New Releases Spotlight: Week of July 25, 2016

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

Let’s check out new music from three great albums in WDCB’s rotation right now…

Saxophonist Doug Webb’s new disc is Bright Side.  If, like me, you’re a fan of those late ‘60s Blue Note albums from Reuben Wilson, Lou Donaldson and Hank Mobley that defined the sound of jazz boogaloo, then you are going to LOVE this disc.  It’s on Posi-Tone, and it features a veritable cast of that label’s all-stars: Brian Charette on the organ, Joe Magnarelli on trumpet, Ed Cherry on guitar and Steve Fidyk on the drums.  Together, they blow through a mostly original set of tunes that is funky and infectious.  My favorites include "Funky Medina," "Society Al" and a gorgeous version of "Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry."  Between Bruce, Barry and I, I figure you’re going to hear this album a whole lot over the course of the next few weeks.  And I’ll bet you’ll dig it a bunch, too!

Houston Person and Ron Carter have released a new disc together called Chemistry.  For those of you familiar with the two albums they did together on Muse Records, you know that Chemistry is a good description for these two.  Sure, Person personifies the words straight ahead these days, and Carter has graced some discs that have stretched to the outer reaches of the jazz universe, but when in the same room, these guys have something special.  This album feels like a pair of well-worn blue jeans.  There are no surprises here, but they sound extra great on "Can’t We Be Friends," "Young and Foolish" and a fairly uptempo rendition of "Blue Monk."  It’s good stuff!
 

Saxophonist Eric Hargett just put out a new disc that’s guaranteed to increase his notoriety on the jazz scene.  Backed by organist extraordinaire Joey DeFrancesco and drummer Gerry Gibbs, Steppin’ Up is an excellent album.  This is a high energy disc that features a number of Hargett’s originals alongside a couple of standards (DeFrancesco is on piano for Thelonious Monk’s "Hackensack"), and tracks like "Woody’s Dream" and "Baretta" are especially exciting.  This one’s gonna be a lot of fun to play for you!

We’ll check out more great music next week in The Music Lounge.  ‘Til next time, keep your ears open!