Digital Purchase will soon be available on iTunes.
Hard copies of this album are available at:
Dusty Groove.com
Amazon.com
directly through Jason
soon at jazzloft.com

ALBUM ARTISTS
Jason Palmer, trumpet
Greg Duncan, guitar
Jake Sherman, piano, rhodes
Edward Perez, bass
Lee Fish, drums

JazzChill Review written by Dusty Groove

A really striking little cover – one based on the front image of Minnie Riperton's classic Perfect Angel album from the 70s – and a batch of music that really opens up whole new territory in Riperton's rich musical legacy!

The set's way more than you might expect – hardly just a straight or smooth jazz take on classics by Minnie – and instead an openly creative project that takes the core structure of the songs, then pulls them apart – especially when it comes to the rhythms – so that the players continually revisit the lovely melodies created by Riperton, yet also fly free in musical moments inspired by her energy.

Palmer's trumpet is great – pointed, yet soulful throughout – and other instrumentation by the quintet includes Fender Rhodes from Jake Sherman, guitar from Greg Duncan, bass from Edward Perez, and drums from Lee Fish. Titles include "Memory Lane", "Inside My Love", "I'm In Love Again", "Lovin You", "Adventures In Paradise", and "I'm A Woman". 

-Dusty Groove

This album is released online on iTunes and on Amazon.com. The hard copy is available at jazzloft.com.
Digital Liner Notes are available on my blog.

ALBUM ARTISTS
Jason Palmer, trumpet
Mark Turner, tenor saxophone
Nir Felder, guitar
Edward Perez, bass
Kendrick Scott, drums

Downbeat Magazine Review written by Jon Ross

"Palmer has created an album of length, intriguing compositions that are full of engaging extras."

"Palmer is an exciting player - achieving pinpoint focus in his attack one minute, turning his concrete bebop lines into caramel, sliding through pitches and bending them to his will the next. If Palmer's music stays close to home, he should go far."

-Jon Ross

ARTISTS
Jason Palmer, trumpet
Mike Thomas, alto saxophone
Greg Duncan, guitar
Lim Yang, bass
Lee Fish, drums

Review by Russ Musto
All About Jazz--New York

Nothing To Hide
Jason Palmer (SteepleChase)

Despite possessing a pure tone, virtuoso technique and wide-ranging knowledge of the jazz canon, Jason Palmer remains relatively unheralded.

Nothing To Hide, a fine followup to his impressive debut of originals Songbook, shows a similar adventurousness on a program of imaginative interpretations of classics by Miles Davis, Clifford Brown, Donald Byrd, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard and Booker Little, along with two of his own pieces performed with his regular working quintet of altoist Mike Thomas, guitarist Greg Duncan, bassist Lim Yang and drummer Lee Fish.

Opening with Byrd’s “Fly Little Bird Fly” Palmer quickly demonstrates his innovative personality as an arranger. Slowing down the tempo and changing the time signature to a swinging 5/4 he makes the piece his own, an excellent vehicle for his thoughtful improvising, complemented by Thomas’ fiery alto. Similarly intrepid orchestrations of Brown’s “Larue” (interpolating the composer’s “Delilah” and an original bass figure), Morgan’s “The Gigolo” (in 9/4 with another original bassline), Hubbard’s “Luana” (slowing the tempo and melding it with his own “Lower 9th Ward”) and Davis’ “Half Nelson” (arranged by Fish in 9/4) display a penetrating individuality. Only on Booker Little’s “Strength and Sanity” does Palmer remain faithful to the original, revealing a deep respect for the late trumpeter, whose influence on his own compositional style is evident on the originals “Nothing To Hide” and “Here And Now” - the date’s most forward-looking entries.

At the Jazz Gallery Dec. 9th, the group (Mitsuru Yoshizumi subbing for Yang) performed two sets of intriguing originals and orchestrations (mainly arrangements of songs by funk futurist Janelle Monáe) that clearly identified Palmer as a visionary player with an astounding vocabulary, playing music in a uniquely personal voice, which while steeped in the feats of the past, pushes inexorably towards tomorrow.

ARTISTS
Jason Palmer, ttrumpet
Ravi Coltrane, saxophone
Greg Osby, saxophone
Warren Wolf, vibraphone
Leo Genovese, piano, Fender Rhodes
Matt Brewer, bass
Tommy Crane, drums

Review by Thom Jurek
AllMusic.com

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 pianistLeo 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.

"Priest Lake," the set opener, is a deceptive modal piece where trumpet, vibes, and Rhodes state a skeletal frame, double- and triple-timed by drums and bass. In the liners, Palmerdescribes it as a "mini suite of sorts"; this is obvious given the different melodies and harmonic signatures that introduce one another as the track unfolds, yet each harmonic statement interlocks with another seamlessly, despite initial impressions of abstraction. The bass playing of Brewer here is particularly impressive as it counters the middle lyric section between vibes and trumpet. It holds the bridge as a triple call and response between trumpet, vibes, and Rhodes fills the frame, moving the track in all sorts of directions seemingly at once. Under seven minutes, it's a breathtaking beginning. Palmer doesn't disappoint on the rest of it, either: on "Found It," the knotty head between the trumpeter and Osby -- with a Rhodes painting the backdrop expressionistically -- keeps the solid fingerpopping basis of postmodern swing. Other notable tracks are the beautiful quartet ballad "One for J Mac," written for the late Jackie McLean, and the cruising "Checkmate," with gorgeous chord voicings by Genovese and double-time skittering from Crane's cymbal and hi-hat work. Also notable is the bass solo here, which literally sings. The spooky Rhodes, bass, and brushes that open the Miles Davis-inspired "In a Certain Way" (à la the second quintet) are utterly beguiling, as are the staggered melody lines that float betweenColtrane and Palmer. "The Shadowboxer" begins as a ballad that quickly transposes itself into a progressive post-bop jump with brilliant soloing by Palmer. This is a highly recommended first set by an artist who enters the recording scene fully developed, with a fresh compositional voice that's all his own. Songbook will delight and surprise anyone who encounters it.

read review on allmusic.com