2026
Hard Bop: For the Record
A personal, composition-driven hard bop statement from a veteran guitarist returning with renewed purpose, original music, and a piano-less two-horn quintet sound.
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About the album
On Hard Bop: For The Record, Chako turns renewed purpose into ten original compositions shaped by the soulful drive, memorable melodies, blues feeling, and swinging fire of the hard bop tradition. Inspired by the classic quintets of Horace Silver and Art Blakey, the album features saxophone, trombone, guitar, bass, and drums, with the intentional absence of piano allowing the guitar to serve as the harmonic core of the ensemble.
Written after a life-threatening battle with sepsis, Hard Bop: For The Record turns recovery into renewed artistic purpose. The first piece Chako began composing after returning home from the hospital was “Second Chance,” a swinging tune born out of gratitude and the realization that he still had more music to write. That sense of purpose runs through the album, but the recording is not framed as a survival story alone. Its center is the writing: the compositions, arrangements, ensemble interaction, rhythmic character, and melodic storytelling.
The program opens with “Mozambique,” built on a driving bass ostinato and inspired by the Afro-Cuban Mozambique rhythm. “Second Chance” follows as the album’s emotional doorway, connecting Chako’s recovery to a renewed sense of swing and purpose. “Ballad to the Bone” brings the trombone forward in a warm, lyrical ballad setting. “Soar With the Wind” draws inspiration from “Marney,” a Donald Byrd composition recorded on Jackie McLean’s Vertigo, and uses an open drum solo to propel the music back into its final melodic statement.
“Bop for Bud” offers a relaxed nod to Bud Powell and the bebop language surrounding “Dance of the Infidels,” and “Mr. Higgins” pays tribute to drummer Billy Higgins, whose “Marilyn’s Dilemma” has long been one of Chako’s favorite vehicles for improvisation. “Time to Play” grows from a cool opening vamp into a more intense solo framework, leading to drums over the vamp, while “Mellow-Dee,” the album’s second ballad, moves in 3/4 time with trombone carrying the melody in a restrained, lyrical voice. “April Wind,” a contrafact based on “I’ll Remember April,” revisits a concept Chako first recorded on his Singapore album Where We Find Ourselves. The closing title track, “For the Record,” is a minor blues boogaloo shaped by the Latin-influenced groove tradition of 1960s New York.
The title For The Record carries a double meaning. The music was created for this recording, but it also serves as a statement of identity: where Chako comes from musically, what still drives his writing, and how the hard bop tradition continues to offer room for personal expression, ensemble dialogue, and forward motion.
Listen
Track list
- 01Mozambique5:43
- 02Second Chance4:21
- 03Ballad to the Bone5:58
- 04Soar With the Wind5:46
- 05Bop for Bud7:10
- 06Mr. Higgins5:43
- 07Time to Play6:36
- 08Mellow-Dee7:33
- 09April Wind5:57
- 10For the Record5:22
All songs composed and arranged by Greg Chako.
One-Sheet
Video
Mozambique
Greg Chako · “Mozambique” from Hard Bop: For the Record
Reviews
What the critics said
9 press reviews & features
Radio & Charts
- #5Roots Music Report Top 50 Jazz AlbumsPeak, week ending October 17, 2026
- #2Roots Music Report Top 50 Traditional JazzPeak, week ending October 17, 2026
- #20NACC Top 30 JazzDebut, week ending October 20, 2026
- NACC Top 5 Jazz Adds: #2 (tie), 6 top adds (week ending September 8, 2026)
- Roots Music Report: 5 consecutive weeks on both national charts
- JazzWeek national airplay: best position #121 (chart dated October 26, 2026)
Chart history
| Week ending | Top 50 Jazz Albums | Top 50 Traditional Jazz |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 19, 2026 | #9 | #3 |
| Sep 26, 2026 | #8 | #3 |
| Oct 3, 2026 | #9 | #3 |
| Oct 10, 2026 | #10 | #3 |
| Oct 17, 2026 | #5 (peak) | #2 (peak) |
| Chart date | Position | Spins | Stations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 14, 2026 | #433 | 5 | 11 |
| Sep 21, 2026 | #175 | 22 | 11 |
| Sep 28, 2026 | #150 | 28 | 15 |
| Oct 5, 2026 | #141 | 30 | 10 |
| Oct 12, 2026 | #139 | 28 | 12 |
| Oct 19, 2026 | #129 | 34 | 11 |
| Oct 26, 2026 | #121 | 30 | 14 |
Sources: Roots Music Report Top 50 Jazz Albums, Roots Music Report Top 50 Traditional Jazz
Chart and airplay figures as of October 22, 2026.
“The result is music that respects its history without surrendering its independence, and perhaps that is the most convincing way for a tradition as resilient as hard bop to remain alive in the 21st century.”
“Chako has clearly listened to the masters, but he does not sound trapped by his admiration for them.”
“He’s got a gorgeous tone, bluesy classic style and knows when and when not to play.”
“A fresh coat of paint on a classic chassie.”
“Chako, whose solos are invariably crystal clear and well-designed, serves also as the group’s harmonic center, deftly supporting Spencer Merk and Giles while sharing rhythmic duties with Alex Merk and bassist David Lloyd.”
“Hard Bop for the Record is a far better than average studio date... thanks largely to Chako’s impressive compositions and arrangements coupled with solid performances by the ensemble as a whole.”
“Chako has built a body of work that reflects his penchant for improvised jazz, hard bop, blues, and swing, and his 25th endeavor demonstrates his fluency in crossbreeding these elements with a masterful hand.”
“Marking Chako’s return to the hard bop spirit that first inspired him as a young musician, he opens his new recording on the impassioned elegance of the sublime Mozambique and the free-flowing musical majesties of Second Chance before we are gifted the low slung, late night, back alley smokey blues of Ballad to the Bone.”
“His identity emerges from how comfortably he operates inside it: his voice leading, motivic construction, chordal movement, accompaniment, and sense of proportion.”
