Wise Cat Records was created in 2017 with the purpose of bringing great jazz to music lovers everywh
Check out two new releases from Force 7!
Audio Voyage, Vol 2.
https://open.spotify.com/album/3AGPQbtJwVYKyBH9iML2Iq?si=tpdivTEcR7qeI5pXYlZYJw
When the Game’s Over (Live at the Brickworks)
https://open.spotify.com/album/0ChOnCJte9i5dE6AYhOiLa?si=TZH1GUHbSXmEgGCAAHRsVg
Both of these previously unreleased Jazz/Funk gems were recorded in the late 90s and were heavily influenced by the signature sound of the San Francisco Bay Area music scene at the time.
Just a reminder to come out and see Wise Cat recording artist Joshua Levinson tomorrow night for his CD Release Show. Here are the details:
Thursday, June 15th, 2023
Sets start at 10 pm and 11 pm
Silvana
300 W 116th St.
New York, NY 10026
No cover
Check out this video of the Josh Levinson Big Band playing Celebration, the title track from their newest release on Wise Cat Records!
Music composed by Josh Levinson iearmusic.comRecorded and videotaped at Scholes Street Studio by Rene Allain . Mixed and Mastered by David Darlington at Bas...
Celebration, from the Josh Levinson Big Band, is now available on all major streaming platforms!
All About Jazz reviews Kenny Shanker's latest recording, Vortex:
"Vortex demonstrates Shanker's tastefulness as he brings high-quality compositions and arrangements to life with this ensemble of talented musicians. They all have chops, and these modern jazz practitioners find a harmonious balance between composition and personal expressive freedom."
Geannine Reid
Check out this great article about Wise Cat recording artist, Kenny Shanker!
https://modernjazztoday.com/features/kenny-shanker-upholding-the-traditions-of-bebop-free-jazz/
Composer, saxophonist, and bandleader Kenny Shanker has all the makings of what audiences desire in a dynamic bebop/free jazz artist. His guidance allows his
Kenny Shanker's latest recording, Vortex, is now #2 on the RMR Top 50 Jazz Chart!
Wise Cat recording artist, Benji Kaplan, will be performing in NYC at Rockwood Music Hall (Stage 3) on Tuesday, April 5th @ 9 pm. Benji is an extraordinary guitarist, and his newest album, Something Here Inside, will be released on May 6, 2022 on
Wise Cat Records.
Here is a link with all the information about the show:
https://www.seetickets.us/event/Benji-KaplanwSpecialGuestRitaFigueiredo/460890
Current New York City guidelines may restrict access to this event. Please visit our COVID-19 Information page for the most updated information regarding vaccine, testing, and mask requirements.BENJI
Come out and see Wise Cat recording artist, Jackson Potter perform at Nublu tonight (Saturday, February 19th) at 7pm!
Nublu
151 Avenue C
New York, NY 10009
First set:
With Alex Ridout, Cole Peterson, Will Lyle, Marcello Cardillo
Second set:
Rafael Enciso, Nicola Caminiti, Miguel "Slvagm" Russell, Juan Diego Villalobos, Gabriel Chakarji
If you haven’t already checked out Restless, Jackson Potter’s brilliant debut recording, you should drop whatever you are doing and listen to it now. Here is what some of the critics have been saying:
Sentinel Rural News
Travis Rogers Jr.
“A great album by any measure, Restless is incredible as a debut. Jackson Potter can write and arrange and compose with the best of them. This guy has a home and a future in Jazz.”
https://www.sentinelruralnews.com/post/jazz-review-jackson-potter-restless
Part Time Audiophile – The Vinyl Anachronist
Marc Phillips
“Potter is simply amazing in terms of checking all the boxes so early in his career.” “Keep an eye on this young man–he’s an old soul with the energy of a young man, and the result is superb.”
https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2021/09/23/jackson-potter-restless-the-vinyl-anachronist/
Exclusive Magazine
Russell A. Trunk
“Jackson has just released a stunning debut album, the quite brilliant Restless.”
“One of my own personal favorites here on this beautiful new album, the ornately sculptured foot-tapper Amalfi which is in turn followed by the sweepingly elegant Peace, the album rounding out on the cutely entitled, and lushly sophisticated Hindsight Is 2020, closing on the guitar-led feistiness of the upbeat title track Restless.”
https://annecarlini.com/ex_cd.php?id=3897
Jazz Weekly
George W. Harris
“Clean toned guitarist Jackson Potter carries the swinging mainstream strings of the likes of Herb Ellis on this hip collection of mostly originals.”
https://www.jazzweekly.com/2021/09/jackson-potter-restless-kari/
Midwest Record
Chris Spector
“A real jazzbo to the core that studied and gigged hard right out of the gate, his guitar date can stand up to any established set by any established player. While it should crackle with the enthusiasm of an auspicious debut, it glides with the surety of a polished pro instead. Loaded with originals, he's issued the kind of sound that got you into jazz in the first place. Killer stuff.”
http://midwestrecord.com/MWR1807.html
Jazz Quad
Leonid Auskren
“The album doesn't disappoint. Jackson is good both in lyrical numbers, like the composition dedicated to his girlfriend, Sophia's Waltz, and in more up-tempo pieces, showing remarkable skill and compositional creativity.” “In general, a nice debut, for which Jackson Potter can only be congratulated.”
https://jazzquad.ru/index.pl?act=PRODUCT&id=6009
Bman’s Blues Report:
“Potter's lead lines are clean and unexpected” “Excellent closer for a strong release.”
“Amalfi has a really nice drum line that drives the entire piece. Leavy lays in a solid bass solo, followed by a light breezy guitar solo by Potter. Very nice.” “Potter really takes this one (Hindsight Is 2020) for a ride showing his inventive lead.”
https://www.bmansbluesreport.com/search/label/Restless
Michael Doherty’s Music Log
Michael Doherty
“Jackson Potter’s guitar work seems to flow and dance.”
http://michaelsmusiclog.blogspot.com/2021/09/brief-notes-on-new-jazz-releases.html
Check out this live video of Restless, from Jackson Potter's new album for Wise Cat Records!
https://youtu.be/m8x7x1igdyA
Filmed and edited by Michael Lozano. Composed and arranged by Jackson Potter. Engineered by Isaac Diskin. Alto Saxophone - David Mason, Trumpet - Joey Currer...
Jackson Potter's new recording, Restless, is now available everywhere!
Guitarist and composer Jackson Potter's debut album features an exciting blend of original compositions and jazz standards. The music spans a wide range of emotions and styles ranging from energetic and bluesy for the aptly named tune, “Restless,” to sentimental and traditional for “Sophia’s Waltz,” written in dedication to Potter’s girlfriend. The album is a musical culmination of Potter’s eclectic background as a musician and composer.
Check out the full recording here:
https://www.wisecatrecords.com/
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/42svGHKadr017yEPZgZ2y9?si=P109dtcNRJOCcxwRL3lcPg&dl_branch=1
Apple Music:
https://music.apple.com/us/album/restless/1583527796
Kenny Shanker's newest recording, Beautiful Things, is now available everywhere!
Kenny Shanker is back with an exciting program of original compositions and jazz standards for his second release on Wise Cat Records. The common element that appears throughout this diverse set is a search for beauty in all of its various forms. Some highlights include the blazingly fast “Prestissimo,” inspired by the early bebop recordings that Shanker grew up listening to, and the catchy, spirited original composition “Cool Mint.” Other standouts include straight-ahead renditions of several jazz classics, the spontaneous freedom of “Orange and Gray,” and the classically influenced “Beautiful Things.” He is joined by his longtime rhythm section of Mike Eckroth, Daisuke Abe, Yoshi Waki, and Brian Fishler, along with Bill Mobley on trumpet.
Check out the full recording here:
Wise Cat Records:
https://www.wisecatrecords.com/
Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B095SHGGK3
Apple Music:
https://music.apple.com/us/album/beautiful-things/1569153873
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/4rfDYDtOLiR9u8bhekTv2P?si=XFOgMLdlQJugc1nzqkeOhA&dl_branch=1
https://youtu.be/2VYFbgl56fA
Kenny Shanker - Beautiful ThingsKenny Shanker is back with an exciting program of original compositions and jazz standards for his second release on Wise Cat...
Some early reviews are coming in for Kenny Shanker’s upcoming release, Beautiful Things:
The Sentinel
Travis Rogers, Jr.
If you love Bop—and who doesn't—have I got a guy for you! Kenny Shanker is a brilliant saxophonist, pianist, vocalist, and composer. Now he releases Beautiful Things, a remarkable album of originals and Jazz standards. The quest for beauty runs like a thread through all of the 12 tracks.
Cool Mint kicks off the album with a circumspect work of fine Jazz with great alto sax from Shanker and excellent work by Mike Eckroth on piano.
Prestissimo is as quick and lively as the song title indicates. Think of the blistering Bebop of Parker and others and you can see where the influences were born. The Rodgers and Hart beauty It Never Entered My Mind is from the 1940 musical Higher and Higher. Eckroth’s languid and lovely piano opens the piece and Shanker takes on the memorable melody with gorgeous effect. Daisuke Abe offers a wonderful acoustic guitar interlude that is warm and captivating.
Mirth is another Shanker original and features Bill Mobley on trumpet in fine lockstep with Shanker. Shanker gives some raw alto punctuations as Yoshi Waki and Brian Fishler keep a tight pocket for the rhythms along with Eckroth’s percussive piano passes. Both guitar and piano give fascinating leads and the melody has a great hook.
Speaking of great melodies, Oscar Peterson’s L’Impossible follows and is beautifully arranged for the alto sax with bright passages from piano and guitar. Pay attention to Waki’s cool and understated bass lines.
Orange and Gray is another Shanker original and the transitions between the soloists are intriguing in an avant garde approach. This is followed by Vincent Youmans’ Without a Song with its andante bop. It includes some of Shanker’s sweetest spots on the album. And Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer’s I’m Old Fashioned is just beautiful under the exquisite touch of Shanker and the guys.
Romberg and Hammerstein’s Softly as in a Morning Sunrise gets an excellent Bop makeover with Shanker’s sax acting as the pathfinder. An all-time favorite, this song is finely recrafted and the rhythm section makes for attentive hearing at their up-tempo best.
Things slow down with Jimmy Van Heusen’s Like Someone in Love from the 1944 movie Belle of the Yukon. It is a cool duet between Shanker and bassist Yoshi Waki. Gorgeous.
In Walked Bud is the Thelonious Monk tribute to Bebop master Bud Powell. And if you think you hear snatches of Irving Berlin’s Blues Skies, you are quite correct, of course. As with anything resembling Powell and Monk, the piano gets a great solo as Waki again makes his bass presence heard and felt but Fishler’s drums get a special feature. All worth the price of admission.
The quest for beauty comes to its beautiful climax with Shanker’s own Beautiful Things. The title tells you everything you need to know. It is a sweet and lovely melody with tone and texture taking precedence over tempo and precision. It is an excellent way to end the quest and so satisfying. Shanker’s tonality is splendid.
Kenny Shanker’s Beautiful Things is something gorgeous. With echoes of the world and sound of Bebop, it is what we need to hear now. As ugliness seems to grow and encroach all about us, Shanker truly reminds us that we are surrounded by Beautiful Things.
Jazz Weekly
George W. Harris
Alto saxist Kenny Shanker does well with his team on this collection of swinging standards and originals. Trumpeter Bill Mobley sits in for a few tunes, blowing embers with the leader on “Orange and Gray” and the playful “Mirth”. Shanker’s tone is bel canto rich, gliding over the sublime “Cool Mint”, lyrical on “I’m Old Fashioned” and bouncing over the rhythm team on “Softly as In a Morning Sunrise” and festive “In Walked Bud”, with the classy and classical “Beautiful Things” giving Shanker a wondrous aria. This is why Selmers were created.
Jazz2Love
In the vane of a true bop artist, saxophonist Kenny Shanker explores his assets, the nimbleness of his raptures, the sharpness in his playing to accelerate or slow down the dialogue, and the clarity of his movements. The program on his new CD Beautiful Things features both his originals and covers of jazz classics, applying his instinct for layering voices and entangling sequences.
The torchlight countenance of "It Never Entered My Mind," penned by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, features Shanker's saxophone forming a weave of dreamy patterns layered in the creamy passages of Daisuke Abe's guitar and the smoldering embers of Mike Eckroth's piano keys. Brian Fishler's rustling drum strikes produce a steady base for "Mirth" as Shanker's sax soars and billows with wild abandonment, withdrawing when Bill Mobley's trumpet takes centerstage. Horns and guitar build into a harmonious entanglement.
"L'Impossible," a pensive piece by Oscar Peterson, is trussed in an enchanting soliloquy expressed by the fluctuating movements of Shanker's sax. His freestyle musings are bold and searing on his original contribution "Orange and Gray," whipping up a rapturous frenzy through "Prestissimo," another original by Shanker.
The spontaneity that Shanker exhibits in his playing shows command of his saxophone paired with instincts that can sketch enchanting soliloquies and searing patterns penned in freehand. Still budding as a modern jazz talent, Shanker promises his signature style and trademark has more growth to come.
Midwest Record
Chris Spector
Solid, classic feeling jazz that’ll get you in the right mood.
Audiophile Review
Paul Wilson
Award winning composer, saxophonist, pianist, and vocalist Kenny Shanker has released his latest work of traditional jazz, both original songs and covers of jazz standards. “Prestissimo” is high octane, free form sax that almost sounds totally improvised. Other tracks are cool jazz all the way and I really enjoyed how Shanker weaves the sax and trumpet together so fluidly. Between the bebop sound on several songs to the flowing luxury of a more traditional jazz sound, “Beautiful Things” is exactly that – beautiful.
Jazz & Blues Report
Ron Weinstock
The opening “Cool Mint” has the feel of a sixties Brill Building hit with a memorable melody. It is followed by the hard bop “Prestissimo” with a breakneck tempo that evokes “Giant Steps.” Taken at an almost frantic tempo, Shanker, trumpeter Mobley, and pianist Eckroth navigate the changes impressively. On Rogers & Hart’s “It Never Entered My Mind,” he exhibits a beguiling tone. It is followed by the bouncy “Mirth,” with a solo that suggests Sonny Fortune and other Coltrane-influenced alto saxophonists. Mobley adds some mid-range heat on his trumpet on this selection.
Eckroth opens the swinging interpretation of Oscar Peterson’s “L’impossible,” with Shanker exhibiting fluidity along with his melodic tone over the entire range of the alto sax. Abe’s Guitar chords help set the walking tempo for Shanker’s lyrical playing on “Without a Song.” A charming rendition of “I’m Old Fashioned,” where Abe takes solos crisply and cleanly. “Like Someone in Love,” an alluring duet with Waki on bass, is another choice track.
Thelonious Monk’s “In Walked Bud” opens as a duet between Shanker and drummer Fishler. Eckroth and Waki join the performance halfway through. Shanker’s title composition closes the recording in a beautiful manner (pun intended). Kenny Shanker plays thoughtfully, displays a beautiful tone and fluid technique, and is backed by a splendid band on an outstanding recording.
Bman’s Blues Report
Beautiful Things is a warm blend of cool bop and jazzy pop. Opening with the original composition, “Cool Mint”, Kenny Shanker is upfront on sax carrying the melody and blowing solid bebop riffs. Another original track, “Prestissimo,” is excellent with aggressive sax runs by Shanker. One of my favorite tracks is “Mirth,” with its searching sax lines. “Like Someone in Love” not only gives Shanker a great base to lay out some of his cooler solos on the release, but I really like the forward nature of Yoshi Waki's work on bass as well as his extended solo. Monk's “In Walked Bud” will have you stomping. Wrapping the release is a smooth composition and title track, “Beautiful Things.” Shanker has excellent tone, closing on a quiet note. Very solid release.
JP's Music Blog
The latest release from saxophonist Kenny Shanker titled "Beautiful Things" features a dozen new tracks, beginning with the swinging melody of "Cool Mint" and the up-tempo, energetic blast of "Prestissimo," before slowing down for the mellow jazz of Rodgers & Hart's "It Never Entered My Mind." The tempo picks back up with the back and forth of "Orange and Gray" with Mike Eckroth on piano and Kenny Shanker on sax, as the two waltz around your speakers in a dance of power and grace. Next, Kenny delivers the feel-good sounds of the classic "Without A Song.” The album finishes with the swift-moving melody of "Softly As In a Morning Sunrise" and the gentle, flowing sounds of "Beautiful Things."
New release coming on 8.20.2021
If you are in the NYC area, come and check out Wise Cat recording artist, Joshua Levinson!
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