Favorite local jazz CDs, part 1

This list is not meant to be definitive. Rather, it's a highly subjective selection of some of my favorite local jazz recordings. Got some of your own? Send 'em to me via the blog or e-mail me at bobweinberg@mac.com. In the meantime, enjoy this first installment.

1. Abbey Rader and Noah Brandmark: Open Friends (Abray Productions, 2001). A series of challenging free-jazz duets between roiling, powerhouse drummer Rader and edgy yet toneful tenor saxophonist Brandmark, Open Friends always gets my pulse racing like a triple shot of espresso. Scabrously delicious.

2. David Liebman and Michael Gerber: Souls and Masters (Cactus, 1999). New York reed master Liebman teams up with South Florida pianist Gerber on a selection of distinctive melodies by Miami's Rhoda Averbach. Liebs' fanged soprano sax intertwines with Gerber's rich and soulful playing, evincing the emotional complexity of Averbach's compositions.

3. Keshavan Maslak and Katsuyuki Itakura: Excuse Me, Mr. Satie (Leo, 1994). Kenny Millions' evocative recording of tunes composed and inspired by Erik Satie remains one of my favorites of his vast discography. Switching among clarinet, soprano and tenor saxes, he and frequent pianist-collaborator Itakura mine the humor and pathos of Satie's works to both pay homage and comment on this most-subervise composer. "Excuse me for being boring," Millions intones on the piece by the same name at the close of the album. Clearly, that's one thing he'll never be accused of.

4. Marilynn Seits: Karmic Tribute (CMR Jazz, 2000). Although she's since left the area, West Palm Beach pianist Marilynn Seits recorded a superb solo piano album that pays tribute to her favorite composers. Gorgeous interpretations of music by Billy Strayhorn, Charles Mingus, Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Carla Bley and Steve Swallow display the breadth of influences upon which she draws.

5. Miami Saxophone Quartet: Take Four Giant Steps (Fourtitude, 2002). Comprising virtuosi saxophonists Gary Keller (soprano), Gary Lindsay (alto), Ed Calle (tenor) and Mike Brignola (baritone), the MSQ blew in like an ocean breeze on a stifling summer day with this wonderful recording. Lindsay's writing and arrangements are incredibly hip, particularly a dazzlingly fresh take on Coltrane's "Giant Steps."