For those unaware, Jeff Rupert is a saxophonist, composer, educator, and recording artist whose career spans performance, recording, and jazz education.

A graduate of Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rupert has performed and recorded with artists including Benny Carter, Maynard Ferguson, Diane Schuur, Mel Tormé, Ernestine Anderson, Kevin Mahogany, Benny Green, Ray Drummond, Joe Farnsworth, and Michael Philip Mossman.

In 1996, Rupert joined the Sam Rivers Band, recording four albums and appearing at venues and events including Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Vision Festival, and Columbia University. He has also performed internationally, including appearances in New Zealand’s Jaguar International Jazz Series alongside Joe La Barbera, John Fedchock, Larry Koonse, and Tom Warrington.

Beyond his work as a performer, Rupert serves on the faculty of the University of Central Florida, where he directs the Flying Horse Big Band and founded Flying Horse Records. Under his leadership, multiple student and faculty recordings have appeared on the JazzWeek chart. He also founded and produces the UCF Orlando Jazz Festival, which has been featured on NPR and SiriusXM through Dee Dee Bridgewater’s Jazz Set.

As a leader, Rupert has released numerous recordings under his own name and with ensembles including The Jazz Professors and Jeff Rupert + Dirty Martini. His 2024 release, It Gets Better, featured pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Peter Washington, and drummer Joe Farnsworth.

His latest project, Sea Spell, captures the sound of a quartet refined through nearly two decades of performing together, combining original compositions with interpretations of jazz standards.

1. Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most (5:27)
2. Blue Steel (4:59)
3. Mambo Inn (3:32)
4. Sea Spell (4:18)
5. Look Who’s Calling (5:42)
6. Polka Dots and Moonbeams (6:48)
7. A Breeze Through the Keys (4:00)
8. Orca-Stration (5:58)
9. Wednesday’s News (4:41)

With numerous recordings as a featured soloist, the jazz saxophonist extraordinaire opens up this magnificently honed, and dutifully informed new recording opens on the smoothly impassioned Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most before we are brought forth the rousingly sublime Blue Steel, the aptly-titled Mambo Inn and the softly sumptuous title track Sea Spell.

Along next is the infectiously-grooved Look Who’s Calling which is itself backed seamlessly by the late night jazz club ambiance of Polka Dots and Moonbeams, the emotive A Breeze Through the Keys, the set rounding out on the joyfully sculpted breeze of Orca-Stration, coming to a close on the languishing beauty of Wednesday’s News (4:41).

In 2017, the quartet released an album with Veronica Swift called Let’s Sail Away. This new recording captures the group’s sound after nearly two decades of live performances, featuring three well-known songs and six original compositions.

Musicians:
Jeff Rupert – tenor sax
Richard Drexler – piano
Ben Kramer – bass
Marty Morell – drums

Jeff Rupert @ Spotify