Harry Connick Jr. has a rare gift for summoning the style of classic 1940s saloon singing, hinting at Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and especially Dick Haymes, without engaging in actual impersonation. What's more uncanny still is his songwriting, an idiomatic command of the standards that often summons some of the rhythmic ease of Gershwin, the tunefulness of Jerome Kern, and the wit of Cole Porter. Both his singing and songwriting talents are evident on this album, recorded in 1990 when Connick was just 22.

Before he left us in July 2, 2002, Ray Brown reigned as the king of jazz bassists for over five decades. As a disciple of Oscar Pettiford and Jimmy Blanton, Brown's sturdy tone, impeccable technique, and swinging drive propelled Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Milt Jackson, and countless other jazz stars to fame. On this CD, his 18th recording for the Telarc label and his fifth in his celebrated Best Friends series, Brown is joined by the young guitar wizard Russell Malone and the lyrical, Jamaican-born pianist Monty Alexander. The drumless lineup is a tribute to the groundbreaking trios Brown lead with Oscar Peterson, and the music is simply remarkable. With Alexander's flowing pianisms shadowed by Malone's articulate guitar work, Brown's deep grooves are only topped by his flawless melodic ideas.

Krall’s fifth album won Grammys for Best Jazz Vocal and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical (and was nominated for Album of the Year). The album colors Krall’s classic jazz stylings with gorgeous orchestral arrangements on numbers by Porter, Berlin, Gershwin and others. The record features the talents of A-list jazzers like Russell Malone and Alan Broadbent and was ranked by Billboard as the 9th best jazz album of the 1990s.

One of the most iconic and instantly recognizable voices in music history is back in a way you've never heard before. Macy Gray makes her Chesky Records debut with her new Jazz infused album, "Stripped". Paired with an awe inspiring jazz ensemble that includes Ari Hoenig, Daryl Johns, Russell Malone, and Wallace Roney, Macy's voice is given the space and freedom to truly shine. Featuring new original songs, intriguing covers, and stunning new arrangements of her classic hits like "I Try", there's something for everyone on this timeless recording.

What a totally delightful laid-back jazz quartet outing! No free jazz, no unwhistlable tunes, no overpowering drums (in spite of Cobb being the leader) – just ten mostly ballads, played in a super-relaxed fashion and reproduced with a realism in hi-res surround that fulfills the label’s slogan of “You can hear the difference”.

Diana Krall's "Turn Up the Quiet", celebrates Jazz and the Great American Songbook, reuniting Diana with Grammy Award-winning producer, Tommy LiPuma. Diana Krall is the only jazz singer to have eight albums debut at the top of the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. To date, her albums have garnered five Grammy Awards, eight Juno Awards and have also earned nine gold, three platinum and seven multi-platinum albums. Krall's unique artistry transcends any single musical style and has made her one of the most acclaimed artists of our time.

A superb, mostly self-taught musician, Jimmy Cobb is the elder statesman of all the incredible Miles Davis bands. Cobb's inspirational work with Miles, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderly and Co. spanned 1957 until 1963 and included the masterpiece Kind of Blue, the most popular jazz recording in history. On this new Chesky Records recording, Jazz In the Key of Blue, Jimmy Cobb pairs up once again with 36-year old, Grammy Award winning trumpeter, Roy Hargrove. who has firmly established him-self as among the premier players in jazz and beyond. Jazz In the Key of Blue continues to prove Jimmy Cobb's mettle as a band leader, his imperturbable, rock-steady swing, paving the way for the rhythms and sounds of yet another generation of jazzmen.

With this, his third outing as a leader on HighNote guitar master Russell Malone returns with his talented quartet, featuring the potent pianism of Rick Germanson, the solid underpinnings of Luke Sellick on bass, and drummer-extraordinaire Willie Jones III. Malone possesses phenomenal technique, a warm luminous tone, an innate sense of swing, and his distinctive chording. The set consists of a wide range of songs including funk, ballads, uptempo hard bop performances and even a pop tune and a TV theme. Malone varies the instrumental textures and tone colors throughout to reveal his considerable inventive melodic art. This latest recording is further proof that Russell Malone is one of the top guitarists in jazz, here backed by his superb trio of masterful musicians.

A lot of guitarists come in and out of LA for gig. One of the few guys I’ll make a point to see no matter what is Russell Malone. As the title of this latest album with Rick Germanson/p, Luke Sellick/b and Willie Jones III/dr states, Malone’s all about melody (as well as swing), even in the most adventurous of solos. Here, the songs are fairly concise, with a slinky bop take of Freddie Hubbard’s “One The Real Side” and a nimble “Jive Hoot” pulsating like a V8 engine. His art of using space is like Monet on “Haunted Heart” and the delicate “Message to Jim Hall.” Jones supplies velvet brushes on the cozy read of the soul hit “Saving All My Love For You” while he does a nice groove with Sellick on the hip “Nice Lady”. Malone does a couple solo arias as well, making silence a sound on “When A Man Loves A Woman” and being as delicate as handling a newborn on “He’s Gone Away”. You could take years studying this session, and keep learning things.

This Diana Krall album pays tribute to the Nat King Cole Trio with a set of ballads, medium and up-tempo tunes including "If I Had You", "Frim Fram Sauce", and "Deed I Do". This is the third studio album by Canadian singer.

This live recording of straight ahead jazz features the great Ron Carter on bass, Donald Vega on piano and Russell Malone on guitar. The three of them are smack dab right in front of you with the bass dead center, the piano panned to the left and guitar to the right. Excellent playing and a ton of fun.

It's not hyperbole to say that this is Sanborn's best record since his Warner Brothers heyday of the '80s. The same can be said of the quality of the musicians gathered for the alto saxophonist's first album for Verve. The material may be the best he's ever assembled, with many cover tunes that are singularly identified with other artists, yet he redefines them. None of those words are meant to disparage those Grammy-winning gold albums of yore, it just his high standards have been magnified many fold on these 10 tracks.