Giant Step Arts continues its Modern Masters and New Horizons series with Tomorrow Is Today, the debut recording from The Phoenix Trio, a cooperative, deeply connected group featuring tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, bassist Joe Martin and drummer Marcus Gilmore. It’s out this Friday.
Recorded live in front of an audience at Brooklyn’s Ornithology Club in May 2025, the album fuses compositional depth, improvisational daring and powerful solos into a group sound both riveting and unique.
Out March 27, 2026, THE FLAME BENEATH THE SILENCE presents rising star trumpeter Dave Adewumi in his first statement as a leader with a powerful trio of young modern masters
“Dave Adewumi is here. He plays with fearless charm and reckless rigor. His reach grows chorus by chorus.” — Jason Moran
Due out October 10, 2025,
Reflections on: The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man is a powerful commentary from one of the most important voices in modern jazz.
“A cult hero and musician’s musician in jazz circles, a tenor player with a sound and language of his own, at once postmodernist and attuned to the lessons of pan-historical jazz lore.” – Josef Woodard, DownBeat
Musicians make albums every day. But statements come along far less often. With his latest release, Reflections on: The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, tenor saxophonist Mark Turner has crafted a magnum opus both deeply personal and macrocosmic in its exploration of social issues.
Giant Step Arts continues Modern Masters and New Horizons series with new live album by tenor saxophonist Rico Jones. Out July 25, 2025, BloodLines is a deeply personal album, exploring the saxophonist’s heritage, personal connections and spirituality in a stirring live context. With BloodLines, Giant Steps Arts introduces a compelling new compositional voice, Colorado-native tenor saxophonist Rico Jones. The album is his New York City leader debut and features a multi-generational band of peer guitarist Max Light and two veterans in bassist Joe Martin and drummer Nasheet Waits.
“Rico is one of the few original voices emerging. His musicianship and passion have forged to create an original voice we will joyfully be hearing more from in the future!” – Vincent Herring
Giant Step Arts continues the Modern Masters and New Horizons series with the new live album by collective group The Fury, Out December 6, 2024, Live In Brooklyn documents the debut performance of a quartet of some of the most accomplished players in modern jazz with Mark Turner, Lage Lund, Matt Brewer and Tyshawn Sorey.
“It’s rare even in New York City to have a group of four musicians with this kind of deep connection and who are this esteemed to make a live record at an intimate venue like Ornithology in Brooklyn. The audience was thrilled to be in the room as these four masters created, and Giant Step Arts is overjoyed with the results.” – Jimmy Katz
Giant Step Arts continues its Modern Masters and New Horizons series with the second album as a leader by vibraphonist Chien Chien Lu. Built In System (Live from New York) features Lu‘s original music performed by her stellar band with trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, bassist Richie Goods and drummer Allan Mednard. The album is out October 6, 2023.
10 Emerging Jazz Artists To Watch in 2023” – Morgan Enos, Grammy.com
“A soulful modernist on the rise” – Dan Bilawsky, AllAboutJazz.com
Giant Step Arts launches its Modern Masters and New Horizons series with the first-ever live album as a leader from tenor saxophonist Mark Turner. Live at the Village Vanguard, out September 8, 2023, featured Turner with trumpeter Jason Palmer, bassist Joe Martin and drummer Jonathan Pinson.
“[Mark Turner is] a premier saxophonist, conceptual thinker and bandleader who plays a visionary role on today’s rapidly evolving, ever-expanding jazz scene.” – Ed Enright, DownBeat
“Light of tone and phenomenally agile, the sound of Mark Turner’s tenor saxophone is so beguiling that I’d happily listen to him playing from a book of exercises.” – Dave Gelly, The Guardian
Live at the Café Bohemia, the electrifying new album from the Leap Day Trio featuring drummer Matt Wilson, saxophonist Jeff Lederer and bassist Mimi Jones, is out February 24, 2023.
The album was recorded at the historic NYC jazz club to mark the venue’s reopening after nearly 60 years. The band celebrates the album at the club on February 10 & 11.
Giant Step Arts, helmed by photographer/engineer Jimmy Katz, releases two new live albums captured at the historic Seneca Village site in Central Park. The albums will be released on Juneteenth – June 19, 2022.
2nd – Burton/McPherson Trio featuring Dezron Douglas The Summit Rock Session at Seneca Village – feature vital concert performances
