Jeno Somlai
Jeno Somlai’s music is all about rhythm: driving, whirling, and dancing rhythm. This makes perfect sense when one realizes that Somlai is a lifelong drummer who only began playing piano (his primary instrument on this CD) some four years ago. Somlai learned piano largely to facilitate his interest in composing and arranging, and is work on this CD is impressive. Let It Go is a joyous burst of Latin jazz like that heard from Dizzy Gillespie’s groundbreaking Afro-Cuban groups and big bands. There are moments of great beauty, but at heart this is a party record that can’t help but raise the roof.

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Jazz Crusade Records
Jazz Crusade's Big Bill Bissonnette has been a tireless advocate for New Orleans jazz and for the original black musicians who recorded and performed (and continue to perform) this style of music. He set up his own record label and fronted his own group, the Easy Riders Jazz Band, which later spawned another group, the Mouldy Five. Bissonnette organized tours to Northern cities for musicians such as George Lewis and Jim Robinson (who is Bissonnette's trombone-playing idol), and generally expanded the circle of listeners who were exposed first-hand to original New Orleans-style jazz.

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Malcolm Griffith is probably best known as a drummer, having played with a wide variety of groups and performers in styles as diverse as jazz, reggae, hip-hop, funk, and rock. However, he is also possessed of a deep bass voice that is not often heard among male jazz vocalists in this day and age. In fact, the last popular jazz singer with this type of voice and this way with a ballad was the remarkable Johnny Hartman, to whom Malcolm has dedicated his premiere CD as a vocalist, Come Love With Me.

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Stephen O'Connor
Stephen O’Connor is a San Diego area-based guitarist who has traditionally made his living in the studio, playing music for a variety of film, television, and other media projects, including theme parks such as Sea World and Universal Studios. Now focusing on his jazz guitar playing and composing, he and his combo Stream have released the excellent new CD Reaching for the Sun.

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Shirley Eikhard
Shirley's latest CD, Stay Open, edges slightly out of the straight jazz vocal territory she’s been exploring lately and offers some pop-tinged songs that demonstrate her well-honed songwriting skills and instrumental ability. Arranging, engineering, and performing all vocals and instruments on nine of the album’s twelve tracks, Eikhard is able to find the right sound and atmosphere for each of her compositions.

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