Despite having a well-deserved reputation among other musicians as a disciplined and inventive improviser, composer, and trumpeter, Jason Palmer hasn't exactly been a household name. But based on Songbook, his recorded debut as a bandleader, that will change. Palmer has taken his time and established himself as a rock-solid session player with, among others, Roy Haynes, Jerry Bergonzi, Kevin Mahogany, Common, Herbie Hancock, Bilal, Jeff Tain Watts, and literally dozens of others -- including his (at the time of this writing) membership in the Greg Osby Five. Songbook, issued on the Ayva Music imprint, is an auspicious debut, full of sophisticated charts, inspired and inventive performances, and an innovator's sense of the jazz world, past and present. The music is progressive post-bop with ultra-modern sensibilities, and the cast of players is stellar: it includes his regular quintet with bassist Matt Brewer, drummer Tommy Crane, and pianist Leo Genovese on the Fender Rhodes as well as acoustic piano. Guests here include Ravi Coltrane, his current boss Osby, and the woefully underappreciated Warren Wolf on vibes. Palmer composed and arranged all nine selections here and -- one can only suppose -- sequenced them as well.

1		Priest Lake
2		Found It
3		Laid Up
4		Checkmate
5		One for J Mac
6		In a Certain Way
7		The Shadowboxer
8		Hoop-Ti-Du
9		Will There Ever Be Employment for the Exonerated People