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

Vancouver Jazz Orchestra – Meets Brian Charette (Cellar Music)

The Vancouver Jazz Orchestra has just released a compelling album with organist Brian Charette called, what else? The Vancouver Jazz Orchestra Meets Brian Charette. It’s exactly what it tells you it is: a solid big band playing with a fantastic organist. The arrangers here were smart, and while they stay out of the soloists’ way, they make their compositional and arranging chops audible where they’re most effective. This is especially true on the Jazz waltz smack dab in the middle of the album, “Shimmy!” To be fair, though, the fireworks start from the very first notes on the disc heard on the song “Equestrian Interlude.” The band is burning, Charette is clearly inspired, and it’s obvious that everyone’s having a good time. “Don’t Call Before 10” is the boogaloo that every Jazz organ record needs. “Lado a Lado” is wonderfully touched by the Spanish Tinge, and Herbie Hancock’s “The Sorcerer” makes a cool appearance here, too. The end result is a big band plus organ record that does an awful lot of things, and does them all well.

Gregory Groover, Jr. – Old Knew (Criss Cross)

Tenor Saxophonist Gregory Groover, Jr. has returned with his second album to help get 2026 off to a rousing start, and that new album is called Old Knew. Joined by a fantastic cast with Chicagoan Joel Ross on the vibes, Paul Cornish playing keys, Harish Raghavan on bass and Kendrick Scott on drums, this is a band that came to play. That’s evident from the first notes of the first track, “Spaces.” Throughout Old Knew, this rhythm section moves and breathes as one unit, and their ability to support Groover and Ross across the eleven tracks heard here is impressive. “Juanita and Betty” comes across as a three-minute suite with distinct sections. “Old Knew” brings the tempo down considerably, but keeps things grooving nonetheless. It would be easy to go through track by track and talk about the interesting rhythms and cool melodic and harmonic things that are happening on Old Knew, but I think the better idea is just to let you know that you should look out for it when you hear it on WDCB.

Andrew Carroll – Speaking of Gravity (self-produced)

Pianist Andrew Carroll assembled a trio in 2023 for a recording session that would eventually become this album, Speaking of Gravity. Danny Ziemann is the bassist, and the fantastic Jeff Ballard is playing drums. Carroll’s got a fluidity to his style that makes these nine songs easy to listen to. Ziemann’s use of ostinatos to drive the groove alongside Ballard’s drumming, with its steady forward motion really allow Carroll to breathe with the music, making this all-original program quite intriguing. The leadoff track, “Jangles” is just loads of fun, with unison passages that recall Oscar Peterson, before hitting a piano solo that switches up the plot entirely. “How the Clock Strikes Now” reminds me of Brad Mehldau’s trio efforts. The final third of the album seems as if it is going to give itself over to slower tempos, but “Audrey’s Arabesque” and “Uninvited Vices” both  pick up steam as they progress, leaving “Auburn Roots” as the lone (and quite pretty) ballad. Speaking of Gravity covers a fair amount of ground, swinging, driving and grooving its way through from beginning to end. And with that much variety to choose from, I think a lot of WDCB listeners will be hearing things they like on this one.