Spotlight

Makaya McCraven
Split Decision

“This is music made by a 21st century man who sees no need to suppress his hip hop chops or rock spirit in an effort to fit in and be dubbed a jazz drummer. McCraven marries his love for music other than jazz with a more jazz-oriented spirit built around in-the-moment, improvisational cunning and driving grooves throughout this program of original music.”
– Dan Bilawsky, AllAboutJazz.com

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Matt Nelson Trio
Nostalgiamaniac

One of Downbeat Magazine's "Best CDs of 2011"

4 Stars! (“Excellent”)
“Nelson is looking forward, not backward. With chops, taste and an evolving repertoire, you can hardly blame him.”
– Eric Fine, Downbeat Magazine

“On his impressive debut, Chicago pianist Matt Nelson distinguishes himself as a tasty player with a penchant for uncommon lyricism..."
– Bill Milkowski, Jazz Times

“... the best piano-trio album to come out of Chicago in 2010... The real test of this album lies in throwing it into the deep end of the pool: comparing it with piano-trio projects from across the nation, where the competition is naturally fiercer. Even among those, I’ll place Nostalgiamaniac among the year’s top four or five, along with those of such well established players as Fred Hersch and Jason Moran.”
- Neil Tesser

Photograph © Andy Keil 2011, popstache.com

News

New Release 3/26/2013!
lePercolateur
Pop Manouche

“a sly and surprising gypsy-jazz quintet who apply that idiom to modernistic pop tunes, as well as vintage jazz composition”
– Neil Tesser, Examiner.com

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Howard Levy
Tonight and Tomorrow

One of Downbeat Magazine's "Best CDs of 2010"

4 Stars! (“Excellent”)
– Michael Jackson, Downbeat Magazine

“a marvelous piano-trio album featuring Levy's harmonica... Although he cites McCoy Tyner and Herbie Hancock as influences, Levy the pianist has a sunnier, more ebullient style than either, enlivened by an unfailing upward momentum... The trio interplay is first-rate throughout, as are the arrangements.”
- George Kanzler, Jazz Times

“When you combine this iconoclastic skill with his energetic yet lyrical approach to improvising, you get a style that has beguiled artists from across the musical spectrum – from newgrass banjoist Béla Fleck to post-bopper Ben Sidran, folkies Steve Goodman and Bonnie Koloc to the Lebanese oud player Rabih Abou-Khalil, Cuban saxist Paquito D’Rivera to “word jazz” creator Ken Nordine, all of whom have featured Levy’s harmonica on their recordings. His harp playing can easily detract from Levy’s piano praxis, which he displays on many of the more than 200 recordings he’s made. The piano remains his first instrument, and he always greets it like an old friend, embracing it in his lanky limbs and long thin fingers, before putting it through its paces.”
- Neil Tesser (from the liner notes)

Chicago Sessions

is a record label featuring some of the best Chicago artists, from the established to the undiscovered. We produce exclusive, newly-recorded, high-quality albums, which showcase the original compositions of each artist.

“...Eipers is an accomplished
sound man who has also proved
himself a sound judge
of up-and-coming artists”
–Neil Tesser, Examiner.com
author of The Playboy Guide to Jazz

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MAKAYA MCCRAVEN TRIO during 2012 Chicago Sessions Weekend at Jazz Showcase.

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PAUL WERTICO'S MID-EAST/MID-WEST ALLIANCE CD Release show at Space, Evanston.

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PAUL WERTICO in the studio during the recording of IMPRESSIONS OF A CITY. Photograph © John Broughton 2009.

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LARRY GRAY at the Green Mill, Chicago, celebrating the release of 1, 2, 3... Photograph © John Broughton 2009.

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PAULINHO GARCIA at SPACE, Evanston, for the CD Release Party of MY VERY LIFE. With Brett Benteler, Geraldo de Oliveira and Heitor Garcia. Photograph © John Broughton 2009.

© 2013 Chicago Sessions Ltd