The Hot Sauce Lounge is one of my favorite spots on the internet to go for great jazz and top selections from other genres. They've got the three volumes up for the taking, so hurry on over!

Ellington Uptown: Duke Ellington, James P. Johnson, and the Birth of Concert Jazz by John Howland. The writing is a bit studious for the casual fan, but it tells a fascinating story of a time when jazz was on jukeboxes, the pop charts, and in the concert halls.

Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong by Terry Teachout. The critic and bassist has written what may be the definitive tome on the most important jazz musician of the Twenties and Thirties, tracing his life from brutal poverty in New Orleans to his trailblazing playing and singing to becoming on of the great good-will ambassadors of the world.

But Beautiful: A Book About Jazz by Geoff Dyer. Dyer co-wrote the Ken Burns series on jazz, and here he mixes fact and fiction is covering key moments in the lives of jazz musicans like Chet Baker, Lester Young and Duke Ellington.

Jazz by Gary Giddins and Scott DeVeaux. Giddins is my favorite critic and writer about jazz, and in collaboration with historian DeVeaux he tries - and succeeds - in covering the sweeping history of the music, from New Orleans backstreets to Smooth Jazz on the radio. Don't miss the mult-CD companion set for the book as well.

The Jazz Ear: Conversations over Music by Ben Ratliff. My second-favorite critic and writer about jazz collects conversations he had with contemporary jazz greats about what makes the music they love so great.

Moving to Higher Ground: How Jazz Can Change Your Life by Wynton Marsalis. Marsalis mixes biography, criticism and philosophy in what has been called "a master class on jazz and life". If you think he's pompous in the press, you might want to skip this one.

The Ghosts of Harlem: Sessions with Jazz Legends by Hank O'Neal. As much a history of uptown New York as it is of the musicians who made it their home and musical stimping grounds.

From Jazz Funk & Fusion To Acid Jazz: The History Of The UK Jazz Dance Scene by Mark Cotgrove. Mark "Snowboy" Cotgrove takes you on a tour of the history of the British jazz scene, concentrating on the sounds that became the "acid jazz scene" of the seventies and eighties.

Considered one of the greatest guitarists of the rock era, Harrison also carved out places in musical history for himself as one of the first Western musicians to play the sitar, and subsequently one of the first to bring world music into rock. He was the first great rock philanthropist, inventing the rock charity concert in 1971 with a benefit for Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden. Diversifying from music, he moved into film production and was instrumental in supporting Terry Gilliamâs film career, both within and without Monty Python. Jazz musicians have been drawn to both the melodic and spiritual nature of Harrisonâs work, so click here to listen to:

Nina Simone â âMy Sweet Lord/Today is a Killerâ from Emergency Ward!  The great singer performed a medley of Harrisonâs biggest solo hit, pairing it with a David Nelson poem. Nina was one of the most underrated interpreters of songs from the rock canon, recording masterful versions of songs by Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Harrison and the Bee Gees.

Joel Harrison â âWithin You Without Youâ from Harrison on Harrison. No relation, but the jazz guitarist does have a great sense of Georgeâs music in his improvisation. Here the Sgt. Pepper number gets a modal interpretation, courtesy of Harrison on guitars and voice; David Liebman on saxophone; David Binney on alto saxophone; Uri Caine on piano; Stephan Crump on bass; Dan Weiss on drums and Todd Isleron percussion.

Frank Sinatra â âSomethingâ from Trilogy: Past, Present and Future. The second most covered Beatles song (after âYesterdayâ), attracted a great singer like Sinatra, who called it "the greatest love song ever written" and made it a staple of his live shows.

BeatleJazz - âAll Things Must Passâ from All You Need. The title track from Harrisonâs three lp solo album that stands, along with John Lennonâs Plastic Ono Band, as the finest work by an ex-Beatle. The group is Brian Melvin on drums/percussion and David Kikoski on piano. The album added guest spots by Toots Thielemans, Joe Lovano, Richard Bona and Larry Grenadier.

Monty Alexander â title track from Here Comes the Sun. Alexander has a flair for interpreting music from the likes of Bob Marley, and this quartet version of the Beatles classic shows he has a great sense of rhythm and timing. Alexander plays piano, Eugene Wright is on bass, Duffy Jackson plays drums and Montego Joe is on conga drums.

A pair of Johns Hopkins and government scientists have discovered that when jazz musicians improvise, their brains turn off areas linked to self-censoring and inhibition, and turn on those that let self-expression flow.

The joint research, using functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, and musician volunteers from the Johns Hopkins Universityâs Peabody Institute, sheds light on the creative improvisation that artists and non-artists use in everyday life, the investigators say.

It appears, they conclude, that jazz musicians create their unique improvised riffs by turning off inhibition and turning up creativity.

The scientists from the Universityâs School of Medicine and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders describe their curiosity about the possible neurological underpinnings of  the almost trance-like state jazz artists enter during spontaneous improvisation.

âWhen jazz musicians improvise, they often play with eyes closed in a distinctive, personal style that transcends traditional rules of melody and rhythm,â says Charles J. Limb, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and a trained jazz saxophonist himself. âItâs a remarkable frame of mind,â he adds, âduring which, all of a sudden, the musician is generating music that has never been heard, thought, practiced or played before. What comes out is completely spontaneous.â

Though many recent studies have focused on understanding what parts of a personâs brain are active when listening to music, Limb says few have delved into brain activity while music is being spontaneously composed.

Read the full article at Science Daily.

When I'm worried and I can't sleep
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep counting my blessings
When my bankroll is getting small
I think of when I had none at all
And I fall asleep counting my blessings

I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads
And one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds
If you're worried and you can't sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you'll fall asleep counting your blessings

I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads
And one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds
If you're worried and you can't sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you'll fall asleep counting your blessings

Those who only know Benson from his smooth jazz or Top 40 recordings don't realize that he was one of the funkiest and fastest guitar slingers in his early days. Here he plays with a team of top notch musicians in 1968 sessions, including Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Certer (bass), Pepper Adams (sax) and Billy Cobham (drums). It's worth noting that three of the four - and Benson as well - are all Miles Davis Alumni.

Click here for a tune well suited to those last minute preparations around the ktichen. Cue it up and let the gravy fly!

I've blogged about the unique singer-songwriter Jacqui Naylor before, and this weekend I had the pleasure to speak with her in anticipation of her three night run at the Blue Note in New York with her trio.

One of the most versatile performers in jazz today, Ms. Naylor's set is as likely to include reimaginings of R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" as it is to have Gershwin tunes. And best of all, she and her trio have found a qay to capture the esence of the Great American Songbook with the groove of Classic Rock with something she calls "acoustic smashing". This takes the lyrics of a classic jazz song - say "Summertime" - and plays it out against the music of a classic rock song - in this case, "Whipping Post".

Interested? Click here and listen to the interview, which includes musical selections including:

 "My Funny Valentine" from You Don't Know Jacq. This is not your father's version of the jazz standard. Instead, a violin lead-in takes us to the groove from AC/DC's "Back in Black", while Jacqui croons the familar Rodgers-Hart melody.

"Summertime" from You Don't Know Jacq. As Jaqui points out in the interview, it's the Gershwin Brothers meet the Allman Brothers. And it works!

"Celebrate Early and Often" from You Don't Know Jacq. A Naylor-Art Khu original, which premiered when the singer and her pianist wed two years ago.

"Santa Claus is Coming to Town" from Smashed for the Holidays. After a few egg nogs, cue up Jacqui's version of this holiday classic set to the music of "Sweet Home Alabama". The party won't stop dancing.

Jacqui Naylor and her trio  play the Blue Note at 131 W 3rd Street  New York, New York November 24th-26th at 8pm and 10:30pm. Tickets: $15 Bar / $25 Table. Visit www.bluenote.net or call 212.475.8592.

Two weeks earlier, they had made an attempt to record Milesâ version of Spanish composer JoaquÃn Rodrigoâs classical piece for guitar and orchestra, âConcerto De Aranjuezâ. Dissatisfied with the results, they adjourned and returned five days later. Davis was playing trumpet and flugelhorn, and among the nineteen musicians in the group were Davis regulars Paul Chambers (bass) and Jimmy Cobb (drums). Elvin Jones, who would go on to fame working with Milesâ sax player John Coltrane, played percussion.

Podcast 167 features the result of that session, as well as some background and resulting interpretations of the song. How significant is the recording? Read what Maria Schneider, no slouch as an arranger and conductor, wrote:

This is arguably the finest of Gil's and Miles' collaborations. There are countless details one could highlight, but I would like to touch on ... (one) particular point about this piece. It will be more deeply appreciated if you first take the opportunity to listen to the original guitar concerto as composed by Rodrigo. A comparison will illuminate Gil's unique gifts in writing all parts in a linear fashion. It's most notable that he manages to do this even in the bass line. The bass is never just relegated to playing roots, but rather linesârich melodic lines. If you listen to the tuba line in the beginning, you'll catch one of these lines right from the start. And if you listen to the bottom parts throughout this work, you'll see that part of the translucence that Gil generally gets in his music is from freeing up the bottom and putting air in these low parts. Such attention to line-writing permeates every layer and can be heard throughout this piece.

Click here to follow along as Ms. Schneider suggests, and listen to:

John Williams â  "Concerto De Aranjuez" Beginning with one of the great classical guitarists of our time, here is a stripped down version of Rodrigoâs classic composition.

Miles Davis â "Concierto De Aranjuez (adagio)"   from Sketches of Spain. It is the adagio section that is the most familar, so Miles concentrated on that section in his reinterpretation. A masterpiece of nuance, and subtlety.

Jim Hall  -  from Concierto. An all-star band does their interpretation of the piece - Jim Hall (Guitar), Chet Baker (trumpet), Paul Desmond (sax), Sir Roland Hanna (Piano), Ron Carter (bass) and Steven Gadd (drums). Arranged for the album by Don Sebensky 

Chick Corea & Gonzalo Rubacala â âConcerto De Aranjuez/Spainâ from Rendezvous in New York. Chick Corea, a Davis alumnus, wrote this composition as a variation on the Concerto. It begins with the adagio, and after the intro, the song switches to a fast, steady samba-like rhythm, in which the main theme and an improvisation part are repeated.Corea never goes too far a field, using a chord progression during the improvisation based on the harmonic progressions in Rodrigo's concerto. Originally written for Return to Forever, here it's played as an acoustic piano duet.

Born in Jamaica in 1931, Reece spent much of the Fifties in Europe, recording with English musicians and never really getting much buzz in the States. He moved to New York in 1959, fresh from playing with Donald Byrd and cut the first of four well-received albums for Blue Note. A true hard bop trumpeter, he never became as well-known as peers like Freddie Hubbard and Lee Morgan, and recorded few sessions as a bandleader after 1962. Check out the terrific Mosaic Select collection of Reeceâs Blue Note recordings to get a feel for how talented he really was.

Ray Barretto: Appeared in the mid-â70s to explain Latin rhythm.
Tony Bennett: Taped an appearance in '95 singing a remake of "Little Things" with Lexine.
George Benson: Made several appearances in the early â80s, performing "A Friend for All Seasons" (with Olivia), "The Greatest Love of All" and "The Alphabet Song."
Cab Calloway: Appeared in several clips that debuted in '81 including "Hi-De-Ho Man" with the Two Headed Monster and âI Want to Count" with The Count.
Herbie Hancock: Made an appearance in the â80s in which Maria and the kids visit him in the studio. The segment closes with a rendition of the "Sesame Street Theme" as played by Hancock.
Diana Krall: Performed "Everybody's Song" with Elmo and a group of Muppets in '01.
Branford Marsalis: Appeared in the role of Forrest Wimbledon, a jazz musician who plays at Birdland with Hoots the Owl.
Wynton Marsalis: Appeared multiple times in the â80s. In one segment, Hoots gets into a musician's duel with Marsalis; in another, Marsalis performs at Birdland with Duck Ellington and the Sesame Street All-Animal Jazz Ensemble
Tito Puente: Guest starred in â93 in multiple segments, including one in which his dance music eventually wins over Oscar the Grouch. Years later, he was parodied as Tito, the world's greatest timbale-playing bat.
Diane Schuur: Appeared in '96 singing âFrom Your Head" with Elmo.

One of the greatest jazz appearances â a Buddy Rich versus Animal drum duel â did not appear on âSesame Streetâ, but on âThe Muppet Showâ, making it ineligible for inclusion.

For me, the best musical moment came when Hoots the Owl schooled Ernie on what it takes to play the saxophone. Click here and enjoy the video of âPut Down the Duckieâ. How many celebrities can YOU name making cameos in the clip?

This coming Saturday and Monday, The Afro-Semitic Experience
will be premiering our new work, "The Road That Heals the Splintered Soul" in Hartford and Kalamazoo.  This extended work was composed by the group over the past year and a half.  We have been rehearsing, revising and getting things ready and we are very excited about these two  premieres.  I think this is some of the most energetic, melodic, fun, and simultaneously spiritual and contemplative music we have ever createdâbut I leave that for you to judge.  I do know that the process has made us tighter as a bandâmusically and spiritually. 

As a bonus for his friends and fans, David has given us an mp3 of a track not included on the CD, which can now be ordered from Amazon. Click here to listen to "Heaven's Gate", and prepare for another exciting and moving release from an unjustly underrated band.

More is to come soon, as are famous performances like Miles Davis' legendary set at Tanglewood in 1970 when he shared a bill with Santana.

Visit early and often to listen to these unearthed gems.

Blakey brought Shorter, trumpeters Lee Morgan and Dizzy Reece and bassist Jymie Merritt to Rudy Van Gelder Studio, in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, fifty years ago today. Behind the ivories was Walter David, Jr. who was fresh from a truimph in Donald Byrd's group in a series of shows in France.

Davis stayed only briefly with the Jazz Messengers, replaced by Timmons and Cedar Walton through the mid-sixties glory days of the band. Davis woudl retire briefly during this time to work as a tailor, before returning for a series of albums with Sonny Rollins in the 1970's.

Click here to listen to the title track of the album, "Africaine". That's Reece playing congas on the track, working clsoely with the indominatble Blakey as a pair of percussionists.

Born in Philadelphia, Rosenwinkel dropped out of Berklee in 1990 to join vibraphonist Gary Burtonâs band, following in the footsteps of guitar gods like Larry Coryell, Pat Metheny and John Scofield. Tenure as a sideman for drummer Paul Motian allowed him to further develop his unique guitar style, which merges a sustained, legato sound with a full, deep tone.

It was his time playing at Smallâs, a Greenwich Village nightclub that was a veritable incubator for jazz talent in the 1990âs that propelled him to a greater following. There Rosenwinkel played (and later recorded) with artists who are now recognized as the very best at their craft, including pianist Brad Mehldau, drummers Brian Blade and Jorge Rossy, saxophonist Joshua Redman, organists Sam Yahel and Larry Goldings, bassists Larry Grenadier and Avishai Cohen, and especially saxophonist Mark Turner, with whom he has had a long collaborative relationship.

Joining Rosenwinkel on tour for hte album will be Eric Revis (Branford Marsalis, Joey Calderazzo)  on bass and Rodney Green (Diana Krall, Greg Osby) on drums. Revis and drummer Eric Harland recorded Kurt Rosenwinkel Standards Trio Vol. 1: Reflections with him in New York over three days in June. That album, overdue at this point, will be mostly classic ballads like âYou Go to My Headâ and âMore Than Youâll Knowâ and compositions by jazz legends like Thelonious Monk.

Reflections will appear on the wommusic imprint, an extension of the partnership between Rosenwinkel and his manager, Anders Chan-Tidemann. Rosenwinkel has explored a number of innovative ways to get his recorded music to the public. Selling primarily through digital portals like his website, iTunes and eMusic, he emphasizes forging direct relationships with his fans. This process began successfully last year when his critically acclaimed double live CD âThe Remedyâ was released on the innovative Artistshare.   He has also recorded as a leader for traditional jazz labels like Criss Cross and Verve.

Rosenwinkel left New York behind in 2003 to serve as a professor at the Jazz Instute Berlin. He now lives in Switzerland with his wife and small child. His stated musical influences include Keith Jarrettâs âAmerican Quartetâ with Dewey Redman, Miles Davisâ Second Quintet with Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, and Ornette Colemanâs 1962 Trio. Interestingly, none of these groups had guitar players.

Eldar â âThe Exorcistâ from Virtue. Hopefully you listened to my interview with this 22 year old piano wizard, who announces himself as a major composer and performer with this new album. 

Dom Minasi â âJust One More Biteâ from The Vampireâs Revenge. This 2006 release was inspired by Ann Riceâs âInterview With the Vampireâ novel. Guitarist Minasi writes with wit and just a touch of mayhem on this tune.  Steve Swell, Herb Robertson and John Gunther stand out on the track, as do Carol Mennieâs wordless vocals.

Wayne Shorter â âWitch Huntâ from Speak No Evil. The penultimate Blue Note session â Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard, Ron Carter and Elvin Jones. So good itâs scary. 

Miles Davis â âPrince of Darknessâ from Sorcerer. Miles second great quintet recorded this Wayne Shorter tune in New York in 1967 - Davis on trumpet, Shorter on tenor, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Tony Williams on drums. The title is a reference to Miles himself, and became a nickname of sorts for the notoriously moody artist.

himself, tapping into his jazz vein. He was quoted in 1985 when asked why he drafted jazz musicians for his backing band:

"I want freedom and the privilege to surprise people. With this new band, I want to destroy the old stereotypes that have been built around me. I feel very at home with jazz. This new group has a jazz influence, but it's not a jazz band. It has a polarity of all the best of my music. I try to achieve the cross-pollination in music that happened in the 1960s."

With that in mind, letâs listen to that band and a few others such as:

Sting â âConsider Me Goneâ from Bring On the Night. When Sting decided to take his initial solo material on the road, he decided his backing band should have a jazz sound. The result was a lineup starring saxophonist Branford Marsalis, pianist Kenny Kirkland, drummer Omar Hakim (formerly of Weather Report), and Darryl Jones, (Miles Davis).

Sting and Gil Evans â âStrange Fruit â from Last Session. Sting and legendary jazz composer/pianist/arranger Evans performed at the Perugia Jazz Festival on July 11, 1987. The concert turned out to be Evansâ final performance, as he died shortly thereafter. The repertoire for the show was Police hits alongside a wide array of covers ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Tony Williams to this Billie Holiday classic. The 19-piece ensemble featured George Adams on tenor sax, Lew Soloff on trumpet, Mark Egan on bass, and Branford Marsalis on tenor and soprano sax. The recording has never been released in the US.

Frank Zappa â âMurder By Numbersâ from Broadway the Hard Way. Perhaps the strangest collaboration of Stingâs career came with Zappa in 1988, when he performed an unusual arrangement of "Murder By Numbers", set to the tune "Stolen Momentsâ by jazz composer Oliver Nelson, and for some reason "dedicated" to fundamentalist evangelist Jimmy Swaggart.

Sting â  âMy Funny Valentineâ from Sting at the Movies, Sting has a soft spot for the standards. He has recorded  âSomeone to Watch Over Meâ and âMy One and Only Loveâ, among others. This track was recorded with pianist Herbie Hancock to play at the end of the Japanese film Ashura., directed by Yojiro Takita in 2005.

Chris Botti featuring Sting â âWhat Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?â From To Love Again â The Duets. Sting has appeared on a number of Botti studio recordings, and was a guest on the trumpeterâs recent TV special turned DVD turned live CD. This classic ballad has lyrics written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman and music by Michel Legrand. The recording on a 2006 Grammy award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist, the award shared by Billy Childs, Gil Goldstein, and Hector Pereira.

Herbie Hancock featuring Sting â âSister Moonâ from Possibilities. It seemed a natural choice for Hancock to ask Sting to join him on this CD, which enlisted pop and rock performers to sing with a jazz band, often reimaging their own work.

His songwriting from 1977 to the present has tapped into jazz stylings from time to time, and his solo recordings have usually had jazz musicians involved in the sessions. At least two of his songs, âFragileâ and âFields of Goldâ, have to be considered candidates for New Standards,. The former has been recorded by, among others,  Kenny Barron and  Regina Carter, Billy Childs, The Daugherty McPartland Group, Freddie Hubbard and Cassandra Wilson.

So here is another of my occasional  âJazz Does Rockâ series of podcasts, a âJazz Does Gordon Sumnerâ salute, with songs made famous by The Police and Sting, recorded here by: 

Cassandra Wilson â "Fragile" from Glamoured. A poignant verion of the anti-war song that became something of an anthem after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  

Dianne Reeves â âEver Breathe You Takeâ from Blue Note Plays Sting. Two separate albums of Blue Note artists playing his music have been released., and Miss Reeves graces each of them with a Sting ballad. Here she sings The Policeâs biggest hit, with  solos by Bob Belden (who did the arrangements), Mark Ledford and Kirk Whalum. L

Lynne Arriale Trio - "Wrapped Around Your Finger" from Now. Quietly, the Lynne Arriale Trio has been making expceptional music for a number of years, mixing standards, pop songs and jazz classics. This Police song kicked off the latest CD from Lynne Arriale on piano, Jay Anderson on bass, and Steve Davis on drums.

Christian McBride - "Walking On the Moon" from Sci-Fi. This is one of my favorite albums from the polific McBride, mixing covers of Herbie Hancock with those of Steely Dan and the Police. This version comes across as a ballad rather than the reggae sound of the original, That's Jame Carter with the bass clarinet solo, and Ron Blake on tenor and soprano saxophone; Shedrick Mitchell's piano and Fender Rhodes; David Gilmore on guitar, McBride on bass and Rodney Green on drums complete the band.

Kevyn Lettau - "Message in a Bottle" from Walking in Your Footsteps. In her own words: I first learned about The Police in the early 80's from my sister's old boyfriend. At that point I must admit I was a total Rock and Roll ignorant snob. If music wasn't either jazz, Joni Mitchell or old R&B, I couldn't have cared less! But when I really started to listen, I was blown away by the lyrics, the musicianship and the melodies, not to mention Sting's wonderful voice. I was very impressed, but still stayed with the other styles as far as my own singing and studying was concerned. Band members are led by smooth jazz star Russell Ferrante (Piano),  along with Mike Shapiro (Drums), Jimmy Haslip (Bass), Luis Conte (Percussion) and Gary Meek (Saxophone).

Yes, the soundtrack would have to be "Autumn in New York".

The song was composed by Vernon Duke in 1934 for the Broadway musical "Thumbs Up!" which opened on December 27, 1934 and was sung by J. Harold Murray. It's become a jazz standard, with a  who's who of jazz greats recording it from time to time.

Click here to listen to Billie Holiday's version of the song, which for my money is the best. It comes from her Solitude album, which featured a backing band of Flip Phillips (tenor saxophone); Charlie Shavers (trumpet); Oscar Peterson (piano); Barney Kessel (guitar); Ray Brown (bass); and Alvin Stoller (drums).

Music was a little less parochial in those days. The songs making up the top 25 were country, rock & roll, blues, R&B, easy listening, and some oddities in foreign languages. There were, of course, some jazz as well, and so I present the excitement of finding that Sassy herself, Miss Sarah Vaughn, was on the pop charts in the fall of 1959.

 "Broken Hearted Melody" , recorded with the Ray Ellis Orchestra, was her first gold record, and a staple of her concert set lists for years to come. Despite all this success, she allegedly didn't care much for the tune, calling it "corny".  It would be one of her last recordings for Mercury, as she signed with Roulette Records and became, over the next few years, one the label's biggest stars. Her 1960 sessions for Roulette included The Divine One, arranged by Jimmy Jones and a session with Count Basie Band featuring such talents as trumpeters Thad Jones and Joe Newman and saxophonists Frank Foster and Billy Mitchell.

The music was written by Sherman Edwards, and the lyrics by Hal David. David had been writing popular music lyrics since the 1940s for band leaders like Sammy Kaye and Guy Lombardo. In 1957 David met Burt Bacharach at Famous Music in the Brill Building in New York. and began a thirty year partnership, writing some of the most enduring songs in American popular music.

Itâs because he is so obviously in demand and held in high esteem by his peers that his solo CD, In the Moment, is so disappointing. Simply put, its smooth jazz that never shows any real spark, much less blazes with the kind of sounds Washington can lay down. 

Washington wrote or co-wrote almost all the tunes on the CD, which may account for some of the problems. His all-star guests, like Joe Sample, Patrice Rushen and Gerald Albright, have their talents wasted with bland material, and cluttered by unnecessary background vocals. 

Click here to listen to âFreddieâs Grooveâ, one of the few tracks that cooks with any real energy. Washingtonâs bass is out in front, popping and laying down the groove, while Ray Fuller (guitar) and Michael Paulo (sax) take hot solos. By the time the tune is fading out, the synthesized instruments have taken us to the funky place for which we had hoped. 

Maybe Washington needed to get this one off his chest after thirty years of being a stalwart part of other performerâs recordings. Letâs hope it wonât take that long for him to get his groove on with something more memorable.

Sanchez, an ace conga player, works with his usual band mates here, including trumpeter Ron Blake. In an effort to shake things up a bit, he recruited Andrew Synowiec, the guitarist from the Gordon Goodwin Big Phat Band, an LA based group that plays everything from funk to big-band charts to bebop. 

Given the high level of the material here, and an ensemble thatâs tight as can be, itâs no surprise that the CD is a winner. Itâs impossible not to enjoy Sanchezâs tribute to Willie Bobo, a medley of three of the legendary percussionistâs songs, highlighted by a Santana-esque solo by Synowiec and vocals by Joey DeLeon. Herbie Hancockâs âCantaloupe Islandâ is given a Latin shuffle beat and a tasty guitar solo that serve as a tip of the hat to El Chicano and Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers, great Latin stars who covered the song before Poncho. The title track was written by Sonny Henry, best known for âEvil Waysâ, perhaps the penultimate Latin cross-over song of the Sixties.  

Click here to listen to âSlowly but Surelyâ, a John Hick composition recorded by Art Blakey in the mid-60âs. The percussion sets a deep groove and soon itâs the pulsating horns of saxophonist Javier Vergara, trumpeter Blake, and trombonist Francisco Torres that drive the song along. Blakeâs solo is particularly memorable. 

There is no new ground broken here, but it hardly matters when the band is cooking like they are here. This is one to bring some heat into a cold October evening, a Mojito in hand.

Heavy words from a jazz master, particularly when he is talking about 22 year old Eldar Djangirov, a keyboard player whose latest CD, Virtue, confirms that he is among the most talented players on the scene today. Born in Kyrgyzstan (what was at the time of his birth part of the Soviet Union), Eldar emigrated to the US wiht his family in 1998. In a short time, he became the youngest guest ever to appear on Marian McPartland's "Piano Jazz" show. Signed to the Sony Classical label, he has released four CDs on the label.

 I had the pleasure of speaking with him last week as he readied himself for a multi-night engagement at Yoshi's in Oakland, California, and Podcast 162 presents that conversation along with music from his releases, including:

"Dream Songâ from Re-Imagination. Recorded three years later after signing with Sony Classical, this CD was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. Eldar adds some electronic experiments, including the addition of DJ Logic on a few tracks. This recording is a solo piano piece, showing Eldarâs debt to Oscar Peterson, Chick Corea and Dr. Billy Taylor. 

"Lullaby Fantazia" from Virtue.  While keyboard pyrotechnics are Eldarâs strength, this track shows off his soulful side, as he glides through the track with a graceful left hand and melodic right hand, reminiscent in sound to Keith Jarrettâs solo work. 

âBlackjackâ from Virtue. Trumpet star Nicholas Payton joins the trio for this up-tempo number, weaving between the strong rhythm section of Ludwig Afonso (drums) and Armondo Gola (bass). Never afraid to move the number along at an accelerated pace, he adds electric keyboards to the sound, showing why he may be the finest young technician in jazz today.

He had graduated from Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1957, and was a sought after sideman, working with Sonny Clark (the classic Cool Struttin'), Donald Byrd, Mal Waldron, and starring on Charles Mingus' seminal Blues and Roots, all over the previous 18 months. He was a rising star on Blue Note Records.

The October 20, 1959 sessions (whihc resulted in the album Swing, Swang, Swingin') featured jazz standards ("Stablemates") and standards, like "Let's Face the Music and Dance". Click here to listen to McLean's version of "What's New?", a ballad composed by Johnny Burke and Bob Haggart twenty years earlier. The song had been introduced by Bob Crosby and His Orchestra with vocalist Teddy Grace that year, rising to number ten on the pop charts. Bing Crosby would take it to number two the same year.

Four months later, McLean would enter the same studio with Freddie Redd to record the music most closely associated with the first part of his career, Music from "The Connection", an off-Broadway play which featured McLean playing and acting onstage.

His list of credits as a sideman reads like a whoâs who of jazz from the last forty years â Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, Randy Brecker, Billy Cobham, Stanley Turrentine, Herbie Mann, John Abercrombie, and Gato Barbieri, just to name a handful. Soskin has a strong feel for Latin Jazz, having been an integral part of Azteca, a group in which Soskin's keyboard, writing, and arranging talents were showcased, and trumpeter Tom Harrell and percussionists Pete and Sheila Escovedo was the core. 

Soskin has spent 14 years with Sonny Rollins, and still found time to release seven CDs as a leader. The new CD is a top notch quartet session, featuring Ravi Coltrane on tenor and soprano sax, Siskin on piano, Jay Anderson on bass and Bill Stewart don drums. Five covers, including classics like âHeather On the Hillâ, vie with three Soskin originals for the listenerâs attention. All are exceptional performances. 

Click here to listen to âLittle Oneâ, the Soskin composition that ends the CD. His piano languidly begins over slow cymbals from Stewart, leading to a give and take between the two musicians. Coltrane enters a minute later, playing a gentle melody that is accented by the rhythm section with subtle but definite flourishes. Slowly Coltraneâs sax begins exploring new ground, and then Stewartâs cymbals signal a solo for Soskin, a greater part for bassist Anderson, and then a group resolution. All in all, a lovely ending to a notable album.