Justin Robinson

• New Minus You, Ray Starling, and more new arrivals

  Just in time for Father’s Day, we have a message from Justin Robinson. Love Thy Father is a ballad with colorful harmonies, which Justin recorded both in 1997 and 2017.

  We have more new titles up on jazzleadsheets.com. Two of them have exclusive “Further Explorations” audio available in Minus You format. The first of these is May Moon, a dreamy, lyrical 3/4 song by pianist/vocalist Dena DeRose. Lost In You is a warm, impassioned ballad by jazzleadsheets.com’s Don Sickler. This song is available in a unique duo Minus You setting accompanied only by piano. Now’s your chance to work on your ballad playing with legendary pianist Ray Bryant!

  We’re welcoming another new composer to jazzleadsheets.com. Ray Starling was a trumpeter, mellophonist, and pianist who played in several big bands in the ‘60s. He wrote Mellophobia and Four Of A Kind to feature the mellophone section of Stan Kenton’s big band, which he both played in and wrote for in 1961-62. Our lead sheets for these songs show the intros, codas, and a few countermelodies from the big band arrangements; both songs certainly work just as well in a small group setting.

  Also new to jazzleadsheets.com are two easy, laid-back blues heads in a classic hard bop style. Nice ’N Greasy is a funky riff head by Adriano Acea, originally recorded by trumpeter Lou Donaldson. The JAMFs Are Coming is a Johnny Griffin classic; Johnny recorded it many times from the ‘60s to his very last album in 2008. Not a blues but in a similar vein, The One Before This is one of Gene Ammons’ best-known compositions. We have condensed scores and horn parts for the two-horn arrangement from the classic Ammons/Sonny Stitt album “Boss Tenors,” as well as a three-horn arrangement recorded in 1995 by organist Jimmy Smith.

• Three new composers

  These are all seasoned jazz artists whose compositions are new to jazzleadsheets.com. Alto saxophonist Justin Robinson is the youngest of the three, but he's been on the scene for quite a long time. He started his recording career with The Harper Brothers in 1988; did his own first album as a leader for Verve Records in 1991; among other projects, he played and recorded with trumpeter Roy Hargrove for many years.

  Organist Larry Young, Jr., a major influence on organ in the 1960s and 1970s, brought "free, swirling chords, surging lines, and rock-influenced improvisations." We're starting with some of his early compositions.

  Pianist Billy Lester has his own unique story, as you will hear in his music. Billy is a wildly creative improviser with a sly melodic sense. His playing and composing offer a very personal, modern take on the Tristano tradition. The NY Times reported on Billy's first conversation with Tristano, at the Half Note in NY: “He had this sweet voice,” Lester recalls, “and what he said was: ‘The guys who are out there playing all the time, it just becomes a business.’ When he said that, it resonated with me. I knew that he was playing because he was an artist.”

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