Jerome Sabbagh, Ben Monder, Joe Martin, Nasheet Waits
Compact Disc
The analog to digital transfer for our Compact Discs is made from the master tape by Bernie Grundman on a JCF Latte converter, directly at 44.1/24. This method requires a dedicated pass from the tape, in real time. It eschews downsampling and we think it sounds better. The dithering from 24 bits to 16 bits is done through a Lavry 3000S. We also prefer using this older but great sounding external processor to software solutions.
Track Listing:
1. Lone Jack (for Ray Charles and Pete Rende) 6:02
2. Michelle’s Song (for Michelle Egan) 4:20
3. Lunar Cycle (for Sam Rivers) 4:18
4. The Break Song (for Stevie Wonder) 5:06
5. High Falls (for Meaghan Glennan) 5:57
6. Mosh Pit (for Trent Reznor) 3:21
7. Vanguard (for Paul Motian) 5:17
8. Unbowed (for Kenny Barron) 5:23Total Time: 39:43
Jerome Sabbagh (tenor saxophone), Ben Monder (guitar), Joe Martin (bass), Nasheet Waits (drums)
About Stand Up!Jerome Sabbagh reconvenes his longstanding quartet for the first time in more than a decade for the timely Stand Up!. With all original compositions by Sabbagh, the album features guitarist Ben Monder, bassist Joe Martin, and new addition, drummer Nasheet Waits. The album was recorded by James Farber at Power Station, direct to analog tape and mastered by Bernie Grundman.
Read Full Press Release
Saxophonist and composer Jerome Sabbagh has always prided himself on being an artist who stands up strongly for the qualities and principles that he believes in – artistic integrity, bold individuality, social consciousness, and a distinctive personal vision. His vibrant new album, Stand Up!, asserts those values in a number of ways, wedding memorable compositions to fervent playing by Sabbagh’s longtime quartet. Stand Up! was recorded live to analog tape and released on the saxophonist’s own newly-founded label, Analog Tone Factory.
With Stand Up!, due out October 17, 2025, Sabbagh celebrates more than 20 years with his outstanding quartet – guitarist Ben Monder, bassist Joe Martin, and, making his recorded debut with the band, drummer Nasheet Waits. The album marks the group’s first release in over a decade, a period in which Sabbagh has focused on fruitful collaborations with jazz elders including pianist Kenny Barron (Vintage) and the late drummer Al Foster (Heart).
Throughout that time, the quartet has never lost its prominent place among Sabbagh’s priorities. “A lot of my favorite music in jazz has been created by working bands,” the saxophonist states. “Miles Davis’ first and second quintets, the John Coltrane quartet, the Bill Evans Trio, Lovano / Frisell / Motian – those are real bands. Part of what made them so great is the fact that they played together with a certain frequency, even if they didn’t stay together for so many years.”
The centrality of the core idea behind Stand Up! to Sabbagh’s artistic thinking is reflected by the fact that the album shares its title with a composition that the quartet recorded on its second album, 2007’s Pogo. It felt all the more relevant as a cri de cœur today, both as the band’s debut on Sabbagh’s new independent imprint and in regards to the larger backdrop of political turmoil against which it was created.
“I believe that the title captures the feel of the moment,” Sabbagh explains. “I feel both a desire and a sense of urgency to be myself artistically, to try to write music I believe in and play it with the people that I have a strong connection with. It’s also time to stand up for what you believe in, whether that means making an artistic statement or finding a way to affect our political reality in a positive way.”
As far-reaching as that concept may be, the pieces that Sabbagh wrote for Stand Up! are also intimate and deeply personal, each one dedicated to a person (or people) who has impacted the path of his music – some of them friends and colleagues, most of them influences and inspirations.