Joel Ross - Kingmaker

Kingmaker is an album that meets clear technical might with a whole lot of youthful energy and bright emotion.

For his first release, Ross brought in bassist Harish Raghavan as producer and convened his Good Vibes band - Immanuel Wilkins on alto saxophone, Jeremy Corren on piano, Benjamin Tiberio on bass, and Jeremy Dutton on drums, plus guest vocalist Gretchen Parlato - for a lithe and melodic trip through a wild array of inspirations. And at the heart of it all is the wisdom passed down personally to Ross from Hutcherson.

The Chicago-born, Brooklyn-based player and composer has a way of being everywhere interesting at once: from deeply innovative albums (Makaya McCraven's Universal Beings, Walter Smith III and Matthew Stevens’ In Common) to reliably revolutionary combos (Marquis Hill's Blacktet, Peter Evans' Being and Becoming) to the buzzing debut of Blue Note's 2018 breakout star James Francies (Flight). Even with his own bands—which include quartets and a large ensemble dedicated to works of and in-the-style-of Ornette Coleman and the Keith Jarrett’s American Quartet—Ross is basically a living blur of mallets and talent and ideas.

But 2019 is his year to be the star as he joins the Blue Note Records roster and adds his name to an illustrious jazz vibraphone legacy on the label that extends from Milt Jackson and Bobby Hutcherson to Stefon Harris and now Ross.