Here are the three new Criss Cross Jazz releases for February 2016, which will be available around February 26. All details, including sound samples, can be found on the website:
 
        https://www.crisscrossjazz.com/

CRISS 1384 CD  MISHA TSIGANOV - SPRING FEELINGS - For his second Criss Cross release, Spring Feelings, pianist Misha Tsiganov presents a program containing five originals and four standards, each bearing Tsiganov's sui generis arranging stamp, tailored to the tonal personalities of his world-class personnel. Returning from his successful debut, Artistry of the Standard (Criss 1367), are trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, tenor saxophonist Seamus Blake and drummer Donald Edwards, with bassist Hans Glawischnig joining the team. As on the first recording, the musicians surefootedly, virtuosically navigate the blend of mixed meters, shifting tempos, changing keys and reharmonizations with which Tsiganov dresses up his beautiful melodies in order to insure, as he stated in the liner notes of Artistry of the Standard, "that something is happening always, so the listener doesn't fall asleep." https://www.crisscrossjazz.com/album/1384.html

CRISS 1385 CD  CONRAD HERWIG - IGOR BUTMAN QUINTET - REFLECTIONS - On Reflections, a co-led sextet recital comprising two charts from Russian tenor saxophonist-bandleader Igor Butman and six from trombonist Conrad Herwig. For the tenth CD that Herwig has either led or co-led for Criss Cross since 1997, he recruits trumpeter (and Criss Cross veteran) Alex Sipiagin to round out the front line, and a killer rhythm section comprising pianist David Kikoski, bassist Kenny Davis and drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts. Well-known as the leader and guiding intelligence of the Moscow State Jazz Orchestra, Butman, in a rare sideman appearance with a combo of New York A-listers, brings his A-game, improvising with heat and logic that his partners match throughout. https://www.crisscrossjazz.com/album/1385.html

CRISS 1386 CD  DONALD EDWARDS - PRELUDE TO REAL LIFE - On his second Criss Cross leader date, Prelude to Real Life, drummer Donald Edwards picks up where he left off with the next installment of an autobiographical narrative in notes and tones. Whereas in his debut, Evolution of an Influenced Mind (Criss 1365), Edwards conveyed the story of his formative years as a musician with eleven original compositions, here he addresses themes of love, family and fatherhood with an engaging suite comprising six kinetic, diverse originals of his and one by Alex Sipiagin, two personalized standards (Thelonious Monk's Skippy;  Benny Golson's Stablemates); and three textural drum interludes. Rejoining him from the first date are pianist Orrin Evans and tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III, both Criss Cross veterans, guitarist David Gilmore, while rising star Luques Curtis assuming the bass chair. Edwards' old friend Nicholas Payton plays keyboards on three tracks, and eminent New York singer Vivian Sessoms lends her voice to three selections. Edwards unifies the proceedings with the big beat, impeccable taste, and creative spirit that have made him a New York first-caller since he moved to the Apple 15 years ago. https://www.crisscrossjazz.com/album/1386.html