Ron Carter & Yotam Silberstein
Duets
(Jojo Records)
During 1973-85, bassist Ron Carter and guitarist Jim Hall recorded three duet albums that are warmly remembered. The recent Duets CD with guitarist Yotam Silberstein is a tribute and an extension of those rewarding projects. It also includes a remembrance of the late guitarist Russell Malone (a longtime member of Carter’s trio) on Silberstein’s “Blues For Brother Malone.”
The relaxed yet quietly stimulating set features the duo performing four veteran standards, a Brazilian song, Johnny Griffin’s little-known “Mil Dew,” and two originals by the guitarist. Silberstein’s melodic and sometimes boppish playing works quite well with the supportive Carter, particularly on such songs as “Love Letters,” “What Is There To Say,” “They Say It’s Wonderful,” and “Blues For Brother Malone.”
Duets is filled with subtle creativity, swing, and affectionate interplay by the two musicians who have known each other for quite a few years. This CD is heartily recommended and available from www.jojorecords.com.
Kelly Green
Eat Your Greens
(Green Soul Studios)
Kelly Green is an excellent singer and a fine pianist who during the past decade has gradually been becoming better-known. On Eat Your Greens, she is joined by her regular trio with bassist Luca Soul Rosenfeld and drummer Evan Hyde plus, on various selections, flutist Elijah J. Thomas and such notables as tenor-saxophonist Scott Robinson, trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, altoist Steve Wilson, and trumpeter Wallace Roney Jr.
The program begins with Kelly Green sounding very much like Blossom Dearie on an uptempo version of “Nobody Else But Me” while Scott Robinson hints strongly at Stan Getz. Other selections find Ms. Green displaying her own musical personality whether singing on an adventurous arrangement of “The Very Thought Of You,” sticking to piano on her uptempo bop instrumental “Eat Your Greens” (based on “Cherokee”), singing her “Here And There” (with her lyrics to the John Lewis version of “ Milestones’), or taking a heartfelt ballad vocal on “Solitude” with Robinson in the role of Lester Young. Wycliffe Gordon sings and plays trombone on an uptempo “When You’re Smiling” and takes a typically boisterous trombone solo during “By The Way.” Other selections on this wide-ranging set includes Mulgrew Miller’s episodic “Tongue Twisters” and the closing ballad “If I’m Lucky.”
All in all, Eat Your Greens is an enjoyable and sometimes surprising set that showcases Kelly Green favorably as both a singer and a pianist. Available from www.kellygreenpiano and www.amazon.com, it serves as a fine introduction to her musical talents for those who had not previously discovered her.
Richie Kamuca
West Coast To East Coast Live Recordings 1957-1966
(Fresh Sound)
A cool-toned tenor with a swinging style reminiscent of Zoot Sims and Stan Getz, Richie Kamuca (1930-77) never became a major name but was well-known to his fellow musicians. He had stints with the Stan Kenton and Woody Herman Orchestras, was based on the West Coast starting in the 1950s, worked with Shelly Manne (1959-62), and just led a handful of record dates (including three very good Concord albums recorded during his final year) before his premature passing from cancer.
This recent Fresh Sound release features Kamuca in three different settings. He is heard on a previously unreleased jam session set from 1957 that was co-led by trumpeter Conte Candoli and consists of lengthy version of “Allen’s Alley” and the medium-tempo blues “Counting.” The quintet features Kamuca, Candoli, pianist Dick Shreve (in excellent form), bassist Red Mitchell and drummer Stan Levey. Everyone has opportunities to solo (with Levey getting some drum breaks) with Candoli and Shreve often taking honors. Kamuca is much more in the spotlight on three numbers (also from 1957) from the Stars Of Jazz television show, heading a quartet that includes pianist Carl Perkins, bassist Leroy Vinnegar, and drummer Tony Bazley on standards including “Just Friends.”
The second half of the CD is a reissue of a live album performed at New York’s Half Note during two sessions in 1965-66 that were originally released by the collector’s Pumpkin label. The date is actually led by trumpeter Roy Eldridge who is heard in outstanding form during a period when he was making few recordings. Kamuca holds his own with the fiery trumpeter on such numbers as “Sweet Sue,” “Stompin’ At The Savoy,” and an uptempo “Hackensack.” Pianist Dick Katz, bassist Tommy Potter, and either Don Moore or Eddie Locke on drums offer swinging support with Katz taking a few rewarding solos.
West Coast to East Coast Live Recordings 1957-66 (available from www.freshsoundrecords.com) gives listeners some vintage bop-to-swing performances and a good excuse to remember the underrated but great tenor Richie Kamuca.
Roger Glenn
Reachin’
(Fantasy/Jazz Dispensary)
While Roger Glenn, who doubles on flute and vibraphone, has been quite active for the past half-century, working with the likes of Cal Tjader, Herbie Mann, Dizzy Gillespie, Mongo Santamaria, Taj Mahal, Kurt Elling, and even playing baritone-sax with Count Basie, he has only led two albums in his career. One was the recent My Latin Heart.
Reachin’, from 1976, was his first. Recently reissued as an Lp, it features Glenn (mostly on flute) joined by two keyboardists (Mark Soskin and Larry Mizell), guitarist Ray Obiedo, electric bassist Paul Jackson, drummer Gaylor Birch, Bill Summers on congas, and four Latin percussionists. For this project, he received the Mizell treatment (from producers Larry and Fonce Mizell) which had resulted in commercial success for Donald Byrd on Black Byrd. The music is funky, often has crowded ensembles, and some commercial elements are heard including fade outs at the end of most of the songs.
Despite the latter, Roger Glenn’s flute playing is effectively showcased and some of the eight group originals, particularly the energetic “Rio,” “E.B.F.S.” (which features Glenn on vibes), and the funky “Kick,” are quite exciting. Other numbers include the relaxed groove of “Don’t Leave,” the warm ballad “Gloria,” and the closing “Rezo Chango,” which has Pete Escovedo and the three of the musicians singing and is the only throwaway piece of the set.
Reachin,” one of the better Mizell Brothers projects of the 1970s, features Roger Glenn in excellent form, making one wonder why he would not be leading another album for nearly a half-century. This Lp (available from www.craftrecordings.com and www.amazon.com) is well worth acquiring.
Randy Ingram
Sound Within
(Chill Tone Records)
Pianist Randy Ingram’s seventh album as a leader is a tribute to Bill Evans. Born in Alaska and raised in Southern California, Ingram was an up-and-coming player at the time that he led his first album in 2009 and he has since realized his great potential.
Sound Within, a trio recording with bassist Rufus Reid and former Evans drummer Joe La Barbera, finds Ingram playing in a style complementary to that of Bill Evans but without copying him. He performs two Evans pieces (“Turn Out The Stars” and “Letter To Evan”), four other songs from the pianist’s repertoire plus three of his own originals that one could imagine Evans playing. Among the highlights are Ingram’s jazz waltz “Aloft,” a cooking version of George Russell’s “Ezz-Thetic,” and tender versions of “For All We Know” and the nostalgic “Remembrance.”
Throughout Sound Within, Randy Ingram presents his own personal voice on the piano while also paying homage to one of his main inspirations. This fine tribute is available from www.chilltone.com.
Jun Iida
Bellflower
(OA2)
Originally from St. Louis and now based in New York, Jun Iida is a very good jazz trumpeter with an attractive mellow tone and impressive technique whose style is based in hard bop. Following up on his debut recording Evergreen, Bellflower teams him with pianist-keyboardist Chris McCarthy, guitarist Masami Kuroki, bassist Giulio Xavier Cetto, drummer Jongkuk Kim, and Takafumi Nikaido on congas. Together they perform nine of Iida’s originals plus “The Final View” which is really the “Love Theme From Spartacus.”
Most of the originals have attractive melodies, particularly the infectious “Hotaru Nights,” “Next Time,” and the warm ballad “Chasing Peace.” Iida, whose tone sometimes recalls Kenny Dorham a little, is a fluent soloist with consistently creative ideas within the jazz tradition. McCarthy (both on Fender Rhodes and piano) and guitarist Kuroki take concise solos that fit in well with the music, the rhythm section is supportive and swinging (with bassist Cetto occasionally having a solo), and Zelda Harris contributes some spoken word to “Will They Remember” which is about the sacrifices that mothers make during the time of war.
All in all, this is a delightful set of music that makes the case for Jun Iida being considered one of the top up-and-coming jazz trumpeters in addition to being a skilled songwriter. Bellflower is available from www.originarts.com.
David Janeway
Live At Blue Llama
(Steeplechase)
David Janeway is a veteran pianist who can always be relied upon to create swinging yet sensitive and sophisticated jazz. On Live At Blue Llama, he heads a trio that also includes bassist Robert Hurst and drummer Billy Hart.
The program starts with a quiet introduction that launches the high-powered solo on “All The Things You Are,” a performance that does not have the melody fully emerging until near its conclusion. Other highlights include a tender rendition of Thad Jones’ “A Child is Born,” Janeway’s modal original “Forward Motion” which is a relative of “Maiden Voyage,” a sensitive rendition of Gary Peacock’s ballad “Gardenia,” the spirited “K’s Shuffle,” a melancholy version of Billy Strayhorn’s “Star Crossed Lovers” that its composer would have liked, and McCoy Tyner’s “Blues On The Corner” which follows a brief runthrough of Tyner’s “Search For Peace.” In addition to Janeway’s fine piano solos, Hurst has some excellent spots of his own and Hart keeps the momentum flowing in his stimulating support.
While part of jazz’s modern mainstream and often inspired by Tyner, David Janeway has his own approach to playing straight ahead jazz. His recordings are all worth acquiring and Live at Blue Llama (available from www.amazon.com) is an excellent example of his artistry.
Matthew De Lacey Davidson
The Graceful Ghost
(Rivermont)
When most listeners think of ragtime, it is of the classic ragtime era which largely began with Tom Turpin’s Harlem Rag (1897) and the tremendous success of Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag” (1899) before ending with Joplin’s passing in 1917. While ragtime was soon completely overshadowed by jazz, popular music and other newer styles, it continued existing at an underground level through the decades. “Maple Leaf Rag” became a jazz standard, there were some isolated piano ragtime features with trad jazz groups (such as Wally Rose’s occasional showcases with Lu Watters’ Yerba Buena Jazz Band in the 1940s), and it re-emerged in commercial form as “honky tonk” in the 50’s. But despite the work of writer Rudi Blesh and pianist Max Morath in trying to keep ragtime before the general public, it did not really make a comeback on a large level until the release of the 1973 movie The Sting which used some Scott Joplin pieces in its soundtrack, resulting in “The Entertainer” becoming an unlikely pop hit. Since then, there have been many ragtime festivals and recordings.
In 1993, pianist-scholar Matthew De Lacey Davidson, who has long been active in a wide variety of musical genres (in addition to being a playwright, a cartoonist, a novelist, and a poet), recorded The Gentle Ghost, an anthology of contemporary piano rags that were written by a variety of composers during 1966-93. The recent two-CD set The Graceful Ghost, in addition to reissuing the original performances, doubles the amount of Davidson’s piano solos with three numbers recorded in 1997 and most of a CD dating from 2023. It now includes some of the top ragtime originals composed during 1960-2021.
While many of the pieces are in the classic rag tradition, some stretch it a bit (occasionally into the world of stride piano), they range in moods from exuberant to being mysterious and bittersweet and, while often complex, most include rich melodies.
Represented are such composers as Robin Frost, Ross Petot, William Bolcom (including his “Three Ghost Rags”), Peter Lundberg, Ragtime Bob Darch, Max Morath, Galen Wilkes, Tom Shea, William Albright, Donald Ashwander, Hal Isbitz, Jeff Barnhart (“Mystic Memories”), Terry Waldo, Glenn Jenks, Trebor Jay Tichenor, Jack Rommel, and Gary Smart. Davidson contributes eight pieces including “Three Elusive Rags” and the three-part “A Ragtime Odyssey.”
In addition to being a brilliant pianist, Matthew De Lacey Davidson gives a liveliness to these pieces in addition to bits of humor and drama. Rather than just recreating the written notes, he inhabits the music and makes it timeless. It is difficult to believe that, when he recorded the 2023 half of this program, he had not recorded ragtime in 15 years and had not been playing piano regularly for five or six years. His playing is not only flawless but he makes this music come alive in colorful fashion.
The Graceful Ghost, which has extensive liner notes by Matthew De Lacey Davidson with contributions from Galen Wilkes and Jeff Barnhart, is overflowing with obscure and delightful gems that are brilliantly played. It is available from www.rivermontrecords.com.
Cecile McLorin Salvant
With Every Breath I Take
(Nonesuch)
With Every Breath I Take is a different type of recording by Cecile McLorin Salvant than one might expect, but the superb singer has consistently delivered the unexpected in her still-developing career.
For this project, she is joined by the 48-piece (including 30 strings) Metropole Orkest conducted by Jules Buckley plus pianist Sullivan Fortner, bassist David Wong, and drummer Kush Abadey. Darcy James Argue contributed the arrangements for eight standards (both well-known and obscure) plus Ms. Salvant’s original “Left Over” while the singer is accompanied by just her rhythm section on the concluding “Lush Life.”
All of the music is taken at slow tempos and the focus is almost entirely on Cecile McLorin Salvant’s vocalizing. Her beautiful tone, wide range, perfect pitch and elocution, and acting abilities make the case for her as a dramatic actress. While she improvises here and there, this is essentially a theatrical album on the level of Barbra Streisand at her best, but in Ms. Salvant’s own original voice and phrasing. Among the highlights are “With Every Breath I Take,” an episodic “Barbara Song,” Michel Legrand’s “Les Parapluies De Cherbourg” (sung in French), and Stephen Sondheim’s “Being Alive.”
With Every Breath I Take is available from www.nonesuch.com and www.amazon.com.
Emmet Cohen
Universal Truth
(Mack Avenue)
There is always a lot of joy in pianist Emmet Cohen’s playing, an emotion that is expressed regularly in his smile. He clearly loves to play jazz of a variety of styles with top-notch players whether they are up-and-comers or veterans. The music on Universal Truth will give both Cohen and his listeners plenty to smile about.
The set begins with Bud Powell’s “Budo,” the only trio piece of the album. Cohen is joined by drummer Joe Farnsworth and bassist Yasushi Nakamura for a swinging performance. The next three numbers have the ageless Ron Carter taking Nakamura’s spot on bass. Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt is blazing on “Well You Needn’t and tastefully muted during Jimmy Heath’s medium tempo blues “ Gingerbread Boy” while tenor-saxophonist George Coleman (90 at the time) sounds a bit past his prime but still full of fertile ideas on “My Funny Valentine.”
The following three numbers, “Eternal Glimpse,” the ballad “Compassion,” and “Universal Truth” feature Pelto and tenor-saxophonist Tivon Pennicott in a quintet performing three of Cohen’s straight-ahead originals. The set concludes with an all-too-brief version of “Blue Train” that could have easily been twice as long.
Emmet Cohen is in fine form throughout Universal Truth as a soloist (although he is quite generous in featuring his sidemen) and an accompanist. Universal Truth (available from www.mackavenue.com) is well worth picking up.
Carlo Muscat
That’s About It
(Storeroom Music Collective)
Jazz has often been recorded under adverse circumstances. Some Europeans found a way to record jazz while their countries were occupied by the Nazis in World War II. African-Americans in the U.S., who have always found daily life to be potentially dangerous, somehow recorded music that was often joyous and powerful. Some artists who were physically dying managed to make important final statements that often did not hint at their conditions.
Tenor-saxophonist Carlo Muscat and an excellent trio of fellow Ukrainians recorded That’s About It on Dec. 10, 2025 in Kyiv even as the Russians bombed their city. One does not hear the bombs exploding during the recording but listeners can only imagine the pressure that the musicians (and all of the inhabitants of Kyiv) felt and continue to feel.
Muscat’s quartet, which also includes guitarist Oleksandr Mashovets, bassist Yehor Abramov, and drummer Pavlo Halytskyi, is world class and could be mistaken for New York-area musicians. They perform eight Carlo Muscat originals plus a medley of Charles Mingus’ “Portrait” and Gerry Mulligan’s “Tell Me When.” Most of the music is taken at a slow ballad tempo but the results are never sleepy or overly laidback. The pieces are harmonically advanced with original chord changes and are excellent examples of modern jazz.
Muscat (who switches to soprano on “Johatsu”) has an original tone and a passionate sound even as he takes his time to make his statements. Mashovets’ introverted playing (a little reminiscent at times of Jim Hall) and Abramov’s occasional solos are a major plus while Halytskyi’s drumming is subtle and quietly swinging.
Ranging from a mournful tribute to a friend (“Fly”) to a pair of thoughtful but hopeful medium-tempo pieces (“Sparrow Song” and “Night Owl”), Carlo Muscat and his musicians somehow overcome the bleak situation of their country to create rewarding music that is often introspective but ultimately optimistic. That’s About It is available from www.amazon.com.
Bart Flos
Clarity Of Vision
(Next Steps Projects)
A very original jazz pianist from the Netherlands, Bart Flos initiated his Next Steps Projects in 2000. While he had previously led a big band and a bop-oriented trio, most of his recordings in this series (of which Clarity Of Vision is the seventh) have featured his solo piano playing.
Following the artistic success of his previous three-CD project Roots & Reflections, Clarity Of Vision (also a three-CD set) consists of fresh and often-surprising renditions of 15 standards (including “Grand Madness” which is really “Tenor Madness”) and nine originals. This release consists of CDs subtitled “Sense Of Purpose,” “Sense Of Direction,” and “Sense Of Urgency” that he performed on his favorite piano, a Fazioli F308 which happens to be the largest concert grand piano in the world. 21 additional performances were recorded in the same period as video clips under the title of “The Leftovers” and can be viewed on You Tube under “Next Steps Projects 2026.”
Bart Flos sometimes displays a thoughtful style which can find him seeming to think aloud at the piano, most notably on the opening “Uninvited” which has him calmly expressing his musical thoughts over a rumbling bass note. Some of his other performances are quite joyful and often utilize powerful basslines as on “New Blues News,” “On Green Dolphin Street,” “Sipping Pina Collada” (which makes one realize that he takes his drinking seriously!), and an eccentric waltz version of “Caravan.” Several pieces, particularly such ballads as “Parisian Heartbreak,” the cinematic “Ballad Of The Brave,” a brooding “As It Should Be,” and “My Funny Valentine,” are filled with heartfelt emotions that are quietly and often dramatically expressed. Throughout all of those performances (which include three very different versions of “Autumn Leaves” plus the related “Winter Branches”), Bart Flos displays very impressive technique, the willingness to stretch himself and take chances, and consistent creativity that makes even the most familiar songs sound as if they were recently composed.
Clarity Of Vision is recommended and available from www.bartflosmusic.com.