Lelah Simon

For the most part, the weather in New York is made up of extremes. But for Denver-based bassist Lelah Simon, who studied at the New School with legendary jazz bassists Buster Williams and Reggie Workman, there were two times a year when the weather in New York was perfect — sometime around Halloween and the third week in April. On her gorgeous and expansive new album, Third Week of April, Simon captures that sparkle of early spring with nearly all of her original compositions, especially “Morning, Sunshine” and “Lily of the Valley.” Both tunes are filled out by the spatial playing of keyboardist Carmen Sandim and guitarist Chris Mosley, who also adds some Bill Frisell-like playing to Neil Young’s “Tell Me Why.”