Dave Stryker - Baker’s Circle

http://www.davestryker.com/

Dave Stryker did it again. He released a great album with his favorite musicians Jared Gold on organ and McClenty Hunter on drums plus Walter Smith III on sax and Mayra Casales on percussion. Perfectly played organ trio+, Dave Stryker never disappoints.

Stewy von Wattenwyl – In the Giants Garden

https://www.stewyvonwattenwyl.ch/

From Bern, Switzerland (and currently my professor for ear training and jazz theory) comes pianist Stewy von Wattenwyl. The album features his trio with Giorgos Antoniou on bass and Kevin Chesham on drums and presents a perfectly played collection of the jazz piano canon with tunes from Herbie Hancock, Thelonious Monk, Keith Jarrett and more.

Philippe Lemm Trio – First Steps

https://www.philippelemm.com/

Drummer and composer Philippe Lemm leads this piano trio with Jeff Koch and the late Angelo Di Loretto on piano. The album will be released on March 26, but two fantastic songs are already available.  The trio impresses with great melodies and incredible energy.

Charlie Porter – Hindsight

https://www.charlieportermusic.com/

Grammy-winning trumpeter Charlie Porter has released an ambitious album with a great group of musicians like Mike Moreno on guitar, Behn Gillece on vibes and Nick Biello on saxophone. The album contains nine originals from Charlie Porter in various styles from hard bop to rap and gospel and reflects the tumult and uncertainty of the times and thoughts of how we’re going to leave the planet for the next generation. The album convinces with sophisticated compositions and the outstanding playing of Charlie Porter.

Finally a complete playlist with all songs from the four albums

Dave Stryker – Blue Soul

http://www.davestryker.com/

The incredibly productive guitarist Dave Stryker has released a great album with Bob Mintzer and the WDR Big Band. The sound and style from his Eight Track band has been uplifted with the arrangements by Bob Mintzer. Same spirit but bigger sound and more colors. Another great album by Dave Stryker.

John Finbury – Quatro

https://www.greenflashmusic.com/quatro/

More music from composer John Finbury has been released on this album, mixing contemporary jazz, Latin American and Spanish influences and alternating vocal and instrumental tracks. The album was produced by Latin Grammy winner Emilio D. Miler, and features Magos Herrera on vocals, Chano Domínguez on piano, John Patitucci on bass, and Antonio Sánchez on drums.

The TNEK Jazz Quintet – Plays The Music Of Sam Jones

https://www.tnekjazz.com/

The quintet around bass player Ken Miller recorded six Sam Jones plus one Kenny Barron composition on this straight-ahead jazz album. A great swinging rhythm section and two saxophone players in a great performance. The best known song for me was Unit 7 because of a famous Wes Montgomery version. So some more music to discover from Sam Jones.

Tony Davis – Golden Year

https://www.tonydavismusic.com/

Guitarist and composer Tony Davis has released his debut album on Posi-Tone records. Seven of the eleven songs are original compositions by Tony Davis and with the guest appearances from Steve Davis on trombone, Steve Wilson on alto sax and flute, JK Kim on drums and Alina Engibaryan on vocals the album has a nice variety.

Finally a complete playlist with all songs from the four albums

This years’ Christmas album comes from Dave Stryker and his Eight Track band featuring:

• Dave Stryker – guitar
• Stefon Harris - vibraphone
• Jared Gold – organ
• McClenty Hunter – drums

The name of the band and the music they like to play comes from the time when an 8-Track player was a popular device. The group has released three very successful albums with songs from the 60′s and 70′s and tie in on the tradition of producing an album for the holiday season.

This album is not the classical Christmas CD with a lot of emotions, instead it is the cool buddy for the hectic season. An excellent organ trio plus an incredible vibraphone player guarantee the perfect groove.

The album starts with “This Christmas” from Donny Hathaway, quite cool and relaxed with a little bit of jingle bells and a bluesy Dave Stryker, perfectly played. The sound of this band is really exceptional and the vibraphone adds the unique note to the organ trio.

The traditional “What Child Is This?” comes next. This tune is arranged with a pushing 6/8 meter. Laurels are here for McClenty Hunter on drums who gives this song the special touch.

“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”, another traditional is the next song, arranged with a heavy groove and one more time the hint to listen to the drummer precisely.

The album continues with John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” one of my favorite Christmas tunes. The end of the melody is played in unison by guitar (in octaves) and vibraphone which sounds really warm and soft but very jazzy.

“Soulful Frosty” is another highlight of the album, it is a melange of the two songs “Soulful Strut” and “Frosty The Snowman” very soulful indeed and very happy with the Frosty part where the compulsory jingle bells are added.

The Charlie Brown song “Christmas Time Is Here” by Vince Guaraldi, a beautiful ballad comes next. Guitar and vibraphone trade the melody, very soft and easy which gives this nice melody the space it needs to unfold in full. Very tasty background by drums and organ.

An up-tempo “Sleigh Ride” shows the band in jam-style with solos from all musicians.

“Blue Christmas” is the next song and it comes as an old-fashioned 12/8 groove with bluesy solos. My highlight of this song is the organ solo which ends in full gear pulling out all stops plus the Leslie speaker. Killer sound.

“We Three Kings” is another highlight of this album. This song sounds like a modal jazz tune with a breathtaking guitar solo.

The album ends with “O Tannenbaum” (with Steve Nelson on vibraphone).  This song was released before and shows a hard swinging band enjoying to play and to improvise over this famous traditional.

‘Eight Track Christmas’ is my choice for this holiday season, it is quite different from what you hear and what is recorded for this occasion, but since it is so cool relaxed and swinging Jazz music it shows much better the “true” spirit of Christmas then any other new album I have heard this year.

Enjoy, relax and have an eggnog on Dave and his fabulous Eight Track band.

More information about Dave Stryker, his projects and tour dates are found on his website:
https://www.davestryker.com

And finally a playlist of this album on Spotify:

Today I want to start presenting CD’s that have been released this year.
We all enjoy the recordings from the great masters, like John Coltrane and Miles Davis but some of these records are already 50 years old.
I think we should also be able to see what is currently going on and so I started to look around for new CD releases. There are records from major labels like Concord, ECM and there are also records from well-known names like Diana Krall or Gregory Porter.

But there is also a lot of new stuff from artists in the second row and I would like to start today with a CD from Dave Stryker called “Messin’ with Mr T”. The CD is a reminiscence to Stanley Turrentine, who died 15 years ago. Dave Stryker was playing with Stanley Turrentine for many years and recorded two albums with him.

The CD contains 10 songs and features 10 different  saxophone players including Chris Potter, Bob Mintzer, Eric Alexander and Steve Slagle.

The rhythm section includes the finest musicians from the New York Jazz scene with Jared Gold on hammond B3 organ and McClenty Hunter on drums.

It’s an excellent CD with very good music, including all-time classics like “In a Sentimental Mood” or “Impressions” and also some very groovy played tunes like “Side Steppin’” or “Don’t Mess With Mr.T”.

If you like hammond trios plus excellent saxophone playing then this CD is the right choice. Never boring, great artists and great soloing. Definitely one of my personal favorites of this year.

The CD made #1 on JazzWeek Radio chart and has been on the chart for more than 20 weeks.

Lucky me a got a signed CD from Dave Stryker when I saw him playing this spring at Marian’s Jazzroom in Bern.

Here is again the  iTunes playlist if you want to hear yourself: