New Music Monday — Tom Amend; Josh Nelson; U.S. Airmen of Note

We will debut new music from Tom Amend, Josh Nelson, and The United States Air Force Band Airmen of Note on Monday, November 13 at noon on Luchtime! with Arturo Gómez on New Music Monday.

Tom Amend: “Small Town Traffic”
Joining forces with fellow Front Range Players, Steve Kovalcheck on guitar and Brian Claxton at the drums, Denverite pianist, organ player, composer, and arranger Tom Amend releases his second recording as a leader where all 10 selections are originals by the band members, several with play on words title e.g, “Woe Is Three’ and “Yeah, No”. Tom was a semi-finalist for the American Jazz Pianist Competition of 2014 and 2015 and a finalist in 2017. Amend received his Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies and a Master of Music in Jazz Composition at the University of Northern Colorado. Like the leader, both Steve Kovalcheck and Brian Claxton are alums of UNC-Greely. Tom sticks to playing organ on this classic trio sound, although you’ll hear echoes of past organ trios, this is a very modern sounding album that infuses the past with the present!

Josh Nelson: “L.A. Stories: Live at Sam First”
Most likely there’s no other musician as qualified of award-winning pianist Josh Nelson to compose music about the stories of Los Angeles than Josh. A native Angeleno Nelson has studied the history of the City of Angels and had previously recorded an album about some of the more obscure landmarks and tales of Los Angeles’ past. This time out he offers us a live recording of 9 songs related to the history of L.A. recorded at the Sam First Jazz Club located near LAX, in addition to the club, Sam First is also a recording label. Mr. Nelson teams up with Walter Smith III, Larry Koonse-guitar, Luca Alemanno-bass, Dan Schenelle-drums and vocalist Gaby Moreno-vocals, all Southern California-based musicians.  My favorite L.A. story is “Red Car Reminiscing” about the former street cars that were an important element of the plot for the successful movie, “Roger Rabbit.”

The United States Air Force Band Airmen of Note: “2023 Jazz Heritage Series”
The Airmen of Note was formed in 1950 to honor Major Glenn Miller who had strong ties to Fort Morgan and Boulder Colorado. Every year the Airmen release an album as part of their continuous Jazz Heritage series. This year’s band is under the direction of Colonel Don Schofield, Commander and Conductor who recruited 3 special guests, Wycliffe Gordon-trombone and vocals, the up-and-coming saxophonist from Santiago, Chile, Melissa Aldana and the Cuban American drummer of note, Ignacio Berroa. The tunes begin with some traditional New Orleans classics with Wycliffe, the modern sounds of jazz with Melissa, to the Spanish tinge with Ignacio. Another excellent recording by The USAF Airmen of Note!

Now in its 21st year of debuting the latest arrivals to the KUVO Jazz library, many of them are played ahead of their official release date. In addition to the music comments, I’ll provide a few tidbits about the artist, if it’s a new or an up-and-coming artist. It all begins at Noon every Monday.

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