Standard Sessions - Chad Lefkowitz-Brown

Standard Sessions compiles tenor saxophonist Chad Lefkowitz-Brown's series of straight-ahead quartet recordings, originally filmed for his YouTube channel, into a self-released digital album. The project grew out of his desire to recapture the spontaneous energy of the jam sessions he frequented as a young musician in Harlem and Manhattan, and the tracks were recorded with that live-in-the-studio approach — standards played by ear with minimal arranging. Several different rhythm sections rotate across the album, with pianists including David Meder, Adam Birnbaum, Victor Gould, Carmen Staaf, Manuel Valera, Steven Feifke, Takeshi Ohbayashi, and Joshua Richman, alongside a similarly varied cast of bassists and drummers. The repertoire draws from the bebop and Great American Songbook canon, covering composers from Charlie Parker and Ornette Coleman to Cole Porter and Hank Mobley. By the time of its release, Lefkowitz-Brown had built a substantial online following through his educational videos and sideman work with artists like Chris Botti, and Standard Sessions served as a statement of his core identity as a hard bop improviser. DownBeat praised his poise and mastery of the material, while Contemporary Fusion Reviews highlighted the album's energy, singling out tracks like "Scrapple From The Apple" and "When Will The Blues Leave?" for their vibrant performances.