CD OF THE WEEK. We who love jazz are fortunate to not only have a great annual jazz festival, but to also have several fine musicians based here because they teach at the prestigious Eastman School of Music.

Four of those talents are part of a superb new CD: For the Love, from Trio East. The trio is trumpeter Clay Jenkins, bassist Jeff Campbell and drummer Rich Thompson. On this album, the trio becomes a quintet, with the addition of pianist Harold Danko and guitarist Larry Koonse. (West Coaster Koonse is the only musician not on the Eastman faculty.)

The disc is an impressive studio set of originals, beautifully played and improvised by five talented musicians. Interestingly, a live version of some of the same material is also available on another recent disc, Live+2 at Kilbourn Hall, which makes it fun to compare and contrast the studio versus in-concert performances.

-- Jack Garner, Democrat & Chronicle, February 12, 2016