New Releases Spotlight: Week of July 18, 2016

This week in the Music Lounge, our music director Paul Abella reviews three new releases!

Hey all – let’s check out some fantastic new releases that you’ve been hearing on WDCB as of late…

First off, (former) Chicagoan Kurt Elling and saxophonist Branford Marsalis have released their eagerly awaited new album, Upward Spiral.  Within a couple of listens, it dawned on me – while it shares no songs with the classic John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman album, it certainly has more than a little of that record’s feel to it.  There are no barnburners here, but there are a few moments where the tempo comes up, and they’re my favorite moments here – "There’s a Boat Dat’s Leavin’ Soon for New York" and "Doxy" are loads of fun.  And the ballads are just knockouts.  "Blue Gardenia" and "I’m A Fool to Want You" both stand out as excellent moments on Upward Spiral.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Another (former) Chicagoan Dan Cray also has a new disc out, and he’s making music that’s as compelling as ever.  His new disc, Outside In, features Cray alongside his longtime bassist of choice, Clark Sommers, drummer Mark Ferber and saxophonist Dayna Stephens.  Together, they tackle a program of originals (like "Small Sir" and "OdP"), as well as a few nice renderings of such classics as Billy Strayhorn’s "A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing."  The group interplay throughout is exceptional.  This is a mellower disc than followers of Cray’s might be accustomed to, but it’s no less engaging.  The aforementioned "Small Sir" is a definite highlight!

Finally, organist Brian Charette is back at it again, this time with a great trio disc called Once & Future.  Joining him are guitarist Will Bernard and drummer Steve Fidyk for a program that hits on a lot of major organists and their styles.  Over the course of Once & Future, there are songs from the pens of Jack McDuff, Jimmy Smith, Larry Young and Fats Waller.  Add to that some originals from Brian Charette, and some well thought out ideas for Bud Powell’s "Dance of the Infidels" and James Brown’s "Ain’t It Funky Now," and it’s a great new album that a lot of you are going to enjoy!  Definitely of note…  Brian Charette will appear for a WDCB concert with Fareed Haque and organissimo featuring Jim Alfredson on Thurs. August 11 at the MAC’s Lakeside Pavilion on the campus of College of DuPage. Oh, yeah…  The concert is FREE!

Next time, we’ll have more great music to talk about right here in the music lounge.  ‘Til then…keep your ears open!