You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians - Best New Jazz Of March 2026

Episode Date: March 27, 2026

We're looking at the best jazz releases of March 2026! Listen with pianist Adam Maness as he breaks down and reacts to these great tracks.Start your free Open Studio trial for ALLLLL your jazz lesson needs: https://osjazz.link/yhi

Welcome, everyone, to our March edition of Fresh Spinn Friday, bringing you some of our favorite music that got released in the month of March, 2026. And we're going to kick it off with a very interesting album from bassist Flea, famously of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Flee put out an album really honoring his roots as a trumpeter, flea starting on the trumpet before playing the bass, and really expressing his love of jazz. And this is really great, whenever a great musician from a whole other genre that you don't even think about as jazz comes into our world a little bit

and makes some music. This first track I'm going to play here, one of the singles of the album, is called Traffic Lights, and it features none other than Radiohead's Tom York. Flea on the bass, on the trumpet, Tom York. On this album, it's not. not just original music.

Flea covers Willow Weep for Me, Maggot Brain by George Clinton and Funkadelic, Frank Ocean Song. There's a bunch of interesting stuff going on on this album. It's called Honorah, and it comes out on March 27. Next up is new music from one of our favorites around here,

tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III. We talked about Walter on the Yule Here at Podcast before. This is a new Tweo album, Tuio Volume 2. I like that he makes you say Twillo. That's the fun part of the Twillo series here. This features Joe Sanders and Kendrick Scott. Special appearances on this album by Bramford Marcellus and Ron Carter.

Special Twillo. Again, Tueo Volume 2, this is My Ideal. We've talked about it before on this show. Walter Smith 3rd. Just Karen the Torch for lyrical tenor playing. There's a lot of humor in his music too, which I really appreciate. If you listen to some of our favorite records from the past, there's a lot of those artists using a lot of humor in their improvisation.

And I laugh out loud sometimes with Arthur Smith III, in a good way. In a good way. Just really, really great music always delivers interesting stuff. Next up, this is called Around the World with You, as in the letter you, as in Ulysses. This is the track, prodigal son. Tyler Bullock on the piano. The saxophone, Anthony Harvey on the trumpet. Yasushi Nakamura on the base, the best.

I mean, that rhythm section of Ulysses Owens and Yasushi, Tyler Bullock on the piano, man, that's as swinging as it gets right there. Again, that's Ulysses Owens Jr. and Generation Y, with Prodigal Son from their new album on Cellar Music called Around the World with You. Next up, we've got an album that everybody's talking about. from vocalist Yeba. Yeba, one of the most amazing talents of our time.

This is a new album from Yeba called Gene. It's on RCA Records. It was released on March 6th. And it's only Yebba's second studio album, but she's made such a huge splash in the last couple of years on the music scene. This is with some of her frequent collaborators, notably James Francise on piano,

one of our favorites, Nate Smith on the drums, another one of our favorites. This track is called Earthwind in California. That's a melody. That's a very Yubba melody. I love that she's already got a melodic style. It's crystal clear. That's him. One of our best, that's Yabba, new album called Gene on RCA Records. That's the track Earthwind in California. Just amazing. Like for such a artist for second album such a distinct style such also like harmonic sophistication they're obviously going for it with a production on this album and it it's so inspiring it makes you want to jump right into the studio doesn't it very very cool all right next up is new music from bassist

alexander claffy Alexander claffy has made quite a name for himself over the last few years one of the most in-demand musicians on the jazz scene. Incredible bass players played with everyone for a good reason because he's a fantastic musician. Great to see a live album from Alexander, alive in Philadelphia, Volume 1 at Chris's Jazz Cafe, and it just features an incredible lineup of musicians. Clappy plays bass and is responsible for all the arrangements on the album.

Then we've got Seamus Blake on the tenor saxophone, one of the best. Jaliel Shaw on the also saxophone. Doesn't get much better. Kevin Hayes on the piano. Friend of Open Studio has been here in our studio. We love Kevin. And then the great Bill Stewart. This is the track She from Alive in Philadelphia, Volume 1. It's nothing better. There's nothing better than live jazz. It's where the music shines. And the tradition of the music is steeped in great live albums. Some of the greatest albums in the genre are live albums for good reason because it's a music that is best-consumed live

and certainly recorded live. Yeah, a delightful experience alive in Philadelphia, Volume 1. Alexander Claffey, go check that out. And such great saxophonists on that Alexander Claffey album, Joliel Shaw, Seamus Blake. Speak in a great saxophonist, we've got another album from a great saxophonist. Mark Turner. This is on the ECM label.

This is called Pattern Master. And this is the track Super Sister. Mark Turner on the saxophone, Jonathan Pinson on the drums, Joe Martin on the bass, and Jason Palmer on the trumpet. No, chord instruments. How good is that? Sounds so good. God bless, ECM. These Mark Turner albums on ECM should win awards for the cover art, too.

Cover art always slays. Mark Turner, pattern master, that's Jason Palmer, Joe Martin, and Jonathan Pinson in that great band. Pretty great. let's keep the saxophone train run in this is a new album from again an artist we love around here at open studio the album is called barcode this track is called clouds it features ben windle on the tenor saxophone joel ross on the vibraphone and marimba simon mouliere on the vibraphone uh patricia brennan on the vibraphone and juan diego villa lobes on the vibraphone this is clouds ben windle's always up to something interesting.

And this definitely fits into that category nicely. The album is barcode by Ben Wendell and that's a sound you can relax into pretty easily. Incredible, incredible mallet

players and love that juxtaposition in the character between the very attack-heavy percussive mallets layered on top of each other and then an incredibly soulful voice in Ben Wendell's. Just amazing.

Next up, we've got a debut album from trumpeter Ella Grace out of Chicago, Illinois. This album is called Figments, and this track is called Butterflies Watching. Beautiful with the flugelhorn layered with the voice. That's Ella Grace on the trumpet flugelhorn. Julia Danielle on the voice, Garrett Muntz on the alto and tenor saxophones, Addle Stanley on the piano, Marion Mallard on the bass, and Jaden Richardson on the drums. That's Butterfly Watching from Fignance by Ella Grace. Well, early in the show, we mentioned how much live albums mean to the music.

And we've got a new album from the incredible saxophonist Emmanuel Wilkins live at the Village Vanguard, Volume 1. This is on the Blue Note record label. This features the incredible Micah Thomas at the piano. This features on bass, Riyoma Takanaga, and on drums, Queco Sumbri. this is Sharanam live. Micah Thomas. Unbelievable.

I'm in. Let's go. I am all the way in on this album, just from hearing this one sample. Amazing sound. I mean, we talk about live albums and jazz. You're talking about the sound of the Village Vanguard. The sound of that incredible club defines what a live jazz album sounds like for the genre.

And Emmanuel Wilkins has been making. some of the best music of the past decade. And so great to hear this live album on Blue Note and can't wait to listen to the whole thing. Unbelievable. And finally, this is an album that was released right at the end of February. We just missed it for our February show, but we wanted to include it because Bill for, Bill, and finally, this is an album that came out right at the end of February after we'd already recorded our February show. But we definitely wanted to get it in. It's from Bill Frizzell, one of the great guitarists on the planet, on the blue note record label. This is from the album In My Dreams.

This is Isfahan. Thomas Morgan on the bass. And Rudy Roiston on the drums. From Duke Ellington's Far East Suite, credited to Duke Ellington and Billy Stringhorn. That's Isfahan. That's Bill Frizzell. And that's the end of our show. Some really amazing music coming out this year already.

March is strong with some new releases. Please go on a deep dive of all these albums and support these incredible artists, making some really, really beautiful, forward-thinking, swinging, soulful music. We'll be back for our next freshman Friday in April. Until then, you'll hear it.