Various Artists - Jazz Piano Panorama: The Best of Jazz Piano on Resonance (2019) [Hi-Res]

Resonance Records, one of the most highly acclaimed independent label in jazz today, is celebrating 10 years in business with the June 7th launch of two new 12-track collections drawn from the Resonance archives: Sing a Song of Jazz: The Best of Vocal Jazz on Resonance, devoted to the label’s vocalists, and Jazz Piano Panorama: The Best of Piano Jazz on Resonance, offering a range of keyboard stylings. (Complete track listings appear below.)

The company’s summer anniversary campaign will center on these new mid-priced sampler packages, the Takao Fujioka Collection, which will feature the distinctive graphic work of the widely admired Japanese artist, editor, and jazz authority.

On June 21 Resonance will issue two more Fujioka Collection packages featuring the cream of the label’s bestselling sets devoted to unheard works by pianist Bill Evans and guitarist Wes Montgomery.

“We’ve been one of the last jazz label holdouts on streaming,” Feldman says, “but we can no longer deny that streaming our back catalog will allow us the opportunity to reach a whole new audience. We’re still as dedicated and committed as ever to putting out our deluxe physical releases on LP and CD, but we’re going to make the leap on this streaming opportunity and see what kind of difference it can make for us.

“I think some people may be surprised by how much great stuff we’ve put out over the past decade, and these compilations will serve as a nice entry way for people to get to know our catalog.” says Resonance co-president Zev Feldman.

George Klabin, Resonance’s founder and co-president, and the producer of the label’s many contemporary jazz recordings, notes that the company’s new compilations afford a deep look into the breadth of its catalog’s offerings, from its modern signings to the giants whose hitherto unreleased music it has unearthed.

“I’m proud to have recorded a number of incredible musicians and vocalists whom I believe are some of the most talented artists in the world,” Klabin says. “Pianists like Marian Petrescu and Dado Maroni may not be household names, but they are absolute virtuosos and deserve a much wider audience. The same can be said of vocalists like Polly Gibbons and Cathy Rocco.

“I’m hopeful these compilations will give people the opportunity to discover or rediscover some of these amazing artists that I’ve recorded, as well as all the jazz legends from our catalog, like Sarah Vaughan and João Gilberto, and Tommy Flanagan and Gene Harris.”

Resonance’s new collections mate a wealth of brilliant music to some of the most dynamic and eye-popping jazz visuals in recent memory. Artist Takao Fujioka is a jazz connoisseur and the editor of the Osaka-based monthly Way Out West (named in homage to Sonny Rollins’ classic 1957 album).

Fred Cohen, owner of the storied Jazz Record Center in New York, calls Fujioka “the most distinctive artist in jazz since David Stone Martin. He’s created a style which is strange, in that with a minimal amount of line he’s able to capture the musician in a way that is all his own.”

Says Feldman, “Collaborating with him seemed like a dream.”

The Takao Fujioka Collection compilations are produced for release by Zev Feldman and executive produced by George Klabin.

Tracklist:
01 - Dado Moroni - Ghanian Village (Live) (9:38)
02 - Donald Vega - You Never Tell Me Anything! (5:21)
03 - Bill Evans - Come Rain or Come Shine (Live) (5:09)
04 - Marian Petrescu - Cakewalk (Live) (7:55)
05 - Tommy Flanagan - Something to Live For (Live) (4:57)
06 - The Three Sounds - Girl Talk (Live) (6:23)
07 - John Beasley - Positootly! (4:29)
08 - Gene Harris Quartet - There Is No Greater Love (Live) (13:26)
09 - Tommy Flanagan - Send One Your Love (Live) (4:55)
10 - Mike Garson - Jenny's Waltz (4:03)
11 - Tamir Hendelman - Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (5:43)
12 - Resonance Big Band - A Little Jazz Exercise (3:07)