Bruce Gertz: Octopus Dreams by Abe Goldstien
OPEN MIND JAZZ 017 (RELEASED AUGUST 15, 2025)
The image of an octopus gracefully navigating through shifting currents is an apt description for the music on bassist’s Bruce Gertz’s Octopus Dreams. The quintet gracefully glides through the lyrical melodies, inviting harmonies and shifting rhythms of seven Gertz originals. The music is modern but grounded on hard bop sensibilities. The horns of trumpeter Phil Grenadier and saxophonist Rick DeMuzio open many of the tunes while Gertz’s unpretentious arrangements provide launching pads for solos from all band members. The opening track, “Power Walk” is a case in point. Based on the chord structure of Sonny Rollins’ “Doxy,” Gertz starts the solo sequence on bass and then weaves his way through a crisp solo from Grenadier and a bluesy solo from DeMuzio. They demostrate their controlled restraint on other similar flavored tunes such as “Sea Worthy” and “Dedacted.” Pianist Gilson Schachnik gets a chance to shine on “Octopus Dreams,” a modal tune reminiscent of Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage” and “Speak Like a Child” days, which also features Grenadier on flugelhorn. Drummer Gary Fieldman moves from timekeeper to equal participant on the modern hard bop sound of “I’m Busy” as he exchanges fours with DeMuzio, Grenadier and Gertz. Whether the band is playing ballads such as “Mr. Z,” medium swing numbers such as “Opening,” or a jazz waltz titled “Sea Worthy” — they do it with an uncanny ability to deliver hot, upbeat and impassioned performances while remaining cool, calm and collected. Go with the flow as you enjoy the undulating, soothing and fluid music of Octopus Dreams.
BOTTOM LINE: Bruce Gertz’s Octopus Dreams is packed with dichotomies. The music is accessible yet adventuresome. The solos are refined yet refreshing. The arrangements are intricate yet inviting. It’s a perfect example of how modern jazz played can be played passionately without unwarranted pretentiousness.
Website: https://www.brucegertz.com/
PORGY & BESS - Leo Records
Alexey Kruglov - Karina Kozhevnikova
Alexey Kruglov is a saxophonist, director, performer, actor, poet, producer, one of the leaders of the new jazz and performance scene in Russia, the brightest progressive representative in his generation, participating in numerous projects ranging from classical music to jazz experiments, from theater to related art. He is a founder of the «Krugly Band», and organizer of the Leo Records Festival in Russia. He trained as a saxophonist and director, interned under the «Open World» program at the «Dave Brubeck Institute» in Stockton in 2004. Alexey is a winner of national and international competitions. In 2011 he was named «the future of jazz» by the British magazine «Jazzwise». Alexey is the recipient of many awards («Discovery of the Year» in the «Jazzthetik» magazine pollsv in 2012, «People's Diplomacy Award» the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2020). He has released over 100 albums, staged nearly 50 performances and productions, released several films and books. Alexey has performed with such musicians as Christian McBride, Jimmy Hith, Joe Lovano, Roswell Rudd, and Joachim Kühn, and is a participant in various festivals (such as the Monterrey Jazz Festival and many others). Karina Kozhevnikova is a leading Russian jazz singer, possessing a unique contemporary approach and original vocal technique, performed with Gary Bartz, George Culligan. Alexey and Karina collaborate together for a long time. Their album «Polyphonic Circle», recorded with Alexey's combo «Krugly Band», was named the best vocal album of 2023 by the «Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll», and was presented with a great success at the Moers Festival.
The album «Porgy and Bess» is a new work by Alexey and Karina. Recorded with Alexey Kruglov's orchestra, «Krugly Band», the project is based on George Gershwin's opera. It's a large-scale conceptual double album, representing a long, painstaking, very subtle work. Alexey created this musical project from the point of view of theatrical directing. The dramaturgy of the opera, through the main musical and verbal symbols and a system of leitmotifs, completely permeates the action, to run as a special thread through the work, absorbing the main twists and turns of the opera's main heroes and characters. The opera itself, its content, semantic and figurative loads, highlight through a smooth and chronological sequence of arias, acquiring shades of metaphor and convention. Karina Kozhevnikova plays several roles penetrating into the very essence of the artistic image, finding colors and features inherent only to it, harmoniously revealing the concept, communicating with the opera's heroes. Her art method here is based on musical polystylistics and polygenres at the intersection of styles and genres, based on conversations with the orchestra.
The «Krugly Band» has been in existence for over 25 years, includes contemporary artists. The orchestra consists here of seven brass sections and a rhythm section. The arrangements are written in such a way as to create the illusion of a traditional 13-piece brass orchestra, yet each instrument is presented in a bare, uncluttered manner, reflecting the journey of the opera's main characters. Sound engineers Oleg and Sofia Timofeyevs contributed immensely to the project, creating a sound that seamlessly complements Alexey's arranging method. The syncretism is even reflected on the cover, which references Kazimir Malevich's red square as a symbol of the avant-garde. Disparate parts of the square is a scene on which the opera's main characters appear in sounds by Alexey Kruglov and his colleagues.
Order Link - https://band.link/4rJSN
PEER GYNT - ArtBeat Music
Alexey Kruglov & Igor Goldenberg
The release Peer Gynt (ArtBeat Music) is a new milestone for Alexey Kruglov and Igor Goldenberg. The duo has been active for a long time, having created numerous programs featuring arrangements of classical music. While Alexey is known as an experimental saxophonist and a performer across various genres, Igor is a leading Russian organist, an outstanding representative of the Russian school of piano playing, a composer, a master of playing the antique instruments. Together, they found themselves on Sakhalin Island where the idea for the album was born. The program was recorded in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk at the St. James Catholic Church, where musicians played several concerts over the course of several days. Edvard Grieg's profound, mysterious, and colorful ideas proved incredibly suitable for the conception of Alexey and Igor built at the intersection of classical music and improvisation. The program was recorded at night after one of the evening performances. The dim vaults of the cathedral, illuminated only by the faint flickering light from the altar, the sound soaring high into the sky, and the very muted atmosphere of the night set the duo in a special mood. As Alexey Kruglov wrote in the annotation: «Peer Gynt travels the world, his paths even leading to Sakhalin, where, in a soulful, creative environment, the music of the great Norwegian composer takes on a new meaning. During the recording, it felt like we ourselves were participating in the protagonist's life's ups and downs.»
Order Link https://band.link/peergynt
THE WATERS OF NON-EXISTENCE
VISHNU IN NEW YORK – THREE VEDIC TALES OF GOD AMONG US
David Haney composer
On THE WATERS OF NON-EXISTENCE, composer and storyteller David Haney draws on ancient Hindu mythology to craft a contemporary meditation on memory, meaning, and transformation. Inspired by Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization and texts from the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Haney reimagines timeless cautionary tales within a modern New York setting. Blending narration and music as equal partners, these works reflect his years as a resident storyteller at The Public Theater, where the emotional resonance of story and sound converge to stir memory, provoke reflection, and illuminate enduring truths.
https://www.ravellorecords.com/catalog/rr8125/
RHYTHM OF THE SPIRIT VOL. 1 - Navona Records
Earl Louis Stewart makes a bold statement: that America’s music — born of sorrow, improvisation, resistance, and joy — belongs within the same canon as Bach or Palestrina. Stewart’s fugues, canons, counterfugues, and retrogrades are written with the strictness of Europe’s 16th and 18th century conventions, yet pulse with the syncopation and soul of ragtime, blues, and jazz.
https://www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6792/
SydeBoob Duo: Au Naturel FCR481
Brooklyn based SydeBoob Duo (soprano Anna Elder and flutist Sarah Steranka) is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of contemporary performance in repertoire for soprano and flute, bringing their virtuosity to ambitious works that highlight their commitment to broad representation alongside the highest aesthetic standards. On this debut full length release Au Naturel, they perform works by Rebecca Saunders, Eric Moe, Anthony Braxton, Ramin Akhavijou, Max Johnson, and Beat Furrer that are both landmark works for the instrumentation and core works that have shaped SydeBoob as an ensemble.
https://www.newfocusrecordings.com/catalogue/sydeboob-duo-au-naturel/
https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/au-naturel
Michael Jones: The Promise of Escape FCR486
Michael Jones releases The Promise of Escape on 4/17, featuring three works that resulted from close collaborations he has had with composers Pluto Bell, Nicholas Deyoe, and Scott Wollschleger. These works are part of a growing portion of the solo percussion repertoire that celebrates sensitivity, timbre, and painting of expressive worlds not as a counter to traditional virtuosity, but an expansion of it.
https://www.newfocusrecordings.com/catalogue/michael-jones-the-promise-of-escape/
https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/the-promise-of-escape
a·pe·ri·od·ic: aus der nacht FCR491
a·pe·ri·od·ic is a Chicago-based experimental music ensemble founded in 2010 and directed by Nomi Epstein featuring post-Cagean notated, experimental music. Their third release on New Focus features an album length work by Magnus Granburg written for the ensemble, Aus der Nacht, von den Wehen, a forty five minute episodic work comprised of 71 distinct sections that explore subtle changes in attack, decay, resonance, and pitch, using an indeterminate notation to inject variability into its performance.
https://www.newfocusrecordings.com/catalogue/aperiodic-aus-der-nacht/
https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/aus-der-nacht
Noah Meites: Counting FCR475
Los Angeles based composer Noah Meites releases COUNTING, a collection of his chamber music that chronicles his vibrant artistic voice and his role as an active member of that city's fertile contemporary music community. Featuring performances by Brightwork New Music, HOCKET, violist Linnea Powell, pianist richi valitutto, New Thread Quartet, and Meites' own ensemble LA Signal Lab, COUNTING is a vital snapshot of a prolific artist in one of the United States' most vital new music scenes.
https://www.newfocusrecordings.com/catalogue/noah-meites-counting/
https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/counting
The Voices of Dave Brubeck - Volume 2
Navona Records
"Hot on the heels of its first installment, Navona Records presents THE VOICE OF BRUBECK VOL. 2, continuing its celebration of Dave Brubeck’s genre-crossing legacy. Produced by Arthur Gottschalk with Chris Brubeck and Paul English, the album spans orchestral and jazz-rooted works—from the world premiere recording of Theme and Explorations for Orchestra to beloved Brubeck standards—honoring Brubeck’s innovation, lyricism, and social conscience.
To learn more please visit -
https://www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6800/?utm_medium=paid&utm_source=cadence&utm_campaign=brubeck+vol+two+cadence"
Trio CBD - Painless Airwaves
WP 073 Painless Airwaves
by Trio CBD
Rémi Charmasson - electric guitar
Michael Baird - drumset, percussion
Philippe Deschepper - electric guitar
The history of this album:
In November 24 Michael Baird moved to the south of France. He had played several concerts with the André Jaume/Rémi Charmasson Quintet over forty years ago and the friendship with Rémi had continued. Upon hearing that Philippe Deschepper lived in Marseille - and that Rémi and Philippe were also good friends - Michael created Trio CBD in February '25. The vibe between the three musicians was immediately so good that Michael took the step to record an album at Studio La Buissonne on March 31st
& April 1st. All three musicians were very pleased with the results, as was sound engineer Gérard de Haro. However, Rémi had been experiencing back pains since a couple of weeks beforehand - and he died of cancer of the liver 4 weeks and 3 days after the studio date. These are his final recordings, his last notes. 1961-2025 RIP.
Trio CBD never got to perform in front of an audience.
Michael Baird - No Dogmas Allowed;
SWP Records is proud to announce the cd and digital release of
SWP 072 ' No Dogmas Allowed;
by Michael Baird & friends
Michael Moore - alto sax, clarinet, bass clarinet
Jon Birdsong - cornet, cornetto
Hans Hasebos - vibraphone, percussion, soprano sax
Henk Raven - tuba, euphonium, tenor sax
Michael Baird - drumset, percussion
Recorded in Amsterdam in September 2024 in Mikel Le Roy's new studio. Michael B invited some
longtime musical friends all living in Holland - and Jon who lives closeby in Belgium - to record some
ideas on space, rhythm, and timbre during two consecutive days in an open studio setting with natural
acoustics. No headphones, no monitors, no chase-up, just breathing together.
When asked a little later what 'genre' the recorded music was, Michael answered: "Modern music." When
then asked what he meant by that, he replied: "No dogmas allowed..."
Cadence Jazz World
Album Previews- August 2026