Immersed in thoughts of identity, family and culture, Chicago saxophonist Maddie Vogler commissioned the original cover art depicting the hands of her immigrant grandmothers to frame her debut recording.

Steeped in modern jazz while freely exploring Vogler’s relationship with her Cuban roots, her nine original compositions are brimming with adventurous rhythmic energy and melodic soulfulness.

Her musical mentor, trumpeter Tito Carrillo, shares the front line, while the rhythm section of Matt Gold, Jake Shapiro, Samuel Peters, and Neil Hemphill provide a percolating momentum on tunes such as The Need To Be, an elegiac gait on Corridors, or a driving, Afro-Cuban flavored 9/8 on Check Engine Light.

Thus, the brand new recording While We Have Time is an expansive and striking debut, planting Vogler squarely within Chicago’s historical jazz lineage.

1. The Need To Be (5:04)
2. Corridors (7:39)
3. Ropa Vieja (7:07)
4. Industrielle (7:40)
5. While We Have Time (4:51)
6. Hymn for August (1:47)
7. Between Wakefulness and Sleep (5:04)
8. Sunday Colors (6:08)
9. Check Engine Light (5:13)

The album opens on the joyously free flowing The Need To Be and the aching balladry, at first, upbeat and free thereafter Corridors, and then we get the atmospherically-charged Ropa Vieja and the lavishly rhythmic Industrielle.

Produced by Maddie Vogler herself, we continue onward with the succulent While We Have Time and the aching Hymn for August, and they are in turn backed by the playful Between Wakefulness and Sleep, the album rounding out on the simply gorgeous Sunday Colors, closing on the strident Check Engine Light.

Musicians:
Maddie Vogler - alto saxophone
Tito Carrillo - trumpet, flugelhorn
Matt Gold - guitar
Jake Shapiro - piano
Samuel Peters - bass
Neil Hemphill - drums

Official Website

Maddie Vogler @ Facebook