New Jazz Releases – 12/08/2025
By Russell Perry
Al Foster (01/18/1943 – 05/28/2025)
Just a few releases coming in, several from earlier in the fall. Two of those caught my ears – The Afro-Caribbean Jazz Collective and the Jeff Dingler Trio. We also caught up on last year’s releases from Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Blue Engine Records – music from JALC and Summer Camargo. But the star of the show is the final Al Foster recording Live at Smoke.
Al Foster – Amsterdam Blues (Smoke Sessions Records, release 12/05/2025). Chris Potter – tenor saxophone / soprano saxophone, Brad Mehldau – piano, Joe Martin – bass, Al Foster – drums.
Recorded on drummer Al Foster’s 82nd birthday, the master drummer did not live to see this release, passing away last spring. It is fitting that his last recorded effort featured three frequent collaborators and masters of modern jazz – saxophonist Chris Potter (Eagle’s Point, previewed 02/19/2024), pianist Brad Mehldau (Ride Into the Sun, previewed 09/15/2025) and bassist Joe Martin (David Kikoski, Rico Jones, Mark Turner). Each player contributed a composition to the proceedings with the balance split between modern jazz classics (Trane, Wayne, Sonny) and standards. Foster came to prominence in Miles Davis’s 70s bands and contributed to recordings by giants like Sonny Rollins, McCoy Tyner, Art Pepper, Joe Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson, and Roy Hargrove. Al Foster was a consummate professional with an infectious swing and this is a fitting final chapter to a long and distinguished life in music. Highly Recommended.
Review: Marlbank, Glide Magazine
The Afro-Caribbean Jazz Collective – Cortadito (Self Produced, release 11/21/2025). Victor Garcia – trumpet, Ben Carrasquillo – trombone, Brian Stark – tenor saxophone, Jose Guzman – guitar, Andrey Goncalvez – bass, Javier Quintana – congas & barril, Victor Gonzalez – bongos / bell / timbales, Michael Rodriguez – timbales / bongos / bell, Jose Natal – barril with Connor Frederick – trombone, Enrique Chavez – percussion.
Puerto Rico-native, Chicago-based guitarist Jose Guzman brings a three-horn front line with guitar and bass to a foundation of four percussionists in this luscious exploration of Caribbean song forms like cha cha, bolero, and bomba. There is an easy relaxed pace to most of the proceedings making the rhythms that much richer. Satisfying and recommended.
Review: Paris Move, Jazz Weekly, AllAboutJazz, Making A Scene
Carl Schultz – The Road to Trantor (Origin Records, release 11/21/2025). Carl Schultz – tenor saxophone / flute, Adam Benjamin – piano / Fender Rhodes, Tim Wendel – guitar, Zack Teran – bass, Alwyn Robinson – drums.
Playing tenor and flute, Carl Schultz has written and recorded what amounts to the soundtrack for a science fiction movie that hasn’t yet been made (or even written!). The result ranges from straight ahead post-bop to spacey noodlings.
Review: AllAboutJazz, Jazz Weekly, Paris Move
Maria Corsaro – Love Makes The Changes (Lola Records, release 11/14/2025). Mark Feinberg – saxophone / flute, Greg Toroian – piano, Skip Ward – bass, David Sillman – drums, Maria Corsaro – vocals.
Classically-trained vocalist Maria Corsaro has recorded a set of standards and modern jazz covers in a distinctly cabaret vein.
Review: Making A Scene
Brian Baggett Trio – Nothing Left To Lose: Live at Green Lady Lounge Volume 2 (Jazz Daddy Records, release 11/10/2025). Brian Baggett – guitar, Seth Lee – bass, Sam Platt – drums.
Kansas City guitarist Brian Baggett and his lean trio have recorded a set of original compositions with a solid surf music sound. Cue the reverb!
Review: Plastic Sax
Tom Ricci – So Amor (Self Produced, release 10/23/2025). Pablo Sanguinetti – piano, Bruno Migotto – bass, Pipi Piazolla – drums, Tom Ricci – vocals with Will Ferguson, Chris Ehler, Marty Soltis.
Argentinian-born, Southern California-based singer / guitarist Tom Ricci records music from a wide range of sources. This release features a small ensemble with a Bossa Nova-leaning repertoire that includes some Great American songbook covers.
Jeff Dingler – How About You? (Self Produced, release 09/2025). Tom Dempsey – guitar, Jeff Dingler – bass, Joe Brown Jr. – drums.
Guitarist Jeff Dingler has released a set with a guitar – bass – drums trio that presents lovely covers of nine standards from Duke, the Gershwins, Arlen & Harberg, Mancini, Bird and the like. I don’t know anything about these players but I enjoy their facile presentation and straight ahead chops. Recommended.
Jazz At Lincoln Center – The Shanghai Suite (Blue Engine Records, release 10/25/2024). Ryan Kisor, Kenny Rampton, Marcus Printup, Wynton Marsalis – trumpets, Vincent Gardner, Chris Crenshaw, Elliot Mason – trombones, Sherman Irby, Ted Nash, Victor Goines, Nicole Glover, Paul Nedzela – reeds, Dan Nimmer – piano, Carlos Henriquez – bass, Obed Calvaire – drums with Ye Huang – clarinet.
Wynton Marsalis’s JALC Orchestra is a tight and tidy big band with a powerful swing. There aren’t many intact big bands that provide chances for lasting growth and familiarity. Modeled on Ellington’s powerful example, Marsalis continues to mine this remarkable opportunity for solid performances of newly composed large ensemble works. I don’t fully track what makes this a “Shanghai” suite other than the occasional cliched melodic insertion. Regardless, its an enjoyable listen with the expected terrific playing by a set of total pros.
Review: Marlbank
Jazz At Lincoln Center – The Music Of Max Roach (Blue Engine Records, release 08/30/2024). Ryan Kisor, Geoff Gallante, Marcus Printup, Wynton Marsalis – trumpets, Vincent Gardner, Chris Crenshaw, Elliot Mason – trombones, Sherman Irby, Alexa Tarantino, Chris Lewis, Abdias Armenteros, Paul Nedzela – reeds, Dan Nimmer – piano, Carlos Henriquez – bass, Obed Calvaire – drums with Shenel Johns – vocals.
Directed by drummer Obed Calvaire, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra recorded a program of compositions of Max Roach to celebrate the centennial of his Birth in 1924. Music Director Calvaire contributed the final selection as a tribute.
Jazz At Lincoln Center – Freedom, Justice, and Hope (Blue Engine Records, release 06/14/2024). Ryan Kisor, Kenny Rampton, Marcus Printup, Wynton Marsalis – trumpets, Vincent Gardner, Chris Crenshaw, Elliot Mason – trombones, Sherman Irby, Ted Nash, Victor Goines, Walter Blanding, Paul Nedzela – reeds, Dan Nimmer – piano, Carlos Henriquez – bass, Obed Calvaire – drums with Josh Evans – trumpet, Endea Owens – bass, Bryan Stevenson – narrations / piano.
For Juneteenth 2024, Wynton Marsalis teamed with Civil Rights lawyer / writer Bryan Stevenson to create a program that alternates erudite text about American Civil Rights history with new compositions or big band arrangements of classic pieces by Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus and Fats Waller. The highlights are commissioned pieces from Endea Owens and Josh Evans.
Review: NPR
Summer Camargo – To Whom I Love (Blue Engine Records, release 03/15/2024). Summer Camargo – trumpet, Jeffery Miller – trombone, Veronica Leahy – reeds, Esteban Castro – piano, Raul Reyes Bueno – bass, Varun Das – drums with Joey DeFrancesco – organ, Jamey Haddad – percussion.
22-year-old trumpeter Summer Camargo plays in the Saturday Night Live band and has made her debut on the Jazz at Lincoln Center label. She has listened deeply to her history and incorporates sounds from many styles in her work. Two tracks feature B3-hero Joey DeFrancesco in what was his last recording session. Seven original compositions join two covers (Neal Hefti’s Splanky and Jimmy McHugh / Dorothy Fields’s Sunny Side of the Street). Straight ahead with lots of variety.
Review:AllAboutJazz, Pop Matters
Music for a snowy day.
Russell Perry
Jazz at 100 Now!
If your music isn’t changing your life, you’ve simply picked the wrong songs. – Ted Gioia
