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Posted
On 8/25/2017 at 3:24 PM, HutchFan said:

Out today:

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Tom Harrell - Moving Picture
with Danny Grissett, Ugonna Okegwo and Adam Cruz

This one is on my "to get" list.

I've been listening to Grissett on a couple of releases. He's impressive.

Posted (edited)
15 hours ago, mjzee said:

Speaking of... release date September 22:

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Cool.  I'll have to look into that Danny Grissett CD too. :tup 

And that Pat Martino release looks enticing as well!  Here's a brief promo video for Formidable:

 

 

Sort of related question:

Does anyone know whether Joe Fields' recent passing will have any effect on HighNote & Savant?  Is Fields' son now running the company?  

Just curious. . .

 

Edited by HutchFan
  • 5 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
On 10/6/2017 at 0:50 PM, The Magnificent Goldberg said:

Totally BRILLIANT sleeve!!!!!!!

Album cover of the year.

Anyone know who did it?

MG - Yes, such a great cover photo!  :tup 

I pre-ordered Formidable.  It's due to arrive on Friday.  I'll let you know if the photographer is credited in the notes. 

Posted
On 10/6/2017 at 9:50 AM, The Magnificent Goldberg said:

Totally BRILLIANT sleeve!!!!!!!

Album cover of the year.

Anyone know who did it?

(Must get those Houston Persons - I'm back on him now:) )

MG

Cover photo by Pierpaolo Ferrari

  • 5 months later...
  • 2 years later...
Posted

I haven't seen many Savant/High Note releases lately, so this is welcome news.  Release date March 26:

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As with many professions, it was a difficult thing to be a jazz musician during the pandemic year of 2020, but alto saxophonist Jim Snidero found himself in a unique situation: he was able to assemble a quartet for a feasible, safe, limited-audience gig at Pennsylvania's famed Deer Head Inn. Snidero and his colleagues relished the chance to commune with listeners, and one another, on the bandstand again at long last. Live at the Deer Head Inn is the result, and as Snidero remarks in the liner notes, "It just felt like the perfect opportunity to cut through the fog of this damn pandemic and mark this moment in time." The energy and excitement are palpable on this, as Snidero rallies his players and the audience in an exuberant set of what he calls "comfort music," beginning with a trenchant take on Charlie Parker's "Now's the Time" (with Bird's daughter, Kim Parker, in attendance to hear it). The depth of swing and interplay is evident in every measure, and Snidero's sound and phrasing reveal a disposition of his own, guided by a unique melodic and harmonic concept - qualities that have earned him recognition in the Downbeat and JazzTimes Critics Polls.

  • 4 months later...
Posted

Release date August 27:

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Denise Donatelli digs deep into the songs of Burt Bacharach on this, her fifth recording for Savant Records. The music of the immensely popular and prolific composer is well suited for this Grammy finalist who has performed in a wide variety of venues from clubs such as Catalina's, Herb Alpert's Vibrato Grill, and Mezzrow to the stage of the Municipal Opera in Prague, Czech Republic. Bacharach's sumptuous melodies sound more seductive than ever imbued with a dark moodiness which spotlights the luminous quality of the lyrics from the pens of Elvis Costello, Daniel Tashian, Bob Hilliard and, of course, Hal David. Donatelli gives us nine beautifully-recorded tracks highlighting the impressionistic and often ethereal arrangements of arranger, bassist and producer, the renowned Larry Klein. "Larry's idea," Donatelli says, "was to reimagine Bacharach's music in such a minimalistic way... to reframe them in a way that examines the very essence of the songs." Denise Donatelli and her colleagues bring unique insight into the musical legacy of one of the great American composers who helped define the course of popular music.

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Time was when a jazz trio without a piano or guitar was a rare occurrence. But once Sonny Rollins went chordless at the Vanguard the die was cast and, though the instrumentation is still not exactly thick on the ground, it is an important subset in the list of saxophone-fronted jazz groups. For the last three years tenor saxophonist Nicole Glover has embraced this format with her regular band featuring colleagues Daniel Duke (bass) and Nic Cacioppo (drums). Here, for her first album with the group and her Savant Records debut, she has attracted the attention of keyboard great George Cables, who appears on four tracks of the recording. Michael J, West points out in the album's liner notes that to Glover, "Cables represents the continuum of the music, it's past, present and future; she wanted that wisdom and energy to manifest itself and inform the band's work." In the trio numbers, mostly originals, the musicians display a unity of thought that goes far beyond the notes, one that takes the freedom of a chordless ensemble and runs with it. Their music is full of strength and power, challenging but communicative with a sly sense of playfulness peeking out occasionally all providing a memorable musical experience that is at once high-spirited and deeply felt.

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

Release date September 24:

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Houston Person is the real deal. With a lifetime of experience Houston continues to grace concert stages with his expressive style which stubbornly defies categorization. One moment he is letting loose with some hard-driving swing and the next he is caressing your ears with his mellifluous, baritonal utterances on a beautiful ballad. "I just play good music," explains Houston. "I look for a great melody and great lyrics." Houston's preoccupation with the art of melody is on full display in this live recording captured during his appearance at the Festival Jazz a la Villette in 2019. This is Houston's first live recording in some time and it is quite an unforgettable experience, with the legendary man taking great care in putting just the right set list together for his audience, covering a wide variety of styles drawn from his remarkable career. Having recorded his first album as a leader in 1966 titled Underground Soul, coincidentally also an organ-tenor quartet, Houston Person has been a standard-bearer of so-called "soul jazz," but that is a misnomer in his case. The truth is Houston plays soulful jazz rather than "soul jazz"; music that communicates with the listener and touches the heart. How appropriate it is then, that this live recording originates from Paris, also known as the "City of Love."

Posted

You missed the recent release of one of the best High Note/Savant releases I have heard--Harvey S, Going For It. A red hot live session from 1985, with Mike Stern and Alan Dawson. It's essentially like a visit to the 55 Bar to hear the Mike Stern Trio, except Alan Dawson is on drums tonight.2195.jpg

Posted
7 minutes ago, kh1958 said:

You missed the recent release of one of the best High Note/Savant releases I have heard--Harvey S, Going For It. A red hot live session from 1985, with Mike Stern and Alan Dawson. It's essentially like a visit to the 55 Bar to hear the Mike Stern Trio, except Alan Dawson is on drums tonight.2195.jpg

Thanks for the tip.  The download is so much cheaper than the CD, and since it was originally recorded on cassette, probably not a lot of fidelity will be lost with the download.

  • 9 months later...
Posted

 
 
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Bill Heid
Dealin' Wid It


Impacting
June 9th, 2022

Format(s): Jazz

  Artist Title Time    
 
  Bill Heid Dealin' Wid It 05:33    
  Bill Heid Cho Soup 07:03    
  Bill Heid It's a Living 05:34    
  Bill Heid Four to One 07:12    
  Bill Heid Minor Worm 06:46    
  Bill Heid Naughty Little Puppy 06:26    
  Bill Heid Samba Cat 06:16    
  Bill Heid Bouncy 06:13    
  Bill Heid Tree Trunk 05:23    
  Bill Heid Hurt So Bad 05:43    
 

 

 

New from Bill Heid on Savant Records
Bill Heid - Dealin’ Wid It
Savant Records SCD 2204

Bill Heid, Hammond organ, vocals (tracks 3 & 6 only)
Perry Hughes, guitar
Randy Gelispie, drums
Kevin “Bujo” Jones, percussion (except tracks 3, 6 & 9)

AIRPLAY STARTS NOW
SUGGESTED TRACKS
1. Dealin’ Wid It (5:35) • 5. Minor Worm (6:46)
7. Samba Cat (6:16) • 10. Hurt So Bad (5:42)

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Called by Mozart “The King of the Instruments,” the organ went from sacred to salacious when it left the church and began turning up in jazz clubs in the 1950s. It was at that time that the model B-3 organ was assimilated into the jazz line-up and became a sought-after solo instrument. Its hipper-than-hip tone color and thumping bass pedals defined an instrumental sound that mesmerizes the instrument's aficionados to this very day. Pittsburgh-born Bill Heid knows the B-3's history well and his playing ranges from the boppish to the bodacious. From 1965 into the late 70's, he worked the "chitlin' clubs" in Baltimore, Newark, Detroit and Chicago, often with greats like Sonny Stitt, David "Fathead" Newman, Mickey Roker, Roger Humphries, Henry Johnson, Jimmy Ponder and Peter Bernstein. Heid himself penned all but one of the tunes, with all of them channeling the musical spirits of such Hammond luminaries as Don Patterson, “Big” John Patton, “Baby Face” Willette, Larry Young, Jimmy Smith and Jack McDuff. The album closes with a too-cool-for-school reading of “Hurt So Bad,” which looks back with a knowing glance to the Richard “Groove” Holmes version. Throughout the 10 tracks, the band plays with a soulful feeling, a great sense of ensemble and no small amount of infectious joy – drummer Randy Gelispie hits exactly the right mix of blues and swing, with his relaxed, in-the-pocket feel, and Perry Hughes on guitar ties things together with his own thoughtful style in his imaginative and satisfying solo breaks.

 

Like our stuff?  Let’s hear from you.

Record Company Contact
Barney Fields • Savant Records, Inc.

jazzdepo@ix.netcom.com • (212) 873-2020 • www.jazzdepot.com

 
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download

SCD 2204 B...

download

2204 Bill ...

 

 


 
 
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Alan Broadbent Trio
Like Minds


Impacting
June 9th, 2022


Format(s): Jazz

  Artist Title Time    
 
  Alan Broadbent Trio This I Dig of You 06:24    
  Alan Broadbent Trio Prelude to Peace 08:25    
  Alan Broadbent Trio With the Wind and the Rain in Your Hair 07:18    
  Alan Broadbent Trio Dance Only with Me 05:16    
  Alan Broadbent Trio Airegin 05:58    
  Alan Broadbent Trio Stairway to the Stars 08:19    
  Alan Broadbent Trio Blue Pearl 04:45    
  Alan Broadbent Trio This Is New 06:42    
  Alan Broadbent Trio Yardbird Suite 06:25    
 

 

 

New from The Alan Broadbent Trio on Savant Records
The Alan Broadbent Trio - Like Minds
Savant Records SCD 2198

Alan Broadbent - piano
Harvie S - bass
Billy Mintz - drums

 

AIRPLAY STARTS NOW
SUGGESTED TRACKS

1. This I Dig of You  (6:26)   5. Airegin  (5:28)
8. This Is New  (6:43)      9. Yardbird Suite  (6:24)

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Alan Broadbent is one of New Zealand's favorite musical sons and perhaps the most well-known and multi-talented of them all. Many are familiar with his arranging and conducting for Sir Paul McCartney, Diana Krall, Pat Metheny and Michael Bublé. Others may know Broadbent has received 8 Grammy nominations and won 2 Grammy Awards for Best Orchestral Arrangement Accompanying a Vocal, one for Natalie Cole and one for Shirley Horn. On Like Minds, Broadbent takes a seat on the piano bench for his third Savant recording with his trio featuring the great bassist Harvie S and the colorful drumming of Billy Mintz. Together these men play with notable clarity and poise, and their performances – even those of familiar standards – are wonderfully tuneful, sometimes whimsical and often moving, with the overall effect always coming across as coolly engaging and totally spontaneous. “I'm averse to playing what I jokingly call 'big band trio arrangements,' where everybody plays the rhythmic hits,” Broadbent explains. “I'll get a big band if I want to do that. For me, for the trio, I want it to change every time.” Spontaneous and off-the-cuff these 9 tracks may be but the closer you listen, the more inventive and exquisitely crafted they sound, with the recording showing that, without a doubt, these three superb musicians are of like minds indeed.

 

Like our stuff?  Let’s hear from you.

Record Company Contact
Barney Fields • Savant Records, Inc.
jazzdepo@ix.netcom.com
 • (212) 873-2020 • www.jazzdepot.com

 
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download

SCD 2198 A...

download

2198 Alan ...

 

 

Posted

Release date July 15:

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There have been a number of famous jazz artists whose offspring have followed their father's footsteps into music. Think only of Ellis Marsalis and his sons, Dewey and Joshua Redman, Papa John and Joey DeFrancesco, Bucky and John Pizzarelli, Walter and Nicholas Payton and Harry Connick Senior & Junior. But for every famous father in jazz there are an unknowable number of fathers who inspired and nurtured their progeny's talent from the sidelines and encouraged them to go into music and pursue their dreams. Such a man was McDonald Chestnut whose internationally renowned son, pianist Cyrus Chestnut, remembers his dad with this touching memorial, My Father's Hands. By carefully choosing a wide range of repertoire - including originals, standards and jazz classics - and with the great bassist Peter Washington and the legendary Lewis Nash on drums, Cyrus has crafted not just an intensely personal reminiscence but a truly beautiful jazz album in all respects. The material is strong, the sequencing uniquely satisfying and the performances display a unity of conception and execution that can only be called remarkable. Top it off with the exceptional recording quality and you have not only another fabulous jazz record, but a lasting and moving tribute to a father from his son.

Posted (edited)

Release date July 15:

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In the course of his career, Tom Harrell has left his mark across a wide range of styles, including propulsive bebop, rhythmic Afro-Cuban jazz, studied classical compositional procedures and soothing smooth jazz. In any Tom Harrell performance or recording you will search in vain for Freudian high-note jabs and dazzling displays of over-heated velocity full of empty technique. There's a remarkable ease and affability to Oak Tree, a recording which features melodies that occasionally sound as inevitable as life itself. And these melodies are played by a quartet which may be one of Harrell's most symbiotic ensembles; the fluency of superb pianist Luis Perdomo sometimes providing extensions and commentary to Harrell's improvisational thoughts, the extremely musical drummer Adam Cruz constantly adjusting both his tone and the intensity of his pulse as each composition dictates and bassist Ugonna Okegwo a secure, steady anchor and superb improviser. As for the leader himself, he favors concise, intense solos where the supremacy of his improvising abilities lies as much in what he chooses to leave unsaid as what he allows to peal out from the bell of his horn. You can write volumes and use any superlatives you like to describe Harrell's playing but, simply put, he is one of those rare figures who has extended the communicative possibilities of the jazz trumpet while establishing himself as one of the art form's most important composers.

Edited by mjzee
  • 1 month later...
Posted (edited)

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Cyrus Chestnut
My Father's Hands

Impacting
July 19th, 2022


Format(s): Jazz

  Artist Title Time    
 
  Cyrus Chestnut Nippon Soul Connection 07:24    
  Cyrus Chestnut Thinking About You 05:19    
  Cyrus Chestnut Cubano Chant 04:05    
  Cyrus Chestnut Baubles, Bangles and Beads 04:43    
  Cyrus Chestnut Yesterday 04:15    
  Cyrus Chestnut I Must Tell Jesus 03:24    
  Cyrus Chestnut Working Out Just Fine 06:32    
  Cyrus Chestnut There Will Never Be Another You 04:15    
  Cyrus Chestnut But Beautiful 02:58    
  Cyrus Chestnut Epilogue 05:58    
 

 

 

New from Cyrus Chestnut on HighNote Records
Cyrus Chestnut - My Father’s Hands
HighNote Records HCD 7339
Cyrus Chestnut, piano



Peter Washington, bass (except track 6)
Lewis Nash, drums (except track 6)


 

AIRPLAY STARTS NOW
SUGGESTED TRACKS


2. Thinking About You  5:24 • 3. Cubano Chant  4:08
4. Baubles, Bangles and Beads  4:46 • 7. Working Out Just Fine  6:36

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HCD 7339 H...

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7339 Cyrus...

 

 


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Tom Harrell
Oak Tree

Impacting
July 19th, 2022


Format(s): Jazz

  Artist Title Time    
 
  Tom Harrell EVOORG 04:59    
  Tom Harrell FIVIN' 05:06    
  Tom Harrell OAK TREE 03:35    
  Tom Harrell TRIBUTE 03:49    
  Tom Harrell ZATOICHI 05:21    
  Tom Harrell SUN UP 05:06    
  Tom Harrell IMPROV 04:29    
  Tom Harrell SHADOWS 05:23    
  Tom Harrell ARCHAEOPTERYX 05:25    
  Tom Harrell ROBOT ETUDE 07:02    
  Tom Harrell LOVE TIDE 06:35    
 

 

 

New from Tom Harrell on HighNote Records
Tom Harrell - Oak Tree
HighNote Records HCD 7332


Tom Harrell, trumpet & flugelhorn (tracks 4,5 & 8)
Luis Perdomo, piano & Fender Rhodes (tracks 2, 4 & 6)
Ugonna Okegwo, bass
Adam Cruz, drums




 

AIRPLAY STARTS NOW
SUGGESTED TRACKS


1. Evoorg  5:01 • 4. Tribute  3:48
8. Shadows  5:22 • 11. Love Tide  6:35

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7332 HighN...

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HCD 7332 T...

 

 

Edited by GA Russell
  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Release date August 26:

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Together with Americana: Musings on Jazz and Blues, and Barracoon, two of JD Allen's previous Savant releases, Americana, Vol. 2 forms a trilogy of sorts, exploring and encapsulating a universal spirit based in roots and reflection. But despite the profound political, racial, financial and historic issues examined by Allen and company, at the central musical core of all three recordings is the underestimated but crucial role the blues has played in the history of jazz and how it continues to evolve and influence the art form today. On Americana, Vol. 2 Allen continues this investigation with his long-time colleagues Gregg August and Rudy Royston, but is now joined by guitarist Charlie Hunter, who shares not only Allen's interest in the blues and it's legacy, but they also share many similar life experiences. As Allen himself says, "(Charlie's) music brings light to me as a listener. When we met, we found out that we grew up in different areas of the country, but our experiences happen to be very similar. That's Americana right there. I wanted that on this record." Here the blues not only provides a welcome outlet for tension and gentle melodicism but it also gives us an unflinching look into deep-seated and long-lived injustices, particularly via the almost expressionistic utterances of three trio-only tracks. Once again JD Allen shows himself to be a player and composer as remarkable for his directness of communication as he is for the sometimes unforgiving sternness of his message.

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The one thing all but one of the works on this recording have in common is that they were used in a motion picture, though only six of the eleven songs were written for a specific movie. They cover a fairly long period of cinematic history with Charlie Chaplin's timeless classic, "Smile" being heard in the earliest and latest films on the list: Modern Times (1936) and Joker (2019). It is interesting to note that the album's leader and drummer, Richard Baratta, was an executive producer on Joker. With this Hollywood connection, Baratta's life has been somewhat cinema-centric, but he actually started out as a jazz drummer, working with Butch Morris, Billy Bang, Hal Galper and others. Today Baratta has returned to his jazz roots and his colorful, propulsive drumming is a real highlight of this recording, a follow up to his 2020 release, Music in Film: The Reel Deal. You won't find any lengthy, indulgent solos here but you will smile approvingly at his keenly executed flourishes and mini-breaks. Back in the studio with Baratta is Grammy-nominated arranger and pianist, Bill O'Connell, his years of Latin jazz experience influencing a number of tracks. Alto saxophonist Vincent Herring also returns providing an athletic lead on many selections and some coruscant solo work. With guitarist Paul Bollenback and bassist Michael Goetz rounding out the rhythm section and Paul Rossman providing some additional percussion colors, Richard Baratta takes you on another imaginative, jazz-filled trip to the movies. But you'll have to supply your own popcorn.

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