Criss Cross Jazz new releases February 2008

Here are the new Criss Cross Jazz releases for February 2008
to be available around February 18, 2008. All details can be
found on the website:

        https://www.crisscrossjazz.com/

CRISS 1298 CD   GARY VERSACE QUARTET - OUTSIDE IN -

No New York area organist of the present day is more in demand than
Gary Versace, who makes his Criss Cross debut with a quartet comprised
of Criss Cross veterans: tenor saxophonist Donny McCaslin (Give and Go,
Criss 1277), guitarist Adam Rogers (Art of the Invisible, Criss 1223;
Allegory, Criss 1242; Apparitions, Criss 1263, and Time and the Infinite,
Criss 1286), and drummer Clarence Penn (Penn's Landing, Criss 1134;
Play-Penn, Criss 1201).

Versace guides his group of New York cutting-edgers through a program of
eight originals with strong melodies, challenging harmonic structures,
and intoxicating grooves.

https://www.crisscrossjazz.com/album/1298.html


CRISS 1299 CD   DANNY GRISSETT TRIO - ENCOUNTERS -

Pianist Danny Grissett, known for his work with Nicholas Payton,
Tom Harrell and Vincent Herring, continues to deliver on the promise
of his aptly-titled 2006 Criss Cross debut as a leader.

Featuring the same line-up as Promise - sensitive but effervescent
bassist Vicente Archer and the equally intuitive and vibrant drummer
Kendrick Scott - Encounters finds this young trio mining an interesting
mix of original material and jazz standards.

Running the gamut from elegant balladry to grooving soul-jazz and
unshakable swing, all with a modernistic approach to harmony, rhythm
and composition, the Danny Grissett Trio ensures that modern acoustic
jazz remains alive and moving forward.

https://www.crisscrossjazz.com/album/1299.html


CRISS 1300 CD   WALT WEISKOPF OCTET - DAY IN NIGHT OUT -

On DAY IN NIGHT OUT, his latest Criss Cross leader date, Walt Weiskopf
upholds the high standards he's set on his previous nine albums for the label.

Here he leads a hand-picked octet -- each of the five horns is a veteran
section player with extraordinary improvisational skills, including Criss
Cross veterans Andy Fusco and Gary Smulyan, propelled by a rhythm section
comprising the extraordinary young drummer Kendrick Scott, best known as
Terence Blanchard's drummer, and the harmonically informed pianist and
bassist Peter Zak and Doug Weiss - through a suite of eight heady originals
and a rearranged standard.

https://www.crisscrossjazz.com/album/1300.html


CRISS 1301 CD   JOHN SWANA SEXTET - BRIGHT MOMENTS -

For his tenth Criss Cross date as a leader, trumpeter John Swana
presents his first twin-tenor sextet.
Swana, tenor saxophonists Eric Alexander and Grant Stewart, pianist
David Hazeltine, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington
have intersected on many occasions, but never together in a group.
The result is an effortless blend of ingrained chemistry with the
sound of surprise inherent in first encounters.

Like 2005s Philly Gumbo Vol. 2, Bright Moments focuses largely on
original material with a couple of standards thrown in for good measure;
but the writing is so captivating, the performances so attention-grabbing,
that it feels like an album of well-known songs.

The ever-inventive Swana creates here challenging contexts for his sextet,
with an emphasis on hard-swinging and refined balladry.

https://www.crisscrossjazz.com/album/1301.html