Talkin’ about

Chris Hazelton In Rotation (Cellar Music 2026)

- Francois Leave a comment

NEW RELEASE – CHRIS HAZELTON

Oscillations and vibrations on repeat.   

Personnel

Chris Hazelton (organ), Brett Jackson (tenor saxophone, bariton saxophone), Peter Schlamb (vibraphone), John Kizilarmut (drums),

Recorded

on February 1 & 2, 2024 at Massive Sound Studios in Shawnee, Kansas City

Released

as Cellar Music in 2026

Track listing

A Sound For Sore Ears / Summer In Central Park / Voodoo Village / Paris Of The Plains / First Snow / Brisk Breeze Through The Streets / A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing / Speedball / On A Misty Night

Quite a challenge to come up with something fresh in the organ field. Chris Hazelton from Kansas City meets demands and couples his Hammond organ not only with the customary tenor of Brett Jackson but also with the vibraphone of Peter Schlamb.

A strong effort, original to boot, for predecessors are rare, perhaps aficionados will remember Big John Patton’s Let ‘M Roll with Bobby Hutcherson, the Johnny Lytlle / Milton Harris or Johnny Hammond Smith / Lem Winchester albums, or, very recently, Peter Johnstone’s excellent Resistance Is Futile with Joe Locke.

Hazelton makes sure that his organ does not overpower the vibes, giving it plenty elbow room, while their sounds gel like tea and honey. Covers from Horace Silver, Duke Ellington, Tadd Dameron and Lee Morgan (cookin’ take on Speedball, Jackson on husky and bossy baritone) alternate with strong originals, no filler, with all soloists thoroughly engaged.

Paris Of The Plains is the sort of contagious melody that one keeps humming afterwards for days on end, obviously referring to Hazelton’s home base, warm but cold in the wintertime, the subject of First Snow, a lovely lullaby-ish piece that’s all about snow flakes falling on the branches, daddy checking in on the kids early in the morning, getting ready for work and staring out of the kitchen window with a hot steaming cup of coffee in hand, contented and slightly melancholic.

It’s tailor-made for the organ and vibes mix. To be sure, the combination is tasteful throughout In Rotation, a most welcome expansion of the B3 format.

Find In Rotation on Bandcamp here:

https://chrishazelton.bandcamp.com/album/in-rotation

Linus Eppinger / Sam Braysher Quartet A Sinner Kissed An Angel (Fresh Sound Records 2026)

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NEW RELEASE – LINUS EPPINGER / SAM BRAYSHER QUARTET

This year’s crop of kisses is for me.   

Personnel

Linus Eppinger (guitar), Sam Braysher (alto saxophone), Daryll Hall (bass), Eric Ineke (drums)

Recorded

in 2024

Released

as Fresh Sound Records 5147 in 2026

Track listing

A Smooth One / I Told You So / Put On A Happy Face / Spooky / Roundabout / Never Let Me Go / Room 608 / That Sunday That Summer / A Sinner Kissed An Angel / Relaxin’ At Camarillo  /

Most welcome quartet and record. Accessible jazz on a high level, positively feelgood, the black element hard-wired in its DNA.

It’s a good match, guitarist Linus Eppinger with his old-school style and alto saxophonist Sam Braysher, who is also still quite young but must have an old soul. And there’s no place to hide with the swinging and stimulating rhythm section of bassist Daryll Hall and drummer Eric Ineke. The German Amsterdammer and Londoner can let their hair down and have a natural ball. You don’t have to ask twice.

Lovely, seldom-played tunes. What about Goodman/Christian’s A Smooth One? Note Eppinger’s mix of Wes Montgomery and honky tonk feeling. Note Braysher’s saucy inflection and laid-back groove, as if he transcribed a conversation between Billie Holiday and Lester Young. What about George Cables’s I Told You So and Weiss/Sherman’s That Sunday That Summer? Relaxed Latin-tinged gems, drops of lemon in sparkling water.

There’s nothing wrong with (hard) bop though it’s overwhelmed by outstanding balladry. (Art of the brushes!) Both Vernon Duke’s Roundabout and obscure Sinatra-vehicle A Sinner Kissed An Angel find Braysher singing on his horn with a beautiful soft and furry sound, while the latter benefits from Eppinger’s soulful minimalism.

Maximum results.

Find A Sinner Kissed An Angel on Fresh Sound Records: https://www.freshsoundrecords.com/linus-eppinger-sam-braysher-albums/57697-a-sinner-kissed-an-angel-digipack.html

Alessandro Florio Controra Avenue (2026)

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NEW RELEASE – ALESSANDRO FLORIO

Four to the Florio.   

Personnel

Alessandro Florio (guitar), Troy Roberts (tenor saxophone), Kyle Koehler (organ), Carmen Intorre Jr. (drums), Laura Taglialatela (vocals 6)

Recorded

in October 2025 at Tedesco Studios in Paramus, New Jersey

Released

as Self-Released in 2026

Track listing

Reginella / Fratm Fa / Come Pioveva / Taneda / Will You Still Be Mine / Born To Be Blue / Punta Germano / Trouble #2

How sweet it is to be pleasantly surprised by a guitarist that’s solidly rooted in tradition yet provides a poignant personal touch. One of Alessandro Florio’s main interests is the organ combo. He played in veteran Pat Bianchi’s group and recorded a Hammond record with Bianchi – Roots Interchange – ten years ago.

On Florio’s new organ record, Controra Avenue, (Bianchi stalwarts) Carmen Intorre Jr. on drums and Troy Roberts on tenor saxophone (on four tracks) are completed by ace organist Kyle Koehler. Florio expands his measured steps with fast dribbles, Pat Martino-ish in tone and phrasing, a great style at the center of hip tunes that bring to mind the outfits of Larry Young (Reginella) and Don Patterson (Will You Still Be Mine). As far as inspirations go, the top of the heap!

Individuality shines through in treatments of lyrical South-Italian songs that blend effortlessly with the age-old American bop aesthetic: in Florio’s view, ‘controra’, that typically Italian feeling of the sultry early afternoon, mixed with ‘avenue’, the hustle and bustle from Hudson to East River. It’s swinging, tight-knit, both puttanesca and a donut dunked in a manhole, ending with a sassy impromptu jam on Stanley Turrentine’s Trouble.

No trouble getting through Controra Avenue from beginning to end.

Check out a slice of Controra Avenue on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lod9qTls358

It’s getting hot in here

- Francois Leave a comment

JAZZ ON A HOT SUMMER’S DAY –

Nothing as hot as the soul of jazz. 

The heatwaves around the world made me think about some hot tunes from soul jazz’s greatest. Might get you through the day and night.

Brother Jack McDuff - Hot Barbecue
George Braith - Laughing Soul
The Jazz Crusaders - Heat Wave

Here’s Brother Jack McDuff and Hot Barbecue with his band, the hottest organ combo ever, featuring George Benson, Red Holloway and Joe Dukes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-ZZW_qCzNs&list=RDM-ZZW_qCzNs&start_radio=1

George Braith (still out there!) and Hot Sauce, featuring Grant Green, Big John Patton and Ben Dixon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S27Dmke8BEw&list=RDS27Dmke8BEw&start_radio=1

And of course Irving Berlin’s Heat Wave by The Jazz Crusaders: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-768Qz-2fo&list=RDk-768Qz-2fo&start_radio=1

All I can say is, hot damn and stay cool y’all.

So take off all your chords

De Groote – Faes Duo Time Unfolding (Vlaamsekunst Records 2026)

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NEW RELEASE – DE GROOTE – FAES DUO

Flemish eclecticism of the grittiest and soulfullest order.   

Personnel

Bruno de Groote (guitar), Ben Faes (bass), Dré Pallemaerts (drums)

Recorded

in 2025 at Studio Portino in Antwerp

Released

as Vlaamsekunst Records 004 in 2026

Track listing

Time Unfolding / Floating On Time / On A Timeline / Drifting Low / Acte de Présence / Leaving The Nest / Another Road / Break Of Day / September Blues / Spinning Days

Remember the first time you heard Pat Metheny’s Bright Size Life? So fresh, super melodic, so dreamy but edgy. The opening title track of De Groote – Faes Duo’s Time Unfolding has the same sort of effect. Thrilling.

Guitarist Bruno de Groote, cooperating here with ace bassist Ben Faes, who co-wrote tunes, and acclaimed drummer Dré Pallemaerts, has been around for many years on the Belgian and European scene. Somewhat an enigma for y’all on the other hemispheres which needs clarifying, and a big influence on Belgian guitarists in a country that was musically eclectic before the term was coined and became hip. Lowlanders may have seen him jump and rock the blues with Mambo Chillin’ a long time ago and, in the 21st century, heard him swing traditionally in most original fashion with Vindaloo Five.

They may have seen him play a part in the killer indie rock band Deus.

I had the pleasure of seeing the duo without drummer at the little workplace of a guitar builder in a little village in the Dutch Flanders region last November. A very intimate concert of subtle swing, blues, Spanish tinges, Americana and a bit of Bach-inspired stuff to boot. Immaculate, spontaneous interaction between bass and guitar.

They played part of their latest, Time Unfolding. A surprising collection with a loose philosophical leitmotiv of ‘time’. (the discussion of what time actually is besides matter might take a while) The deep pocket of Acte de Présence is embellished by De Groot’s other masterly guitar tale besides the opening gem, which may have something to do with having the guts and skills to, what I, in the slipstream of Monk, like to call ‘ugly beauties’, divided equally between single lines (made up of Brunotes) and chordal patterns.

Another Road is a back porch ditty no doubt appreciated from Salt Pork, West Virginia to Lexington, Kentucky.

The introduction of Leaving The Nest – the explosion of a data center and lightning strike of an oak tree occurring at exactly the same time – segues into a wedding party song, a bit of Zappa-ish wit, only to be followed up by a section of gritty loose and free swing.

Break of Day hints at the modal style of Impressions and the like. Another fine tune of a record and act that shouldn’t be missed. We need Marc Ribot, Will Bernard, Nels Cline in our lives. Please add Bruno de Groote (and his gang) to your roster of favs.

Check out the De Groote – Faes discography and Time Unfolding on Bandcamp here: https://degroote-faesduo.bandcamp.com/

A splice of the top

- Francois Leave a comment

CHET BAKER & THE DICK BOCK SCAM –

Pré-digital practice of cutting and reshuffling made it hard to distinguish what is what. 

Anyway you look at it, you have to call it a scam. I remember finding Chuck Berry’s On Stage in my dad’s collection, thinking it was a live recording but finding out later applause and audience roar was added to studio recordings. Shame on you, oh sweet and holy Leonard and Phil Chess!

At least nobody tinkered with the actual recordings. Nowadays, splitting and cutting and overdubbing is not unusual, raising discussion, certainly in jazz and the art of improvisation, whether it takes off the edge of spontaneity. Few, I would think, blame Monk and Orrin Keepnews for editing the complex Brilliant Corners from multiple takes. Or would they? As long as the story is fulfilling.

Sometimes though, people just push it too far. What about Chet Baker’s Pretty / Groovy on World Pacific from 1958? I didn’t know about this story until the serious collector Rudolf “Fiftiesjazz” posted the album on Instagram. Dig this. Owner Richard Bock really outdid himself on this one.

Fiftiesjazz: “The liner notes could not be more vague to hide the truth. An album presented as yet another Chet Baker Quartet/Quintet album is just old stuff doctored by chief alchemist Richard Bock.”

“Chet’s first vocal album, 25cm Pacific Jazz LP 11, was dismembered and the vocals by Chet were filtered out. Instead, ‘guest artists’ Bill Perkins and Jimmy Giuffre were filling in the free space. Ingenious! Another ploy was to use already issued tracks from LP 3 and some unissued alternates. One track with a guitar dubbed in dates from December 9, 1957, the last recording Chet made for Pacific Jazz. So the album spans a period from 1953 to 1957.” 

Chet Baker - Pretty : Groovy
Chet Baker - Sings
Chet Baker & Joe Pass - Sings (Japan)

“Richard repeated the scam in the sixties by dubbing in Joe Pass on guitar instead of Perkins and Giuffre and issuing it as a Chet Baker/Joe Pass collaboration. That album was available in Japan.” 

Bock, who gave us tons of great music and deserves the homage Bock To Bock from Wes Montgomery, seriously crossed a red line here!

What’s your ‘favorite’ scam?

Won’t get fooled again

Emmet Cohen Universal Truth (Mack Avenue 2026)

- Francois Leave a comment

NEW RELEASE – EMMET COHEN

Cohen & Co call up the spirits of Miles Davis and John Coltrane.   

Personnel

Emmet Cohen (piano), Tivon Pennicott (tenor saxophone 5-8), George Coleman (tenor saxophone 3, 8), Jeremy Pelt (trumpet 2, 4, 5-8), Yashushi Nakamura (bass 1, 5-8), Ron Carter (bass 2-4), Joe Farnsworth (drums)

Recorded

on October 5, 2025 at Sear Sound in New York City

Released

as Mack Avenue in 2026

Track listing

Budo / Well, You Needn’t / My Funny Valentine / Gingerbread Boy / I: Eternal Glimpse / II: Compassion / III: Universal Truth / Blue Trane

Emmet Cohen tours the world with a Miles Davis and John Coltrane Centenary tribute, continuing his saga as a blessing for contemporary jazz. If anyone is doing the jazz realm a favor (in sync with fellow pianist Sullivan Fortner), it’s Cohen, lodging in the castle of giants yet stepping out and darting over the hills with fresh and exuberant ideas popping out of his head and hands. Not mention creator of the popular and exciting YouTube channel Emmet’s Place.

Universal Truth builds on his touring concept, not so much a clear-cut revival of repertoire but more like a spiritual tribute. The cool-boppish complexity of Budo goes way back to Birth Of The Cool, while My Funny Valentine is associated with The Second Great Quintet of Miles Davis. It’s the flexibility and near-telepathy of that iconic group that rubs off on Cohen & Co, a group so terribly tight-knit from playing together continuously in New York over the years it’s frightening. Apart from close associate Joe Farnsworth, trumpeter Jeremy Pelt and tenor saxophonist Tivon Pennicott, Cohen is assisted by former Davis bassist Ron Carter on two tracks.

Oh, how they dig up Valentine from the grave is something else, the spontaneity is palpable and all concerned – including giant George Coleman (Sonny Rollins passed on but Big G’s still around) and melodic (and fast) rhythm maestro Farns – go with the sumptuous ebb and flow as dolphins dancing on the ceiling.

Cohen’s mini-suite I-II-III is more Coltrane-inspired, the climaxing title track tailor-made for his gorgeous voicing and meandering river-lines. Can’t help but be swept away by Cohen’s sinuous waves of joy.

Check out Universal Truth on Bandcamp here: https://emmetcohen.bandcamp.com/album/universal-truth