The Week In Jazz Sketches! • Nov. 1, 2024 Edition
Jazz Hidden Gems & ‘Spinning Tales’ in Your Inbox Every Week!
Hello,
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Week in Jazz Sketches! If you’re not seeing the full email, click the title to view the complete newsletter on our blog.
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Here’s what’s on repeat this week:
We're starting the week with some exciting new releases dropping this Friday. Highlights include Andrew Hill's restored A Beautiful Day, Revisited, Darryl Yokley's Latin-Jazz fusion in Un Mundo en Soledad, and the contemplative debut single from Elliot Galvin. Plus, Pritesh Walia's highly anticipated Hopetown and Sun Ra Arkestra's Lights On A Satellite single, celebrating heritage and visionary creativity.
More New Releases Out Today
Three Visitors
Edward Simon, Scott Colley & Brian Blade
Label: GroundUP Music
Released: November 1, 2024
Pianist Edward Simon, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Brian Blade delve into realms of postbop, avant-garde, and neo-soul on Three Visitors, a new release from GroundUP Music that captures their profound creative chemistry. These three renowned musicians are joined by special guests Chris Potter on saxophone and Becca Stevens on vocals, whose contributions add unique emotional textures to this sonically rich project.
Exploring “visitation” as both a spiritual and artistic concept, the trio connects deeply as they channel Jazz influences while shaping a sound distinctly their own. Potter’s commanding sax solo on Simon’s introspective You Are and Stevens’ soulful touch on I Wanna Be With You bring added depth to the music. Each track showcases the trio’s commitment to listening and interaction, creating a dynamic interplay of space and intensity. The result is an album that feels intimate yet expansive, balancing structure with improvisational freedom for an intensely resonant experience.
Full Cream
Greg Ward, Ziv Ravitz, Matthew Stevens, and Leo Genovese
Label: Sugah Hoof Records
Released: November 1, 2024
The quartet of Greg Ward, Ziv Ravitz, Matthew Stevens, and Leo Genovese comes together for Full Cream, an inventive debut that brims with camaraderie and musical synergy. Released by Sugah Hoof Records, the album showcases four Jazz innovators who combine their unique influences into a vivid soundscape. Saxophonist Greg Ward and drummer Ziv Ravitz, who first connected on tour with bassist Linda May Han Oh, initially envisioned a duo project. However, they soon expanded the lineup, inviting guitarist Matthew Stevens and keyboardist Leo Genovese to enrich the ensemble. Ward’s alto sax, Ravitz’s dynamic percussion, Stevens’ layered guitars, and Genovese’s Hammond B-3 organ and synths create a cohesive yet genre-spanning experience. Full Cream is a journey through lively grooves and introspective moments, where songs like Good Morning Zebras!, Argo, and Late highlight each musician’s distinctive voice while celebrating the collective joy of Jazz collaboration.
A Willed and Conscious Balance
Tomin Perea-Chamblee
Label: Independent
Released: November 1, 2024
With A Willed and Conscious Balance, Tomin Perea-Chamblee emerges as a compelling composer and bandleader, introducing a rich orchestral perspective to today’s Jazz landscape. At 27, Perea-Chamblee leads a dynamic septet of New York and Chicago talents, merging contemporary energy with timeless textures. This ambitious debut presents six original compositions alongside reimagined works by Booker Little and Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre. Perea-Chamblee layers flute, clarinets, trombone, euphonium, and synth, crafting intricate harmonies that are enhanced by Teiana Davis on Rhodes and Wurlitzer, Clérida Eltimé and Lester St. Louis on cello, Linton Smith II on trumpet and tambourine, Luke Stewart on bass, and Tcheser Holmes on drums. Together, they create a vibrant, cohesive palette that feels both rooted in Jazz’s orchestral tradition and newly attuned to modern innovation. A Willed and Conscious Balance brings warmth, sophistication, and an ambitious, humanist energy to today’s Jazz scene.
New Releases: Quick View and Streaming Links
Nov. 1, 2024 • Andrew Hill • A Beautiful Day (Revisited) (Palmetto Records) • Spotify
Nov. 1, 2024 • Tomin • A Willed and Conscious Balance (International Anthem) • BandCamp
Nov. 1, 2024 • Greg Ward, Ziv Ravitz, Matthew Stevens and Leo Genovese • Full Cream (Sugah Hoof Records) • Spotify • BandCamp
Nov. 1, 2024 • Pritesh Walia • Hopetown (PSA Records) • Spotify
Nov. 1, 2024 • Caleb Wheeler Curtis • The True Story of Bears and the Invention of the Battery (Imani Records) • Spotify • BandCamp
Nov. 1, 2024 • Edward Simon, Scott Colley, Brian Blade • Three Visitors (GroundUP Music) • Spotify
Nov. 1, 2024 • Darryl Yokley • Un Mundo En Soledad (TRRC) • Spotify • BandCamp
Video
Arena unearths a rare gem with Sonny Rollins '74, a long-lost film capturing the master saxophonist’s 1974 performance at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London. Directed by Charles Chabot, this documentary delivers Rollins in full command of his sound and style, alongside an ensemble that added both funk and innovation to his distinctive tenor saxophone voice.
This performance holds a special resonance in Rollins' career. Following a period of hiatus, his 1972 comeback saw him infusing his bands with a fresh funk influence and a bold use of electric instrumentation.
That’s it for this week’s picks! While we can’t feature everything, we hope you find something here to enjoy and maybe even make a new discovery or two. Have an album you'd like us to feature? Drop us a note at jazzsketches@pm.me.
As always, our first-of-the-month retrospective newsletter, with October highlights and a November preview, is on its way to your inbox this Sunday.
Until then, thank you for being part of Jazz Sketches. Enjoy this week’s music, and see you next time!
Best,
Jazz Sketches
Thanks for this! Where can I see the Sonny film?