What's New on WDCB... with Paul Abella
Jarod Bufe – Brighter Days (Calligram Records)
In order to write something smart about Jarod Bufe’s latest album, Brighter Days, I figured I’d go back and listen to his last album, 2018’s New Spaces. Here’s what I’ve come up with: (1) He’s a consistently terrific composer that writes hummable modern jazz songs. (2) He’s an excellent saxophonist with the kind of fluidity that makes the music director of a certain Jazz station mutter, “this dude needs to record more often.” Joined by guitarist Tim Stine, bassist Matt Ulery and drummer Jon Deitemyer, this is an extraordinarily talented unit, and they’ve clearly logged some hours together. There’s plenty of diversity to be heard in the songs, from the loping “The Forgotten Before” to the beautiful ballad “Goodnight My Brooklyn Prince” to the closer, a groovy jam called “Window Well.” Honestly, all nine of the songs here are pretty great. But like I said, he’s a consistently terrific composer and an excellent saxophonist that surrounded himself with a top tier group. That should be expected. Now let’s just hope that we don’t have to wait another seven years for the next one!
John Ellis – Heroes (Blue Room Music)
Tenor Saxophonist John Ellis has been a busy sideman since the early 2000’s, occasionally releasing his own albums (Charm, from 2015, is a personal favorite), and in 2025, he has put out a doozy of a record. Heroes is a series of dedications, to music teachers, to heroic musicians and even places. To flesh out the project, Ellis surrounds himself with a great band: trumpeter Michael Rodriguez, pianist Gary Versace, bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Kush Abadey. This might be one of the most straight down the middle releases I’ve heard from Ellis, but with this much talent, skill and creativity, Heroes is still an inventive and interesting album from start to finish. “El Cid” has the flavor of Sketches of Spain in its bones, and that’s a rare trait that you don’t hear too often. “Other Saints” is a modern day Jazz calypso that would likely get a big thumbs up from Sonny Rollins. “Fort Worth, ” with its stop-start melody, full of uneven fragments, sounds like it was written by Keith Jarrett in the mid-70’s. These dedications on Heroes are clearly heartfelt, and it’s quite an enjoyable listen.
Mason Razavi – Even Keel (self-produced)
The last time I was in San Jose, CA, one of the many musical surprises that I encountered was the guitarist Mason Razavi. Playing in a trio with organist Brian Ho and a hard grooving drummer, they swung, they brought the funk, and they had the crowd in the palm of their collective hand. So, I was thrilled to see Razavi and Ho back together again on Mason’s new album, Even Keel. The band is rounded out by saxophonist Charles McNeal and drummer Jason Lewis. Razavi wrote six of the nine songs on Even Keel, and they’re all solid. The title track is a burning swinger, and a fantastic harbinger of things to come. “Hot Butter” and “Renew” show that this quartet is no stranger to mid-1960s Boogaloos. On “From Thoughts to Words,” they show off their gentle side, and on the standards “Beautiful Love” and “The Song is You,” this group takes no prisoners. On “Love for Sale,” they show off the nasty funk that I had been waiting for throughout the duration of the album. I’m digging this one, and I look forward to sharing it with you.
