Pre-order Present Echoes, the new album by guitarist and composer Matt Panayides, releasing August 21, 2026 on SteepleChase Records (SCCD 34008). CDs will ship on or around the release date.

Present Echoes marks Panayides’ debut recording for SteepleChase Records and brings together longtime collaborators Rich Perry on tenor saxophone, Steve LaSpina on bass, and Mark Ferber on drums. Although the four musicians have worked together in various configurations for years, this is their first recording together as a quartet.

Centered largely on Panayides’ original compositions, the album moves through a wide range of rhythmic and harmonic environments, from the spacious straight-eighth groove of “Midwestern Sky” and angular modern harmony of “Distant Signals” to the shifting 5/4 of “Arise,” the open-ended forms of “Resist,” and the changing rhythmic landscapes of “Heavy.” The program closes with Wayne Shorter’s “House of Jade,” performed as a tribute to the late drummer Anthony Pinciotti.

Throughout Present Echoes, Panayides’ compositional voice is balanced by the individuality of the quartet: Perry’s open tenor sound, LaSpina’s deeply swinging and virtuosic bass playing, and Ferber’s expansive rhythmic palette. The result is a contemporary jazz recording built around original music, collective improvisation, and musical relationships developed over many years.

Track Listing: “Midwestern Sky,” “Distant Signals,” “Towards,” “Plea for Peace,” “Arise,” “Resist,” “Heavy,” and “House of Jade.”