Catalog
Peter and Will Anderson - Correspondence
Identical-twin jazz saxophonists Peter & Will Anderson produce a mutually-recursive genetic explosion of musical invention, catalyzed by an all-star rhythm section! Fascinating interplay between identical twin virtuoso saxophonists. Features piano legend Kenny Barron.
Hewitt's first studio session released in full-album format with added tracks. This is the session that put Hewitt into the history books.
Harold O'Neal - Marvelous Fantasy
This breakthrough solo piano recording features original compositions based in the classical Phantasy. O'Neal's new brand of roots-modernism is a work of stunning beauty for both jazz and classical lovers.
Omer Avital - Free Forever
As near to "the perfect set" as there ever was.
Alex Hoffman - Dark Lights
The debut recording of one of the most promising new saxophonists of today.
Harold O'Neal - Whirling Mantis
The label debut of a major modern jazz piano star...and more.
The Fat Cat Big Band - Face
The final volume of the Fat Cat Big Band collection rounds out our tribute to the thriving jazz paradise and it's hallmark.
Ari Roland - New Music
Ari Roland's travels around the world in the last few years have made an indelible impression on his music. Tunes reminiscent of folk melodies heard around the world are superimposed on complex harmonies and given a very modernist treatment.
Dan Aran - Breathing
Israeli Drummer Dan Aran's passionate debut features a tightly-knit group of Israeli all-stars in a lush recording that pays tribute to the musician's roots both in American jazz and Middle Eastern music.
Stacy Dillard - One
The label-debut of one of the most promising saxophonists in the world today.
The Fat Cat Big Band - Angels Praying For Freedom
Volume Two of the Fat Cat Big Band recordings.
The Fat Cat Big Band - Meditations On The War For Whose Great God Is The Most High You Are God
One of the coolest big bands to hit the scene in years with some of the best players in New York, and some of the quirkiest writing from the quicksilver musical mind of Jade Synstelien, who plays guitar like nobody else in the business. Knows when to harken to the tradition and when to play free and mix it up. On two tracks, Synstelien hints at one of the most original new vocal styles to come in years, and gives us a glimpse at a future star.
In the short time since his debut record on Smalls Records, Omer Klein has become an international star with his artful synthesis of Middle Eastern and Western musical forms. As a solo pianist, he is destined to hit the heights. Just listen.
Yaala Ballin - Travelin' Alone
A classic vocal recording done the hard way, without isolation or vocal retakes: Only a singer with Yaala Ballin's talent can pull this off in front of a hard core group like this.
One of the most vital young saxophonists alive today: worth catching every note.
Teddy Charles - Dances With Bulls
The great jazz legend, pioneer of bop and avant garde jazz alike, returns to the international scene to record his first studio album in 40 years. One of the strongest records to come out this year.
Ruslan Khain - For Medicinal Purposes Only!
On his debut recording, bassist Ruslan Khain drives a smoking hard bop ensemble with top players on a book of original tunes.
A lovely debut by a gifted young pianist.
Harry Whitaker - One Who Sees All Things
These historic sessions from 1981-82 are the first released instances of Harry Whitaker's remarkable multi-format jazz ensemble work, featuring a powerhouse group playing his original compositions. The craft of the musical storyteller, and the rich, layered sound characteristic of his arrangements are fully realized in this record.
Frank Senior - Listeing In The Dark With Frank Senior
Bind since birth, singer Frank Senior gives off light of his own. One of the most soulful singers to come along in years in his surprising debut recording.
Way overdue debut for Eric McPherson as leader. One of the best drummers of the generation. This one's been brewing up for a while. Powerful drum and bass work, featuring two basses.
Chris Byars - Jazz Pictures At An Exhibition Of Himalayan Art
Nine works of Himalayan art supply the inspiration for nine unusual compositions in an artistic tour-de-force. Varied moods and musical forms all tie together as a kind of an ambitious extended composition. Byars' musical gift to the world will be performed in front of thousands around the globe on Byars' international tour as a US designated cultural emissary.
Sacha Perry - The Third Time Around
Dynamic new originals from Sacha Perry, by turns insistent, playful, and urgent.
Omer Klein - Introducing Omer Klein
Omer Klein assembles Israel's top talent for an infectious, tuneful mix of Middle Eastern folk, African, and American Jazz music.
Frank Hewitt - Out Of The Clear Black Sky
The first release featuring the classic Frank Hewitt trio live at Smalls. Makes masterpiece out of Misty.
Gil Coggins - Better Late Than Never
Frank Hewitt used to say that Gil Coggins was the best ballad player there ever was. He�s on several of the classic Miles Davis ballads, and he played and recorded with Sonny Rollins and Jackie McLean. You can hear his uncanny grasp of what is pretty, like perhaps nobody else except Miles. Dark beauty pervades. Louis Hayes knows where Coggins wants to go, and knows how to make the trip even more interesting.
Ari Roland - And so I lived in old New York...
Fresh off his world tour for the US Dept of State as Jazz Ambassador, Ari Roland put this new record down. More mind-bending tunes help make the New Bop movement the fresh and exciting sound that it is. Killing solos from Chris Byars too.
Harry Whitaker - Thoughts (Past and Present)
Harry Whitaker has won gold records, and composed and arranged for many famous singers. He has a knack for creating bigger-than-life music, whether in jazz, funk, soul, gospel, or R&B�he can carry them all. Musicians have been after us for years to make this record, the first time Harry�s led a group playing just his tunes. This is a powerful and often moving record with relatively simple melodies that will appeal to many tastes. Like-minded Omer Avital contributes knockout bass, and Dan Aran lays down a rhythmic tapestry that gives the music just the right emphasis for impact.
Fabio Morgera - Need For Peace
Trumpeter Fabio Morgera made this record as a labor of love, and it shows a range of moods, includes three great vocalists, and it has a message all can relate to.
Zaid Nasser - Escape From New York
Zaid Nasser, son of bass legend Jamil Nasser, has been a legend on the NY underground for several years. We haven�t had an alto player this good in the NY underground style since the late Clarence �C� Sharpe. This debut record is ten years overdue. Here�s another record you can love right away, and be even more amazed a hundred listenings later.
Charles Davis - Land Of Dreams
Charles Davis has been a part of almost every major musical development in jazz from the 1950s on. By 1964 he topped the Downbeat Critics Poll for baritone saxophone. Bop, avant-garde, post-Coltrane styles are all his stock and trade. Recording with his working band really shows what the music is like when everybody knows each other and can really get down to it.
Sacha Perry has a rare gift for interpreting standards. The way he orchestrates a tune and voices each chord on the piano shows deep feeling and is truly hip musical poetry�hip as in clued-in to something that most people don�t know. A painting with rich colors, never trite.
Chris Byars - Photos In Black, White and Gray
Chris Byars is one of the smartest musicians alive, and he can also swing like mad. He unleashes a continuous stream of ideas that makes most musicians look like schoolkids. You don't have to know everything to enjoy it. But after a hundred listenings, you will still be going back to it.
The second volume of the legendary Omer Avital Sextet recordings. Shows a variety of influences from Middle Eastern, African, European, and Jazz music. This time out, the band uses elaborate shout-choruses and instrumental chorales to set up the soloist, each of whom takes time to develop from a simple motif into a screaming climax. For all that energy, the band remains tight and focused, which makes it really pack a punch from beginning to end.
Ned Goold - March Of The Malcontents
Ned Goold takes his quartet on a journey through quirky new compositions in Goold's inimitable style. Half of this album is straight-ahead with post-Dolphy sensibilities and a kind of dark character never heard before. The other half is 'slow swing' where Ned takes his time to develop an idea and somehow swings hard while playing on a long meter. Once you know what he's doing, there's nothing like it.
Third World Love - Sketch Of Tel Aviv
This group of Israeli virtuosi plays a brand of jazz that stands on its own, and this album found widespread acclaim and fondness from listeners. The emphasis on rhythm and the extended soli are a trademark of Middle-Eastern music, but also a trademark of extended rock jams, which might explain its big appeal. This grew out of one of Omer Avital's projects, but since has enjoyed a life of its own.
Neal Miner - The Evening Sound
Bassist Neal Miner got a beautiful sound from his sextet, playing his original compositions and arrangements. Warm and appealing new songs, impeccably performed.
Frank Hewitt - Fresh From The Cooler
The first recordings of Frank Hewitt, captured during an afternoon at Smalls during non-business hours. Here he is at the peak of his powers, turning in performance after performance of brilliant music with his working trio.
Guitarist Hekselman is one of today's fastest rising stars. Here he is captured for his debut recording after winning the Gibson Montreux Jazz Guitar Competition in 2005. His sensitive touch, utmost finesse, and crystalline sound are second to none. The band with drummer Ari Hoenig and bassist Joe Martin sounds fluid and elastic. They move through rhythms and moods, sometimes in rapid succession, as they build to a climax.
Omer Avital - The Ancient Art Of Giving
The Omer Avital quintet captured in 2005 at the Fat Cat jazz club in New York premiering works by Avital. Tight, high-energy performances from top players Mark Turner, Ali Jackson, Aaron Goldberg, and Avishai Cohen.
The Chris Byars Octet - Night Owls
Drawing together the best ensemble players in New York today, the Chris Byars Octet plays all out and packs a punch. Byars might be the best young arranger in the business. Hip originals mix with quicksilver renditions of standards. The blowing is first rate. The performances all have a raw immediacy.
Ari Roland - Sketches From A Bassist's Album
Bassist Ari Roland made an impact with this debut record, and it announced the arrival of a major bass talent, and a composer of extraordinary sophistication. The swinging opener "The Lion Of Yerevan" is one of the defining compositions of the New Bop repertoire.
The Omer Avital Group - Asking No Permission
The first volume of the seminal recordings of modern bass giant Omer Avital. The Omer Avital Sextet of the mid 1990s was legendary, one of the few groups to ever lay claim to the New Thing. It was thought that no recordings of this group existed, but Smalls Records had an archive of 20 hours of prime material. This is the first incarnation of the breakout group, fresh, and in its prime. All the members of the group are stars today, and this is the music that made people sit up and take notice.
Frank Hewitt - Four Hundred Saturdays
Frank Hewitt's legendary quintet performed for eight years straight every Saturday night at the original Smalls. A powerful group with two great saxophonists in a driving performance, and Hewitt on fire. The packed audience shouts encouragement. All this at 4am.
Sacha Perry's long-awaited debut recording, was called one of the best debuts by any jazz pianist in recent memory at the time it was released. It opened the book on a stunning corpus of sophisticated and intriguing original compositions with rich harmonies developed over a period of several years, but never before presented on record. Bassist Ari Roland seizes on Perry's every move.
Neal Caine - Backstabber's Ball
Bassist Neal Caine made a big splash with this debut. Critics hailed it as the new jazz sound and it deserves the praise. Caine�s bigger-than-life sized sound on bass is organic, with great momentum and drive. The record is like an extended work, with haunting melodies and creative interludes.
Frank Hewitt - Not Afraid To Live
The last recording session of the legendary Frank Hewitt, includes grand master Louis Hayes on drums. Hewitt is consistently brilliant on all his recordings, and this is no exception. A very energetic, charged ensemble.
Debut recording of one of the greatest guitar talents of our time. Guitar prodigy William Ash grew up on the NY jazz underground, and by age 16, he was featured with jazz legend Clarence "C" Sharpe. He's an extraordinary instrumentalist for whom it seems nothing that can be played on guitar is out of reach. Swinging trio work and very appealing originals.
Sasha Dobson - The Darkling Thrush
The breakout recording for one of today's singing stars, Sasha Dobson. The greatest jazz octet in the world plays incredible original charts on great standards. A candid record by an authentic jazz vocal talent, and full of life! The performances were recorded direct to two-track with no overdubs for a raw, powerful sound.
Saxophonist Ned Goold recorded more than 23 of his live shows on national tour, and put the most select performances on this CD. Brilliant and unusual tunes rendered in an original style. The performances are the best of the best. A real collector's item.
The debut recording of one of today's jazz stars, drummer Ari Hoenig. Hoenig has complete facility on the drums, even to the point of being able to tap out any melody in tune. His supple and fluid style is extraordinarily articulate and highly engaging, and it moves soloists and listeners alike. Here he presents original compositions with the breakout band that first laid down the new style.
Across 7 Street - Made In New York
The first major appearances on record of New Bop pioneers saxophonist Chris Byars, pianist Sacha Perry, and bassist Ari Roland, three NY musical prodigies who grew up in the NY jazz underground. This recording opened up a major new book of original compositions, known for a slightly dark sound with rich multihued harmonies. More music than most people were prepared for when it first came out.
The posthumous debut of pianist Frank Hewitt, who emerged as a surprise from the NY jazz underground after the overturning of the race laws in 1988. He ended up rewriting a part of modern jazz piano history. Some of the most beautiful interpretations ever on ballads.