• Mika Marimba Madness

    Catalog #: BR8920

    Release Date: November 15, 2011

    21st Century
    Jazz
    Percussion
    Piano

    Big Round Records is proud to present MIKA MARIMBA MADNESS: LIVE IN CONCERT 2009, featuring a breathtaking performance from Japan's virtuoso marimbist Mika (Yoshida) Stoltzman alongside drummer Steve Gadd, bassist Eddie Gomez, and pianist Peter Stoltzman.

  • Marimjazzia

    Marimjazzia

    Catalog #: BR8933

    Release Date: April 29, 2014

    21st Century
    Jazz
    Percussion

    With a variety of musical flavors pulled from composers spanning Keiko Abe to Bach to Bill Evans, MARIMJAZZIA, composer and marimbist Juan Álamo's debut album on Big Round Records delivers a satisfying plate of music for the soul. Along with arrangements of two jazz standards, Waltz for Debby and Afro Blues, the album features original compositions for marimba and percussion ensemble by the composer. As to the concept behind the album, Álamo says, "It is a reflection of who I am as a human being and a synthesis of all the different musical influences and experiences I have had throughout my career." With accompaniments by the UNC Percussion Ensemble, MARIMJAZZIA brings together the warm airs of Álamo's native Puerto Rico and the influences that have kept his passion flourishing.

  • Marika Groove

    Marika Groove

    Catalog #: BR8923

    Release Date: April 1, 2012

    21st Century
    Jazz
    Clarinet
    Percussion

    In February 2012, three of today's greatest jazz musicians and arguably the world's top classical clarinetist entered Avatar Studios in New York to record a twelve-minute epic by the legendary Chick Corea. The resulting track, Marika Groove with marimbist Mika (Yoshida) Stoltzman, drummer Steve Gadd, bassist Eddie Gomez, and clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, captures the brilliance of both the composer and performers in a sprawling cut with constant interplay between the instruments and melodic marimba lines, which (Yoshida) Stoltzman navigates with ease.

  • Manhattan Projections

    Manhattan Projections

    Catalog #: BR8922

    Release Date: April 24, 2012

    20th Century
    Jazz
    Percussion
    Piano
    Saxophone

    Big Round Records is proud to announce its reissue of Andy Jaffe's MANHATTAN PROJECTIONS, an album of the jazz composer/pianist's works for small band repertoire. This rerelease of the jazz classic includes the original seven works from the 1984 debut, the McDaniels session tracks from the 2001 Playscape reissue, plus three bonus tracks from the Tom McClung-Andy Jaffe piano trio exclusive to this release.

  • In Sea Henry Wolking

    In Sea

    Catalog #: BR8944

    Release Date: March 11, 2016

    21st Century
    Jazz
    Big Band

    Its evident from hearing the jazz big band works of composer, arranger, conductor and trombonist Henry Wolking’s debut album on Big Round Records, IN SEA, that he effectively mixes complexity with simplicity in his jazz harmonies and colorful orchestrations that make for an exciting and memorable listening experience. The inspired solo work of band members and guest artists add to the sincere and fresh cosmopolitan character of the recording.

  • I am Not A Virus

    I Am Not A Virus

    Catalog #: BR8966

    Release Date: March 12, 2021

    21st Century
    Jazz
    Piano
    Saxophone
    Trumpet

    I AM NOT A VIRUS from composer Jordan VanHemert and Big Round Records, is a collection of contemporary music uniquely fitting for this unprecedented juncture in human history. Called an "excellent outing" by jazz historian Scott Yanow, the collection of lively, piano-driven jazz band performances takes inspiration from a wide swath of timely subjects—everything from the coronavirus pandemic to racially charged police killings and the resulting Black Lives Matter protests of 2020.

  • Goin Home A Retrospective

    Goin’ Home: A Retrospective

    Catalog #: BR8946

    Release Date: June 10, 2016

    21st Century
    Jazz
    Cello
    Percussion
    Piano

    GOIN’ HOME… A RETROSPECTIVE is pianist and composer Gay Pearson’s second release on Big Round Records. The album is a live recording of her most recent annual chamber-jazz concert, featuring an eclectic ensemble with Gay Pearson on piano, John Lockwood on bass, Phil McGowan on drums, Tracy McMullen on saxophone, Lea Pearson on flute, and Shannon Allen on cello. This varied ensemble performs a wide variety of music with different instrumental combinations, from Astor Piazzolla to classic tunes of Chick Corea, Harold Arlen and Jerome Kern, to more contemporary original compositions by Pearson herself.

  • Girl In Green

    Girl in Green

    Catalog #: BR8960

    Release Date: January 10, 2020

    20th Century
    Jazz
    Percussion
    Saxophone
    Trumpet

    New from Big Round Records comes jazz composer and pianist Paul English’s GIRL IN GREEN. The album features never-before-heard renditions of immortal classics as well as English’s original works. Listen as English and his cadre of masterful soloists carve a place for themselves in jazz history.

  • From The Spirit

    From the Spirit

    Catalog #: BR8934

    Release Date: May 27, 2014

    21st Century
    Jazz
    Guitar
    Piano
    Saxophone

    Birdland. The Village Vanguard. The Jazz Standard. Just a few of the New York clubs that have saturated the city's streets with the smooth sounds of jazz. Within this tradition, New York-native pianist and composer Bunny Beck presents seven cool and swinging original compositions as well as an arrangement of Hank Williams' "Your Cheatin' Heart" on her second release on Big Round Records, FROM THE SPIRIT. Featuring saxophonist Matt Blostein, guitarist Ed MacEachen, bassist Tom Hubbard, and drummer Vinnie Sperrazza, with Bunny Beck on piano, the Bunny Beck Jazz Ensemble highlights crisp and expressive improvisations while occasionally breaking into Latin rhythms. This album captures the relaxed and refined atmosphere emanating from those New York clubs.

  • Detours

    Detours

    Catalog #: BR8938

    Release Date: May 12, 2015

    20th Century
    21st Century
    Jazz
    Percussion
    Piano

    DETOURS, the debut Big Round Records release from percussionist Joe Porter and pianist Joel Goodfellow, showcases the jazz duo's capacity for collaboration and improvisation, with animated and dynamic versions of well-known film and literary compositions.

  • Chat Chill Highline

    Chat Chill Highline

    Catalog #: BR8937

    Release Date: November 11, 2014

    21st Century
    Jazz
    Big Band

    On her debut Big Round Records release, CHAT CHILL HIGHLINE, composer Christina Rusnak presents works arranged for big band and large jazz ensemble, illustrating manners in which we interact with others and our environments such as conversing, observing, and absorbing. Composed during the rising popularity of internet chatrooms, Chat reflects on the energy and the sounds of movement, the multitude of voices, and the interweaving of conversations created in virtual and real social gatherings.

  • Haney David Birth Of A City

    Birth of a City

    Catalog #: BR8956

    Release Date: July 26, 2019

    21st Century
    Jazz
    Percussion
    Piano
    String Quartet

    Even though the tracks on BIRTH OF A CITY are loosely grouped by their titles, the recording is very much a concept album. Haney, himself an accomplished pianist who also studied composition, scored the pieces for a kind of string quartet (violin – viola – cello – double bass), interspersed by varying quantities of brass instruments and percussion. Naturally, as one would expect from this kind of music, all works are scored with exactitude – for the most part, that is. Remarkably, Haney grants the performers a great amount of improvisatory freedom – indubitably owing to his own background in jazz, the genre which definitely and definitively shines through in all his compositions.

  • COTATCHA ORCHESTRA

    Bigband Electronics

    Catalog #: BR8963

    Release Date: November 13, 2020

    21st Century
    Jazz
    Big Band
    Electronic

    Fresh from Big Round Records comes the Cotatcha Orchestra’s BIGBANDOVÁ ELEKTRONIKA/BIGBAND ELECTRONICS. As its name suggests, this unprecedented album pairs original big band music with electronic music, concocting a sound—and perhaps even a brand new genre—that listeners have never heard before.

  • Big Round Sound

    Big Round Sound Vol. 1

    Catalog #: BR8942

    Release Date: July 10, 2015

    20th Century
    21st Century
    Chamber
    Jazz
    Guitar
    Harp
    Piano

    Big Round Record's first installment of its compilation series, BIG ROUND SOUND VOL. 1, presents a deep cross-section of the label's contemporary and eclectic catalog. From jazz and world music to folk, fusion, and progressive rock, this album features performances by Tony R. Clef, the Oscuro Quintet, Andy Jaffe and Branford Marsalis, Sophie Dunér, the Larksong Trio, Anne Vanschothorst, Juan Álamo, Jean-Philippe Grégoire, and more in works by Christina Rusnak, Svjetlana Bukvich, Sebastiano Meloni, Ecco La Musica, Bunny Beck, and others.

  • Berl Olswanger in the Studio

    Catalog #: BR8980

    Release Date: September 8, 2023

    20th Century
    Jazz
    Piano
    Voice

    Berl Olswanger, “Mr. Music of Memphis,” returns for a fifth installment of timeless archival recordings on Big Round Records with BERL OLSWANGER IN THE STUDIO. This never-before-heard collection transports listeners back to the pianist’s private studio in 1950’s Memphis where he recorded his early compositions, some of which went on to become fully orchestrated tracks on the 2021 release BERL OLSWANGER AT PEPPER RECORDS. With a smooth blend of blues, country, boogie-woogie, and ragtime influences, Olswanger delivers tunes that capture the popular sounds of the era. From the strong stride piano solo in Chicken Bone Man to the fluttering fills in Tennessee Skidoo, Olswanger’s inimitable approach shines through, inviting listeners into his private studio to witness an early period of the piano great’s legacy.

  • Berl Olswanger at the piano

    Berl Olswanger at the Piano

    Catalog #: BR8965

    Release Date: January 8, 2021

    20th Century
    Jazz
    Guitar
    Piano

    Big Round Records presents the first of five albums by “Mr. Music of Memphis,” Berl Olswanger, featuring tunes by Duke Ellington, Hoagy Carmichael, Cole Porter, and more. From pop standards and jazz ditties to good old-fashioned polka, pianist Berl Olswanger wrested command of just about every style.

  • Berl Olswanger at pepper records

    Berl Olswanger at Pepper Records

    Catalog #: BR8967

    Release Date: March 26, 2021

    20th Century
    Jazz
    Piano
    Voice

    Berl Olswanger returns for a second installment of timeless archival recordings on Big Round Records, with BERL OLSWANGER AT PEPPER RECORDS, a collection of tunes recorded during the late-50’s golden era of the Memphis record business. Olswanger hit the state-of-the-art studios at Pepper Records to record 10 songs by William “Pat” Best, Floyd Huddleston, Olswanger himself, and more.

  • Berl Olswanger and the Olswanger Beat

    Berl Olswanger and the Olswanger Beat

    Catalog #: BR8969

    Release Date: May 28, 2021

    20th Century
    Jazz
    Piano
    Trombone
    Trumpet

    Blues and big band lovers are in for a swingin' treat with Big Round Records' new archival recording of BERL OLSWANGER AND THE OLSWANGER BEAT, the label’s third released recording by “Mr. Music of Memphis." Olswanger, whose musical career spanned over a half-century, could easily be called a jack-of-all-trades: a popular bandleader, a prolific composer of swing music, a serial entrepreneur, and a wildly successful teacher bringing the art of music-making to the masses.

  • An Imperfect Storm

    An Imperfect Storm

    Catalog #: BR8907

    Release Date: May 25, 2010

    21st Century
    Jazz
    Orchestral
    Big Band
    Orchestra
    Saxophone

    Andy Jaffe’s precise-yet-swinging big band jazz compositions shine on his premiere Big Round release, from a playful rendition of Nat King Cole’s Straighten Up and Fly Right to the sprawling Porticulture suite.

  • A Sinister Endeavor

    A Sinister Endeavor

    Catalog #: BR8941

    Release Date: July 10, 2015

    21st Century
    Jazz
    Cello
    Percussion
    Piano

    On her debut Big Round Records release, A SINISTER ENDEAVOR, composer and pianist Gay Pearson presents a collection of works that highlight her eclectic quintet - consisting of piano, bass, drums, flute, and cello - and their colorful, introspective, and energetic performances. Recorded live in Newburyport MA, this album presents original works by Pearson, including Zonal and Meridional Flow, with its classical counterpoint and 4-part polyphony; the energetic solo piano piece Cirrus High; and An Ionian Emitter, which uses complex rhythms and syncopation.