Criss Cross Jazz new releases September 2010

Here are the new Criss Cross Jazz releases for September 2010, which will
be available from September 21. All details can be found on the website:

         https://www.crisscrossjazz.com/

The 30-second sound samples will be available around the time of release.


CRISS 1328 CD   WALTER SMITH III – III -

On III, Smith Walter III’s Criss Cross debut, the rising star tenor
saxophonist piggybacks on ideas postulated on his two prior releases
with maturity, freshness, and edge.

Most visible to the global public as Terence Blanchard’s tenor man of
choice in recent years, Smith convenes an A-list crew of New York’s
finest under-40s.

Propelling the flow are pianist Jason Moran and drummer Eric Harland
(like Smith, both are out of Houston, Texas), triangulated by
Milwaukee-born bassist Joe Sanders, while Smith breathes as one on
several selections with trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, the recent Monk
Institute Award winner on his instrument.
Guest alto saxophonist Logan Richardson plays on Walter Smith III’s
composition Himorme.

https://www.crisscrossjazz.com/album/1328.html


CRISS 1329 CD   PETER BEETS QUARTET – CHOPIN MEETS THE BLUES -

Chopin melodies used as a basis for jazz improvisation?
In the wrong hands, the results could be truly catastrophic.
Yet it’s a notion with great appeal for celebrated Dutch piano
marvel Peter Beets.

"Why, melodic embellishment is at the heart of everything that
Chopin wrote!’ enthuses Peter. "In fact, he was composing tunes
ideal for bebop, although he couldn’t have known it at the time."

It’s a happy coincidence that the fifth Criss Cross CD under Beets'
leadership arrives during the bicentennial year of Chopin’s birth.
But it’s clearly not a project haphazardly thrown together at the
last moment. Instead, Peter recruited three of New York’s premier
jazzmen – guitarist Joe Cohn, bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Greg
Hutchinson – as co-conspirators.

Together, this quartet wrings extraordinary measures of beauty,
excitement and yes, fun from eight of Chopin’s most memorable pieces.
Their collaboration is, in a word, breathtaking.

https://www.crisscrossjazz.com/album/1329.html


CRISS 1330 CD   WILL VINSON – STOCKHOLM SYNDROME -

Will Vinson, the fine London-born, New York-based saxophonist, makes
his Criss Cross debut with Stockholm Syndrome, a stirring collection
of originals and creatively reworked material by Bill Evans, Paul
Desmond and Cole Porter, all of it fired by rhythmic panache and
lyrical intensity

Joining Vinson are two fellow Criss Cross artists and leaders in their
own right, Lage Lund (guitar) and Kendrick Scott (drums). Pianist Aaron
Parks, in his first-ever appearance on the label, and bassist Orlando
Le Fleming, provide empathetic and unerring support.

Vinson’s music is strongly rooted in postbop but full of the kind of
detail and surprise that push it beyond category.

On Stockholm Syndrome we hear Vinson’s inventive voice on alto and
soprano saxes (and Lund on electric and acoustic guitars); we also
encounter a leader with skill and confidence to let his extraordinary
band play an equal role forging a sound of subtle small-group
orchestration and swinging give-and-take.

https://www.crisscrossjazz.com/album/1330.html