New Releases Spotlight: Week of September 7, 2015

This week in The Music Lounge, music director Paul Abella reviews three new releases from two former Chicagoans – Dan Trudell (who technically lives in Wisconsin) and Eric Alexander – and Christian McBride who is a favorite in Chicago!

Let’s start off with Dan Trudell’s latest, titled Dan Trudell Plays the Piano.  That might be a bit of an understatement because Trudell does much more than just ‘play the piano’.  He grooves mightily with it, coaxing greasy, funky goodness out of each chord and tapping toes with each passing phrase.  Of course, it helps to have Matt Wilson on drums, and his bassist Joe Sanders sounds fantastic.  And Trudell picked some nice tunes to play with.  He swings with authority on Ellington & Strayhorn’s "I Let A Song Go Out of My Heart," and his version of "That Old Black Magic" is excellent.  "Isn’t She Lovely" can sometimes get cheesy, but in Trudell’s able hands it’s got a nice Blakey-esque shuffling backbeat that really works.   Don’t miss the CD Release Party for Dan Trudell Plays the Piano, hosted by WDCB this Wednesday, September 9.  And it’s free! …because the concert is this month’s WDCB Night at the Jazz Showcase! Hope to see you there!

Eric Alexander has long since left Chicago, but he is inextricably linked to the Chicago Jazz scene.  His latest, The Real Thing, will be a nice treat to hear on 90.9FM. Grooving as always, Alexander has some familiar faces with him, Harold Mabern on piano, Joe Farnsworth on drums, and John Webber on bass.  As an added bonus, the one-and-only Pat Martino , appears on three tracks.  The five of them are in the pocket, and swingin’ hard, especially on "The Real Thing," "Pure Pat" and "The Chief."  We’ll be playing this one a lot, and I’m sure you’ll be digging it a lot, too!

Let’s take a look at Christian McBride’s latest, Christian McBride Trio Live at the Village Vanguard.  More outstanding live jazz albums have been recorded in this venerable venue than I can count, and we can now include McBride’s among the list.  As he has done in the past, there are a few awesome R&B jams to be heard here – Michael Jackson’s "The Lady In My Life" and the disco classic "Car Wash."  But the real head turner is the disc’s opener, Wes Montgomery’s "Fried Pies."  Absolutely swinging throughout, this is a release filled with happy, fun, grooving music that is going to be a pleasure to play for you on WDCB!

Next week in The Music Lounge, I’ll review some new discs coming soon to the ‘DCB airwaves.  ‘Til then… keep your ears open!