Brian Lynch; Torch Bearers

How nice to hear trumpet maven Brian Lynch on a recording including a mix of musicians that are somewhat surprising. Consider this: depending on the track of choice, there are three pianists and two drummers. But they are all hip and ready on a session mainly comprised of originals. The celebrated young singer Samara Joy gets a chance to strut her stuff on two tracks. In addition, the familiar titles include “Luminoso” by Barry Harris, plus “But Beautiful” and “Blue And Boogie”. A consistent high point here is the alto sax of Charles McPherson who earns lots of solo opportunities. And don't forget Mr. Lynch. His trumpet prowess remains superb and right down the center of mainstream boulevard. This is great music with top tier people to play it. Sounds like a welcome meeting of creative minds to me.

Holistic Music Works; 2026; appx. 60 min.

April Varner; Ella

You're likely to be in agreement that Ella Fitzgerald is considered by many to be the greatest female jazz vocalist ever. So let's give singer April Varner the courage to take on a project like this. Good thing, because amazingly, Vainer possesses much of the vocal magic we long fell in love with from Ella. With an excellent big band to work with, Ms. Varner captures the “Ella thing” to near perfection. Ella would have been giddy to hear, among others, “Dream A Little Dream Of Me”, “Night And Day”, “Cheek To Cheek”, and my personal fave, “Mr. Paganini”. So hurrah, thank you, and let's hear a lot more from a refreshing talent in April Varner.

Cellar Music Group; 2026; appx. 40 min.

Ulysses Owens, Jr.; Around The World With U

Don't miss out on your chance to inhale some scorching hard bop with all hands on deck getting ready to spin your head around! Drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr, is the leader on this smokin' session of eleven tunes including three bristling originals and two standards that have survived long lifetimes, Diz's medley of “Bebop” and “Confirmation”, and Hoagy Carmichael's classic “Stardust”. Many people grew up with that kind of musical excitement. The reason it's still around today is that it's so artistically relevant. Truly representative of the jazz art, these young veterans carry on an honored tradition. Just know that the music is safe in their hands. And talented hands they are!

Cellar Music Group; 2026; appx. 55 min.

Isabella Isherwood; The Sweetest Sounds

It took an initial glance at the tune list of this session and I immediately noticed that the opener was Bob Dorough's “Devil May Care”. “Here's someone who gets it”, I thought. Her name is Isabella Isherwood, and her vocals and piano lead an in-the-pocket rhythm section of guitar, bass, and drums. Isherwood hits the target on an even dozen tunes including a rather brisk version of “Till There Was You”; plus “This Time The Dream's On Me”; “My Buddy”; a racehorse tempo on “The Song Is You”; “Teach Me Tonight”; and more. I would have locked the door on “Don't Think Twice, It's All Right”. It somehow didn't fit in with the other choices. I will refrain from becoming overly picky. Isabella Isherwood has given us an extremely well thought out album loaded with quality vocals and premium accompaniment. 

Sabrina Records; 2026; appx. 50 min.

Hendryk Meurkens; Samba Tonto

How very nice to hear the result of harmonica expert Hendryk Meurkens' latest excursion to a recording studio in what seems like quite a spell. In a setting configuration, Meurkens delivers a resonant, often captivating performance primarily devoted to brisk Latin tempos, but for very good measure, there are gorgeous takes on “The Summer Knows”, and “My Romance”. For me, the big winner is a real rarity called “Surf Board” by Antonio Carlos Jobim. It's a pleasure to hear it once again. To be clear, Hendryk Meurkens is always at his best. So it's no surprise that once again, he's exactly in that sometimes tender and beautiful, and other times in that exhilarating and resplendent spot. 

Cellar Music Group; 2026; 53 min.

Chris Aschman; Volcanic

Right off the bat, let's be clear that Chris Aschman is a terrifically talented trumpet player. In a setting including seven other colleagues, (not everyone is on every track), Aschman and company perform seven original compositions with a decidely contemporary focus. There's some electric content with vibes, keyboards, organ, and something mysteriously referred to as “electronic valve instrument”. Wonder what that is! Fortunately, all of this electronic current is not distracting or intrusive. It comes off as more fitting where Aschman's roots may have been. In any case, he blows a major league trumpet and that alone makes for an upbeat high flying sort of gathering of like-minded musicians.

Probably self produced; year and times not indicated.

Cyger & Butterworth; Plaid Pants

This group kind of feels like your favorite aweater: Serviceable and comfortable. Also, there are well written originals on this session. As a matter of fact there are eight of them, co-led by Ron Cyger on saxophones and flute, and Brent Butterworth on bass, guitar, ukulele, and percussion. The material is very accessible with catchy melody lines and a consistently impressive ensemble sound. The entire session gives one the feeling of a refreshing, cool beverage on a hot summer day. An old simple idea is at work on this date: play the music you love and everything will work out just fine.

Outrageous8 Records; probably 2026; appx. 47 min.