New Music Monday for January 6, 2014

     A saxophonist, composer and educator from Toronto, Canada, Shirantha Beddage is emerging as a fresh and powerful voice on the baritone saxophone. Drawing inspiration from  John Coltrane, Pepper Adams, Thelonious Monk and other jazz masters, Beddage won the Galaxie Rising Star Award at the 2013 Montreal Jazz Festival for his work as a composer. He studied with Bill Dobbins and Harold Danko at the Eastman School in Rochester and is currently on staff at Humber College in Toronto. “Identity” is his second release as a leader.

     New York drummer Tim Horner’s 2^nd adventure as a composer and band leader, “The Head of the Circle,” is certainly a labor of love. Already well-represented musically on over 200 recordings with many of the world’s finest over the last thirty years, he’s combined here his wide-ranging experiences and deep musical friendships to create a very personal recording. Featuring vibraphonist Joe Locke and saxophonist Ted Nash, Horner created an environment where all the musicians shine, bringing to vibrant life his ten masterful originals.

     Also this week, versatile West Coast drummer Dick Weller leads a trio with organist Joe Bagg and saxophonist John Tendy on “Tunes Remembered”; tenor saxophonist Doug Webb is in a quartet setting for his latest release, “Another Scene,” featuring drummer Rudy Royston and bassist Dwayne  Burno, who passed away on December 28 at age 43; and pianist Jon Davis and his trio offer up “One Up Front.”