2009 release from the award-winning guitarist, who draws upon a diverse background to form his unique style. A consummate player and an accomplished composer/arranger, with song placement on such mega-hit shows as Sex And The City and All About Us. Jay's debut album on Nu-Groove, Stay Awhile, rocked the Contemporary Jazz Charts for over a year. Soto returns in 2009 with his sophomore release, Mesmerized, produced by Darren Rahn and Grammy winner Michael Broening. Is this America's next rising young idol? The proof is in the music. Take a listen and you'll hear the sound that is indeed taking Contemporary Jazz radio by storm.

Georgia-born and Detroit-raised pianist T.J. Fowler led a series of smart, jazzy R&B bands in Detroit during the late '40s and throughout the 1950s. This fascinating Classics chronological compilation lines up all of Fowler's first recordings as a leader. It opens with a couple of mood pieces issued on the Paradise label. While "Sultry Moon" has a wistful charm similar to Earl Bostic's ballad style, Freddie Johnson's pidgin West Indian vocal only cheapens "Mango Blues," a counterfeit Caribbean lament in rhumba time. Fowler's subsequent recordings, originally issued on the National and Sensation labels, provided the spark that ignited his career and led to his tenure with Savoy Records in 1952 and 1953. Teamed with bassist Henry Ivory and drummer Clarence Stamp behind a smoky front line of trumpeter John Lawton and saxophonists Walter Cox and Lee Gross, Fowler presented hot music for dancing and the occasional slow grind. Aside from a couple of Billy Eckstine imitations committed by an unidentified crooner, the only voices heard on the National and Sensation sides are group vocals with handclapping over jump blues based in boogie-woogie and swing. Adding singer and blues guitarist Calvin Frazier to his lineup, Fowler made his first sides for Savoy in Detroit on March 28, 1952. While the singalong rockers like "Oo-La-La" and "Yes I Know" were designed and presented as crowd-pleasers, the ominous slow groove called "Night Crawler" and the broiling "Fowler's Boogie," issued back to back as Savoy 843, stand among Fowler's most enduring achievements from this time period, along with "Back Biter," "Wine Cooler," "Gold Rush," and "Camel Walk." With gutsy solos by guitarist Calvin Frazier and saxophonist Walter Cox, this is early Detroit R&B at its fundamental best. This portion of the T.J. Fowler story ends with three of the only recordings he ever made outside of the Motor City. Recorded in Chicago and issued on the States record label, these tracks feature the pianist in the company of trumpeter Dezie McCullers, alto saxophonist and singer Frank Taylor, home boy tenor Walter Cox, bassist Gene Taylor, and drummer Floyd "Bubbles" McVay, who switches to congas on the two groovin' instrumentals, "The Queen" and "Take Off." ~ arwulf arwulf

Tenor saxophonist Stan Getz found a perfect accompanist in pianist Kenny Barron, who would regularly play in his group for his last five years. This out-of-print Black Hawk LP finds the pair, along with bassist George Mraz and drummer Victor Lewis, performing two standards and four more recent pieces, including two ("Dreams" and "Voyage") by Barron. The music is difficult to classify (modern bop?) but relatively easy to understand; Getz never coasts. ~ Scott Yanow

The Seeker is the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra's third album and was recorded live on two separate occasions at MIT's Kresge Auditorium in Cambridge, MA, on April 25, 1998, and April 16, 2000. The album is comprised of three pieces composed by the orchestra's leader Mark Harvey. The 18-minute "The Seeker" is presented as a tribute to John Coltrane. A hearty piece of work, it shifts from conducted improvisations to Mancini-like riffs with a fiery tenor solo by Arni Cheatham. A meditative state is brought to climactic ramblings and then put to sleep, after which the orchestra comes back for a jubilant closing section. "Heartsong," dedicated to Myanmar activist Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, is a lot more delicate and closer to contemporary classical (think Edgar VarŠse) than anything jazz. A little disconcerting at first, it makes a nice break between the two main pieces of the program. "Passages/Psalms IV" is a 40-minute suite reflecting life passages backed by texts taken from Psalms (previous pieces in this series were documented on the orchestra's second CD Psalms and Elegies). Beginning softly and as if picking up where "Heartsong" left, the piece eventually turns into a swing number before breaking down and coming to an almost full stop, a structure that will be repeated a few times. Once again, the musicians alternate from thoroughly written lines to conducted improvisation. This piece bears a few overlong passages and doesn't have the engaging feeling of "The Seeker" (some would say it's too cerebral). Overall, this CD makes an enjoyable listen, but it doesn't break any new ground into avant-garde orchestral jazz or experimental big-band territories. The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra has recorded better material. ~ Fran‡ois Couture

This recording catches bassist Joe Fonda and pianist Michael Stevens leading their legendary quintet in a compilation of three different European concerts. Fonda and Stevens wrote all the pieces on this CD, which also features new music trumpeter Herb Robertson, drummer Harvey Sorgen, and alto saxophonist/clarinetist Mark Whitecage. While most of these performers are identified with the freer styles of jazz, Evolution is a chance to hear them in a diversity of contexts. "Song for my Mother" is a lovely, lyrical ode that encompasses melodic invention and avant-garde playing. "Birdtalk" is dedicated to Charlie Parker and offers some rare bop soloing by Robertson. The head of "Second Time Around" was written only with rhythmic notation, but without predetermined pitches. "Strayhorn" is a moving remembrance of the titan arranger that stretches as it looks back. Robertson and Whitecage are particularly strong performers throughout and clearly enjoy the variety of moods and tempos. While the recording suffers somewhat from poor sound quality, the outstanding musicianship clearly compensates. ~ Steve Loewy