For those not in the know, after a series of acclaimed releases showcasing his previously unrevealed virtuosity on the piano, Mark Sherman makes a triumphant comeback to the vibraphone on Bop Contest, his 22nd recording as a leader.

Out November 7th, 2025 via his own Miles High Records, Bop Contest lives up to the competitive spirit of its title with Sherman in fighting form as he once again wields the mallets, backed by an unbeatable all-star team of musicians specially assembled for the occasion: pianist Donald Vega, drummer Carl Allen, guest trumpeter Joe Magnarelli, and the band’s MVP, the iconic bassist Ron Carter.

Arriving on the heels of four well-received albums as a pianist, Sherman offers a reminder of why he spent more than a decade ranked among the top vibraphonists in the world on the annual DownBeat Critics Poll, and why he has spent a huge part of his career as an accompanist of choice for such legends as Peggy Lee, Lena Horne and Larry Coryell and a collaborator with greats including Wynton Marsalis, Kenny Barron and Joe Lovano.

But perhaps it would suffice to point out that Sherman didn’t have to jump through hoops to enlist the most revered bass player in jazz for his latest release – it was Ron Carter’s teasing entreaty that opened the way for the invite. Sherman has worked with his share of gifted bassists over the course of his four-and-a-half decade recording career, including the mighty Ray Drummond.

Carter, a colleague of Sherman’s on the faculty of the Juilliard School, noted that fact and took playful umbrage. “We’ve taught and sat on juries together,” Sherman recalls. “One day Ron asked me, ‘How come you never use me on bass?’ I knew that I had to take him up on that offer, and finally the time arrived.”

1. 111-44
2. Love Always Always Love
3. Bremond’s Blues
4. My One And Only Love
5. Bop Contest
6. Martha’s Prize
7. Skylark

Knowing that the language of jazz is a lifelong pursuit, demanding years of patience, study and immersion to achieve the authenticity that defines the genre, this new recording opens on Oliver Nelson’s simply scintillating 111-44 and then brings us the sophisticatedly decadent, palindromic Love Always Always Love, Cedar Walton’s demurely cloaked, yet fervently effective Bremond’s Blues and the luxurious standard My One And Only Love, before we are graced with the triumphantly stanched Bop Contest, the set rounding out on Walton’s robust Martha’s Prize, coming to a close on a languishing beauty found within Hoagy Carmichael’s Skylark.

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