If you’re looking for some great new music to discover this weekend, look no further than our weekly New Release Cheat Sheet. This week, a taste of an upcoming previously-unreleased Jack McDuff live recording, The Cookers Quintet pay tribute to some of the great boxing champions of the past, music from a one-night-only event of a jazz supergroup and more.
New Music and Videos
Jack McDuff, “Walkin’ the Dog” [Song Premiere]
A previously unreleased 1982 live album by legendary jazz organist Jack McDuff is due out September 2 via Soul Bank Music. Live at Parnell’s is made up of 15 tracks selected from McDuff’s week-long engagement at Parnell’s in Seattle, Washington, including the old-school funky, gritty blues “Walkin’ the Dog,” premiering below. The original recording, recovered from a worn-out C60 cassette, was restored using A.I.-based audio technology and documents McDuff alongside his working organ quartet with Danny Wollinski on sax, guitarist Henry Johnson and Garrick King on the drums.
The Cookers Quintet, “Undisputed” [Video Premiere]
The Cookers Quintet is a heavy-swinging Toronto-based quintet, whose sound is uncompromisingly footed in the ’50s and ’60s hard bop movement and whose name refers to Freddie Hubbard’s iconic 1965 album, The Night of the Cookers. “Undisputed” is a muscular track from their upcoming album, The Path, and a tribute to some of the great boxing champions of the past that its composer, saxophonist Ryan Oliver, claims “adds another hard bop anthem to our ever-growing songbook.” The Path will be released on August 12 on Do Right Music.
Wayne Shorter, Terri Lyne Carrington, Leo Genovese and esperanza spalding, “Drummer’s Song”
A multi-generational jazz supergroup formed by Wayne Shorter, Terri Lyne Carrington, Leo Genovese and esperanza spalding performed a one-night-only event at the Detroit Jazz Festival in 2017. Five years later, Candid Records has announced that it will release a recording of this stellar performance on September 9. The announcement comes with the release of its single, the group’s take on “Drummer’s Song,” composed by Geri Allen. The much-missed pianist/composer was originally to be part of this amazing group but passed away in June 2017.
New Albums
Ronnie Foster, Reboot (Blue Note)
Having focused on session work and production work for the past number of years, Ronnie Foster returns with his first album as a leader in 36 years. Reboot is simultaneously a celebration of the past, including the legacy of the much-missed Dr. Lonnie Smith, and marks a fresh new start for the legendary Hammond organist, featuring his son Chris Foster on drums and Michael O’Neill on guitar.
Sachal Vasandani and Romain Collin, Still Life (Edition)
Still Life is vocalist Sachal Vasandani and pianist Romain Collin’s deeply emotive, introspective and nuanced follow-up to their acclaimed 2021 album, Midnight Shelter. Produced with no edits or overdubs, this new intimate collection offers duo reworkings of classic and modern songs alike, interspersed with memorable original compositions.
https://open.spotify.com/album/0Yly6QXR76EpiQtG51yenm?si=eGFe1ETxS7CPhZRE-5dp4Q
Sheila Jordan, Live at Mezzrow (Cellar/SmallsLIVE)
Live at Mezzrow is the first live recording by legendary vocalist Sheila Jordan in nearly a decade. The album documents her performance at the intimate Mezzrow Jazz Club with her longtime rhythm section of pianist Alan Broadbent and bassist Harvie S. It is also the inaugural release of SmallsLIVE’s Living Masters Series, celebrating living jazz masters, funded by grants from the SmallsLIVE Foundation in collaboration with the Cellar Music Group.
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