Chris Rottmayer, Playing Favorites Review

Swing, Samba, and Soul: Chris Rottmayer’s Playing Favorites

By Nolan DeBuke

Some albums swing because they’re built that way by the players breathing it into being. Playing Favorites falls into that camp. The eleven-song project is the kind of record where swing, lyricism, and lived-in musicianship all intersect. Pianist Chris Rottmayer, bassist Clark Sommers, and drummer Matt Endres, along with vocalist Kelsey Wallner, revisit the American and Brazilian songbooks on multiple tracks. The ensemble renews these songs by shaping the performances with chemistry, imagination, and rhythmic poise.

Recorded in Madison, WI, Playing Favorites feels live with the energy of a quartet that listens hard and leaves space. Rottmayer, whose résumé runs from Disney’s pit orchestras to doctoral-level pedagogy, carries the harmonic vocabulary of a modern jazz pianist who’s studied the lineage and internalized its swing. Wallner, trained in vocal jazz at UNC and steeped in Brazilian phrasing, brings warmth and rhythmic clarity that make her phrasing dance right on the sweet spot of the beat.

The opener, “Everything Happens to Me,” is a cool jazz swing that introduces us to the supple feel of the ensemble. Sommers’ bass line walks with lyrical confidence; Endres’ cymbals shimmer with a swing ride. Rottmayer comps with beautiful chords, subtle clusters that open and close like breathing. His solo is a seamless extension of his accompaniment, well-defined and musical. Wallner’s delivery is unhurried, letting the lyric land, then lifting phrases with just enough jazz embellishment to make you lean in.

“One Note Samba” flips the vibe into Latin jazz territory. The rhythm section locks into an elegant bossa, Sommers and Endres building phrases that keep the groove conversational. Rottmayer’s solo traces Jobim’s harmonic map with curiosity and creativity, his right hand sketching melodic counterlines rather than licks. The whole thing feels alive as a real exchange of ideas between the performers.

“Voyage,” Kenny Barron’s post-bop standard, features the trio stretching out. Here, the chemistry really pops. Rottmayer’s solo moves from motivic ideas to vertical chord statements with upper-structure triads, quartal voicings, tasteful ♭9 and ♯11 colors. Endres rides the cymbal with modern buoyancy as he comps across his kit. Sommers’ bass lines are kinetic with the harmony.

“Velho Piano” is the first of the Brazilian jazz ballads and a highlight for Wallner. Rottmayer plays tenderly, outlining space and filling around Wallner’s beautiful singing. The trio shapes each phrase, accompanying Wallner’s long, expressive, romantic lines.

“On the Street Where You Live” is a swing in two that gradually blooms into a full-walk pulse. Wallner’s embellishments on the final head are worth study for any jazz vocalist: subtle rhythmic pushes, bluesy turns, a sense of dialogue with the piano.

The trio explores an up-tempo post-bop swing on “Firm Roots.” Endres’ drumming is straight out of the post-bop playbook, crisp quarter-note ride, snare commentary, and elastic phrasing around the beat. Rottmayer keeps it modern and modal; listeners will notice how comfortable Rottmayer can play in different swing styles.

“Sail Away” is a mood piece, folk-jazz at heart, with straight-eighth fluidity and a relaxed shimmer. The trio’s phrasing breathes as one with detailed attention placed on maintaining the mood.

“I’m Too Sweet” and “Love Ain’t Free” show that Wallner is a talented interpreter of songs and a composer, too. Her songwriting lives between soul-blues and jazz, where gospel color meets triplet feel. “I’m Too Sweet” rides a hip shuffle; “Love Ain’t Free” leans cool-swing and features wonderful scatting by Wallner. Rottmayer matches her energy with percussive comping with strong left-hand motion and airy right-hand punctuations. These originals feel integrated into the flow of the album, showing the band’s shared language.

“Love Dance” and “Never Will I Marry” further reflect the ensemble’s diversity. Contrasting Brazilian sensuality and Broadway poise. The former unfolds slowly, harmonic perfume in every chord; the latter opens with arco bass and voice, a world-jazz overtone that resolves into playful modern swing. Both confirm that Rottmayer and Wallner understand contrast as flow.

Playing Favorites is a conversation of jazz styles of various swing and Latin feel. The ensemble always has a groove. The set of songs shows that standards and Brazilian classics still have new stories to tell when the musicians behind them are grounded in history and alert to creating in the present. Rottmayer’s playing choices expand color without clutter, and listen to Sommers’ intonation and phrasing, and for drummers, note Endres’ touch, the fine layers in both swing and Latin. For vocal fans, Wallner’s sense of time is outstanding in phrasing across each feel. Overall, Playing Favorites captures the joy of seasoned musicians interacting and re-encountering beloved tunes with big ears.