While balancing multiple high-profile gigs, the multi-instrumentalist and A-list sideman Dean Fertita has taken a step forward in his solo career with his first solo outing in over a decade. The anticipated Tropical Gothclub, released in late 2022, is his first record since 2009’s Hello=Fire, and features a mixture of harmonized leads, propulsive energy, and more trippy, dreamy moments.
For a stiff contraption of metal and wood, the guitar can convey an extraordinary range of human emotions. Combine it with an 11-piece ensemble and the options expand like a flower. Norway’s Hedvig Mollestad, her blonde Gibson ES-335 in hand, revels in these myriad possibilities on her latest album Maternity Beat, a commissioned project with the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra. (Previous TJO guest collaborators include Chick Corea and Joshua Redman not too shabby.)