Fred Hersch, “Plainsong”
If ever there were an artist and recording label that seemed destined to work together, it’s pianist Fred Hersch and ECM. Manfred Eicher’s imprint has long specialized in the pastoral, plaintive sounds that are Hersch’s trademark, and the prolific pianist’s 2024 solo ECM debut Silent, Listening and 2025 trio effort The Surrounding Green provide proof. The latter’s “Plainsong” opens with Hersch’s inimitable mix of traditional jazz and classical voicings before bassist Drew Gress and drummer Joey Baron enter a minute later. The sparse piece is an exercise in attentive listening between the three superb musicians that the Wall Street Journal collectively calls “one of the major ensembles of our time.” The subtle lines by Gress play counterpoint to the pianist’s melodic gifts, and Baron feels the need to add little more than cymbal accents throughout. At age 69, Hersch has averaged nearly an album release per year, with more than 60 to date. And each one has been a gift since 2008, when he survived HIV and septic shock after being put into a medically induced coma for two months. Which makes his 2011 musical theater film My Coma Dreams (Palmetto) as impressive as his solo and ensemble gems. Written and directed by Herschel Garfein and starring Hersch and actor/vocalist Michael Winther, the live video manages to vividly capture his subconscious memories.
Lynne Arriale, “Passion”
Equal parts gifted artist and educator, pianist Lynne Arriale pays forward her 30-year recording and touring career as Professor of Jazz Studies and Director of Small Ensembles at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. And small ensembles, particularly piano trios, have indeed been the 68-year-old Milwaukee native’s focus on the majority of her 17 album releases. Her latest, Being Human (Challenge), is no exception. The 10-song suite of original compositions features bassist Alon Near and drummer Lukasz Zyta, and the performances of all three musicians exemplify each hopeful title. “Passion” features a signature sing-along piano melody, and cascading solo, by Arriale amid Near’s loping bass line and Zyta’s shimmering cymbal work. Other examples include the playful “Curiosity,” surging “Persistence,” buoyant “Joy” and evocative “Love,” which gets an electrified choral solo reprise by Arriale on a Yamaha Clavinova as the album’s unofficial 11th track. The album was inspired by figures like climate activist Greta Thunberg, National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman and Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai. “I wrote this suite as a response to the division and turmoil in our world,” Arriale says. “The music focuses on qualities we all share, that define our humanity. I hope this album will be uplifting and convey a sense of unity and optimism.”
GoGo Penguin, “Fallowfield Loops”
Manchester, England’s GoGo Penguin is bringing new meaning to the piano trio format. Pianist Chris Illingworth, bassist Nick Blacka and drummer Jon Scott employ not only acoustic instruments, but also modular synthesizers, a Moog Grandmother keyboard and breakbeats on their latest release, Necessary Fictions (XXIM). The resulting sounds are practically a blender filled with elements of the Esbjörn Svensson Trio, Massive Attack, Philip Glass and Prodigy. Blending jazz, classical and electronica influences since forming in 2012, GoGo Penguin has blurred the lines between musical genres on a dozen LPs, EPs and live albums since, and will bring their hybrid sound across the Atlantic in October and November with tour stops in the U.S. and Canada. “Fallowfield Loops” should be a live favorite. As the title implies, looped lines blend with Illingworth’s dancing acoustic piano, Blacka’s upright double bass and Scott’s percolating attack. Elsewhere on Necessary Fictions, violinist and creative director Rakhi Singh’s eight-piece strings ensemble, the Manchester Collective, joins two other offerings, the ominous “Luminous Giants” and evocative, searching “State of Flux.” Illingworth says that Singh offered “simple but really interesting gestural touches at the beginning of ‘State of Flux,’ as faint echoes of things to come later on in the tune.”
Reggie Watkins, “Rivers”
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s reputation is that of a dyed-in-the-wool blue-collar city, but it’s also a longstanding jazz epicenter. Eighty-two-year-old guitarist George Benson was born there, and the nonprofit Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild has provided jazz and visual arts education there since 1968. Trombonist Reggie Watkins is a longtime resident of the Steel City since moving from his native Wheeling, West Virginia, and his instrument and playing exemplify its Three Rivers work ethic. The trombone is a bulky, low-pitched horn that requires advanced technique and lung capacity, both of which Watkins displays on the title track to his fourth and latest release, Rivers (BYNK), recorded at The Vault Studio in Pittsburgh. The bandleader’s quartet includes pianist Michael Bernabe, bassist Eli Naragon and drummer Jason Washington Jr., who all display agility and touch on the piece. Watkins and Bernabe deliver compelling solos, and the rhythm section navigates the shifting flow of “Rivers,” which alternates between 5/8 and waltzing tempos. The trombonist was musical director for trumpeter Maynard Ferguson from 1999 to 2006 and singer-songwriter Jason Mraz from 2008 to 2013. He’s also a member of the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra and Orrin Evans’ Captain Black Big Band, and a founding member of the Keystone Jazz Collective and the Steeltown Horns.
Sharon Mansur, “Outside In”
Even as the Middle East once again erupts into chaos and devastation, Sharon Mansur serves as a reminder of the ties that bind people of the region. The Israel-based pianist and composer’s father hails from Iraq, and she says she immediately felt an affinity with the Arabic music she heard performed while studying at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. Strains of that influence are heard throughout Trigger, her debut album on the ACT label. Mansur also incorporates other elements that were key to her development, from classical and metal to prog rock and electronica, at times all in the same piece. Take, for example, “Outside In,” the energizing kickoff track. A torrent of notes tumbles from her flying fingers, recalling her deep dives into the canons of Rachmaninov and Chopin, while bassist David Michaeli and drummer David Sirkis churn fusion-inspired rhythms. Mansur then switches to electric keyboard, eliciting a distinctively Middle Eastern sound that conjures muezzins and minarets before returning to acoustic piano. Michaeli showcases his chops on the upright with an exhilarating solo, accompanied by Sirkis’ swift sticking. A masterful jazz artist, Mansur hasn’t abandoned other musical interests: Under the stage name Shasha, she produces electronic music and performs at clubs and EDM festivals.
Cyrus Chestnut, “Autumn Leaves”
Covering jazz standards qualifies as low-hanging fruit for many recording artists, especially when a tune has already been covered by artists including Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Artie Shaw, Stan Getz, Duke Ellington, Cannonball Adderley, Miles Davis, Vince Guaraldi, Bill Evans and Sarah Vaughan. But Baltimore-born pianist Cyrus Chestnut’s 40-year touring and recording career have long provided surprises through his creativity and use of space, and he breathes new life into the chestnut “Autumn Leaves.” Recorded with saxophonist Stacy Dillard, bassist Gerald Cannon and drummer Chris Beck for Chestnut’s new album Rhythm, Melody and Harmony (HighNote), the rendition and album display the three essential musical ingredients inherent in the title. The pianist’s bluesy, unaccompanied intro leads to a swaying bass line by Cannon and a pulsating ride cymbal pattern by Beck, while Dillard serpentines between stating the familiar melody and offering a punctuating solo. Chestnut’s break follows, mixing classically influenced flourishes with the unorthodox phrasing of Thelonious Monk. As comfortable playing bebop as he is gospel, the Berklee College of Music-educated pianist earned a big Hollywood break in 1996, shortly after starting his solo recording career, by portraying Count Basie in director Robert Altman’s 1930s musical drama Kansas City.
The Pete McGuinness Jazz Orchestra, “From This Moment On”
For nearly 20 years, Pete McGuinness has led his jazz orchestra of seasoned veterans, contributing arrangements and trombone to the big band’s muscular yet sophisticated sound. Recently, the longtime New York City-based musician was stricken with embouchure dystonia, a neurological disorder that has prevented him from playing the instrument on which he built his career. Instead, McGuinness dedicated himself to his writing and his singing, both of which are beautifully showcased on the jazz orchestra’s fourth and most recent release, Mixed Bag (Summit). Reminiscent of Mark Murphy or Jackie Paris, the band leader’s vocals leap from the gate on the opening track, a rousing rendition of Cole Porter’s “From This Moment On.” Suffused with dramatic excitement, McGuinness’ arrangement opens with a fusillade from drummer Scott Neumann and dynamic brass hits from the 16-piece orch. Displaying a deft touch for scat singing, McGuinness effortlessly enters the mix before diving into Porter’s spry romantic lyric. The “mixed bag” of the album title refers to the leader’s desire to avoid stylistic pigeonholes, as he turns his hand to everything from a samba-fueled read of John Lewis’ “Django” to his first recorded foray into writing for a 16-piece string section, which occurs on an introspective version of Johnny Mandel’s “Where Do You Start?” An apt question dutifully answered by a musician forced to forge a new direction.
Rodney Jordan, “Escaptoria”
Born and raised in Memphis, Rodney Jordan received a first-rate musical education and not just in the classroom. Jazz and blues elders such as Calvin Newborn and James Williams called upon the bassist’s talents and regaled him with stories and lessons on the bandstand, while the ghost of W.C. Handy must have been singing in his ear whenever he set foot on Beale Street. A longtime resident of Tallahassee, where he teaches at Florida State University, Jordan nevertheless keeps his hometown close to his heart, as can be heard on his recent recording Memphis Blue (Baxter Music Enterprises). An homage to the musical city on the Mississippi, the project, by his reckoning, is a blues album, not in any stereotypical way, but in the thread of feeling that connects one track to another. Even on Jordan’s samba-influenced “Escapatoria,” that indigo strain is present, thanks in part to the quintet of musicians who invest it with a deeply soulful quality. Memphian trumpet and flugelhorn player Melvin Jones, saxophonist Mark Sterbank and pianist Louis Heriveaux provide languid, relaxed solo statements, with laid-back accompaniment from Jordan and expert drummer/co-producer Quentin E. Baxter. Jordan’s mastery is also evident on his own well-shaped and beautifully toned solo. The tune, which borrows a Latin term for “escape of the mind,” was meant to evoke a sunny day at the beach, according to its creator, who blends his Tallahassee and Memphis roots in a most engaging way.
Franck Amsallem, “Blue Gardenia”
Growing up in Nice, France, budding pianist Franck Amsallem had the privilege of hearing legendary artists such as Thad Jones, Count Basie, Charles Mingus and Stan Getz when they played the city’s famed jazz festival. Thus inspired, Amsallem, who played professionally while still in his teens, went on to study on scholarship at Berklee College of Music in Boston, and later earned his master’s degree in jazz composition at the Manhattan School of Music. After releasing his debut album in 1990, with the top-flight accompaniment of bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Bill Stewart, Amsallem went on to earn a number of awards and accolades and returned to France in 2001. Based in Paris, the pianist still comes back to New York City, where last year he recorded the recently released trio album The Summer Knows (Un Été 42) (Continuo) with bassist David Wong and drummer Kush Abadey. The program begins with a spirited read of “Blue Gardenia,” a staple of the jazz and pop songbook that was memorably interpreted by Dinah Washington. Unlike Ms. D’s wistful version, Amsallem brings a lithe touch to the tune, which sails breezily along to a jaunty rhythm laid down by Wong and Abadey. The pianist’s joyful interpretation is full of light and color, and contains plenty of blues feeling, as well.
Matt Von Roderick “Signs”
Trumpeter and vocalist Matt Von Roderick has been hailed by The New York Times as “a post-millennial Chet Baker.” However, a more fitting analog on his latest recording, The Perfect Storm (Flatiron), is Miles Davis. It’s not that the trumpeter here sounds like Davis — and certainly not like Baker — but the ethos of unapologetically mashing up jazz and club music definitely conjures the example Davis set with beyond-jazz albums such as Bitches Brew and TuTu. Instead of funk, rock or hip-hop, Von Roderick makes liberal use of electronica, distorting both his voice and his trumpet on tracks such as “Signs.” His horn cuts through an echoey and reverberant sound bed — contrasting with the murkiness of his vocal — which is also punctuated by the textures of guitarist Nolan Ericsson and the big drum sound of Peter Retzlaff. Von Roderick’s virtuosity shines with a mid-point solo, where he uncorks a flurry of notes that ratchet up the intensity before the song ends with a melancholy air. Von Roderick, who lists Brad Mehldau and The Saturday Night Live Band on his résumé and was awarded a Vilar Global Fellowship, has showcased his talents at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center.