| Melissa Aldana
11 Mar Ron E. Beck 29 Apr Pascal Bokar 07 Oct Shanna Carlson 18 Mar Sara Caswell 25 Mar Carlos D'l Puerto 22 Jul Kellye Gray 15 Jul David Hart 04 Nov Bruce Jenkins 09 Dec Ellen Johnson 17 Jun Steffen Kuehn 02 Dec | Paul McCandless
08 Jul Allison Miller 15 Apr Melissa Morgan 29 Jul Linda Oh 05 Aug Dafnis Prieto 24 Jun Jim Pugh 30 Sep Fred Randolph 05 Feb Harvie S 03 Jun Jake Shapiro 10 Jun Marcus Shelby 15 Jan Bria Skonberg 04 Mar | Paul Smith
16 Dec Mark Soskin 20 May Leslie Stoval 19 Aug John Stowell 08 Apr Toots Thielemans 02 Sep Roseanna Vitro 26 Feb Paul VornHagen 14 Oct Don Was 12 Aug Danielle Wertz 27 May Howard Wiley 28 Oct |
| Kait Dunton (2018) | |
|---|---|
(Photo by Peter Figen) | Jazz critic Don Heckman described composer, pianist and educator Kait Dunton as "an extraordinary talent on the rise". Don uses the term "extraordinary" sparingly, so you know that she is the real deal.
Following language studies at the University of Virginia with the intention of becoming a Spanish translator, Kait changed direction, getting a Master of Music degree in Jazz Piano Performance from the University of North Texas—in fact she was a member of the group Snarky Puppy during their formative years. Kait is also an honored alumna from the USC's Thornton School of Music, where she received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree, and she is now an active professor, heading the piano performance program at the Los Angeles College of Music in her native Pasadena. Kait just issued her fifth recording, TrioKAIT 2. She is excellent at cultivating the art of the trio, with great compositions, crisp and solid piano chops, and some nice telepathy with bassist Cooper Appelt and drummer Jake Reed, with whom she's been playing for quite some time. |
| Pick | Artist | Album | Song | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| # 1 | Brad Mehldau | Largo | When It Rains | Warner Bros |
| # 2 | McCoy Tyner | Supertrios | Wave | Milestone |
| # 3 | Shirley Horn | I Thought About You | Nice 'n' Easy | Verve |
| # 4 | Wayne Shorter | Speak No Evil | Speak No Evil | Blue Note |
| # 5 | E.S.T. | Seven Days of Falling | Elevation of Love | ACT |
| # 6 | Herbie Hancock | Thrust | Actual Proof | Columbia |
| Book | Marilynne Robinson, "Housekeeping" | |||
| Luxury Item | An exit strategy: either a private jet or a chartered helicopter | |||