Trombonist JC Sanford’s jazz trio will release their album Imminent Standards Trio, Vol. I on July 23, 2021 on Shifting Paradigm Records. The Minnesota-based group features Sanford on trombone with Jeff Bailey on bass and Phil Hey on drums.

During this extraordinary period we’re living through, the lives of performing musicians have ground to a halt—no shows, no matter how big or small. But to the rescue, an unlikely hero: the State of Minnesota. Due to a generous grant intended to provide some relief for working artists, and connect people in the community to those artists’ work, JC has been able to recreate one of his favorite regular gigs, a monthly hit at Imminent Brewing in his hometown of Northfield, MN, only this time, “live”, and socially distanced, in the recording studio.

Reflecting the way in which a usual gig might go down, the group embraced spontaneity and made material and style choices on the spot, rather than relying on rehearsed, pre-set arrangements. “We thought up a bunch of tunes that would be fun to play and then often figured out how we were going to do them right before counting them off, much like we would do in a live performance.” The choice of tunes range from the American Songbook to Monk, Wayne Shorter and other jazz composers. It is JC’s hope that the listener will be put in the mindset of relaxing with friends, favored beverage in hand, listening to musicians “have a damn good time making music together.”