Our first new arrivals in 2023 cover a variety of styles and tempos. First up is Nino's Scene, a sunny calypso song by Sergio Mihanovich recorded by Art Farmer. Curiously, Art's version is a studio recording that was marketed as a live album, with overdubbed applause.
We have one newly added song each by pianists James Williams and Donald Brown. Both of these were recorded in quartet settings with saxophonist Billy Pierce, whom both played with in different incarnations of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Williams' Images (Of Things To Come) is an elegant, lyrical 3/4 song with a colorful set of changes. We also have an exclusive solo piano version by Kenny Drew, Jr., playing the composer's own arrangement. Blue Nostalgia is Donald Brown's take on a mid-'60s style associated with another onetime Jazz Messenger, Wayne Shorter. It's an uptempo song with a slightly irregular form and some quite advanced chords.
We recently put up several co-written songs by trumpeter Jim Rotondi and tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander. One more is available now: Stay Straight, a sequel to the earlier Straight Up. This lively uptempo swinger is a variation of the Straight Up theme in a different key, with a new bridge 16 measures long instead of 8. A full set of horn parts is available for the sextet arrangement. Eric Alexander also played on the recording of Jose's Lament by pianist David Hazeltine. This laid-back song, which alternates between swing and a 12/8 Latin groove, comes from an album by drummer Joe Farnsworth also featuring bass legend Ron Carter.