Tom Lellis - Southern Exposure - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Trumpeter Tomas Ramirez presents an album of instrumental jazz. The album title mixes the words InchtejanoInch & Inchjazz,Inch and Ramirez combines elements of these music styles into his own unique creation. Ramirez is also the 14-time winner of the InchBest Horn PlayerInch award for the Austin Chronicle/Music City Texas.

Trumpet player, bandleader, composer, and arranger Tom Harrell picked up rave reviews for 2022's Oak Tree, and here he follows it up with another ambitious, hard-to-resist album, once again made up entirely his own remarkable compositions. Harrell is supremely regarded, not for playing loudly, fast, or high, but rather for his extraordinary talent at fashioning ravishingly beautiful auricular shapes with a wonderfully expressive tone and depth. He is also an exceptionally fine arranger, crafting scores embroidered with felicities of detail and an inevitability which are unique in jazz. Teamed here for the second time with Venezuelan-born pianist Luis Perdomo, featuring the tenor saxophones of Danya Stephens and Mark Turner, the guitar of Charles Altura and regular collaborators, German-Nigerian bassist Ugonna Okegwo and American drummer Adam Cruz, Harrell and his associates emphasize the diverse musical influences of the compositions with a versatility that vividly displays their common strength.

Los Angeles saxophonist Tom Luer's InchProject PopularInch explores the work of some of the top rock bands and pop artists of the last twenty years, reinterpreting the now classic compositions for a modern jazz ensemble. Along with several originals, the band tackles InchJeremyInch from Pearl Jam, InchBlack Hole SunInch from Soundgarden and Prince's InchThe Beautiful Ones,Inch among others. With his wide-ranging and always grooving group of LA-based artists, Luer creates a nuanced and highly interactive recording while retaining the visceral power of the compositions that led to their popularity.