By Brooks Geiken

A trio of varied, high quality jazz releases: Entre Amigos, Strange Times, and Three Visitors.

Having reviewed Roy McGrath’s Menjunje in 2023 and Gustavo Cortiñas’s Live In Chicago earlier this year I was delighted to see the musicians join each other on Entre Amigos. With Hana Fujisaki on piano and Kitt Lyles on bass, Entre Amigos hangs together as a tight and expressive quartet, with McGrath on tenor and soprano saxophones and Cortiñas on drums. The players all hail from Chicago and have been playing together in various combinations for a decade. After a month-long tour of Asia, the group decided that the music was so good it made sense to head straight into the studio.

Each member contributes a composition or three, as in the case of Lyles, who penned “So Sad, So Lonesome,” “Monkody,” and “Wellspring.” A melancholy mood dominates “So Sad, So Lonesome.” Cortiñas adds some subtle brush work and Fujisaki plays pensive piano. In an homage to Thelonious Monk, Lyles adds his considerable talent to “Monkody” (a mash-up of Monk and melody). “Wellspring” taps into the talents of all the musicians, especially Fujisaki, whose gospel-influenced chords infuse the tune with a refreshing lightness.

The disc’s revelation is the piano of Fujisaki. It’s particularly memorable on her composition “Matsuri,” the track’s potent background supplied by McGrath’s lively soprano, Cortiñas on soft brushes, and Lyles plucking gracefully on bass. Another Fujisaki piece, “Half Moon,” resonates with a subtle beauty that taps into Errol Garner’s “Misty.”

All the musicians in Entre Amigos were given an equal say in the album’s creation. Cortiñas contributes two songs, “Windy City” and “Borderlands.” Both refer to important personal locations for the drummer. Honoring the group members’ home, “Windy City” exudes a great up-tempo feel that’s sparked by McGrath’s tenor saxophone. Having immigrated from Mexico to the US, Cortiñas is very sensitive to the issues involving the border, hence the passion he infuses into his tune “Borderlands.”

International influences from Japan (Fujisaki), Mexico (Cortiñas), and Puerto Rico (McGrath) entwine in Entre Amigos, whose success lies in the fact that each of its four participants were given the opportunity to play to his or her strengths, their obvious rapport enlivening a generous serving of inventive compositions.

Russian born flutist/composer Yulia Musayelyan delves into folk tunes from Argentina as well as originals on the aptly titled Strange Times. This musician should be better known, given that she has released four albums as a leader and has recorded over 35 albums as a sidewoman. If there is justice in the music world, her fantastic work on this album should help ameliorate this marginality.

The record, conceived during the pandemic and recorded in April of this year, includes a simpático group of musicians; Maxim Lubarsky at the piano, Fernando Huergo on the bass, and Mark Walker on drums. All the musicians are very accomplished, especially Walker, who has appeared as a sideman on Paquito D’Rivera’s albums.

The Argentine folk songs that gave Musayelyan comfort during the pandemic, “Oración del Remanso” (Prayer of the Backwater), “Carnavalito,” “Parte del Aire,” and “Zamba de Usted,” are the heart of the record. The complex patterns and lush chord structure of “Oración del Remanso” inspire high-flying solos from Lubarsky and Musayelyan. The festive spirit continues on in “Carnavalito,” powered by Huergo and Walker on bass and drums respectively.

Musayelyan, currently assistant chair of Ear Training at Berklee College of Music, brings her expertise to bear on the title track, “Strange Times.” The shifts in tempo, along with the double tracking of the flute, make this tune a unique composition. A mixture of classical music, single note lines, and jazz phrasing combine to create a joyful noise on Musayelyan’s “Futurism.” Outstanding support is supplied  — in bunches — by the powerful drumming of Walker.

The quiet, subtle beauty of Musayelyan’s other tunes, “Rothko Sketches” and “Perugia at Night,” maintain the record’s high quality, a triumph guided by the leader’s technique and imagination.

In November of 2019 I visited Freight and Salvage in Berkeley, California, to hear a band called Steel House, with Edward Simon on piano, Scott Colley on bass, and Brian Blade on drums. I was impressed with the group’s intuitive intimacy as well as its zesty creative interplay. Fast forward to today: the album Three Visitors, featuring the same band members, makes effective use of the deep connection these gentlemen possess.

The Japanese art of restoring pottery, or “Kintsukuroi,” is the title of Blade’s wistfully understated contribution. Bassist Colley follows up with his composition, the swinging “Ellipsis.” Simon throws down a blanket of chords as Colley improvises on top.

Then comes the most exploratory tune on the album, “The Thicket,” where each band member searches for a way forward. The title track, “Three Visitors,” finds Simon at the top of his game, supplying a great solo turn.

After five lively instrumentals, the next two tracks come as a complete surprise. Jana Dagdagan is the narrator for the stirring “You Are,” a super positive song of praise. Guest Chris Potter bursts forth toward the end of the tune with his rousing go-for-it tenor saxophone sound. Then, when the listener least expects it, singer/songwriter/guitarist Becca Stevens joins the party on the wonderful track “I Wanna Be With You.” Stevens’s heartfelt lyrics and Simon’s lush music, featuring a steel pan sound, are aided by the Brazilian percussion of Rogério Boccato.

Critics have not written enough about the exceptional drumming of the incomparable Brian Blade. He keeps the various pieces of music on this album afloat with a succession of tantalizingly deft percussive breezes. Blade’s deft command of nuance and brevity make Three Visitors well worth repeated visits.

Brooks Geiken is a retired Spanish teacher with a lifelong interest in music, specifically Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, and Black American music. His wife thinks he should write a book titled “The White Dude’s Guide to Afro-Cuban and Jazz Music.” Brooks lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.