Now that I’m back (and this time I REALLY mean it) with the end of the semester, as I was trying to get a handle on everything that I wanted to share with y’all I realized that I haven’t paid nearly enough attention to the many fine new jazz releases in 2014. You’ll see quite a few of them here in the coming weeks, many of which I’ve played on the radio show, but there’s been some really nice releases really expanded the possibilities of Jazz, from Kris Bowers, Bad Bad Not Good, Zara McFarlane and this artist, trumpeter Takuya Kuroda. Kuroda first came to my attention playing in Jose James band at multiple live performances in LA in 2013. When I heard he had his own record as a leader coming out this year I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. Playing along with many of the other members of James’ group (the man himself adds some vocals to a version of the classic, “Everybody Loves The Sunshine”) Kuroda’s jazz stylings lean on the Hip-Hop and funk side of things, with a sprinkle of the Soulquarians production style for good measure. Highly necessary sounds as Spring turns to Summer.