***Susan Hodgson—So In Love with Cole***This album is Susan Hodgdon`s first studio CD (Self-produced), celebrating the works of Cole Porter as well as honoring the American Songbook. She dedicates this CD to her mom, who opened her eyes to the joy of music at 
a very young age, a joy that has served as a best friend throughout all of life’s challenges. Seventeen tracks feature Hodgon’s sincere delivery in a clear, almost operatic voicing. Pianist-arranger and musical director Daryl Kojak also served as Executive Producer. Other musicians on the album are Steven Frieder (tenor saxophone), Sean Conly (bass) and Dwayne Cook Broadnax (drums). Of the album, Hodgon says, “This project has been a labor of love. I have never worked so hard on anything in my life.”
***Ann Kittredge—reIMAGINE***In her debute CD, reIMAGINE (King Kozmo 
Music, a subsidiary of Jazzheads), actress and vocalist Ann Kittredge presents a specially curated collection of songs uniquely re-imagined and produced by award-winning songwriter and record producer Paul Rolnick. Kittredge has devoted herself to a life of “imagining,” a practice that has taken her to Broadway, off-Broadway, regional theaters, films and television. When the pandemic and its subsequent lockdown happened in 2020, Ann devised an online cabaret series, “Virtual Shorts,” as a way to keep live collaborative music active. The journey from monthly stream to recording studio yielded reIMAGINE, with selections from Broadway, the movies, contemporary pop, and, in one case, a century old operetta. Wendy Cavett, Christopher Denny and Alex Rybeck served as musical directors.***
Jeff Harnar—I Know Things Now***Multi-award winning cabaret and recording artist Jeff Harnar’s new CD I Know Things Now: My Life in Sondheim’s Words (PS CLASSICS),
features a 20-piece orchestra conducted by jazz piano virtuoso Jon Weber (host of NPR’s “Piano Jazz”) and is produced by Bart Migal, with Ronald Thomas serving as executive producer. Harnar heard the story of his own life in the songs of the late icon and from over 25 Sondheim songs—from familiar anthems like “Being Alive” and “Losing My Mind” to rarities like Dick Tracy’s “Live Alone and Like It” and “More”— wove them into an original narrative. Reimagining them for an LGBTQ+ audience, Hanar created a self-portrait of a proudly gay New Yorker in the contemporary world. Weber, as orchestrator, recast the songs in a jazz idiom: a radical reinvention of Sondheim’s harmonies, one that the composer himself endorsed and encouraged.
***The Daniel Glass Trio—BAM!***The Daniel Glass Trio has released BAM!, (Club 44 Records), which features Glass on drums, Sean Harkness on guitar and Michael O’Brien on bass. The resulting musical conversations are broad and deep, bouncing between style, tempo and dynamic. BAM! contains both original tunes from the band and eclectic reinventions of tunes such as the standard “It Could Happen To You,” Cedar Walton’s “Bolivia” and Deep Purple’s rock classic “Smoke on the Water.” While the trio has been playing together off and on for more than six years, the pandemic created the impetus for the group to capture its musical mission in the studio setting.
***Andy Farber & his Orchestra—Early Blue Evening***Saxophonist, arranger, composer, and bandleader Andy Farber has issued his second big band album Early Blue Evening (ArtisShare), his fourth release as a leader. Over 11 tracks, Farber’s 17-piece big band speaks 
the foundational language of big band’s forebears—swing and the blues—in a contemporary dialect, navigating nine originals and two Farber-arranged standards—Neal Hefti’s “The Odd Couple” and A guest vocal by Catherine Russell on “How Am I to Know”—with nods to the big band legends. Farber is a master at composing pieces with melodic content, whether blues-based or swinging. Personnel are all gifted musicians in the jazz idiom A-list: Andy Farber: leader, alto, tenor, baritone saxophones; arranger, composer REEDS: Mark Gross, Godwin Louis, Dan Block, Lance Bryant, Carl Maraghi TRUMPETS: Brian Pareschi, Bruce Harris, Shawn Edmonds, James Zollar TROMBONES: Art Baron, Wayne Goodman, Dion Tucker RHYTHM: James Chirillo, guitar; Adam Birnbaum, piano; Jennifer Vincent, string bass; Alvester Garnett, drums.
***Paul Jost Quartet—While We Were Gone*** Paul Jost has spent his life in music, mostly as a drummer, 
arriving late to singing. In this third album, While We Were Gone (PJ Music) Jost, a unique and creative stylist, uses various techniques, such as asymmetrical phrasing, parlando and scat, to interpret the material through a personal lens of vision. He sings standards in addition to numbers by Randy Newman, Luiz Bonfá, and Donovan. He’s ultimately a storyteller and has said, “I want the lyrics to a song to trigger some kind of life experience that I can relate to.” Familiar tunes include “The Nearness of You” and “My Foolish Heart.” Musicians on the album are Jost, vocals, harmonica; Jim Ridl, piano; Dean Johnson, bass; Tim Horner, drums.
***Various Artists: Buena Vista Social Club 25th Anniversary Edition***In 1996, American guitarist Ry Cooder and British label owner Nick Gold traveled to Havana, mustering a group of mostly older Cuban singers and players and recording an 
album of mainly traditional compositions in Buena Vista Social Club, which became a worldwide sensation, selling in the millions, winning a Grammy, spawning spinoff albums by individual artists, and inspiring a documentary film of the group’s 1998 performance at Carnegie Hall. Now Gold’s World Circuit label, currently owned by BMG, has released the 25th Anniversary Edition, available as a two-CD, two-LP, or two-CD-plus-two-LP set, including remastered versions of the original 14 tracks as well as alternate and previously unreleased tracks numbering from five on the “gatefold” LP set to 19 on the LP-plus-CD “Bookpack” box. The music is accompanied by 40- or 64-page booklets (again depending on the format), with new liner notes, photos, artist bios, song notes, and lyrics.
