Jay Leonhart / Tomoko Ohno - Don’t You Wishm (2018)

Bassist/vocalist Jay Leonhart has teamed up with pianist Tomoko Ohno for a new album entitled Don’t You Wish. Leonhart, who bassists may know from his songs like “It’s Impossible to Sing and Play The Bass” and “Bass Aboard a Plane“, offers up his humorous tales of the musician’s life.

“I am a jazz bassist with interests that roam far and wide. The words and music on this CD reflect my state of mind about the world and all kinds of other stuff,” he writes in the album notes. “Things that happened or that I imagined happened. Actually, most of my songs are autobiographical.”

Often the songs include situations to which too many of us can relate. Take the title track’s opening lyrics: “Don’t you wish you’d taken up the flute?/ People ask me every day/ They really can’t conceive it, they really don’t believe it/ that anyone would choose the bass to play.” Aside from playful topics, Leonhart’s playing is spot on with a warm yet defined tone and creative lines. Though his song implies it’s impossible, the bassist makes it seem easy to sing while tastefully accompanying himself.

01. Playboy Club

02. Dont You Wish

03. Curtains

04. I Got The Blues

05. Tulips

06. Schadenfreude

07. Change My Occupation

08. Life In The Middle Ages

09. Missin Rb Blues

10. They’re Coming To Get Me 

Jay Leonhardt : double bass, voice

Tomoko Ohno : piano

Samuel Martinelli (feat. Claudio Roditi, Marcus McLaurine & Tomoko Ohno) - Crossing Paths (April 1, 2018)

Since the evening of November 21, 1962, when Antonio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto, Sergio Mendes, and Oscar Castro-Neves, among other noted Brazilian musicians, introduced bossa nova to America at the landmark Carnegie Hall concert, Brazilian music became a part of American music. In particular, it worked its way into the jazz world. Among the American musicians on the roster at Carnegie Hall that evening were Stan Getz, Charlie Byrd, and Lalo Schifrin. This now-historic concert marked the start of many great artistic collaborations between American artists and the Brazilian artists premiering their unique music that evening. 

Crossing Paths, a newly released album lead by Brazilian drummer Samuel Martinelli, updates and continues the tradition of this beautiful relationship between Brazilian music and jazz. The CD features six original compositions by Martinelli that successfully mix influences of both genres. It also includes two standards by two giants of American jazz: a Sonny Rollins song (“St. Thomas”) and a blues standard by Dizzy Gillespie (“Birks Works”). The presence of these compositions is a “tip of the hat” in tribute to these masters. 

For Crossing Paths, Martinelli invited some of the best New York City musicians who are clearly fluent in both jazz and Brazilian music styles. 

The multi‒Grammy nominated trumpet player Claudio Roditi, also born in Brazil, has been active on the international jazz scene since the early 1970s. Allmusic.com hails him as “… one of the very best performers in jazz.” Roditi has played with Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Rouse, Paquito D’Rivera, McCoy Tyner, and Herbie Mann, among many others. He’s a world-recognized trumpet player and an icon of jazz and Brazilian music, with an extensive performance and teaching career literally embodying the spirit of the deep collaboration between both musical forms.

Marcus McLaurine is a well known bass player and professor at William Paterson University, in New Jersey. He accompanied the jazz legend Clark Terry as a bass player for nearly 25 years. McLaurine also played with the Count Basie Orchestra as well as some of the most respected big bands and musicians in the world. 

Tomoko Ohno is an award-winning pianist from Japan and has played with Slide Hampton, the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni Big Band, James Moody, Frank Wess, Diva Orchestra, and many others. She lends her enormous artistry to this project. 

They all have in common a strong passion for jazz and the rhythms of Brazil, which resulted in this beautiful album.

1. Samba Echoes 07:00

2. Talking About Spring 06:39

3. Bob's Blues 07:28

4. St Thomas 06:08

5. A Gift for You 06:12

6. Birks' Works 06:48

7. Whispering Loud 04:59

8. Song for Carina 05:26

Claudio Roditi, trumpet  

Tomoko Ohno, piano

Marcus McLaurine, bass

Samuel Martinelli, drums