His mentor Branford Marsalis said “The album sounds like Ahmad Jamal and Horace Silver had a baby.” Yup, highly recommended.
Review: Paris Move
Horace Silver – Silver In Seattle: Live At The Penthouse (Blue Note, release 10/24/2025). Woody Shaw – trumpet, Joe Henderson – tenor saxophone, Horace Silver – piano, Teddy Smith – bass, Roger Humphreys – drums.
Six weeks after recording this live date in 1965 in Seattle, Horace Silver and this band (with Bob Cranshaw on bass in lieu of Teddy Smith) went into Rudy Van Gelder’s Englewood Cliffs studio and recorded Cape Verdean Blues (my favorite Horace Silver release!). So if you have felt all these years (as I have) that one Silver disc with Joe Henderson and Woody Shaw could not possibly be enough … you are in luck. We all are. This record doesn’t disappoint. The recording quality is excellent for a night club air check and the music is moving. Highly recommended.
David Sneider – Introducing (Cellar Music, release 10/24/2025). David Sneider – trumpet, Erena Terakubo – alto saxophone, Jacob Chung – tenor saxophone, Tyler Henderson – piano, Joey Ranieri – bass, Willie Bowman – drums.
It is wholly appropriate that trumpeter David Sneider kicks of his debut with a Lee Morgan hommage – Marvelous-Lee – and ends with Monk’s Hackensack with scorching hard bop in between. To make it work, Sneider fills out the three-horn front line with altoist Erena Terakubo and tenorist Jacob Chung. Terabuko was new to me when she showed up in the all-woman front line on the debut of Pureum Jin’s group The Empress (Square One, previewed 03/24/2025). Chung made his debut last year (The Sage, previewed 11/25/2025) and, earlier this year, released a live set with Tyler Henderson who is also on this release (Live At Frankie’s Club, previewed 07/07/2025). This a very together band making exciting music. Highly recommended.
Joe Elefante’s Wheel Of Dharma – Return Of The Light (Self Produced, release 10/24/2025). Freddie Hendrix – trumpet / flugelhorn, Erena Terakubo – alto saxophone, Joe Elefante – piano, Sameer Shankar – bass, David Heilman – drums.
Mostly pianist Joe Elefante’s latest disc tracks a Horace Silver vibe that follows from his project with the same band earlier this year (Wheel of Dharma, previewed 01/20/2025). The front line of Freddie Hendrix on trumpet (Christian McBride, Sharel Cassity, Jazzmeia Horn) and Erena Terakubo (see David Sneider above) on alto (Peter Limn & AAPI Jazz Collective, The Empress, Tracy Yang). Irresistible for hard bop fans and highly recommended.
Review: Jazz Weekly, Paris Move
Mike Casey – The Complete Public Access: WPAA TV Session(Self Produced, release 10/20/2025) digital only. Mike Casey – tenor saxophone, Matt Dwonszyk – upright bass, Corey Garcia – drums
Before decamping for the other coast, tenor saxophonist Mike Casey recorded a set on Connecticut public TV with his longtime trio. Initially four tracks were released in 2023 and now an additional two tracks have been found and included. A solid post-bop tenor trio with inventive playing from the leader.
Review: Making A Scene
Otherlands Trio – Star Mountain(Intakt Records, release 10/17/2025). Darius Jones – alto saxophone, Stephan Crump – acoustic bass, Eric McPherson – drums.
Pianist Kris Davis recorded a trio set last year with bassist Stephan Crump and drummer Eric McPherson under the name Borderlands Trio (Rewilder, previewed 12/16/2024). Now alto saxophonist Darius Jones (Legend of e’Boi, previewed 10/07/2024) has stepped in with the distinctive voices of Crump and McPherson to form Otherlands Trio. While edgy to be sure, this is among the more accessible efforts from Jones, who can be quite abstract. His alto playing has an urgency that floats over a solid foundation.
Sacha Boutros – Sacha: Paris After Dark (Hear Me Roar Records, release 10/17/2025). Stephane Belmondo – trumpet, Franck Amsallem – piano, Hugo Lippi – guitar, Thomas Bramerie – bass, Tony Robeson – drums, Sacha Boutros – vocals.
American-born, but a resident of Paris since 2017, singer Sacha Boutros has set out to document a 100-year homage to Paris from French and American composers. She has a lovely voice with more than a little cabaret in her presentation. Stephane Belmondo contributes a very sensual trumpet to the proceedings.
Review: Making A Scene
Andrew Carroll – Speaking of Gravity (Self Produced, release 10/16/2025). Andrew Carroll – piano, Danny Ziemann – bass, Jeff Ballard – drums.
Young New York pianist Andrew Carroll has released his second disc, again in a piano trio, performing a program of original compositions.
Nat Adderley Jr Trio – Took So Long (Self Produced, release 10/14/2025). Nat Adderley, Jr – piano, Belden Bullock – bass, Chris Berger – bass, Victor Ector – drums, Steve Johns – drums, Tommy Campbell – drums, Dwayne “Cook” Broadnax – drums, Alana Adderley – vocals.
Son of the eponymous cornetist and formerly Luther Vandross’s Music Director, pianist Nat Adderley, Jr has now released his debut as a leader. It’s a gentle piano trio date with swingers and ballads coming from the modern jazz world (Dizzy Gillespie), pop music (Stevie Wonder, Leon Russell, Carole King) and the songbook (Burton Lane / “Yip” Harburg, Bronislau Kaper).
Review: New World ’n’ Jazz
The following CDs were previewed when they came in as digital releases. We have now received these CDs and they are on the New Releases shelf.
Andy Nevala – El Rumbon (The Party) (Zoho Music, release 08/08/2025). Carlos Averhoff Jr – tenor saxophone, Andy Nevala – piano, Neff Irizarry – guitar, Andy Eulau – bass, Frankie Quiñones – percussion, Emrah Kotan – drums.
Lizzy & The Triggermen – Live at Joe’s Pub: April 6, 2024 (Self Produced, release 04/18/2025). Gordon Au – trumpet, John Allred – trombone, Nate Ketner – alto saxophone / clarinet, Ricky Alexander – tenor saxophone / baritone saxophone / clarinet, Chris Dawson – piano, Luca Pino – guitar, Bobby Hawk – violin, Gary Wicks – upright bass, Anthony Ty Johnson – drums, Lizzy Shaps – vocals.
Rez Abbasi – Sound Remains(Whirlwind Recordings, release 06/27/2025). Bill Ware – vibraphone, Rez Abbasi – acoustic guitars, Stephan Crump – acoustic bass, Eric McPherson – drums, Hasan Bakr – percussion.
I know you already put this on your calendar: Warren Wolf and Sharel Cassity, live at WTJU’s The Stage on Friday 11/07 from 8:00 – 9:00 PM. They will be headlining a group of Cassity’s students. See you there.
Russell Perry
Jazz at 100 Now!
If your music isn’t changing your life, you’ve simply picked the wrong songs. – Ted Gioia
