Red Norvo had taste. ‘Mr. Swing’ also had a problem. In late 1942, Norvo knew that the United States’ involvement in WWII would soon deplete his septet of key musicians and there was the small matter of the American Federation of Musicians strike which had effectively, and without exception, shuttered all the recording studios.

Red Norvo was not a man, or indeed a musician, to follow the rules and he persuaded a studio engineer to let them in on the sly. In the dead of night, Red Norvo and the band ‘gained access’ to the equipment and began to play. ‘Red Norvo: The Secret Session’ is the result. More than 60 years after the clandestine opera- tion, the previously unheard album is now available on CD and digital formats as part of the ‘Legends’ series.

Red Norvo’s band showcased tight attractive arrange- ments and presented soloists who blew like they were veterans. The septet boasted musicians who would later become stars in their own right, most of all trombonist Eddie Bert, who provided the tapes for this release.

This album is a snapshot – literally a stolen moment in time! – and an important look into a band that was bridging a gap between swing and bebop.

Lizzie Thomas is an inventive jazz vocalist known for her sultry vocal stylings and deep interpretations of the lyric. Thomas’ latest release, Duo Encounters on Dot Time Records cements her stature as one of New York’s top jazz singers. Alongside the “who’s who” of Jazz, Lizzie has had the privilege of collaborating with Ron Carter, Russell Malone, John Di Martino, Wayne Escoffery, Helio Alves, Jay Leonhart, Guilherme Monteiro among others. Lizzie has graced the stages of prestigious venues worldwide. Notables include Birdland Jazz Club NYC, Sunset Paris, and Blues Alley DC. Thomas captivates with her attractive musical personality and stunning vocal facility whether scatting at fast tempos or caressing a tender ballad.

The upcoming 2026 release of New Stages on Dot Time Records not only marks a new album, but a turning point in Mark Wade’s creative evolution. It’s a moment where his past innovations meet his future ambitions. A five-time finalist for Bassist of the Year in the DownBeat Magazine Readers’ Poll, Wade has built a reputation as one of modern jazz’s most distinctive and dynamic instrumentalists. New Stages captures that ongoing evolution with a bold step forward that reimagines the architecture of classical compositions through the lens of a modern jazz trio. Drawing from a wide range of works across the classical spectrum, it is an expansive exploration of sound, composition, and collaboration.

Wade is known for his virtuosic command of both acoustic and electric bass, and has long been celebrated for blending technical precision with emotional depth. His work defies easy classification, embracing the improvisational spirit of jazz while drawing inspiration from classical and contemporary influences alike. Across his career, which encompasses international breakout album Event Horizon to the critically acclaimed True Stories, Wade has continually redefined what the bass can express as a lead instrument in modern jazz. Wade is a modern composer with a global perspective, and each project serves as an opportunity to stretch the boundaries of musical storytelling. His 2022 release True Stories was hailed by DownBeat Magazine as “a living work of modern art,” with compositions inspired by icons ranging from Miles Davis and Charles Mingus to Igor Stravinsky. The album showcased the breadth of his musical vocabulary and linked past to present through an inventive fusion of rhythm, harmony, and narrative.

Wade first gained international recognition with his trio through the 2015 recording Event Horizon on Edition 46 Records and the 2018 follow-up Moving Day on AMP Music & Records. In 2020, during the global shutdown, he created Songs from Isolation, a groundbreaking visual album that debuted online from the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music in Durban, South Africa. The project featured Wade performing on both acoustic and electric bass, accompanied by music videos he directed himself, a striking reflection of artistic self-sufficiency and innovation.

Born in Michigan and raised in New Jersey, Wade began teaching himself electric bass at age 14 before earning his B.A. in music from New York University, where he studied with renowned bassist Mike Richmond. That period deepened his technical foundation, introduced him to acoustic bass and classical repertoire, and helped shape his unique dual fluency in both jazz and orchestral performance.

Now based in New York City, Wade has appeared at leading venues such as Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Blue Note, The Iridium, and Birdland. He has performed with an array of jazz luminaries including Gary Bartz, James Spaulding, Eddie Palmieri, Conrad Herwig, Harry Whitaker, Stacey Kent, Peter Eldridge, Don Byron, and Jimmy Heath, and he is a longtime member of the Pete McGuinness Jazz Orchestra. On the classical stage, his credits include performances with the Key West Symphony featuring Grammy Award winners Sharon Isbin and Robert McDuffie, as well as the Orchestra of the S.E.M./Janáček Philharmonic (Czech Republic) at both Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.

Beyond performance, Wade is the founder and director of New Music Horizons, an organization dedicated to promoting the work of emerging jazz and classical composers. Its concerts have been featured at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, Flushing Town Hall, and The Clemente Cultural Center, among other New York institutions. A respected educator as well as performer, he has served on the jazz faculty at Lehigh University since 2017 and is a former teaching artist with The New York Pops.

Whether on stage or in the classroom, Wade’s influence continues to expand and shape the sound and stories of contemporary jazz.

Luis Russell (born Panama Aug 5, 1902, died New York City Dec 11, 1963) was a pioneer; an orchestra leader, arranger, composer, and pianist of the first order of magnitude. Luis was a key architect in the development of jazz and swing, from Panama to New Orleans to Chicago to New York City. His knack for always landing at the center of the action and for working with the leading musicians of his day led to a performing and recording career that spanned four decades. His first recordings as a leader were in Chicago in 1926, while a member of Joe King Oliver’s band.

Cuban musician born in 1981 in the province of Matanzas, Cuba is one of the best pianists and composers of his generation, considered a promise of Cuban music and a worthy successor to his predecessors, such as Bebo and Chucho Valdés, Emiliano Salvador and Gonzalo Rubalcaba, among many other great Cuban musicians.

Trying to put Efrat Alony’s music in a box is a task destined to fail. Every musical compartment would simply be too small. Her ability to compose and sing in- between the musical genres, in a her exceptional unique style, is what makes her stand out and shine.
“Untamable. The Israeli singer Efrat Alony bewilders with her voice, beauty and intellect. (…) Her timbre seduces us – to unstintingly listen.” Tom R. Schulz , “Die Zeit”

Bruno Alexander Spoerri is a Swiss jazz and electronics musician.

Michael Stephans currently leads a group with Dave Liebman (and sometimes Greg Osby), Marc Copland, and Drew Gress, called Quartette Oblique, and has been a long standing member of the Bennie Maupin Ensemble. He has also has performed and recorded with a super group called The Kaleidoscope Quintet, featuring Liebman, Joe Lovano, bassist Tony Marino, and singer Judi Silvano. He is also plays occasionally in a trio led by pianist Alan Broadbent.

Rachel Z is a keyboardist with a long history of award-winning performances in the worlds of jazz and rock. In addition to her 13 albums as bandleader and her work in internationally acclaimed bands such as Steps Ahead, Vertú, the Omar Hakim Experience, and OZmosys, she has played and toured with artists like Wayne Shorter (on the Grammy-winning album High Life), Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, Terri Lyne Carrington, Al Di Meola, and Regina Carter. She also co-wrote the Grammy-winning song, ‘Tokvo Blue’ with saxophonist Najee Rachel came to worldwide prominence in the rock world in the Peter Gabriel concert films Growing Up Live and Still Growing Up Live.

Various Artists
Alumni of the Gil Evans Orchestra reunited to celebrate the band’s “Monday Night at Sweet Basil” era by performing at The Cutting Room in NYC in 2014. The group was reunited by Pete Levin (piano/electric piano) and includes: Dave Bargeron (trombone/tuba), John Clark (French horn), Mark Egan (bass), Alex Forster (tenor & Soprano sax), Beth Gottlieb (percussion), Danny Gottlieb (drums), Chris Hunter (alto sax/flute), Tom Malone (baritone sax/trombone), Lew Soloff (trumpet) and Dave Stryker (guitar).

“I was born in detroit, michigan back in 1928. born in detroit, michigan on mickey mouses’ birthday, nov. 18, 1928”

Raised in poverty in Pennsylvania’s coal-mining country, Jordan began singing as a child and by the time she was in her early teens was working semi-professionally in Detroit clubs. Her first great influence was Charlie Parker and, indeed, most of her influences have been instrumentalists rather than singers. Working chiefly with black musicians, she met with disapproval from the white community but persisted with her career. She was a member of a vocal trio, Skeeter, Mitch And Jean (she was Jean), who sang versions of Parker’s solos in a manner akin to that of the later Lambert, Hendricks And Ross.

After moving to New York in the early 50s, she married Parker’s pianist, Duke Jordan, and studied with Lennie Tristano, but it was not until the early 60s that she made her first recordings. One of these was under her own name, the other was “The Outer View” with George Russell, which featured a famous 10-minute version of “You Are My Sunshine”.

“Her ballad performances are simply beyond the emotional and expressive capabilities of most other vocalists.”
The New York Times

In the mid-60s her work encompassed jazz liturgies sung in churches and extensive club work, but her appeal was narrow even within the confines of jazz. By the late 70s jazz audiences had begun to understand her uncompromising style a little more and her popularity increased – as did her appearances on record, which included albums with pianist Steve Kuhn, whose quartet she joined, and an album, Home, comprising a selection of Robert Creeley’s poems set to music and arranged by Steve Swallow.

A 1983 duo set with bassist Harvie Swartz, “Old Time Feeling”, comprises several of the standards Jordan regularly features in her live repertoire, while 1990’s “Lost And Found” pays tribute to her bebop roots. Both sets display her unique musical trademarks, such as the frequent and unexpected sweeping changes of pitch, which still tend to confound an uninitiated audience. Her preference to the bass and voice set led to another remarkable collaboration with bassist Cameron Brown, whom she has been performing with all over the world for more than twenty years so far and they have released the live albums “I’ve Grown Accustomed to the Bass” and “Celebration”. Entirely non-derivative, Jordan is one of only a tiny handful of jazz singers who fully deserve the appellation and for whom no other term will do.

Vocalist Catherine Russell is a native New Yorker, born into musical royalty. Her father, the late Luis Russell, was a legendary pianist / composer / bandleader, and Louis Armstrong’s long-time musical director. Her mother, the late Carline Ray, was a pioneering vocalist / guitarist / bassist who performed with International Sweethearts of Rhythm, Mary Lou Williams, and Sy Oliver.