Sam Minaie has quickly established himself as one of jazz's most exciting rising stars of both upright and electric bass. His compelling debut as a leader, Heyo!, features a band of heavyweight modern jazz innovators rollicking through mostly original compositions with fire, grit, and attitude, and a distinctive blend of jazz, rock, and world music that's as unusual as it is fun. 

Sound Etiquette, the first calling from a brilliantly inventive trio based out of Oakland, CA, imagines a universe where the small-minded distinctions of musical genres become obsolete. This kaleidoscopic collection of music will take you on a journey where the line between improvisation and composition is erased, giving way to a space where new unions of sound are possible. 

Burnt Hibiscus is a stunning new work for a ten-piece chamber jazz ensemble created by saxophonist/composer, Jon Armstrong. The music, in Armstrong’s words, serves as an “unsentimental love letter to Los Angeles, highlighting the hypnagogic quality of life as an artist in the southland”. At its core, Burnt Hibiscus revolves around the timbres of multi-instrumentalist and Indian American musician, Sheela Bringi and the sublime poetry of Armstrong’s wife and fellow ensemble member, Erin Armstrong. The result of Armstong’s vision is some of the most enigmatic modern jazz yet offered on the West Coast or anywhere else. 

The human voice is perhaps our most organically individual trait and the root of our personal expression. On his latest studio album, Music Made With Voices, acclaimed guitarist and composer Alexander Noice uses a single note sung by eight different people as the sole source material to create eight elaborate, fragmented, and beautiful sonic portraits that reflect our modern relationships seen through a digitized prism.

SCREAMING WHILE PLAYING, the bold debut album by vibrant Los Angeles saxophonist and composer, Andrew Conrad, is an immediately honest glimpse into the mind of an uncompromising artist who does not segregate art and life. Raw and visceral, this record presents a deeply intertwined musical dialogue rarely encountered in an age that favors technology and sheen over unfiltered expression.