Connection Works Records has announced two new jazz releases arriving worldwide on May 29, 2026, showcasing adventurous new music from flutist/composer Michel Gentile and drummer/composer Rob Garcia. The label’s latest projects highlight two distinct creative visions while celebrating deep collaboration, improvisation, and modern jazz innovation.
Michel Gentile makes his long-awaited debut as a bandleader with Light Of Day, recorded with his ensemble Flow. The album features Gentile performing on flute, alto flute, bass flute, and piccolo alongside Mike McGinnis on clarinet, Jacob Garchik on trombone, Chris Lightcap on bass, and Tom Rainey on drums. Built around the concept of musical immersion and interaction, Flow was designed to give each instrument the freedom and sonic space to fully develop its own voice within the ensemble.
Gentile’s compositions move fluidly between structured arrangements and open improvisation, drawing inspiration from visionaries such as Charles Mingus, Duke Ellington, and Henry Threadgill. Across Light Of Day, layered textures, spontaneous interplay, overlapping solos, and shifting ensemble dynamics create a listening experience rooted in both precision and exploration.
The album’s title track was written for Gentile’s wife and reflects the emotional and structural depth that defines the project as a whole. The composition evolves through contrasting musical identities, intricate counterpoint, rhythmic hockets, and a powerful extended drum feature from Tom Rainey before returning transformed by the journey it has taken.
Other standout moments include “Chthonian,” inspired by mythic underworld spirits, and “Flesh and Steel,” written in response to the tragedy of 9/11 and intended to capture both personal grief and collective trauma. “Solidaire” draws from an Albert Camus story centered on the tension between solitude and solidarity, while “This Reminds Me of You” emerged almost instantaneously after Gentile watched the film Stranger Than Fiction. The album also explores blues abstraction, poetic imagery, and meditative ensemble improvisation through pieces such as “Ici là-bas” and “Hold Infinity in the Palm of Your Hand.”
Gentile has built an expansive career as both performer and composer, collaborating with artists including Ray Charles, Anthony Braxton, Jane Ira Bloom, Dave Liebman, Joe Lovano, and Fred Hersch. A graduate of the New England Conservatory, he studied with influential figures including Jimmy Giuffre, Geri Allen, Dave Holland, and George Russell. DownBeat previously recognized him as a “Talent Deserving Wider Recognition,” and he continues to work extensively across jazz, theater, dance, and film while co-directing the nonprofit organization Connection Works.
Also arriving May 29 is Sizzle Ensemble, the latest recording from acclaimed drummer and composer Rob Garcia. Expanding upon the foundation of his longtime Rob Garcia 4 project, Garcia introduces a vibrant new quintet featuring Noah Preminger on tenor saxophone, Shane Endsley on trumpet, Gary Versace on piano and electric piano, and Kim Cass on bass.
The album blends original compositions with inventive reinterpretations of jazz classics, revealing Garcia’s ability to balance accessibility with fearless experimentation. The title Sizzle references both the excitement generated by a band in peak form and the shimmering cymbal textures central to Garcia’s rhythmic language.
Garcia’s original works cover a wide emotional spectrum. “Early Celebration” channels the energy of Ornette Coleman through accelerating momentum and explosive improvisation, while “Autumn Mischief” reflects childhood memories tied to Halloween and Mischief Night. “Department of Peace” was written as both protest and hope, inspired by political unrest and the enduring pursuit of global peace. “Bully” examines the inner conflicts people carry within themselves, and “River” revisits and reshapes an earlier Garcia composition with fresh perspective.
The album’s arrangements are equally ambitious. Garcia transforms Thelonious Monk’s “Epistrophy” through Afro 12/8 rhythms and shifting meters, reshapes Marcus Miller’s “Tutu,” and gives Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage” a more urgent, groove-oriented energy. Reinvention has long been central to Garcia’s work, which has included jazz interpretations of music by The Beatles, Leonard Cohen, Chopin, Bob Dylan, and Hildegard von Bingen.
A major force within Brooklyn’s jazz community, Garcia has performed on more than seventy-five recordings and collaborated with artists including Joe Lovano, Wynton Marsalis, David Byrne, Diana Krall, Anat Cohen, and Kronos Quartet. In addition to leading his own projects, he serves as founder and artistic director of Connection Works, a nonprofit organization dedicated to presenting jazz performance and education programs throughout Brooklyn.
The albums will also be celebrated with several upcoming live performances, including Rob Garcia Sizzle Ensemble appearances at Bay Bayeux in Brooklyn on May 9 and Smalls Jazz Club in New York City on May 28, followed by a June 6 double bill featuring both Michel Gentile Flow and Rob Garcia Sizzle Ensemble at Wide Open Works at IBeam in Brooklyn.
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