I’ll lead this by saying this is a different album from the one Scott Yanow reviews in this issue. He is quicker on the draw than me and the album he covers is a recent Mike Davis release featuring newly recorded music. This is a reissue of The New Wonders’ self-titled debut, recorded and self released in 2016. It is now seeing a distribution beyond the merch table courtesy of Turtle Bay Records. In listing off the members in his 2017 review of this album Scott Yanow says “Remember those names because each of them has the potential to be an important force in the classic jazz of the next couple of decades.” He was of course right. These guys have been involved in many groups and albums over the last eight years so this is a nice peek at where it all started.
The New Wonders is led by Bixian cornetist Mike Davis and here includes Ricky Alexander on clarinet and alto, trombonist Joe McDonough, pianist Dalton Ridenhour, banjoist Jared Engel, bass saxophonist Jay Rattman, and drummer Jay Lepley. Their new release includes some of the same names but with Colin Hancock, Andy Schumm, and Josh Holcomb in the mix. The new all star line up was formed for a gig in Switzerland and featured on our cover as the New York Classic Seven, the New Wonders name is much more memorable, a nod to the brand of cornet used by Bix.
There is a certain kind of jazz that attracts both an older generatio
