Here are the three new Criss Cross Jazz releases for May 2016, which will be available around May 5. All details can be found on the website:

    https://www.crisscrossjazz.com/

CRISS 1387 CD  LUIS PERDOMO - SPIRITS AND WARRIORS - For his fourth Criss Cross recording, pianist Luis Perdomo offers a swinging affair, on which a crackling quintet of New York first-callers interprets 7 originals by the leader (the centerpiece is the well-wrought six-piece "Spirits and Warriors Suite" that gives the CD its title), Clifford Jordan's iconic jazz standard "Glass Bead Games," and the classic ballad "Portrait of Jenny".   Propelled by drum grandmaster Billy Hart and bassist Ugonna Okegwo, who lock in like life-long partners, tenor saxophonist Mark Shim and trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, a Criss Cross regular, uncork cogent solos, some inflamed, some nuanced.   Perdomo, 44, plays throughout with the old soul clarity, grit, maturity and freshness that have earned him deep respect from the best and brightest representatives of the hardcore jazz and Afro-Caribbean practitioners on the international playing field. https://www.crisscrossjazz.com/album/1387.html

CRISS 1388 CD  SEAMUS BLAKE / CHRIS CHEEK with REEDS RAMBLE - LET'S CALL THE WHOLE THING OFF - Deepening a two-tenor partnership that dates back to the mid-'90s, saxophonists Seamus Blake and Chris Cheek follow up their quintet release "Reeds Ramble" (Criss 1364) with Let's Call the Whole Thing Off, featuring the same powerful band lineup (Ethan Iverson on piano, Matt Penman on bass, Jochen Rueckert on drums).   While they stand apart as gifted soloists, Blake and Cheek always flourish as a team, bringing luster to every tune with their lyrical unison melodies and beautifully harmonized theme statements. Spontaneity plays a big role, as it should when improvisers of this caliber get together (Iverson's versatility and off-kilter eloquence comes through with particular strength). But foremost, what distinguishes this group is the logic and efficiency of its arrangements, whether slow and spacious or brisk and complex; from originals and modernist classics to standards of '20s and '30s vintage. https://www.crisscrossjazz.com/album/1388.html

CRISS 1389 CD  BORIS KOZLOV - CONVERSATIONS AT THE WELL - After 13 Criss Cross sideman appearances, including four with the all-star collective Opus 5, Boris Kozlov, one of New York's busiest and most respected bassists in a multiplicity of genres, makes his leader debut for the label with Conversations At The Well.   Joined by the distinguished guitarist David Gilmore of Steve Coleman and Five Elements fame, and the increasingly prominent drummer Rudy Royston, Kozlov guides and grounds their creative navigation of repertoire by Bill Evans, Charles Mingus, Herbie Hancock, Duke Ellington,Wayne Shorter, Keith Jarrett, Ornette Coleman and Thelonious Monk, concluding the proceedings with a vivid, spontaneously generated blues. https://www.crisscrossjazz.com/album/1389.html