RELEASES
Vol.1 Standards Sessions
Vol. 1, Standards Sessions is a beautiful quintet date featuring tenor saxophonist Tony Lakatos, trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, pianist Danny Grissett, bassist Hans Glawischnig and drummer Bruno Castellucci. These fine musicians bring their decades of experience as bandleaders and top sidemen to the table as they play canonical jazz repertoire. These are fresh interpretations, brimming with the unique tonal personalities, high-level vocabulary and seasoned interplay of everyone involved, heard in top-tier audiophile sound with impeccable separation between instruments.
While “Darn That Dream” or “I’ll Remember April” date back to the Broadway era, “Why Don’t I” and “Fee Fi Fo Fum” are “player” tunes from the bebop and postbop canon. “Softly As In a Morning Sunrise,” originally an operetta and movie tune, is commonly associated with John Coltrane, as is Tadd Dameron’s “Good Bait.” “Fried Bananas” is a Dexter Gordon melody over the chord changes of “It Could Happen to You.” “Bluesette” is a classic waltz by the late Toots Thielemans, and Sam Rivers’ “Beatrice” and Cedar Walton’s “Bolivia” are two must-know items from the modern jazz songbook. As for the playing itself, there’s only one way to describe it: masters at work.
- Tracklist
Vol.2 Standards Sessions
Vol. 2 , Standards Sessions offers a beautiful successor to the Vol. 1 package of lush-but-fresh interpretations of standards. Offering even more indispensable ingredients to every jazz musician’s repertoire, Vol. 2 sports a star-packed lineup led by vibraphonist Jim Hart, accompanied by some of the UK’s finest musicians. Rising star saxophonist Rachael Cohen, internationally celebrated guitarist Romain Pilon, MOBO-nominee and Whirlwind Records-founder Michael Janisch on double bass, and 3-time Grammy nominee Jason Brown on drums join Hart in the studio for new interpretations of pieces every jazz fan knows and loves.
From swinging opener “Locomotion” and Dexter Gordon’s evergreen “Cheese Cake” to Coltrane’s ballad “Lonnie’s Lament” and Simon&Marks’ ever-sultry “All Of Me”, Vol.2 offers ample opportunity for every instrumentalist to combine their skills and creativity with those in the band. Perhaps the youngest standard on the album is “Windows”, by late-but-great pianist Chick Corea, welcoming pianists to this record. Closing track “Airegin”, named after a picture of Nigerian dancers (and indeed spelling ‘Nigeria’ backwards), is a piece by Sonny Rollins and the Miles Davis Quintet which was recorded in 1954. It became a standard as soon as it was released, and was one of three compositions Davis let Rollins add to the 10″ they released together that year.
Vol. 2 offers a trip through jazz history by some of today’s greats, with one big difference: it never sounds the same without you.
- Tracklist
Vol.3 Standards Sessions
Release April 21st 2023.
Where the JMT Standard Sessions focused on jazz standards repertoire, improv and comping, the Octet Sessions pivots ensemble playing and music sheet reading, expanding the listener’s jazz vocabulary in new ways. Crafted specifically for this octet and focusing on horns, Joris reinvented some of his favorite compositions, aiming for a specific sound to suit his group of hand-picked greats. Most of these pieces were composed for large ensembles, bigbands, and symphonic orchestras. Now, we get to present discrete, compact versions, marrying combo- and ensemble setups. Every track on the album highlights a specific aspect of octet playing, such as tuttis, a-capella tuttis, and written explorations of improvisations, while crisscrossing through the jazz genre to include Latin, straight-ahead, samba, and even odd meter.
Premiering a brand new feature in the Jazz Master Tracks app, players can access sheet music for every instrument – with extra transpositions (Bflat, Eflat, and concert) for most wind instruments – to explore the different layers of timbre Joris so carefully compiled in these new arrangements. “I selected the musicians based on their musical stories, timbres, and unique personalities. What do they have to say, as improvisers, as soloists, as musicians? This record is an ode to the art of arranging.” Musicians exploring this craft in-app can mute all but one instrument, if so desired, making the app and album an ideal toolbox to learn and perfect this important skill on top of their individual practice.
- Tracklist