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PlayersJeff Albert ;Crescent City’sNext Wave RollsThrough ChicagoWhile trombonist Jeff Albert’s 20-plus-yearcareer features music played with some firstgenerationmusicians who helped define hishometown of New Orleans’ funk and r&b, he’srecently been collaborating with the free-improviserswho’ve built a community in Chicago.“My initial connection to Chicago wasthrough recordings,” Albert said. “I picked upsome early Ken Vandermark 5 things, and reallydug what Jeb Bishop was doing.”Trombonist Bishop joined forces with Albertto form the Lucky 7s, which released Farragut(Lakefront Digital) in 2006 and just releasedPluto Junkyard (Clean Feed).“Jeb’s trio was here in the fall of 2003, andthat performance opened my mind and ears,”Albert said. “It’s not that I started to copy Jeb’sstuff so much as hearing his stuff helped mefind mine. Right around that same time, [saxophonist]Fred Anderson and [drummer] HamidDrake did a show in New Orleans with [saxophonist]Kidd Jordan and [bassist] WilliamParker which was amazing, and it pushed meinto exploring more of their music and themusic of their associates.”At that time, Albert’s already multi-facetedcareer had included recording stints with DeaconJohn’s Jump Blues, Gatemouth Brown andAaron Neville, among other New Orleansgreats. He also worked in horn sections behindStevie Wonder, Bonnie Raitt and RonnieMilsap, and touring with the Tommy Dorseyand Harry James orchestras. Cruise ship andsalsa gigs, playing with the reggae band CoolRiddums, Sista Teedy, and performing as anextra and substitute with the LouisianaPhilharmonic Orchestra took him down otheravenues altogether.Albert said that he and Bishop “eventuallydeveloped a friendship through some onlinetrombonist communities. Initially, it was aroundexciting topics like the best way to remove thelacquer from vintage Conn trombones, but itmoved into a genuine friendship that isn’tmusic-dependent.”Hurricane Katrina’s disastrous impact onAlbert’s hometown made this friendship a lifesaver.“A couple of weeks after Katrina I wastalking to Jeb about ideas for places to bookmy quartet in Chicago, because there wasn’tanything happening here yet, and I neededbadly to play music for a variety of reasons,”Albert said. “He suggested that when I comeup, we also do a co-op group with my bandand some Chicago guys. This idea becamethe Lucky 7s. Quin Kirchner, who was thedrummer in my quartet pre-Katrina, hadZACH SMITHBen Wendel ; Intertwined CoastsThis past spring, saxophonist Ben Wendelreturned to Los Angeles after a stint at NewYork’s Jazz Gallery in support of his debut,Simple Song (Sunnyside Records). For him, itwas a typically busy week. Between juggling aself-managed solo career and various other sidegigs, he also teaches weekly private lessons atUniversity of Southern California as an adjunctprofessor. But even with a diverse resume thatincludes gigs with drummer Ignacio Berroa andrapper Snoop Dogg, writing music for film andco-leading the modern jazz combo Kneebody,Wendel, at 33, considers himself a late bloomer.“I’m not a spring chicken in terms of havingbeen on the road a lot,” Wendel said. “But this ismy first experience, specifically, as a leader,dealing with a tour, booking flights and hotels.”While Wendel says that he kept busy as asideman, it took a while for him to feel confidentin presenting music onto a disc that was specificallyhis. “With some people, it comes naturally;other people kind of fall into [a solo career],because they’re lucky or some hyper-talentedprodigy,” he said.His debut disc exhibits a strongpresence, not just in terms of displayinghis flinty tenor sound andsupple, conversational improvisations,but also his compositionalguile. Except for a soft-hued butrhythmically kinetic rendering ofJohn Coltrane’s “Lonnie’s Lament”and a version of Billy Strayhorn’s“A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing,”on which he overdubs himself onvarious saxophones and bassoon,Simple Song showcases all originals.Featuring members of his WestCoast band (bassist Darek “Oles”Oleszkiewicz and guitarist Larry Koonse) andhis East Coast ensemble (drummer Nate Woodand keyboardist Adam Benjamin) as well aspianists Taylor Eigsti and Tigran Hamasyan,Simple Song, as the title suggests, places a premiumon compositional craft. But when asked ifhe sees himself more as a composer or a saxo-phonist, he argues that those artistic sides areintertwined inside. “I think Wayne Shorter is theperfect example of that. He’s someone who is anincredible composer and a distinctive saxophoneimproviser,” Wendel said.Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, butraised in Los Angeles, Wendel studied music atKIM FOX24 DOWNBEAT August 2009