What's New on WDCB... with Paul Abella

Brandee Younger – Somewhere Different (Impulse!)

One of the more interesting new albums from 2021 has got to be the new release from harpist Brandee Younger, Somewhere Different. An album chock full of great players young and old (including a guest spot by the legendary bassist Ron Carter), Somewhere Different blends Younger’s harp with Jazz and some subtle hip-hop elements, with great results. A few of us have already been playing Tickled Pink, Reclamation and Olivia Benson, with more to come. You’ll want to make sure you check this one out.

Nicole Glover – Strange Lands (Savant)

Hearing the forcefulness in saxophonist Nicole Glover’s playing, it’s hard to believe that Strange Lands is only the second disc under her own name. A largely sax-bass-drums trio record, it features pianist George Cables on four songs and they sounds great, especially when Glover and Cables duet on Billy Strayhorn’s “A Flower is a Lovesome Thing.” “The Twilight Zone” is a nice swinger, and she does a phenomenal job with the Antonio Carlos Jobim ballad “Dindi.”

Renee Rosnes – Kinds of Love (Smoke Sessions)

Pianist Renee Rosnes is back with a new album for 2021, and it’s an expansive album that covers a lot of ground. With an all-star band that boasts Chris Potter on saxophones, Christian McBride on bass and Carl Allen on drums, you know this album is going to cook, and cook it does. “Silk (Dedicated to Donald Brown)” and “The Golden Triangle” are solid, uptempo swingers. “Kinds of Love” is a gorgeous ballad, and “In Time Like Air” even features Rosnes on the electric piano. This is the kind of excellent album that we’ve long come to expect from Renee Rosnes, and Kinds of Love does not disappoint.