Mel's Vision

Since he emigrated to the United States from Russia in 1991, Alex Sipiagin has earned an exalted international reputation as a no-technical-limits improvisor, sustaining a gorgeous sound throughout the trumpet's registral range, navigating harmonic and rhythmic complexity with precision, passion, and abiding lyricism. Most of Sipiagin's 12 previous albums for Criss Cross also showcase his contrapuntal, harmonically comprehensive compositions, full of interesting melodic twists and turns. On them, the projects the same voice that he improvises with but written out for more instruments. For his 13th Criss Cross date, Mel's Vision, the 55-year-old master - joined by A-listers tenor saxophonist Chris Potter, pianist David kikoski, bassist Matt Brewer and drummer Johnathan Blake - contributes two wonderful originals. But Alex addresses the session primarily as an opportunity to focus on interpreting music by others - a song by Potter, a Ukrainian folk song and four rarely covered gems from the jazz canon. The Album was recorded April 22, 2021 at the Samurai Hotel Recording Studio in NY. Recording engineer Mike Marciano also did the editing, mixing and mastering at Systems Two in NY. Photography by Anna Yatskevich