New Releases Spotlight: Week of August 24, 2015

This week in The Music Lounge, music director Paul Abella reviews new releases from trombonist Nick Finzer, as well as pianists Donald Vega and Kait Dunton.

Opening this week’s batch of new releases is trombonist Nick Finzer, and his new disc on Origin, The Chase.  The most striking element here is Finzer’s arranging, and how he manages to make a sextet sound bigger than it is.  In fact, when previewing this disc, I had to turn the cover over to make sure there really were only six people playing.  The best of what’s here ("Life Happens," and especially "Just Passed the Horizon") reminds me a lot of the Jazz Crusaders, and that’s an awesome place to be so early on in a young career.

Donald Vega is a veteran pianist, and on his latest disc, With Respect to Monty, he pays tribute to a titan of the modern day jazz world, Monty Alexander.  It helps that he uses two players that spent a fair amount of time on Alexander’s bandstand – bassist Hassan Shakur and drummer Lewis Nash.  Also along for the ride is the fantastic west coast guitarist Anthony Wilson (who is the son of the late bandleader Gerald Wilson).  Together, they run down some of Monty’s tunes, and the touches are all there – the hints of reggae, the bluesy swagger, and the unrelenting groove. "Eleuthera" and "You Can See" are favorites of mine for those exact reasons, but there’s also some beautiful ballad work on "With Respect to Monty."  When you hear John, Barry or Bruce get ready to play this one, turn it up.  I think you’re gonna like what you hear.

On a bit more modern of a front, pianist Kait Dunton may or may not be influenced by Aaron Parks, Robert Glasper or Eldar, but she’s certainly headed down the same path.  Her latest, TrioKait, is loaded with angular melodies, funky rhythms and an aggressive attack that define a modern piano sound in 2015.  "Noraa," "Time Travel," "Prelude" and "Yes" are all impressive.  I’m looking forward to hearing more from her in the future.  This is one of those rare discs that you’ll hear during the daytime AND on Notes From the Jazz Underground, and I’m looking forward to sharing it with you!

Next week in The Music Lounge, I’ll review the new disc from Chicagoan Sam Burckhardt, and others.  ‘Til then… keep your ears open!