Despite having a well-deserved reputation among other musicians as a disciplined and inventive improviser, composer, and trumpeter,
Jason Palmer hasn't exactly been a household name. But based on
Songbook, his recorded debut as a bandleader, that will change.
Palmer has taken his time and established himself as a rock-solid session player with, among others,
Roy Haynes,
Jerry Bergonzi,
Kevin Mahogany,
Common,
Herbie Hancock,
Bilal,
Jeff "Tain" Watts, and literally dozens of others -- including his (at the time of this writing) membership in
the Greg Osby Five.
Songbook, issued on the Ayva Music imprint, is an auspicious debut, full of sophisticated charts, inspired and inventive performances, and an innovator's sense of the jazz world, past and present. The music is progressive post-bop with ultra-modern sensibilities, and the cast of players is stellar: it includes his regular quintet with bassist
Matt Brewer, drummer
Tommy Crane, and pianist
Leo Genovese on the Fender Rhodes as well as acoustic piano. Guests here include
Ravi Coltrane, his current boss
Osby, and the woefully underappreciated
Warren Wolf on vibes.
Palmer composed and arranged all nine selections here and -- one can only suppose -- sequenced them as well.