All reviews from Amazon entry unless otherwise indicated.
Bud Powell was a jazz genius, arguably the most creative and influential pianist the music has ever known. But like such legendary figures as Charlie Parker, Lester Young, and Billie Holiday, he was a profoundly troubled genius. Those troubles began at the age of 21 with head injuries inflicted in a police beating in 1945, and his life became a litany of arrests, hospital stays, shock treatment, over-medication, and self-medication, until he finally left America for France in 1959.
This five-CD set compiles Powell's sessions for Norman Granz's Clef and Verve labels between 1949 and 1956. Like other recent Verve "completes" (Parker, Young, Holiday), it's a "warts and all" documentary of Powell's times in the recording studio, complete with false starts and unissued performances. A listener experiences both the grandeur of Powell's creativity and occasionally the sheer pathos of his inability to function at the keyboard--whether triggered by a bad day, an inadequate sideman, or unfamiliar repertoire.
Disc one, with five trio and solo sessions from 1949 to 1951, presents works of unalloyed genius, with Powell defining the limits of bop piano in technique, intensity, and invention. There are treatments of some of his finest compositions, including solo versions of "Parisian Thoroughfare" and "Hallucinations." At the opposite end of Powell's personal spectrum, there's the 1955 trio session that begins Disc Three, in which he is clearly struggling to play at all. Other performances fall in between, from one in which Powell makes 10 attempts at "Star Eyes" to a concluding 1956 trio session in which he somehow summons his original technique and fire for a collection of bop tunes.
This is an extraordinary document, including both great music and painful drama. It's also a handsome and well-researched package. The five CDs are bound into a book that includes overviews by pianist Barry Harris and interviews with some of the musicians closest to Powell, like Max Roach, Jackie McLean, and Johnny Griffin. The four-CD Complete Blue Note and Roost Recordings, with recordings from the same era, is an essential companion.
In June 1954, the Gerry Mulligan Quartet (with the leader/baritonist, valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer, bassist Red Mitchell and drummer Frank Isola) performed at five all-star concerts, four of which were recorded. Only previously available in fragmented form, the very accessible yet chance-taking music has now been reissued in full on two CDs by the French Vogue label. The second volume is highlighted by "Laura," "Five Brothers," "Love Me or Leave Me," "Line for Lyons" and "Motel," but it is no exaggeration to say that every performance is well worth hearing. Both sets are highly recommended, for this cool-toned but witty and hard-swinging music is very enjoyable. - AMG
Like all the great rock revolutions, punk was fueled by singles. Sure, there were a lot of tremendous albums, but all the artists that cut great LPs also had great 7"s -- and in the case of Television and Patti Smith, they had independent singles released prior to their first albums that never appeared on their debuts. Since rock criticism tends to be album-driven, singles tend to get slightly overlooked, and since punk is a rock critic's favorite, some revisionist historians paint the era as fueled by albums, not singles. Rhino's excellent four-disc No Thanks! The '70s Punk Rebellion corrects that error by focusing on the singles, winding up with a one-stop introduction and summary of the era that is as good as Loud, Fast & Out of Control, their similar set on early rock & roll. The compilers have bent the rules of punk slightly, deciding to include proto-punkers like New York Dolls, the Stooges, the Dictators, and Jonathan Richman, and then to not present the cuts in a strictly chronological order. This benefits the album, since these artists are in the same spirit of the bands they inspired, and the sequencing plays like a great mixtape. Rhino has also evenly balanced the set between American and British punk, including both early hardcore punkers the Dead Kennedys and British pub rock renegades like Nick Lowe and Ian Dury in equal measure. Though there's a bit of difference between "California Über Alles" and "Heart of the City," they deserve to be paired on this set because they both were genuinely independent, exciting 45s that crackled with energy and captured the spirit of punk, albeit in different ways. And that's what makes No Thanks! work so well -- it illustrates how diverse punk and new wave were in the late '70s, but it places a premium on adventure and excitement, which means even artier bands like Pere Ubu and Suicide come across as pure rock & roll. If there is any flaw to the box, it's that most record collectors will already own the lion's share of these songs -- in fact, if they own Rhino's previous 1993 multi-disc punk retrospective D.I.Y., they'll own no less than 53 of these songs (an additional 14 songs have appeared on other Rhino titles, making for a grand total of 67 of 100 songs already released by Rhino). While this is undoubtedly a problem for some collectors, it is also true that it functions more as an overview for fans that don't already own a bunch of this on CD, and on that level it can't be faulted. True, this may contain no tracks from the Sex Pistols, since John Lydon refused them permission (allegedly because Rhino chose not to release the 2002 Sex Pistols box set in the States), but every other major player is here, and the music here is so good they're not missed at all. Finally, if a collector is wondering whether it's worth the expense to buy this box, there are three rare singles that make their debut here: the aforementioned Television and Patti Smith singles, "Little Johnny Jewel" and "Hey Joe [version]," plus an early single version of the Pretenders' "The Wait." (Note: "Little Johnny Jewel" was released nearly simultaneously on an expanded reissue of Television's Marquee Moon.) For those that can afford it, that's reason enough to pick up the set. - AMG
Either you get Wild Man Fischer or you don't. To some, he's a primitive musical genius, a man fighting mental illness as he creates his own individualistic performance art. To others, he remains Frank Zappa's cruelest musical joke. In 1968, Zappa helped Fischer record An Evening with Wild Man Fischer, an entire album of his demented songs, then packaged it with a cover that played off his mental quirks. (Fischer was posed holding a butcher knife to a woman's neck, wearing a whacked-out smile on his face.) He moved on from his lone record with Zappa to make a couple of stray singles and three more albums for the then-fledgling Rhino label, and that's what's collected here on this two-disc anthology.While the absence of the album produced by Zappa keeps this set from being definitive, these recordings -- for the most part unaccompanied by any instruments other than Fischer's oddball vocals -- are a combination of studio and live performances that capture his crazy-quilt conception of song structure. These little blasts of free-form energy make for a set that brings together 100 tracks of Larry Fischer's brand of left-of-center music. When he does work with a band, it's usually a train wreck. On "Young at Heart," he jumps time like a crack addict on bail. The backing group should be fined for ignoring the changes on "Handy Man," making Fischer sound like he's singing off meter when in fact he's the one who's following the correct arrangement . . . well, sort of. But he throws his heart and soul into this stuff, and even if most of it seems like lunatic ravings that put him three tacos short of a combination plate, after repeated listenings it all starts to make its own internal sense, eventually qualifying for a unique style that is Wild Man Fischer's alone.But make no mistake: This is demented, independent music of the most off-the-wall sort. As such, by the end of the first disc the novelty starts to wear off and you've had a bellyful, unless you possess a truly perverse set of ears. But those willing to dive in deep will find a treasure trove of noises by a man who was compelled to make the music he made, on the street if necessary, but always from the heart with a truly off-kilter perspective and energy. Whatever spoken word or a cappella music you might have in your collection, you don't have anything that sounds like this. - AMG
Words can hardly describe the revolutionary effect of these seminal recordings -- collected here on eight full-length CDs, with a comprehensive 93-page booklet with original essays, photos, and detailed discographical information -- when first released. Charlie Parker's vision, spectacular technique, and style helped to transform the world of jazz in the 1940s, and it has never been the same. As with the efforts of creative visionaries, his early innovations were at first resisted by some as too radical, but with time, Bird became universally recognized for the genius he was. It is impossible to imagine any serious collection of 20th century music not containing at least some of the tracks collected on this splendid compilation. These disks collect all of Parker's studio sessions on Dial and Savoy, the two labels that assiduously chronicled his career during the decade. The set excludes four CDs of live material and most sessions recorded by amateurs, but includes outtakes, Bird's recordings as a sideman, and tracks cut or issued under the Savoy and Dial labels, including the Spotlite, Stash, Guild, Musicraft, Bel-Tone, and the Comet lines. So many great musicians performed with Bird that part of the thrill is not only the scintillating work of Parker, but also the opportunity to revisit seminal performances by Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Bud Powell, and a host of others. The sound is, for the most part, remarkably good, making this an indispensable collection for any lover of jazz. - AMG
Art Blakey's "Indestructible!" was recorded over three sessions in the spring of 1964 for Blue Note. The drummer's final album for the label, it was also the last featuring the great sextet line-up. "Indestructible!" was originally released on CD in the late 1980s (and briefly again in the early 90s in the Collector's Choice reprint program), but apparently the bean-counters at Capitol didn't heed the album's title, because it was unceremoniously deleted more than a dozen years ago. Well, thankfully it makes a welcome return to the catalog here in the RVG series, with remastered sound to boot. Unfortunately, "Indestructible!" has too often sat in the shadows of its remarkable predecessors, "Mosaic" and "Free For All." It has done so needlessly because "Indestructible!" is a truly first rate modern jazz album, with memorable original compositions, incredible front-line interplay and soaring solos. The majority of the band -- Wayne Shorter, Curtis Fuller, Cedar Walton and Art -- had been working together for over three years and their chemistry is unparalleled. And while Lee Morgan does replace Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, and Reggie Workman the bass for Jymie Merritt, both "newcomers" had actually been members of the Jazz Messengers during large portions of the previous five years. Hopefully with its permanent return to the catalog, "Indestructible!" will gain its rightful place among the greatest Blue Note discs of all-time.
This is one of the best albums by Blakey's Jazz Messengers, performed by one of his most star studded lineups. Performing infront of Blakey's explosive drumming is Wayne Shorter on tenor, Lee Morgan on trumpet, Bobby Timmons on piano, and Jymie Merritt on bass. Most of the tracks were penned by Wayne Shorter or Lee Morgan and all feature high energy performances, especially by Wayne Shorter. His tenor is on fire as he delivers one knock out solo after another. His solo and his exchange with Lee Morgan on "El Toro" as well as his solo on the bonus track "Uptight" are stand outs. The entire group shows it's soft touch on the one slow number, the bonus track "Pisces". Blakey's extended drum piece, "The Freedom Rider" gives the master plenty of room to stretch out and flex his considerable skill as one of Jazz's all time great drummers. This is an exciting, hard swinging set of classic hard bop, and is easliy recommended.
It is my firm belief that Volumes 1 & 2 of The Jazz Messengers at the Cafe Bohemia are the genesis of what we now know as "the Blue Note Sound." While earlier albums, including Art's "A Night at Birdland" and "Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers" hinted at great things to come, these recordings just bring it all together for me. The hard bop is at a fever pitch, the songwriting is beginning to take on new, original and more creative direction, and the lineup is a killer -- Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley and Doug Watkins join Blakey and Silver. These are all trademarks of the great things we have come to expect from Blue Note. On Volume 2, standards "Like Someone in Love" and "Yesterdays" have fresh life breathed into them, while Mobley's "Avila and Tequila" adds the latin twist we'll hear later on "A Night in Tunisia." Finally, "I Waited for You" must be one of the best ballads of the mid-50s. Coupled with Volume 1 this is essential music.
Bill Evans (the saxophonist) fuses jazz and hip-hop on this disc in a way that doesn't short-change the jazz half of the equation. Ahmed Best chants intelligent lyrics, albeit with a rapper's stiff cadence, that add depth without compromising the underlying jazz aesthetic. He's featured on two songs, "Reality" and "La Di Da". The album opener, "Swing Hop", also successfully blends the excitement of instrumental jazz and hip-hop vocals in a compelling manner. The remainder of the material ranges from jazz-funk to Brazilian influences. Evan's rich, warm tone weaves a seductive spell throughout, supported by Jim Beard's keyboards, Lee Ritenour's guitar, Steve Ferrone's drumming, and the basses of Marcus Miller, Victor Bailey, and Mark Egan, among others. With this, his best studio recording yet, Bill's well on the way to becoming as significant an artist as his piano-playing namesake
Bill Evans must be acknowledged as one of the finest pianists in all of jazz. A cool, intellectual player, Evans adopted bop's sophisticated chording and united it with a unique, horn-like phrasing. On Half Moon Bay, Evans is captured live in California with one of his finest rhythm sections--Eddie Gomez on bass and Marty Morell on drums. Recorded in 1973, these previously unreleased performances are both evocative and introspective. Evans digs deep into his vast repertoire and turns in sparking renditions of classics like "Waltz for Debby," "Autumn Leaves," and even "Someday My Prince Will Come." Evans exceeds at these softer, melancholy ballads and is quite at home playing within the trio context. A must for any serious Bill Evans fan.
total 103M 6.9M 01 Autumn Leaves.mp3* 9.7M 02 Our Delight.mp3* 7.7M 03 Beautiful Love - Five (Closing Theme).mp3* 11M 04 Autumn Leaves.mp3* 7.7M 05 Come Rain or Come Shinve - Five (Closing Theme).mp3* 6.8M 06 Come Rain or Come Shine.mp3* 11M 07 Nardis.mp3* 8.6M 08 Blue in Green.mp3* 9.9M 09 Autumn Leaves.mp3* 10M 10 All of You.mp3* 6.4M 11 Come Rain or Come Shine.mp3* 9.5M 12 Speak Low.mp3* 1.0K Legendary Bill Evans Trio.txt*
total 67M 11M 01 - Stella By Starlight.mp3* 12M 02 - Laurie.mp3* 6.9M 03 - Theme From mash.mp3* 8.1M 04 - Turn Out the stars.mp3* 9.3M 05 - I Do It for Your Love.mp3* 10M 06 - My Romance.mp3* 6.6M 07 - Letter To Evan.mp3* 656K Jazz Festivals In Latin America Disc 1 info.jpg* 875K Jazz Festivals In Latin America Disc 2 info.jpg* 727K Jazz Festivals In Latin America Disc 3 info.jpg* 1.2M Jazz Festivals In latin America front & tray.jpg* 921K Jazz Festivals In Latin America insert cover.jpg*
total 93M 7.1M 01 Alfie.mp3* 8.9M 02 Waltz For Debbie.mp3* 8.5M 03 34 Skidoo.mp3* 6.0M 04 Blue In Green.mp3* 7.2M 05 Detour Ahead.mp3* 9.8M 06 Emily.mp3* 17M 07 Nardis.mp3* 13M 08 Peri's Scope.mp3* 7.5M 09 Some Other Time.mp3* 9.6M 10 Who Can I Turn To.mp3* 2.5K amg.txt*
Listeners might be forgiven for expecting a lot from a pairing of Bill Evans and Jim Hall. Not to worry. The album more than repays the investment (unlike the disappointing meeting between Bill and Stan Getz). One of the highlights is the up-tempo treatment of "My Funny Valentine" which, given its harmonies, makes complete musical sense. Moreover, the "alternate take" of the tune provides, if anything, a fresh and welcome perspective on Bill, who eschews the implied left-hand rhythm of the first version in favor of a masterfully-constructed, contagiously-swinging walking bass line (no comparable moment in Evans' vast discography comes to mind).
Thank goodness Blue Note thought to reissue the session (thankfully, too, capturing the sound of the piano was not left to Van Gelder). As for the vastly superior audio mixing of this edition to the original, I refer you to the previous reviewer's testimony. I will say that the album cover is one of the most evocative I've ever seen--sort of a variation on Millais' "Ophelia" as seen from below.
total 76M 22M 01 - Nice Pass.mp3* 8.1M 02 - Song Song.mp3* 11M 03 - Unrequited.mp3* 18M 04 - London Blues.mp3* 7.3M 05 - Exit Music (For A Film).mp3* 11M 06 - For All We Know.mp3*
Chances are good you?ve never heard of him. Yet, in his prime, Johnny Smith was responsible for a small treasure of extraordinary jazz, performed with some of the top players of the day. He even earned downbeat?s ?Jazz Record of the Year? for a song on the very first session he led ? a little thing called ?Moonlight in Vermont? with Stan Getz on saxophone that?s become a classic. And when he wasn?t on the airwaves on NBC or backing the best at Birdland, he?d be performing under the batons of Arturo Toscanini, Eugene Ormandy, and Dimitri Mitropoulos, because Smith was an extraordinary technician who would get a call to come and cut the charts the long-hairs couldn?t handle.
Smith?s anonymity today adds delight to the re-discovery of the Roost recordings collected here by Mosaic, most of them appearing for the first time anywhere on CD. They put a lie to the idea that studio musicians are hired because they have no distinctive voice of their own. And prove that a musician can perform a wide range of material ? including some of the most popular standards in the jazz repertoire ? and do it with personality, integrity, and novelty.
There are many stories about Johnny Smith and his musical proficiency, aside from learning the instrument by listening to jazz greats on the radio (?My music school,? he told an interviewer decades later). Enlisting in the Army Air Corps in 1942, he discovered his eyesight wasn?t up to snuff to fly ? they stuck him in the band instead. Problem was, marching bands don?t do guitar. So they handed Johnny a trumpet, the Arban book (every trumpet player knows that that is), and a folding chair to take to the latrine and practice. Johnny had two weeks to learn ? not just to learn trumpet, but to learn to read music, too! Two weeks later, he could march among the trumpets.
Another story has him in New York in 1949 called by Dimitri Mitropoulos to perform Arnold Schoenberg's "Serenade for Seven Musicians" for a special event at the Museum of Modern Art. The extraordinarily difficult piece had never been performed in public. Organizers were ready to scrap the whole idea when the classically-trained guitarist initially hired for the concert couldn?t master the piece. Smith was given five days to learn it. The ordeal included a surprise 7:00 AM rehearsal in Mitropoulos?s hotel suite the morning after Smith had been out carousing until 5:00 AM. Somehow, he pulled it together and the performance was flawless ? with the black-tie crowd demanding the musicians replay the entire work as an encore. - Mosaic
The world of jazz in the late '40s, '50s, and early '60s was graced with one of the most talented guitar virtuosos of all time: Johnny Smith. Unless you were a budding young jazz guitarist or a lover of guitar at that time, you probably don?t own or haven't heard most of the incredible recordings that this great artist produced. Mosaic Records? release of The Complete Roost Johnny Smith Small Group Sessions is exactly that.
This 8-CD box set release contains 178 tracks that cover 15 original LPs and 4 ten-inch sessions in a beautiful digital format, paying due homage to the guitar virtuoso in celebration of his 80th birthday. This set fills a missing piece in the recorded history and legacy of jazz guitar. A large part of Smith's life-work is covered in this volume - and, of course, some of the greatest jazz guitar performances ever heard.
The musicians appearing on the recordings are for the most part Mousey Alexander (drums), George Roumanis (bass), and Bob Pancoast on piano. Hank Jones, George Duvivier, Eddie Safranski, and Don Lamond are also featured, along with Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, and Paul Quinichette. Johnny Rae (vibes and percussion), another great musician, also appears on some of the cuts.
Discs 1 and 2 cover some excellent recordings which offer a relaxed format and brilliant harmonic, lyrical, thematic, and humorous improvisation, fluently executed by Smith on tunes such as ?Where Or When,? ?Dancing on the Ceiling,? ?Easy to Love,? and ?Have you Met Miss Jones.? Smith's stunning technique and harmonic knowledge never got in the way of his playing, which retained a feeling of simplicity in the midst of complexity: a quality that characterizes genius. The dynamic combination of jazz great saxophonist Stan Getz with Smith produced a unique sound exemplified in their classic hit, ?Moonlight in Vermont.? The guitar giant always remains interesting and creative, as in the great standard ?How About You,? during which Smith modulates to a different key in the midst of his solo break, embarking upon a swinging solo that only he could produce. The first and second CDs showcase his beautiful closed voice and different chordal solos - particularly on ballads like ?What's New,? ?Sophisticated Lady,? and ?Autumn in New York.? Johnny Smith?s clean technique and beautiful single line solos can be heard in ?I?ll Remember April,? ?Blues for Birdland,? and the burning tempo tunes ?Jaguar,? ?Cherokee,? ?S?Wonderful,? and a host of other great standards on these two discs. His own composition, ?Walk Don?t Run? (later a hit record) gives the listener an idea of what the composer?s initial idea for the song might have been.
Discs 3 and 4 feature more of the great jazz and pop standards in a quartet format, with the late Johnny Rae on vibes replacing piano on half of disc three. This group represented one of the best jazz guitar quartets of all time. Johnny Rae?s cool and swinging interpretation of Milt Jackson's ?Bags Groove? and Thelonious Monk?s ?Round Midnight? show the talent of this great jazz musician who was also a wonderful drummer and percussionist. Smith?s solo on ?Bags Groove? is one cool jazz 12 bar blues solo, pretty much summing up his single line solo style. Rae appears on nine of the ten tracks that were on the original LP, with Smith playing ?Black is the Color of my True Love?s Hair? as a solo piece. Disc 4 contains more of the classic quartet songs like ?Body and Soul,? ?East of the Sun,? and ?Zing Went the Strings of my Heart,? definitely completing the four-disc group.
Discs 5 and 6 are a rare addition of many great classics that time and room did not allow for in the first four discs. And luckily so, for they include many Rogers and Hammerstein favorites, like ?You are Beautiful? and ?People Will Say We're in Love.? A large portion of these two CDs highlight Smith's seeming ease in pulling off a guitar trio session, which is a more difficult task, as the guitar is more exposed. Taking advantage, however, of the extra space in that setting, Smith shines brilliantly once again. Tunes such as Like ?Someone in Love? and ?A Foggy Day? give a good idea of what Johnny's conception of the guitar in a trio setting.
Last but not least, we have disc 7 and 8, which give us an even broader view of the versatility of the guitarist. In addition to the final collection of quartet sessions that include a number of tunes featuring Hank Jones on piano - notably ?Embraceable You,? ?Misty,? and ?Gypsy in my Soul? - there is more. We are treated to the special recordings of Johnny Smith playing solo guitar - a treat indeed! This recording, called ?The Man with the Blue Guitar,? was recorded at the Johnny Smith Guitar Center in Colorado Springs in early 1962. He performs his own solo arrangements and adaptations of composers such as Ravel and Scrabin.
The only thing that's missing in this set is the LP that Johnny did with jazz vocalist Ruth Price. This, in my opinion, was a jazz classic ranking with the noted Barney Kessel - Julie London collaboration. Ruth Price Sings with the Johnny Smith Quartet has priceless versions of ?A Sleeping Bee,? ?Back in Your Own Backyard,? and a lot of other good tunes. Oh well, lets consider ourselves lucky. Maybe next time. - All About Jazz
"Pianist/composer Jacques Loussier demonstrated musical ability at an early age, starting to play at the age of ten and entering the Conservatoire National de Musique in Paris at 16. Loussier's main professor there was Yves Nat, who in turn was encouraged by Faure, Saint-Saens, and Debussy as a student himself. Loussier continued this distinguished tradition, graduating at the top of his class.
After traveling the world as an accompanist, in the late '50s Loussier formed the Play Bach Trio with Pierre Michelot and Christian Garros. The Trio fused Loussier's classical background with his interest in jazz, using Bach's compositions as the basis for improvisation. The group was an immediate success, playing many shows and selling over six million albums in 15 years.
By the end of the '70s, however, the group ran its course and Loussier retired to Provence, spending his days composing and recording at his studio in Miraval, experimenting with electronic and acoustic arrangements. The studio also played host to rock artists like Pink Floyd (including sessions for The Wall), Elton John, and Sting.
1985 marked the 300-year anniversary of Bach's birth, which prompted Loussier to re-form the Play Bach Trio with new members and a wider musical range, adding rock and electronic elements to the basic blend of classical and jazz. Loussier also continued composing through the '80s and '90s, as well as performing pieces by Bach and Ravel live and on albums like 1999's Ravel: Bolero and Bach Book 40th Anniversary Album with his signature jazzy flair. A year later, Take Bach and Music of Debussy were released." - Heather Phares
6.6M Play Bach aux Champs-Elysées - 101 - Prelude No. 1 in C major (B* 21M Play Bach aux Champs-Elysées - 102 - Italian Concerto in F major* 29M Play Bach aux Champs-Elysées - 103 - Partita No. 1 in B flat mor* 7.4M Play Bach aux Champs-Elysées - 104 - Choral (BWV 147).mp3* 18M Play Bach aux Champs-Elysées - 105 - Toccata & Fugue in D minor * 12M Play Bach aux Champs-Elysées - 201 - Two-part Invention No. 8 in* 3.0M Play Bach aux Champs-Elysées - 202 - Prelude No. 2 in C minor (T* 5.0M Play Bach aux Champs-Elysées - 203 - Prelude No. 12 in F minor (* 25M Play Bach aux Champs-Elysées - 204 - Harpsichord Concerto No. 1 * 6.1M Play Bach aux Champs-Elysées - 205 - Aria (Orchestral Suite No. * 12M Play Bach aux Champs-Elysées - 206 - Choral No. 1 _Wake, Arise, * 5.6M Play Bach aux Champs-Elysées - 207 - Sinfonia (Cantata No. 29 _ * 2.0K Play Bach aux Champs-Elysées.m3u*
CD-1: total 64M 6.7M 01 Präludium Nr. 1.mp3* 11M 02 Gavotte in D-Dur.mp3* 12M 03 Choral Nr 1 - Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme.mp3* 17M 04 Italienisches Konzert, 1. Satz.mp3* 6.4M 05 Wassermusik.mp3* 6.1M 06 Wassermusik.mp3* 6.4M 07 Italienisches Konzert, 3. Satz.mp3* CD-2: total 63M 9.7M 01 Vivaldi - Four Seasons - Spring, 1st Movement.mp3* 18M 02 2nd + 3rd Movement.mp3* 6.7M 03 Debussy - Arabesque.mp3* 8.1M 04 Debussy - Lille Jouieuse.mp3* 6.0M 05 Satie - Gymnopedie no 1.mp3* 15M 06 Ravel - Bolero.mp3*
"Marcus Miller is one of the great hyphenates of contemporary rhythm and jazz, equally successful as a producer (Luther Vandross, David Sanborn), songwriter (numerous Vandross hits, James/Sanborn's "Maputo"), and artist in his own right. It's not easy to capture every aspect of the man who has been called the "Superman of Soul" on one disc, but Live and More -- which draws from sold out performances in Los Angeles, Montreux, and throughout Japan -- gives it a solid effort. While Miller plays everything but the kitchen sink himself (bass, bass clarinet, guitar, and vocoder), the genuine excitement here emerges from giving space to and interacting and stretching out with his sea of all-stars. Miller wrote the moody trumpet-led seduction "Tutu" for Miles, but Michael "Patches" Stewart carries on in those muted footsteps (complemented by a flügelhorn solo) above a controlled Miller bass line and Poogie Bell's subtle drum brushes. Miller emerges as a halfway decent singer on the Crusaders-like "Funny" but leaves the bulk of the instrumental work to Kenny Garrett's gentle soprano and Hiram Bullock's increasingly raucous guitar. Miller also offers the studio ballad "Sophie" on which he adds yet another voice to his repertoire -- soprano sax." -- Jonathan Widran
total 101M 3.4M Marcus Miller - Live & More - 01 - Intro.mp3* 13M Marcus Miller - Live & More - 02 - Panther.mp3* 16M Marcus Miller - Live & More - 03 - Tutu.mp3* 18M Marcus Miller - Live & More - 04 - Funny.mp3* 5.5M Marcus Miller - Live & More - 05 - Strange Fruit.mp3* 7.7M Marcus Miller - Live & More - 06 - Summertime.mp3* 12M Marcus Miller - Live & More - 07 - Maputo.mp3* 13M Marcus Miller - Live & More - 08 - People Make The World Go 'Rou* 6.8M Marcus Miller - Live & More - 09 - Sophie.mp3* 8.0M Marcus Miller - Live & More - 10 - Jazz In The House.mp3* 377K MMback.jpg* 238K MMfront.jpg* 1.0K MM .m3u*
total 87M 12M Marcus_Miller-Live_at_Ohne_Filter_1994-01_Rampage.mp3* 1.7M Marcus_Miller-Live_at_Ohne_Filter_1994-02_Introduction.mp3* 13M Marcus_Miller-Live_at_Ohne_Filter_1994-03-Panther.mp3* 17M Marcus_Miller-Live_at_Ohne_Filter_1994-04-Steveland.mp3* 15M Marcus_Miller-Live_at_Ohne_Filter_1994-05-Scoop.mp3* 17M Marcus_Miller-Live_at_Ohne_Filter_1994-06-Tutu.mp3* 14M Marcus_Miller-Live_at_Ohne_Filter_1994-07-Ju_Ju.mp3*
"The seven-CD set Live Trane expands upon Pablo's earlier CDs of John Coltrane recorded during his European tours between 1961 and 1963, including all of The Paris Concert, Bye Bye Blackbird, The European Tour, and Afro Blue Impressions, and supplementing them with extra songs from most of these concerts. Of the 37 tracks, 19 have not previously appeared commercially (except on a number of European bootleg labels with sound ranging from barely acceptable to horrendous), and a 1961 Hamburg concert with Eric Dolphy makes its debut here. A number of titles are repeated throughout the set -- six takes of "My Favorite Things" and five versions of both "Impressions" and "Mr. P.C.," along with four takes of "Naima" -- but true Coltrane fans will marvel at the differences between them from one concert to the next. Coltrane plays at a consistently high level throughout each performance, whether delivering a blistering tenor sax solo on "Blue Train" or sharing his lush side with the tender ballad "Naima." Naturally, the highlights are the numerous versions of "My Favorite Things," featuring Coltrane's adventurous work on soprano sax. But these live versions have an even greater energy than the landmark studio recording, particularly those with the addition of Dolphy on flute. Coltrane rarely ventures away from the mic during his furious solos, and pianist McCoy Tyner and bassist Jimmy Garrison are frequently barely audible during many of the performances, obviously due to the often cavernous venues that didn't necessarily lend themselves to making records, yet the sound is greatly improved over earlier issues of this material. Elvin Jones' powerful drumming serves as a catalyst throughout the entire set. Coltrane and his musicians are clearly inspired by the enthusiastic audiences who witnessed the making of this music. This is an essential set for Coltrane fans." -- Ken Dryden
""Gentle" is a relative term, for while this collection of material is mostly pitched at a slower set of tempos and more lyrical frame of mind, Coltrane was no less passionate in a ballad as he was in a roaring frenzy. Originally issued on two LPs and now excellent value on a single CD, The Gentle Side draws nine tracks from the legacy of the classic Coltrane quartet (with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones), adding a pair of tracks each from his collaborations with Duke Ellington and Johnny Hartman. You can say all you want about how a collection like this disregards the musical flow of the original albums -- which is true -- and still be caught up helplessly in the staggering emotional power of this man's playing. Even when heard in this context, performances like "After the Rain" and "Welcome" remain breathtaking in their spiritual beauty, and the combination of Coltrane's eloquence and the warm, masculine baritone of Hartman can still break your heart with their most-likely-untopped interpretation of "My One and Only Love." Above all, if you know anyone who has resisted Coltrane because of the fearsome reputation of his more agitated music, lay this CD on them." -- Richard S. Ginell
"Not released for the first time until 1974 but now available in expanded form as a CD, this set of duets by tenor saxophonist John Coltrane and drummer Rashied Ali are full of fire, emotion and constant abstract invention. The original four pieces ("Mars," "Venus," "Jupiter" and "Saturn") are joined by "Leo" and "Jupiter Variation." Coltrane alternates quiet moments with sections of great intensity, showing off his phenominal technique and ability to improvise without the need for chordal instruments. Rousing if somewhat inaccessible music." -- Scott Yanow
"Coltrane's sessions for Atlantic in late October 1960 were prolific, yielding the material for My Favorite Things, Coltrane Plays the Blues, and Coltrane's Sound. My Favorite Things was destined to be the most remembered and influential of these, and while Coltrane Plays the Blues is not as renowned or daring in material, it is still a powerful session. As for the phrase "plays the blues" in the title, that's not so much an indicator that the tunes are conventional blues (which they aren't). It's more indicative of a bluesy sensibility, whether he is playing muscular saxophone or, on "Blues to Bechet" and "Mr. Syms," the more unusual-sounding (at the time) soprano sax. Elvin Jones, who hadn't been in Coltrane's band long, really busts out on the quicker numbers, such as "Blues to You" and "Mr. Day." The 2000 reissue on Rhino adds five bonus tracks: two alternates apiece of "Blues to Elvin" and "Blues to You" (which were originally released on the 1995 Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings box), and "Untitled Original (Exotica)." This last track first appeared on the 1970 compilation The Coltrane Legacy and, like every other one on this CD, was recorded on October 24, 1960." -- Richie Unterberger
The original Chico Hamilton Quintet was one of the last significant West Coast jazz bands of the cool era. Consisting of Buddy Collette on reeds (flute, clarinet, alto, and tenor), guitarist Jim Hall, bassist Carson Smith, and the drummer/leader, the most distinctive element in the group's identity was cellist Fred Katz. The band could play quite softly, blending together elements of bop and classical music into their popular sound and occupying their own niche. This six-CD, limited-edition box set from 1997 starts off with a Hamilton drum solo from a 1954 performance with the Gerry Mulligan Quartet; it contains three full albums and many previously unreleased numbers) by the original Chico Hamilton band and also has quite a few titles from the second Hamilton group (which has Paul Horn and John Pisano in the places of Collette and Hall). In addition, there are three titles from the third Hamilton Quintet (with Eric Dolphy on flute and alto) and a 1959 Duke Ellington tribute date that featured both Collette and Horn. Most of these performances were formerly quite rare and never reissued coherently before. Highly recommended to jazz historians and to listeners who enjoy classic cool jazz, this box is sure to be sold out quickly. - AMG
Only the first of the Chico Hamilton Quintet's albums has been imported here (from Japan, where I've heard rumors the second album was also released on CD), although a number of his post-Pacific Jazz albums (including at least two with Eric Dolphy) are available. So this Mosaic collection is essential -- at least for now. It gives us the original six albums, plus Fred Katz's album ZEN (the biggest treasure here), and another album of unreleased (live) recordings.
As is typical with Mosaic, the material is presented chronologically (more or less) and, atypically, it is in the original order presented on the albums. (Maybe the albums were themselves assembled chronologically, or -- more likely -- Mosaic did not have the recording information, track by track, which would have allowed the reassembly of this material in true chronological order. A certain vagueness in the notes about the precise dates of certain recording sessions suggests this.) Oddly, since this is not a collection of all of Chico Hamilton's Pacific Jazz recordings (his trio album is omitted), the collection opens with a drum solo excerpted from a performance with Gerry Mulligan -- not the Chico Hamilton Quintet! (It did, however, appear originally on the Quintet's second album.) But I applaud the inclusion of Fred Katz's album -- also not a Hamilton Quintet recording, although the quintet members play on some tracks, and are augmented with brass and winds on others.
The Chico Hamilton Quintet was a unique chamber-jazz ensemble. Hamilton was the drummer -- ordinarily an odd choice to lead such a group, but Hamilton was probably the most musical drummer in jazz, equal to Shelly Manne in subtlety and finesse, but tempered by his years with Lena Horne into a more musically sensitive attitude. He was joined, in the original Quintet, by Buddy Collette (saxes, flutes, oboe, clarinet), Jim Hall (guitar), Fred Katz (cello), and Carson Smith (bass). This lineup of instruments survived several turnovers in personnel, as Paul Horn replaced Collette, and was himself much later replaced by Eric Dolphy; John Pisano replaced Hall; Hal Gaylor replaced Smith; and Nate Gershman replaced Katz (at the same time Dolphy came in). When Hamilton hired Charles Loyd to replace Dolphy, he also abandoned the original Quintet format and music.
(A sidenote for collectors: Although not credited as such, it is the Chico Hamilton Quintet which plays the music on the first of Ken Nordine's WORD JAZZ albums.)
In its original form the Quintet was a musical equal to its contemporary, the Modern Jazz Quartet. Both played chamber jazz: subtle, contrapuntal music to which each instrument contributed its own line. With the array of instrumentation available to it, the Quintet could cover a broader territory, ranging from the blues propelled by a tenor sax -- or a walking bass -- to something more ethereal from oboe and cello. In addition to their own compositions (every member of the Quintet contributed), they played the occasional standard, and ultimately recorded an album of Ellington music and an album of music from South Pacific (another jazz showtune album). (The album of Ellington's music -- some of which had been in the Quintet's book all along -- is an oddity: It was originally intended that the new Quintet -- with Eric Dolphy -- would record the album, which led to the three tracks with Dolphy that are included in this collection. Then the decision was made to reassemble the original Quintet for the album -- with Paul Horn added, making the Quintet an unacknowledged sextet!)
It's all here: The ELLINGTON SUITE, CHICO HAMILTON PLAYS SOUTH PACIFIC IN HI-FI, and much, much more (as they say). On six CDs there are, in addition to all the original albums, a variety of unreleased takes, including an entire 1957 Town Hall (NYC) concert, only one track from which had been released (on a compilation LP). That concert is notable for a live Quintet version of "Lord Randall," a Fred Katz composition that was a centerpiece for his own album, about which more in a moment.
And there are those three tracks recorded by the Quintet with Eric Dolphy -- most of whose recordings with the Quintet were for Warner Bros. (The collection's annotator, Robert Gordon, reveals a curious bias toward Dolphy: "On 'In A Sentimental Mood' Eric simply states the melody, and there are a couple of spots in which his intonation is suspect. (Eric was not lacking in technical skills, and it may be that his exceedingly personal tone simply would not mesh with the 'straight' reading that he was confined to.)" This is rubbish, as anyone familiar with Dolphy's work -- particularly his subsequent work with the Quintet -- would know. What Gordon hears as "suspect intonation" was anything but: it was Eric's way of making a "straight" tone sing with all the passion of a Johnny Hodges.)
I was really excited when I realized that this collection had a bonus album: Fred Katz's ZEN. It occupies the second half of Disc IV. Katz, a classical celloist and a jazz piano player, turned his cello into a uniquely expressive jazz instrument (both arco/bowed, and pizzicato/plucked) with the Quintet. His music is infused with Jewish soul (the notes refer to Klezmer music at one point), but can become abstract or lyrical. ZEN was his first album as a leader, and it includes the original "Lord Randall," as well as the three-part "Suite for Horn," which is an ambitious piece of music (favorably -- and correctly -- compared with the "Third Stream Music" that would occur a few years later, in the notes). Regretably, this is the only Fred Katz album to make it onto CD in any form. Someone should collect and issue his Decca work, on both his own albums and those of John Pisano.
This collection holds up well, throughout, and comes recommended to all who enjoy ambitious mid-fifties jazz. I'd rather have the original albums (supplimented with bonus tracks, to deal with the originally unreleased material), but I'll take what I can get. - Dr. Progresso
VOL-1: total 94M 6.0M 01 - Drums West.mp3* 4.1M 02 - A Nice Day.mp3* 6.0M 03 - My Funny Valentine.mp3* 9.2M 04 - Blue Sands.mp3* 5.0M 05 - The Sage.mp3* 3.0M 06 - The Morning After.mp3* 3.1M 07 - I Want To Be Happy.mp3* 7.4M 08 - Spectactular.mp3* 7.0M 09 - Free Form.mp3* 4.9M 10 Bottle Of Whiskey.mp3* 7.4M 11 - Buddy Boo.mp3* 7.1M 12 - Gone With The Wind.mp3* 12M 13 - Topsy.mp3* 13M 14 - Undecided.mp3* VOL-2: total 77M 6.3M 01 - My Old Flame.mp3* 6.3M 02 - The Saint.mp3* 8.4M 03 - It Don't Mean A Thing.mp3* 3.7M 04 - Stella By Starlight.mp3* 8.5M 05 - Caravan.mp3* 7.8M 06 - Tea For Two.mp3* 8.4M 07 - Fast Flute.mp3* 3.8M 08 - Change It.mp3* 4.2M 09 - Cute Little Deal.mp3* 5.5M 10 - A Mood.mp3* 5.5M 11 - This Is Your Day.mp3* 3.3M 12 - I'll Keep Loving You.mp3* 6.0M 13 - Crazy Rhythm.mp3* VOL-3: total 87M 3.3M 01 - Jonalah.mp3* 5.4M 02 - Chrissie.mp3* 5.0M 03 - The Wind.mp3* 5.4M 04 - Gone Lover.mp3* 7.2M 05 - The Ghost.mp3* 5.9M 06 - Sleepy Slept Here.mp3* 5.9M 07 - Taking A Chance On Love.mp3* 2.6M 08 - The Squimp.mp3* 6.8M 09 - Topsy.mp3* 3.5M 10 - Sleep.mp3* 1.4M 11 - I Know (Theme) #1.mp3* 6.5M 12 - Chanel #5.mp3* 7.3M 13 - Beanstalk.mp3* 5.0M 14 - September Song.mp3* 6.8M 15 - Shete-Cuatro.mp3* 4.5M 16 - Mr. Jo Jones.mp3* 958K 17 - I Know (Theme) #2.mp3* 4.0M 18 - Mr. Smith Goes To Town.mp3*
"The list of neglected geniuses in jazz includes no more tragic figure than pianist Herbie Nichols. A composer and soloist of undeniable brilliance, he released only three albums in his lifetime and died practically unknown, in 1963, at the age of 44. Posthumous fame came in the early '90s, when Mosaic Records dusted off his old Blue Note LPs and unearthed another three albums' worth of previously unreleased material. The resulting box set probably did more than any other single effort (including earlier tributes by Dutch pianist Misha Mengelberg and saxophonist Steve Lacy) to spread the word of this overlooked jazz giant.
Blue Note will reissue The Complete Recordings of Herbie Nichols on four CDs this fall, but two new releases do more than recirculate old material. Trombonist Roswell Rudd's The Unheard Herbie Nichols Vol. 1 (CIMP) brings to light seven previously unrecorded Nichols tunes. It's an unprecedented cache of material, comparable to finding new van Gogh canvases or unpublished Kafka short stories, and his trio make the best of a historic opportunity. Another previously unrecorded Nichols composition ("Trio") surfaces on Love Is Proximity (Soul Note), from the Herbie Nichols Project, a quintet of young New Yorkers who display a genuine understanding and appreciation of Nichols's work.
Rudd's analysis of the compositions in the liner notes to his CD makes the intellectual case for Nichols as a composer of tremendous skill and ingenuity. But there's more to Nichols's work than unusual phrase lengths and challenging chords. In his marvelously structured waltz, "Love, Gloom, Cash, Love," for example, he deepens the emotional impact in each successive section: the tune is by turns ironic, sad, angry, and wistful.
A co-conspirator of John Tchicai, Archie Shepp, Steve Lacy, and other New York firebrands of the '60s, Rudd all but disappeared from jazz during periods of his life, and he isn't exactly widely recorded himself. So The Unheard Herbie Nichols isn't just a historic milestone for those who love the music of the late pianist, it's a rare chance to hear one of the great trombonists of the past 30 years in top form.
As a friend and collaborator of Nichols, Rudd has keen insight into the structures of the compositions and their extramusical meaning. He gives "Prancin' Pretty Woman" a tone of knowing amusement, enlivening the lusty blues phrases with come-hither slurs and approving hoots. On the other hand, his deliberately paced, unaccompanied rendition of "One Twilight" enhances the singing stillness of the writing with a vulnerable, nostalgic improvisation that also manages a little bluster to keep things balanced. Guitarist Greg Millar and drummer John Bacon Jr. are respectful accompanists who give selfless support to the ensemble improvising and Rudd's loving arrangements. Best of all, Rudd still has more than 20 unheard Nichols compositions -- bequeathed to him by the pianist on his deathbed -- left to record.
A body of work as complex as Nichols's takes time to master. The members of the Herbie Nichols Project -- pianist Frank Kimbrough, saxophonist Ted Nash, trumpeter Ron Horton, bassist Ben Allison, and drummer Jeff Ballard -- have devoted more than 10 years to that task, and it shows. Nichols rarely heard his tunes played by horns, and he never recorded with them, so the arrangements on Love Is Proximity are acts of sympathetic imagination to begin with. More important, they capture the delicate tone of each tune. The arrangement of "Spinning Song" encapsulates the complexities and qualifications of Nichols's portrait of bohemian life.
But the way the band use the tunes to tell their own stories is what makes this album more than an example of hip repertoire selection. On "Amoeba's Dance," the lines of pianist Kimbrough actually do push and prod, advance and retreat, in an amoeba-like way. On the title track, trumpeter Horton improvises with great attention to the overall shape of his statement. The variety of his phrases and timbre is both surprising and beautiful. Nash's saxophone playing is just as impressive, especially his use of growls, slurs, and split tones to color the jagged contours and hairpin twists of his lines during the bustling group improvisation on "Trio."
The neglect that Herbie Nichols suffered in his lifetime seems more cruel than the open scorn endured by other innovators. But through the efforts of musicians like Rudd and the Herbie Nichols Project, he's beginning to get the attention he deserves. His memory, it seems, will be better served than the man himself was in life." - Ed Hazell
A reissue of the 48 Herbie Nichols recordings formerly out on the limited-edition five-LP Mosaic box set, this three-CD package from 1997 has the pianist/composer's greatest work. Nichols was largely neglected during his lifetime; only in the late '90s did the highly original musician start receiving some of the recognition he deserved. Although his originals were often quite orchestral in nature, Nichols only had the opportunity to record in a trio format; the five sessions on this box (30 songs plus 18 alternate takes) feature either Al McKibbon or Teddy Kotick on bass and Art Blakey or Max Roach on drums. The music (all originals except George Gershwin's "Mine") is virtually unclassifiable, and although largely straight-ahead, sounds unlike anything produced by Herbie Nichols' contemporaries. Essential music. - AMG
Herbie Nichols is one of the archetypal tragedies of jazz. Dead of leukaemia at 44, he had left a legacy of compositions to rival Thelonious Monk's, and yet he is widely unknown.
Fortunately the tide is turning and his extraordinary work is being reassessed. The Herbie Nichols Project is a contemporary New York outfit that plays his music. They have an excellent album called Dr. Cyclops' Dream (Soul Note, 1999).
Alfred Lion had the good sense to record him for Blue Note in a trio format, documenting many of his most outstanding compositions. He is sometimes categorised as a "post-bop" pianist and composer, although some of his most interesting pieces were composed during the early bebop era. As a player, his approach to the piano was witty and agile, perhaps less angular and dissonant than Monk, but no less unusual in its rhythmic and harmonic conception.
His imagination as a composer was vast, his musicality intense and vivid. Nichols' pieces observe the idiosyncrasies of the most powerful musical ideas in the jazz world of the time, but most significantly, transform them through a deeply personal conception of music. He plays with the listener's expectations so cleverly that the word "familiarity" ceases to have meaning.
Herbie Nichols was unable to earn a living from his music. Poignantly, his work is joyful and optimistic. "Step Tempest", recorded in May 1955, builds layer upon layer of contrapuntal complexity. The early passages are reminiscent of Bud Powell in their execution and Duke Ellington in their structure. But the solo that follows ?if it is fair to describe it as such? is a soft, sinuous stream of chromatic notes, cautiously succeeding each other. "House Party Starting", from the August session of the same year, is underscored with dark, threatening tones.
Herbie Nichols is a giant and his recognition is long overdue. Buy this record today and do him justice by playing it loud to everybody. - Cootie's Jazz
This odd (but successful) matchup finds The Double Six of Paris singing vocalese in French to a dozen bebop classics associated with Dizzy Gillespie. Gillepie with pianist Bud Powell and a rhythm section take solos that uplift this date; two songs feature his quintet (with James Moody on alto). Not for all tastes, this is a unique addition to Dizzy Gillespie's discography. - AMG
France?s answer to Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, the acclaimed Parisian sextet called Les Double Six jacked up the art of vocalese as far as it could go by adding French lyrics to popular American jazz instrumentals. The group?s name reflects the fact that, with overdubbing, each singer was able to handle at least two parts, replicating not only the soloists on the original recordings but the sound of the entire band. At the height of its popularity, the Double Six was twice voted #1 Vocal Group by both Down Beat readers and the magazine?s critics.
Founded in 1959, the Double Six consisted of two sopranos, a contralto, a tenor, a baritone and a bass. The founders included Mimi Perrin, the band?s leader and lyricist extraordinaire who translated big band jazz into a vocal format; and Ward Swingle, who would later form another popular Sixties vocal group called the Swingle Singers. The composer/arranger Lalo Shifrin, producing an album featuring Dizzy Gillespie with the Double Six, was impressed that all of the singers had perfect pitch and that he could write arrangements mirroring a band band using the sopranos, contralto and tenor for the trumpets; the tenor, baritone and bass for the trombones; and two female and three male voices for the saxophones. - 52nd Street
total 36M 3.5M 01 - Emanon.mp3* 2.6M 02 - Anthropology.mp3* 4.0M 03 - Tin Tin Deo.mp3* 3.2M 04 - One Bass Hit.mp3* 3.3M 05 - Two Bass Hit.mp3* 2.3M 06 - Groovin' High.mp3* 2.9M 07 - OO-Shoo-Be-Doo-Be.mp3* 2.8M 08 - Hot House.mp3* 3.4M 09 - Con Alma.mp3* 2.9M 10 - Blue'n Boogie.mp3* 2.9M 11 - The Champ.mp3* 2.5M 12 - Ow!.mp3*
This historically very important album was recorded on three different dates from 1952/1953. Art Blakey is on drums on all that occasions, so that's where the great, dynamic team between Silver and Blakey, the foundation of the "Jazz Messengers" had started. Even at this early stage of Silver's career, he was a great composer: "Opus de Funk" turned out to be very successful, even Woody Herman's band played it. "Safari" and above all "Quicksilver"(based on the changes of "Lover come back to me") are my favorites here. Horace is really superb on these tunes. Although he was influenced by Powell and Monk, he really had his own, personal style....fanstastic melody lines and really tricky left-hand stuff. Both of that mentioned tunes later were recorded as quintet-versions. Another interesting thing about theses early trio-sides are the ballad interpretations ("Prelude to a kiss" and "I remember you"): Hoarce Silver plays those lyrical tunes in a very pianistic manner, really pretty. Few years later, most of his ballads were originals with a more brooding mood.
The last two tracks "Message from Kenya" and "Nothing but Soul" are early examples of Blakey's percussion-dates, the first track also featuring Sabu Martinez, who later made a BlueNote Album of his own and collaborated with Blakey on "Orgy in Rhythm".
4.0M 01 Safari.mp3* 4.5M 02 Ecaroh.mp3* 4.0M 03 Prelude To A Kiss.mp3* 4.0M 04 Thou Swell.mp3* 4.2M 05 Quicksilver.mp3* 5.3M 06 Horoscope.mp3* 4.0M 07 Yeah.mp3* 3.9M 08 Knowledge Box.mp3* 5.2M 09 How About You.mp3* 5.4M 10 I Remember You.mp3* 3.7M 11 Silverware.mp3* 6.3M 12 Message From Kenya.mp3* 4.8M 13 Opus De Funk.mp3* 5.8M 14 Nothing But The Soul.mp3* 4.3M 15 Buhaina.mp3* 4.2M 16 Day In, Day Out.mp3*
Jim Hall playing chart-heavy, progressive chamber-jazz? Doesn't work for me. Only occasional swing, little energy, dicey concept. Other aggravations: Too many cooks (liner notes indicate Jim's wife, his agent, Gil Goldstein, a transcriber); misleading credits (artists prominently displayed on jewel box credits, such as Joe Lovano, end up playing on one cut.
But it's still Jim Hall, certainly one of the finest ever jazz guitarists. And it does pick up somewhat after a slow start. Still, probably for Hall completists only.
total 96M 13M Jim Hall - Textures - 01 - Fanfare.mp3* 18M Jim Hall - Textures - 02 - Ragman.mp3* 13M Jim Hall - Textures - 03 - Reflections.mp3* 8.8M Jim Hall - Textures - 04 - Quadrologue.mp3* 24M Jim Hall - Textures - 05 - Passacaglia.mp3* 11M Jim Hall - Textures - 06 - Sazanami.mp3* 8.1M Jim Hall - Textures - 07 - Circus Dance.mp3* 479K Jim Hall - Textures - Back.jpg* 459K Jim Hall - Textures - Front.jpg*
"The Sun Don't Lie" is one of those things of beauty that you stumble upon and realize that it happened for a reason. Before this album I knew Miller as only a collaborator and top notch Electric Bass player. A knowledgeable jazz listening friend of mine owns a record store and told me to check this disc out when it was first released. When I looked at the line-up of artists, it was breathtaking. Miles Davis (this was to be released posthumously and one of Miles final recordings), Wayne Shorter, Lenny White, Don Alias, Paulinho DaCosta, Vernon Reid, Jason Miles, Joe Sample, Andy Narell, Kenny Garrett(the real "Kenny G"),Maurice White, Poogie Bell, Michael "Patches" Stewart, Steve Thornton, Omar Hakim, Hiram Bullock and many more unbelievably... The song list, mostly originals written by Miller, include "Panther" a rousing tune with Miller's trademark bass licks leading things off. "Steveland" a song written as a tribute to the wonderful Stevie "Steveland Morris" Wonder, with stellar performances by Miller, Wayne Shorter and the under appreciated David Sanborn (in top form), and "Rampage" the afforementioned tune featuring Miles Davis's trademark Harmon Muted horn solo. The final cut, "The King Is Gone (For Miles)", is a moving mix of fusion and an interlude in the middle of straight ahead playing with Miller showing off his Bass Clarinet skills, Acoustic Bass and the masterfully mournful tenor sound of Wayne Shorter. All eleven cuts are incredible, but this song alone makes it worth the purchase. I own nearly 1,000 cd's ranging from Adderly to Zawinful and I would recommend this disc to anyone who has a passion, and as I do, a desire to find the ONE perfect jazz disc. If this isn't it, it's as close as we've come in the past decade.
total 85M 8.7M 01 - Panther.mp3* 11M 02 - Steveland.mp3* 8.3M 03 - Rampage.mp3* 9.3M 04 - The Sun Don't Lie.mp3* 8.9M 05 - Scoop.mp3* 1.6M 06 - Mr. Pastorius.mp3* 7.8M 07 - Funny (All She Needs Is Love).mp3* 6.6M 08 - Moons.mp3* 7.1M 09 - Teen Town.mp3* 8.5M 10 - Juju.mp3* 7.9M 11 - The King Is Gone (For Miles).mp3*
Marcus Miller has served as bassist, arranger, and producer for everyone from Luther Vandross to Miles Davis, and on his fourth solo album, Tales, Miller tries to reconnect the fractured fragments of African American music. He uses samples of recorded interviews with his older musical heroes to set up his own instrumental interpretations of that musical history. For example, spoken-word samples from Davis, Charlie Parker, and Billie Holiday lead into "The Blues," a midtempo blues groove that features both live drums and programmed drums, both jazzy horn lines from saxophonist Kenny Garrett and Larry Graham-like funk lines from Miller himself. The result is not jazz but R&B instrumentals with the sort of smarts and drama this genre rarely delivers anymore. Unlike so many fusion albums that settle for show off virtuosity over predictable grooves, Miller's Tales boasts thought-out compositions that bring together disparate elements in unexpected and rewarding ways. The title track, for example, which opens with a brief monologue by rapper Q-Tip, builds its catchy theme from a sample of the Pointer Sisters' "Yes, We Can Can," features Miller's inventive electric bass lines as the lead melody and then turns the song over to Michael Stewart's expert imitation of Davis' muted trumpet phrases.
total 87M 7.7M 01 - The Blues.mp3* 289K 02 - Tales (Intro).mp3* 7.9M 03 - Tales.mp3* 8.6M 04 - Eric.mp3* 7.7M 05 - True Geminis.mp3* 6.9M 06 - Rush Over.mp3* 2.1M 07 - Running Through My Dreams (Interlude).mp3* 7.3M 08 - Ethiopia.mp3* 2.5M 09 - Strange Fruit (Intro).mp3* 2.9M 10 - Strange Fruit.mp3* 7.8M 11 - Visions.mp3* 3.6M 12 - Tales (Reprise).mp3* 6.9M 14 - Forevermore.mp3* 7.1M 15 - Infatuation.mp3* 7.6M 16 - Come Together.mp3*
total 81M 7.1M 01 I'll Remember April.mp3* 6.2M 02 All Of You.mp3* 9.8M 03 DJango.mp3* 4.2M 04 One Bass Hit.mp3* 14M 05 La Ronde Suite (Piano, Bass, Vibes, Drums).mp3* 4.5M 06 The Queens's Fancy.mp3* 5.6M 07 Delaunay's Dilemma.mp3* 5.2M 08 Autumn In New York.mp3* 5.2M 09 But Not For Me.mp3* 6.1M 10 Milano.mp3* 4.6M 11 Vendome.mp3* 4.6M 12 All The Things You Are.mp3* 4.4M 13 La Ronde.mp3* 474K MJQ Scans.zip*
House DJs have been weaving rock guitar licks and power chords into their grooves and mixes for years. Rinôçérôse take a cue from them and run with it. At times, the French group plays houselike riffs on guitars and puts them over four-on-the-floor beats to create tracks that smoothly integrate the two genres. Sometimes discrete elements from each style bump up against each other, creating striking combinations. A wailing guitar sits right next to an acid squelch on "La Guitaristic House Organization" and "Le Triangle" places an indie-rock strum over a house beat. Other elements also come into play. The Brazilian-flavored "Mes Vacances a Rio" occasionally drifts into dub territory; fuzz tones and jazzy flute ride the Latin and Jamaican rhythms. On "Popular Mechanics," dreamily hypnotic e-bow drones get tickled by skittering percussion patterns. It'll be interesting to see what follows Installation Sonore's fun fusion.
total 84M 9.9M Installation Sonore - 01 - la guitaristic house organisation.mp3* 7.6M Installation Sonore - 02 - radiocapte.mp3* 7.7M Installation Sonore - 03 - sublimior.mp3* 6.0M Installation Sonore - 04 - le mobilier.mp3* 7.5M Installation Sonore - 05 - 323 secondes de musique répétitiv.mp3* 9.0M Installation Sonore - 06 - mes vacances à Rio.mp3* 6.6M Installation Sonore - 07 - popular mechanics.mp3* 7.3M Installation Sonore - 08 - I love ma guitare.mp3* 7.4M Installation Sonore - 09 - rock classics, volume I.mp3* 7.4M Installation Sonore - 10 - le triangle_2.mp3* 7.4M Installation Sonore - 10 - le triangle.mp3* 1.0K Installation Sonore.m3u*
Featuring two French psychologists-turned-mixologists who first emerged on the dance scene with the disco-house LP Installation Sonore, Jean-Phillipe and Patou's Music Kills Me features a more rambunctious, guitar-fueled sound, but one that still turns the beat on full blast. Opening impressively with the pumping "Le Rock Summer," which neatly juxtaposes rock chords with classy disco strings, the album grows repetitious as it plays out, occasionally falling off the deep end with the stuck-in-a-time-warp "Dead Flowers" and the ugly downtempo vocal track "Resurrection d'une Guitar Hero." The disc is ultimately saved by its deep and subtle grooves, which tracks like "It's Time to Go Now," "Lost Love," and "No, We're Not Experienced" memorably use to their advantage. There's nothing overly original or inspiring here, but it does have an odd streak of charm.
total 84M 5.6M Music Kills Me - 01 - Le Rock Summer (Edit).mp3* 8.4M Music Kills Me - 02 - Music Kills Me.mp3* 7.6M Music Kills Me - 03 - It's Time to Go Now.mp3* 6.2M Music Kills Me - 04 - Lost Love.mp3* 8.2M Music Kills Me - 05 - Dead Flowers.mp3* 5.7M Music Kills Me - 06 - Résurrection D'une Idôle Pop.mp3* 9.5M Music Kills Me - 07 - Professeur Suicide.mp3* 7.9M Music Kills Me - 08 - No, We Are Not Experienced!.mp3* 7.7M Music Kills Me - 09 - Brian Jones, Last Picture.mp3* 6.1M Music Kills Me - 10 - Obséques D'un Guitar Héro.mp3* 5.3M Music Kills Me - 11 - Dead Can Dance.mp3* 5.7M Music Kills Me - 12 - Highway To Heaven.mp3* 1.5K Music Kills Me.m3u*
total 59M 9.4M 01 Roots.mp3* 7.1M 02 Autumn in Lower Austria.mp3* 1.5M 03 Autumn in Lower Austria.mp3* 3.6M 04 Autumn in Lower Austria.mp3* 4.0M 05 Bagatelle (fuer Werner).mp3* 5.8M 06 Untitled.mp3* 4.1M 07 Suite in 3 Parts - 1.mp3* 4.9M 08 Suite in 3 Parts - 2.mp3* 2.4M 09 Suite in 3 Parts - 3.mp3* 9.2M 10 Impressionen.mp3* 5.4M 11 Question Mark.mp3* 1.5M Roots_front.jpg*
"One of the great jazz trumpeters of all time, Freddie Hubbard formed his sound out of the Clifford Brown/Lee Morgan tradition, and by the early '70s was immediately distinctive and the pacesetter in jazz. However, a string of blatantly commercial albums later in the decade damaged his reputation and, just when Hubbard, in the early '90s (with the deaths of Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis), seemed perfectly suited for the role of veteran master, his chops started causing him serious troubles.
Born and raised in Indianapolis, Hubbard played early on with Wes and Monk Montgomery. He moved to New York in 1958, roomed with Eric Dolphy (with whom he recorded in 1960), and was in the groups of Philly Joe Jones (1958-1959), Sonny Rollins, Slide Hampton, and J.J. Johnson, before touring Europe with Quincy Jones (1960-1961). He recorded with John Coltrane, participated in Ornette Coleman's Free Jazz (1960), was on Oliver Nelson's classic Blues and the Abstract Truth album (highlighted by "Stolen Moments"), and started recording as a leader for Blue Note that same year. Hubbard gained fame playing with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (1961-1964) next to Wayne Shorter and Curtis Fuller. He recorded Ascension with Coltrane (1965), Out to Lunch (1964) with Eric Dolphy, and Maiden Voyage with Herbie Hancock, and, after a period with Max Roach (1965-1966), he led his own quintet, which at the time usually featured altoist James Spaulding. A blazing trumpeter with a beautiful tone on flügelhorn, Hubbard fared well in freer settings but was always essentially a hard bop stylist.
In 1970, Freddie Hubbard recorded two of his finest albums (Red Clay and Straight Life) for CTI. The follow-up, First Light (1971), was actually his most popular date, featuring Don Sebesky arrangements. But after the glory of the CTI years (during which producer Creed Taylor did an expert job of balancing the artistic with the accessible), Hubbard made the mistake of signing with Columbia and recording one dud after another; Windjammer (1976) and Splash (a slightly later effort for Fantasy) are low points. However, in 1977, he toured with Herbie Hancock's acoustic V.S.O.P. Quintet and, in the 1980s, on recordings for Pablo, Blue Note, and Atlantic, he showed that he could reach his former heights (even if much of the jazz world had given up on him). But by the late '80s, Hubbard's "personal problems" and increasing unreliability (not showing up for gigs) started to really hurt him, and a few years later his once-mighty technique started to seriously falter. Freddie Hubbard's fans can still certainly enjoy his many recordings for Blue Note, Impulse, Atlantic, CTI, Pablo, and his first Music Masters sets." - Scott Yanow
"Sonny Stitt, doubling on alto and tenor, is in fine form on this quartet session (a Japanese import CD) with either Barry Harris or Walter Davis on piano, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Tony Williams. The repertoire (bop standards, blues and ballads) is fairly typical and nothing too unusual occurs, but fans of straightahead jazz in general and Sonny Stitt in particular will be satisfied with this above-average effort, highlighted by "It Might as Well Be Spring" and "Constellation."" - Scott Yanow
"Sonny Stitt was so closely identified with Charlie Parker on the alto that even when he played tenor, his style was of the quicker-than-lightning variety with all the notes he could pack in a phrase in his soloing. Which makes listening to him, for all but the most ardent bebop fans, an endurance contest no matter how agile he was. Here, in a 1956 session with Ray Brown and Jo and Jimmy Jones backing him, there is some tempering of the maelstrom that Stitt conjured up on every bandstand. Half the program is ballads, including "The Stars Fell on Alabama," a gorgeous "Body & Soul," and "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea." While these cuts show an uncharacteristic restraint from Stitt, the midtempo tunes, such as "Down Home Blues," "Alone Together," and "If I Had You," still reveal his insistence on streaking everything into the blue despite a rhythm section that wishes to hold the tunes within recognizable tempos. It's no problem for Stitt; he just plays twice or three times as fast. This is a good session, but like all of Stitt's records, wears thin after about six cuts." - Thom Jurek
"Sonny Stitt forged his own approach to playing bebop out of the sound and style of Charlie Parker, so this tribute album (reissued through Rhino on CD) was a very logical project. With fine support from guitarist Jim Hall, pianist John Lewis, bassist Richard Davis and drummer Connie Kay, Stitt performs ten Charlie Parker compositions, plus Jay McShann's "Hootie Blues"; these renditions of "Now's The Time" and "Yardbird Suite" were previously unreleased. Stitt, who mastered bebop and could play hot licks in his sleep, is in top form on such numbers as "Constellation," "Confirmation" and "Ko-Ko," making this an essential item for straight-ahead jazz fans (although the prolific altoist would record eight other albums in 1963 alone)." - Scott Yanow
"Because he has spent most of his career in Detroit and has not recorded enough, Marcus Belgrave has often been overlooked. A flexible and talented trumpeter able to play both hard bop and free, Belgrave was tutored by Clifford Brown a bit when he was 17. He toured with Ray Charles during 1954-1959 and had opportunities to play with the groups of Charles Mingus and Max Roach. In 1963, Belgrave moved to Detroit where he has been continually active as an educator and a studio player. He has recorded with (among others) McCoy Tyner, David Newman, Art Hodes (duets), David Murray, Geri Allen (one of his former students), swing tenor Franz Jackson and Sammy Price, mostly beginning in the 1980s. Belgrave has also been featured with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Among his other former students are Bob Hurst, Kenny Garrett, and James Carter, so at least indirectly Marcus Belgrave has made a strong impact on jazz." - Scott Yanow
" Active for roughly a dozen years, the Microscopic Septet was widely recognized as "New York's Most Famous Unknown Band." The group started with a basic reeds-and-rhythm texture that was sonically similar to the sound of the Swing Era. However, they employed this texture to address a widely eclectic range of styles, from free-form music to R&B, reggae, rhumbas and ragtime. The result was a brilliant blend of fresh-sounding orchestration ideas and inspired soloing. Along with Don Byron and former band-member John Zorn, The "Micros" were also the most celebrated of the many cutting-edge units associated with experimental music's best-known venue, the Knitting Factory, during the peak years of the "Downtown" music movement in the late '80s and early '90s.
Phillip Johnston, at the time he started the Microscopic Septet, was an NYU dropout who'd worked in a succession of jazz, rhythm and blues and polka groups in New York and San Francisco. A largely self-taught soprano saxophonist and composer, Johnston's work in both areas reveals the powerful and positive influence of Steve Lacy. "I was interested in more arranged, compositionally-oriented music .... from within the swing big band jazz tradition," Johnston recalls, "as opposed to (the conventional jazz) head-solos-head format." Organizing a group of fellow musicians, Johnston started with a sax section and planned to add brass later. However, he liked the sound of four saxes and three rhythm so much he decided to stick with that. When Johnston's original name for the group, "Claude Funston and the Psychic Detectives" proved too "unwieldy," he changed it to the "Microscopic Septet," who played their first "regular gig" at New York's Ear Inn in 1981.
The earliest and most important member of the Micros after Johnston himself was pianist Joel Forrester, whom Johnston had already been playing with in Joel's Quartet. Born in 1946, in New Kennsington, Pennsylvania, Forrester had been associated with Thelonious Monk and legendary jazz patroness Baroness Nica de Koenigswarter. Forrester almost immediately became co-musical director of the Micros, writing approximately half of the band's ever-burgeoning library of arrangements. Within a few years, the remaining personnel stabilized as Paul Shapiro, tenor saxophone, Don Davis, alto (replacing John Zorn, the band's original altoist), Dave Sewelson, baritone, David "The Legend" Hofstra, bass and tuba, and Richard Dworkin, drums.
Part of the Microscopic Septet's problem with "marketing" itself was the lack of an obvious label to describe what it did - the closest anyone came was the handle "Surrealistic Swing." While the two major strains of '80s jazz were "neo-classical" (ala Wynton Marsalis) and the avant-garde, the Micros seemed to be doing both at the same time. The group specialized in multi-layered compositions that rarely used conventional song forms but instead shifted between many different basic themes in a single piece (like Ellington or Jelly Roll Morton but unlike most modern composers).
Among the group's more requested works were the tango "Lazlo's Lament" and the klezmer-styled "Waltz of the Recently Punished Catholic School Boys"; they also produced brilliant, completely re-imagined treatments of Monk, Ellington and such Tin Pan Alley items as "Tico Tico." As titles like these indicate, the group's most important asset was its sense of humor. In addition to playing with a joyful zeal rarely heard in postmodern music, the group specialized in wacky, Raymond Scott-like tune titles and Johnston's characteristically droll, Steven Wright-like bandstand one-liners.
From 1981 to 1992, the band toured Europe, Canada, the United States and appeared three times at the JVC Jazz Festival. The Micros also became one of two or three groups most associated with the Knitting Factory when that new music forum opened in the mid-'80s. Although frequently written about by the alternative music press, the band, unfortunately only rarely attracted the attention of mainstream publications and, mysteriously, even less from record labels. In 11 years of regularly working together, they recorded only four albums, none at all between 1988 and 1992, thus documenting only a fraction of the 170 charts written expressly for the group. Disillusioned and also wanting to move on to other sonic formats, Johnston disbanded the group in 1992. However, like the rest of the group, he remains an active force in the New York scene, playing in bands (comprised partly of fellow former Micros) such as Big Trouble and Twilight Time." - Phillip Johnston
"The Microscopic Septet was one of the most distinctive jazz ensembles in New York during the '80s and early '90s. Combining a love for the big-band sound with a progressive approach to arrangement and composition, the Micros managed to be nostalgic and futuristic at the same time.
Founded by N.Y.U. dropout and soprano saxophonist Philip Johnston, the group that came to be known as New York's most famous unknown band featured pianist Joel Forrester, tenor saxophonist Paul Shapiro, baritone saxophonist Dave Sewelson, bassist/tuba player Dave Hofstra, and drummer Richard Dworkin. For a time, the group's alto sax slot was filled by John Zorn, later replaced by Don Davis. Though Johnston originally planned to add brass to the ensemble, the septet's sound was so refreshing as it was that he left it with four reed and three rhythm players.
From their first regular gigs in 1981, it was clear that the Microscopic Septet sounded and acted differently than most bands in the New York jazz scene. Combining their basic reed and rhythm lineup with eclectic compositions and soloing, the Micros were neither jazz classicists nor strictly avant-garde, but something more unregimented. Indeed, this fluid, cutting-edge nature made them a fixture at the Knitting Factory, one of the city's premiere experimental music venues.
Despite glowing reviews from the alternative music press for their witty, surrealistic approach to jazz, the group failed to attract much mainstream attention to their work, possibly because it was so difficult to classify. Consequently, over the 12 years the Microscopic Septet played together they recorded only four albums: 1982's Take the Z-Train, 1984's Off Beat Glory, 1986's Let's Flip, and Beauty Based on Science (The Visit) from 1988. From 1988 onward, they were not able to record at all, leaving many of their later pieces unrecorded.
The Micros disbanded in 1992, with Johnston moving on to film-scoring work and playing in the Unknown and Transparent Quartet, among many other gigs; virtually all of the Septet members lead their own bands, along with collaborating occasionally and performing solo. Forrester formed People Like Us, who also counted Hofstra among its members." - Heather Phares
"The last of four albums recorded by this madcap New York City band co-led by Phillip Johnston and Joel Forrester, Beauty Based on Science ends their all-too-brief career on a high note. As usual, the pieces take their cues from a multitude of sources, including film noir soundtracks, Ellington, barrelhouse blues, and Steve Lacy, all performed with an odd combination of homage and tongue-in-cheek, spiced with a liberal dose of free jazz in the solo work. The near-obligatory tango shows up in Johnston's slyly titled "Waltz of the Recently Punished Catholic School Boys." Their horn arrangements are possibly richer than ever, shown to great advantage in compositions like "Come From Behind" (a small classic and frequent live performance highlight) and Johnston's "Rocky's Heart." Forrester's bouncy, infectious "Lobster in the Limelight," also a band mainstay, offers another example of the Micros at the top of their game, with its giddy riffs providing exactly the right balance and support for all manner of free soloing by Paul Shapiro and Dave Sewelson. When the bandmembers break out into synchronized handclaps, it's impossible not to crack a smile. Johnston would go on to do enjoyable work with several groups, including Big Trouble and the Transparent Quartet, but fans of those bands would do well to hear his unique roots in this band." -- Brian Olewnick
"The quirky music of the Microscopic Septet defies classification, other than it is swinging jazz blended with R&B and a host of other influences, full of twists and turns, yet remaining very catchy and accessible. Their debut LP originally came out on the Press label and was finally reissued as a Koch CD in 1998. Much like the musicians that made up Spike Jones' City Slickers in the 1940s, only some very talented players could follow these demanding charts; yet unlike the comparison to Jones' records, there is nothing that is obviously or purely cornball about this music. It is hard to tell apart the individual writing styles of pianist Joel Forrestor and soprano saxophonist Phillip Johnston at this point in their respective careers (both of who achieved success as leaders following the demise of the group). Johnston's liner notes give no clues as to any hidden meanings to the song titles, but Forrestor's chugging "Mr. Bradley, Mr. Martin" and Johnston's bizarre "A Strange Thought Entered Head" are particularly good starting points to explore their music. Anyone familiar with the later recordings of either Phillip Johnston or Joel Forrestor should definitely check out the hard to define but very enjoyable compositions within this CD." -- Ken Dryden
"The French based Paris Combo was formed in 1995 when the trio of Belle Du Berry, Francois-Francois and Potzi (who'd all been performing together) were joined by David Lewis and Mano Razanajato. An unlikely meeting of varying cultures combined in the formation of this acoustic group -- two French members, vocalist du Berry and drummer Francois, Australian trumpeter Lewis, Madagasgan bassist Ranzanajato and Mediterranean guitarist Potzi. Collectively they combine several styles of music like cabaret, gypsy, and swing jazz and inject them sparingly with Latin rhythms, Spanish guitar and on rarer instances with Asian and Mid-Eastern motifs. This esoteric melding of cultures and musical influences yields a hybrid that, while it relies on retro sources, comes across as neither contrived nor forced. Du Berry's flitting yet commanding voice lies somewhere between that of Edith Piaf and Anna Purnell. Potzi's guitar playing combines the gypsy styling and swing of Django Reinhardt the warm intonations of Joe Pass and the rhythm of Charlie Christian. Lewis' frequently muted trumpet recalls the swing and sweet bands of the ?30s and ?40s. He also doubles on piano which enhances the jazz effect but the diversity of Paris Combo prevents any strict categorization. Their debut Paris Combo was released in 1997 followed by Living Room in 1999. Both were released on the American, Tinder Records label and both retained the same personnel. Attraction was released in 2001 on Polygram." - Dave Sleger
"The real test of a live album is whether it adds anything to the studio releases -- whether the performers can add another dimension to their music in concert. In the case of Paris Combo, the smoothness that has characterized their studio work might acquire a few rough edges, but that's all to the good, and their heady, sophisticated mix of jazz and chanson is something that's very audience-friendly. Considering they're only a five-piece, they manage a remarkably full sound, due in large part to the dexterity of David Lewis, who covers trumpet, bugle, and piano, and guitarist Potzi, whose adaptability between rhythm and lead roles is superb throughout. Perhaps the biggest difference is that the band stresses their instrumental skills more, with vocalist Belle du Berry taking something of a subordinate role, as on "Le Roi de la Forêt." They're helped by a great sound, which puts little flourishes of dub at the start of "Mais Que Fait la NASA?" and emphasizes the Middle Eastern texture of "Istanbul." They stretch out a little here and there, without ever making the solos tedious, and keep the hot jazz feel that's so much a part of their appeal. They cut loose on the encore of "Moi, Mon Ame et Ma Conscience" to great effect, giving the listener the full concert. It might not be quite the same as being in the same hall as the band, but it's close enough to be good." -- Chris Nickson
"Steel pan virtuoso Andy Narell with Mario Canonge, bassist Michel Alibo, and drummer Jean-Philippe Fanfant form Sakesho, a jazz quartet who draws much of their inspiration from the syncopated, polyrhythmic music from the islands of Martinique and Guadaloupe. The group lives up to their top billing with a collective heart in the musical mysteries of the French Caribbean on their first self-titled CD, one that features several videos, a bio, and song descriptions. Andy Narrell, who has pioneered the role of the steel pan in contemporary music, wrote three of the compositions. "Laventille," which has a calypso beat from Trinidad, spotlights a beautiful piano solo by Mario Canonge. Canonge is a top jazz session player and bandleader in his own right and is one of the leading interpreters of the beguine. "Mabouya," the Creole name for a big, slow lizard, is played in a 3/4 French Caribbean rhythm known as a mazouka. The song is based on the chords of Thelonious Monk's "'Round Midnight" and features some great drumming by Jean-Philippe Fanfant. "Song for Mia" is the purest example of the beguine on Sakesho, with an effortless groove that's pure delight. As soothing as a field of daisies and just as cozy, this is a wonderful song to unwind and relax to. With vocals contributed by Polo Athanase, a folkloric singer from Martinique, they take the song to a higher level at the end with pulsating gwoka drumming by Fanfant. Sakesho, with their amazing offering of rhythmic diversity -- beguine, mazouka, calypso, and traditional gwoka drumming styles -- will have your feet moving to their spontaneity and soulful energy." -- Paula Edelstein
"This album was also identified as Spike Jones in Hi-Fi, although just saying "Spike Jones, the monster one" has always worked fastest for identification purposes. Practically every record released in the late '50s said "in hi-fi" or "in stereo" on it anyway; in fact, this album makes both claims -- the former on the front in jagged, dripping monster letters and the latter on the back cover in a slightly more normal typeface. Voiceover artist Paul Frees, known for his Dracula and Peter Lorre imitations in cartoons, joins forces with the Jones band here for one of those completely perfect collaborations. Monsters are a rich source of comedy material as well as spine tingles, and Frees adds just the right dramatic continuity to the proceedings. The tracks include much manically tossed-off silliness cooked up by Jones and his arranging buddy Carl Brandt, such as "Teenage Brain Surgeon," definitely one of the Jones band's most rocking numbers. Then there are the classic standards that can be interpreted as having monstrous overtones. For example, having the hapless Frankenstein monster sing "Everything Happens to Me" might even make a listener forget the Billie Holiday version. The jokes even extend to the liner credits, where the vocal on "My Old Flame" is credited to one "I.M. Arson." The Jones band is in rip-roaring, startling form as usual, so hang on to your seats. Because of the content and how well it is pulled off, this is definitely recomended for children, who will probably want to keep it in their rooms once they see the cover." -- Eugene Chadbourne
"The role of the Arabic, lute-like, stringed instrument, the oud, has been revolutionalized through the playing of Anouar Brahem. While used in the past to accompany vocalists, the oud is used by Brahem as an imaginative solo instrument. In 1988, Tunisian newspaper, "Tunis-Hebdo", wrote, "If we had to elect the musician of the 80s, we would have, without the least hesitation, chosen Anouar Brahem". The British daily newspaper, "The Guardian", that Brahem was "at the forefront of jazz because he is far beyond it".
Encouraged by his music-loving father, Brahem began studying the oud, at the age of ten, when he enrolled at the National Conservatory of Music. For nearly a decade, he studied with influential oud player Ali Sitri. By the age of fifteen, he was playing well enough to perform regularly with local orchestras. Although he initially focused on Arabic music, Brahem increasingly incorporated elements of jazz. This was enhanced during the six years that he spent in Paris (1981 -- 1987), performing at festivals and collaborating with choreographer Maurice Bejart on a production, "A Return To Carthage" that received the prestigous "National Award Of Excellence In Music".
Returning to Tunis in 1987, Brahem performed at the Carthage Festival in the multi-artist production, "Ligua 85". Shortly afterwards, Braham agreed to become director of the Ensemble Musical De In Ville De Tunis. During the two years that he oversaw the ensemble, Brahem divided the group into smaller of various sizes. Among the productions that he directed were "Leilatou Tayu" and "El Hizam El Dhahbi".
In 1990, Brahem resigned to focus on his own career. After touring in the United States and Canada, he met and was signed by Manfred Eicher, producer and founder of German record label, ECM. His debut album, "Barzakh", released in 1991, was recorded with Turkish musicians, Bechir Selmi and Lassad Hosni. In a review of the album, German music magazine, "Stereo", wrote, "(Brahem) is an exceptional musician and improviser". Brahem's second album, "Conte De L'incroyable Amour", released in 1992, was recorded with clarinet player Barbaros Erkose. In 1994, Brahem recorded "Madar", with Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek and Pakistani tabla player Shaukat Hussain. Brahem's fourth album, "Khomas", released in 1995, featured improvised interpretations of his compositions for Tunisian film and theater productions and was recorded with accordion player Richard Galliano and violinist Bechir Selmi. With his fifth effort, "Thimar", released in 1998, Brahem collaborated with soprano saxophone and bass clarinet player Jo n Surman and double bass player Dave Holland. Astrakan Cafe was issued three years later.
Brahem has composed numerous pieces for such films and musical theater productions as "Sabots En Or", "Bezness", "Halfaouine", "Les Silences Du Palais", "Lachou Shakespeare", "Wannas El Kloub", El Amel", "Borj El Hammam" and "Bosten Jamalek". He collaborated with Maurice Bejart on the ballet, "Thalassa Mare Nostrum" and with Gabriel Yared on the Costa Gravas film, "Hanna K"." - Anoar Brahem
"The Tunisian oud genius has done it again. Anouar Brahem has issued only five records under his own name over the past decade, each more adventurous than the last, without compromising his original vision: for the music of his region to meet with the other music of Africa and Asia and create a delirious sound that is equal thirds past, present, and future, along the precipice of historical lineage. For Brahem there is no attempt to synthesize the globe, or even the sounds of the East with those of the West. He is content in his knowledge that sound is infinite, and that his tradition, as it evolves and expands into a deeper pan-African/trans-Asian whole, is more than large enough for a master musician to rummage through in one lifetime. Astrakan Café, the follow-up to his brilliant Thimar, is a smaller-sounding recording that reaches farther into the deep crags of the Balkans. With Barbaros Erköse on clarinet and the Indian and Turkish percussion stylings of the professor of somber precision, Lassad Hosni, Brahem's oud enters into a dialogue, musically, that has never before existed (though he has collaborated with both players previously). Erköse is a Turkish clarinetist of gypsy origin. His low, warm, rounded tones are consonant with the oud. Erköse plays equal parts music of the Balkan and Arab worlds with a tinge of the ancient klezmorim whispering their secrets through his horn. Despite the journeying these musicians do here, they never stray far from the takht, a small ensemble capable of improvising to the point of drunken ecstasy. Listening through Astrakan Café, you can hear the gypsy flamenco tied deeply to Indian ragas and even a kind of Eastern jazz. But there is no hyperactivity in it, no need to cram as many traditions as possible into one putridly excessive mix that expresses nothing but the novelty of the moment. Astrakan Café has many highlights: its two title tracks that have their roots in Russian and Azerbaijan music; "Ashkabad," which is an improvisation on a melody from the folk music of Turkmenistan; "Astara," a modal improvisation based on love songs from Azerbaijan; "Halfounie," a segment from a Brahem-composed soundtrack inspired by the medina or marketplace in Tunis; and "Parfum de Gitanie," which takes a fragment from Ethiopian sacred music, slows it to the point of stillness, and waxes lazily and jazzily over the top, with the oud and the clarinet trading syncopated eights. This is deeply personal, profound music. It is also highly iconographic, with timelessness woven through every measure. The only "exotica" on Astrakan Café is its "otherness" out of space and any discernable era. The tempos are languid and full of purpose, the dynamics clean and clearly demarcated, the tones and modes warm, rich, and linear. This would be traditional music if a tradition such as this -- which is original, though adapted from many sources on inspiration -- actually existed. Highly recommended." - Thom Jurek
total 108M 6.1M 01_Aube_rouge_Grozny.mp3 4.6M 02_Astrakan_caf_(1).mp3 6.6M 03_The_Mozdok_s_train.mp3 12M 04_Blue_jewels.mp3 4.9M 05_Nihawend_Lunga.mp3 7.8M 06_Ashkabad.mp3 8.3M 07_Halfaouine.mp3 9.8M 08_Parfum_de_gitane.mp3 4.9M 09_Khotan.mp3 7.1M 10_Karakoum.mp3 15M 11_Astara.mp3 5.3M 12_Dar_es_Salam.mp3 8.9M 13_Hijaz_pechref.mp3 6.7M 14_Astrakan_caf_(2).mp3 120K Astrakan-Back.jpg 56K Astrakan-Front.jpg
"This starkly beautiful collection of 13 tracks by Tunisian composer Anouar Brahem is his debut release for the ECM label. The album spotlights Brahem's solo oud pieces, which range from the meditative ("Sadir") to the propulsive ("Ronda"). This solo work is nicely augmented by stellar contributions from violinist Bechir Selmi and percussionist Lassad Hosni; Selmi is featured on the transcendent "Barzakh," while Hosni figures prominently on "Souga" and "Bou Naouara." The three musicians come together for the joyous dance number "Parfum de Gitane." Throughout Barzakh, Brahem and the others forge an appealing mix of Middle Eastern sonorities and jazz phrasing, an intimate sound perfectly suited to the clean and spacious ECM recording style. This is a great title for fans of both international music and jazz." - Stephen Cook
total 79M 5.0M 01-Raf_Raf.mp3 16M 02-Barzakh.mp3 8.8M 03-Sadir.mp3 4.5M 04-Ronda.mp3 2.3M 05-Hou.mp3 4.0M 06-Sarandib.mp3 3.0M 07-Souga.mp3 6.0M 08-Parfum_De_Gitane.mp3 3.4M 09-Bou_Naoara.mp3 11M 10-Kerkenah.mp3 7.7M 11-La_Nuit_Des_Yeux.mp3 5.9M 12-Le_Belv_d_re_Assi_ge.mp3 2.4M 13-Oaf.mp3 72K Barzakh-Back.jpg 224K Barzakh-Front.jpg
"The son of the noted musician Bebo Valdes, Chucho began playing piano when he was three and by the time he was 16 he was leading his own group. In 1960 his father defected from Cuba but Chucho stayed behind. In 1967, he formed the Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna and, in 1973, he founded Irakere, the top Cuban jazz orchestra; among its original members were Arturo Sandoval and Paquito D'Rivera. Valdes has been Irakere's musical director almost from the start and has recorded with the full band, in small groups, and as an impressive solo pianist. He remains one of the top jazz musicians living in Cuba." - Scott Yanow
"This fairly obscure CD is a bit unusual for pianist Chucho Valdes (heard solo throughout) because he performs exclusively older material (most songs dating from the 1950s or before) and the renditions are quite concise. Only two of the dozen pieces exceed five minutes, and four are under three minutes in length. There are many beautiful melodies on the set including "Linda Cubana," "Guantanamera," "Son de la Loma," and Ernesto Lecuona's "La Comparsa." Valdes' loving variations uplift the delightful music." - Scott Yanow
"The leader and founder of Irakere, Chucho Valdes is also a brilliant pianist who may be on the same level of Gonzalo Rubalcaba. He has a very impressive classical technique and is able to hint at such players as McCoy Tyner, Lennie Tristano, and Cecil Taylor without watering down his Cuban heritage. This dazzling set covers a lot of ground with highlights, including "Blue Yes" (which is based on the chords of Charlie Parker's "Confirmation"), a sensitive Bill Evans tribute, and several nearly free explosions. Despite the CD's title, the final two of the ten selections add bass, drums, and percussion, and feature Valdes closely interacting with and pushing his sidemen. Highly recommended." - Scott Yanow
total 117M 9.3M Al Cohn & Zoot Sims - Halley's Comet.mp3 9.7M Al Cohn & Zoot Sims - The Red Door.mp3 4.0M Chris Connor w Ronnie Ball Trio - Blow Gabriel, Blow.mp3 4.3M Chris Connor w Ronnie Ball Trio - Day In Day Out.mp3 3.5M Chris Connor w Ronnie Ball Trio - Hallelujah I Love Him So.mp3 5.4M Chris Connor w Ronnie Ball Trio - I Get A Kick Out Of You.mp3 7.4M Chris Connor w Ronnie Ball Trio - Spring Can Really Hang You Up.mp3 12M Coleman Hawkins & Roy Eldridge - Lover Come Back To Me.mp3 8.1M Coleman Hawkins & Roy Eldridge - Rifftide.mp3 8.4M Curtis Fuller - It's All Right With Me.mp3 15M Kenny Dorham - A Night In Tunesia.mp3 4.1M Kenny Dorham - Autumn Leaves.mp3 18M Kenny Dorham - Wee dot.mp3 3.6M Roy Eldridge - The Man I Love.mp3 5.4M Tommy Flanagan Trio - Love For Sale.mp3
"On an irregular basis in the early 1980s, the innovative electric bassist Jaco Pastorius led a big band that he called Word of Mouth. This excellent CD documents Pastorius' 30th birthday party, a concert ar which he was joined by the Peter Graves Orchestra (consisting of 14 horns, two steel drums and two percussionists) plus drummer Peter Erskine, Don Alias on conga, and both Michael Brecker and Bob Mintzer on tenors. Brecker co-stars with Pastorius on a strong program that is highlighted by "The Chicken," and a burning rendition of "Invitation," and "Liberty City." The music is full of spirit and joy, featuring Pastorius at the peak of his powers just before his tragic decline." -- Scott Yanow
"This is a double-CD reissue of two prior single CD reissues, which expand the original Kenny Dorham LP from 42 minutes to over two hours. Although not necessarily trumpeter Dorham's finest hour this surprisingly consistent set features the trumpeter and his sextet (with J.R. Monterose on tenor, guitarist Kenny Burrell, pianist Bobby Timmons, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Arthur Edgehill) performing 17 selections, ten (counting alternate takes) are the trumpeter's hard bop originals although one also gets fine versions of such standards as "'Round Midnight," "A Night in Tunisia" and "My Heart Stood Still." Considering how extensive this recording is (virtually the whole evening's performance), it is fortunate that Kenny Dorham's group (which was a short-lived venture called The Jazz Prophets) was in top form that night." -- Scott Yanow
"Ran Blake has recorded fairly often during his career, but this was his first full set with a standard quartet. Tenor saxophonist Ricky Ford works surprisingly well with Blake, whose phrasing and use of space are unusual, while his interpretations are sometimes based on the feeling he gets from song titles rather than the chord changes. Bassist Ed Felson and drummer Jon Hazilla (former students) were very familiar with Blake's music. The repertoire is as unusual as usual for a Ran Blake date, including "I've Got You Under My Skin," "Artistry in Rhythm," obscurities, and originals including the emotional "Short Life of Barbara Monk." Another intriguing Ran Blake set." -- Scott Yanow
"A former member of Betty Carter's band, Green shows on this set that the word on him was correct; he's both an aggressive and sensitive stylist, able to rip through songs and make quick, yet correct chord changes. Yet he can also play a passionate ballad and not rush through it, instead developing and then completing his solos impressively." -- Ron Wynn
"At the time of this 1992 recording, Benny Green had developed into a masterful pianist who thought fast, swung hard, and played with soul, mixing together Oscar Peterson, Gene Harris, and Bobby Timmons. The only problem was that his music had become somewhat predictable, sticking closely to the boundaries of hard bop circa 1962. In his trio with bassist Christian McBride and drummer Carl Allen, Green is heard in top form for the period (his version of Bud Powell's "Celia" is particularly memorable) and performs a program that is easily recommended to lovers of bop. Benny Green plays with such enthusiasm and joy that it almost sounds as if he had invented the style." -- Scott Yanow
"Gene Ammons recorded frequently for Prestige during the 1950s and early '60s and virtually all of the tenor's dates were quite rewarding. This two-LP set reissues Twistin' the Jug plus part of Angel Eyes and Velvet Soul. Ammons, a bop-based but very versatile soloist, sounds quite comfortable playing a variety of standards and lesser-known material in groups featuring Jack McDuff or Johnny "Hammond" Smith on organ and either trumpeter Joe Newman or Frank Wess on tenor and flute. This version of "Angel Eyes" became a surprise hit." -- Scott Yanow
"This German fusion power trio is comprised of guitarist Stefan Ivan Schäfer, bassist Christoph Victor Kaiser, and drummer Thomas Lui Ludwig, all of whom are highly skilled, powerful musicians. Recorded in 1996, 3 on the Floor does them justice with high-quality production and a set of challenging, energetic compositions. Schäfer and Kaiser do most of the writing, both collaboratively and individually, coming up with fiery funk grooves and dizzying ensemble cohesion on tunes like "Three on the Floor," "Take the Brake," and the furious 9/8 workout "Tough Stuff." They're more delicate and pop-jazzy on "Yellow Fellow," "Second Feeling," and parts of "Relax Max," however. Schäfer can leap out with supercharged distortion, but he tempers his attack with a thoughtful, crisp musicality; think Steve Vai meets Wayne Krantz with a dash of John Scofield. Kaiser's six-string bass work is reminiscent of Anthony Jackson, yet he and the group show their allegiance to the late, great Jaco Pastorius on an infectious cover of "Teen Town," the final track. His contrapuntal passage at the end of "Yellow Fellow" is one of the album's finer moments. Ludwig is a strong, versatile fusion drummer who anchors the band through all its shifting styles." -- David R. Adler
"This is a relatively straight-ahead set by the distinctive guitarist Mike Stern, whose airy sound seems quite fresh in this context. Stern performs three standards ("I Love You," "Giant Steps" and "Oleo"), Jimi Hendrix's "Who Knows," and six originals, mostly in a trio with bassist John Patitucci and drummer Jack DeJohnette. Percussionist Don Alias helps out on a few tracks; pianist Gil Goldstein is on two, and tenor great Michael Brecker nearly steals the show with three high-powered solos. Actually, the biggest surprise is "That's What You Think," a straight-ahead blues that has a very credible alto solo from guest David Sanborn. All in all, an excellent outing." -- Scott Yanow
"This first recording of the Die Like a Dog Quartet is fittingly subtitled Fragments of Music, Life and Death of Albert Ayler. In the liner notes (in both German and English), Peter Brötzmann writes of his passionate empathy for a musician whom he considers a kindred spirit; Brötzmann feels a link with Ayler since each were doing a similar thing "at the same point in time" although neither musician had heard the other. And so, lightly scattered throughout this first meeting of the Die Like a Dog Quartet are fragments of quotes from Ayler's Bells, "Ghosts," "Prophet," and more. In August 1993 Brötzmann was joined for a live concert in Berlin by legendary free jazz trumpeter Toshinori Kondo (who also occasionally utilizes electronics effects) and the wondrous rhythm section (although they are no straight time-keepers) of bassist William Parker and percussionist Hamid Drake. And so here, on one recording, you get four musicians who, whenever they're playing, play with every ounce of their attention, passion, and ability. Add to this each musician's great ability on his respective instrument and you get music that is alternately moving, invigorating, and astonishing. The dynamics range from rattles, long, low breaths, and short staccato blurts to the kind of exploding intensity and energy that is usually associated with Brötzmann. There are also two takes (one, just over a minute long) on the standard "Saint James Infirmary" that come at the beginning and end of the three-part "No. 2." -- Joslyn Layne
"In the mid-1970s, trombonist Bill Watrous led a couple of notable big band albums for Columbia. Since relocating to the Los Angeles area in the '80s, Watrous has put together jazz orchestras on a part-time basis to play at local clubs. Finally, in 1997, a recording was released by the more recent version of the Bill Watrous Big Band. Featuring arrangements by Tom Kubis, Shelly Berg, Gordon Goodwin, Ken Kaplan and Frank Perowsky, the Double-Time set is largely straight-ahead but not exactly predictable. Most of the eight selections have their complex sections, but always swing. The warm-toned trombonist is the main soloist (fully showcased on "My Foolish Heart" and "My Romance"); powerhouse pianist Shelly Berg is the top supporting player, and other key voices include Gene Burkurt and Bill Liston on tenors, trumpeters Bob Summers and Steve Huffsteter, and altoist Sal Lozano. The music is as rewarding as one would expect, considering the caliber of these players, and is easily recommended to modern big-band fans." -- Scott Yanow
"Altoist Paul Desmond and baritonist Gerry Mulligan always made for a perfect team during their infrequent collaborations. Both of the saxophonists had immediately distinctive light tones, strong wits, and the ability to improvise melodically. For this RCA CD (a series that reissued some of the earlier Bluebirds under the RCA banner), the two masterful reed players are featured in pianoless quartets that also include Wendell Marshall, Joe Benjamin or John Beal on bass, and Connie Kay or Mel Lewis on drums. The songs all utilize common chord changes including the two "originals" ("Two of a Kind" and "Blight of the Fumble Bee") and the interplay between Desmond and Mulligan is consistently delightful. Highly recommended." -- Scott Yanow
"Fred Katz's cello playing with the Chico Hamilton Quintet during 1955-1958 was largely responsible for the popular cool jazz group's unique sound and atmospheric style. Katz was classically trained (he had studied with Pablo Casals) and worked in orchestras, but also played piano. In the early '50s, he accompanied several singers, including Lena Horne and Tony Bennett. While with Hamilton, Katz also recorded several albums of his own for Pacific Jazz, Decca, and Warner Bros. (1956-1958). After leaving Chico (with whom he recorded one final set in 1959), Katz mostly worked outside of jazz, both in classical music and as a professor in anthropology. In 1989, he was part of a Chico Hamilton Quintet reunion, recording for Soul Note and showing that he was still a masterful musician." - Scott Yanow
"On Remember Shakti, jazz guitarist John McLaughlin returns to one of his chief inspirations -- classical Indian music -- by reforming his '70s group Shakti. Original members Zakir Hussein (tabla) and T.H. Vinayakram (ghatam) return, joined by Hariprasad Chaurasia on the bansuri (Indian flute). Remember Shakti has a more meditative, fluid feel than the percussive work of the original group, but McLaughlin's subtle, hypnotic guitar work bridges Shakti's past and present works. Remember Shakti's double-disc length gives the group ample time to explore the intricacies of compositions like "The Wish," "Chandrakauns" and the hour-plus "Mukti." An emotionally rich, musically accomplished album, Remember Shakti reunites a unique group of players." -- Heather Phares
"This collection of ten blues and blues-rock tracks represents jazz guitarist Scott Henderson's tribute (if not complete return) to the emotive guitar playing of his early guitar influences: Jimmy Page and Albert King. Released in 1994 after a string of highly acclaimed jazz fusion recordings, Dog Party won equal approval from the fickle guitar virtuoso press and fan base, winning every important magazine readers poll for best blues recording. Accompanying Henderson on drums and vocals is drummer, vocalist, and fellow Tribal Tech member Kirk Covington; bassist Richard Ruse; and a host of heavyweight guest guitarists, vocalists, keyboard players, and other instrumentalists. The music is comparatively direct relative to Henderson's fusion work, but the guitarist's chord and phrasing mastery is plenty evident throughout Dog Party. Choice tracks include the vibrant "Milk Bone," the fuzzed-out and excessive "Hound Dog" cover, and the furious opener, "Hole Diggin'." These stretched-out tracks are pure musical treats, while the more pop- and rock-structured cuts have an effect that might leave fans feeling as if something (specifically, the guitarist's tasty soloing) is being unduly held back. Smart, syncopated, and snappy, Dog Party is a feast of stylish blues served with grace and feeling." -- Vincent Jeffries
"By the time Illicit was released in 1992, Scott Henderson & Tribal Tech (led by Henderson and drummer Kirk Covington) had been established as one of the premier, if not the premier, experimental fusion outfits on the globe. That's "fusion" as in the fusion of jazz and rock, not the vanilla instrumental musings of artists like Kenny G, which are occasionally mislabled as such. Henderson's dramatic and powerful soloing and his incredibly refined chord work were the greatest causes for the early attention the group received, and Illicit only furthered the guitarist's reputation with its fire and musical vigor. Henderson's tone is sublime and Holdsworth-ian in its often horn-like quality, and Covington, bassist Gary Willis, and keyboardist Scott Kinsey somehow manage to match Henderson's dynamism and character. "Torque" is Illicit's clear highlight, with its prog rock bombast of power chords topped with angular, classically influenced harmony keyboard and guitar flurries. Experimental and intense, Illicit is as solid an offering as Tribal Tech delivered in the '90s." -- Vincent Jeffries
"This concert, strung out over two CDs, is one of the few from the 1970s (recorded in 1973) that features Taylor with a trio; in this case, it was composed of the late saxophonist Jimmy Lyons and drummer Andrew Cyrille. The material is one extended improvisation entitled "Bulu Akaskira Kutala." The early '70s was Taylor's most articulate period of his method of propelling dynamic energy forth into conical spirals of harmonic mystery and danger. While his music had dispensed with the notions of form and interval long before this, the simultaneous explosion of group energy reached its first zenith during this period. It is also clear how dependent Taylor was on Lyons' voice. Lyons was one of the few alto players who understood the place he held in the music of Taylor, not only in the band. He would carry forth an extended harmonic idea as a soloist, but also as a sounding board as to which voicings Taylor could color -- which corner to turn and how fast to get there before moving off in a different direction. Cyrille, was, arguably a better drummer in the context of the Cecil Taylor Unit than Sunny Murray in his ability to understand that Taylor was also a drummer with a keen lyrical sensibility, no matter how angular. Cyrille's fills, weaves, dances, and shutter-stop rhythmic invention played counterpoint and complement to Taylor's sharp legato style that held at its core the very essence of rhythm in improvisation. The concert reaches its summit about a third of the way into the second disc, when all three players move around a sharp and complex harmonic fragment that opens up the inside of the collaboration, goes into overdrive, and breaks wide open. Taylor is playing large chords and right-hand trills in jagged repetition, which brings Cyrille's bass drum and cymbals up and spreads them out, with Lyons playing a glorious counterpoint with furious legato phrasing that embodies and bridges both statements. It's a segment of pure wonder and raw power. This date, though recorded a decade later, is a fine complement to Nefertiti, the Beautiful One Has Come." -- Thom Jurek
"Recorded in 1981, the original double-LP release of Garden provided non-European followers of Cecil Taylor their first glimpse at two very distinct changes. Given that he was using a Bösendorfer grand piano, the sound quality of his recordings improved greatly; it was finally possible to hear the fickle sonances and subtle timbres his lightning clusters produced. Secondly, his deeply percussive style was opening to other influences. The first volume opened -- as do all of his solo performances now -- with vocal extemporization and poetry, and on into the slowly evolving gradually revealing performance itself. On the second disc there is nothing but meat. Taylor is in full heat, flailing, banging, slashing out chords and high register trills with studied abandon and a careful attention to detail. Here is where Taylor shows his secret persona: the dancer. Rooted in blues and barrelhouse in some spots and in gagaku and kabuki theater in others, while in still others the classical ballet, Taylor's playing style opens itself to embrace all of the above and spit them back out as part of his own musical iconography. Because whether it's the Jelly Roll Morton blues stomp in the secret heart of "Stepping on Stars," traversed by Merce Cunningham's defiance of gravity or Min Tanaka's influenced movement of rearranging space and time, or in the Ellingtonian transmuted swing of "Driver Says," where Baryshnikov's movements through Balanchine (literally) informs the stride work along the middle register, it's all clearly part of Taylor's idiomatic manner of creating language from the air. And that language -- if you've ever seen him play -- includes physical movement. That he can translate it so effortlessly here -- as its freshness and newness envelope him -- is a profound change, if not in direction (since his restlessness is legendary), then in approach. This is a new music by Cecil Taylor, one that invites listeners in and gives them room to move around. This mature phase of Taylor's music is still blooming almost 20 years later, and continues to influence, inspire, and provoke. Garden, Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 is the post-'70s Cecil solo date to have." -- Thom Jurek
"Originally released as a double-LP and then reissued as a single CD, this continuous 71-minute live performance from 1980 features pianist Cecil Taylor with a particularly intriguing sextet comprised of his longtime altoist Jimmy Lyons, violinist Ramsey Ameen, Alan Silva on bass and cello and both Jerome Cooper and Sunny Murray on drums. Not too surprisingly, the playing is quite intense and dense with only a few moments of lyricism popping through. Taylor sounds very much like a human dynamo while Lyons' solos are full of fragile beauty. This is brilliant music that will not sound "safe" or "easy listening" even a century from now." -- Scott Yanow
"Cecil Taylor has never compromised his ideals, and this recording is no exception. During the course of more than one hour, Taylor and his quartet perform only one piece, but do it with such exquisite finesse that it incorporates dozens of shades and styles of expression. The instrumentation may look conventional -- Harri Sjöström on soprano saxophone, Dominic Duval on bass, and Jackson Krall on drums -- but as with any Taylor group, the music is unique and astonishing. This is very different than the usual sax-plus-rhythm gig, and from the start, it is clearly Cecil's bag, with Sjöström's saxophone entering for lively interchange. Sometimes the saxophonist sounds like a clearing above the storm. Bassist Duval is a delight, as usual, particularly in how he holds on to the pianist and never lets loose. Taylor's percussionist approach to the keyboards can wear down many drummers, but Krall is up to the task. The results are enthralling in a very Tayloresque way." -- Steve Loewy
"This three-LP set is a real blowout. Pianist Cecil Taylor, altoist Jimmy Lyons, and drummer Andrew Cyrille (there is no bass but it couldn't have been heard anyway) perform a 90-minute work followed by a 20-minute encore. The music is unrelentingly intense and Taylor does not let up for a moment. His fans are advised to pick up this major release but those listeners new to Taylor's music should investigate his solo piano works first." -- Scott Yanow
"Utilizing what was called an "Orchestra of Two Continents," pianist Cecil Taylor has a larger orchestra for this Soul Note release than usual. The 11-piece group is filled with brilliant and adventurous players: trumpeters Enrico Rava and Tomasz Stanko, altoist Jimmy Lyons, Frank Wright and John Tchicai on tenors, baritonist Gunter Hampel, bassoonist Karen Borca, bassist William Parker and both Rashied Bakr and Andre Martinez on drums. On the four Taylor originals, the colorful ensembles are quite dense although there is room for individual solos and heroics. Not too surprisingly Cecil Taylor is very much in control of the music. Incidentally this was probably Jimmy Lyons' last record with Taylor; he passed away in 1986." -- Scott Yanow
"n 1989, Steps Ahead consisted of Mike Mainieri on MIDI vibraharp, synclavier and acoustic piano, the young saxophonist Bendik doubling on keyboards, guitarist Steve Kahn, Tony Levin on electric bass and Chapman stick, and drummer Steve Smith. The powerful band did not have a great deal of subtlety by this era, but it helped to keep the much-maligned genre of fusion alive, mixing the sound of rock with jazz improvising. The 11 selections on this obscure effort were all written or co-composed by Mainieri and Bendik and make up in intensity for their lack of dynamics. Rock listeners will most enjoy this decent, if not too substantial release." -- Scott Yanow
"This CD from the part-time fusion band Steps Ahead is probably most notable for introducing the fine keyboardist Rachel Z. Also in the group at the time were leader Mike Mainieri on MIDI vibraharp and synclavier, saxophonist Bendik, bassist Jeff Andrews and drummer Steve Smith. Put out by Mainieri's NYC label, this mostly high-powered performance consists of group originals, generally by Mainieri and Bendik. Unlike other Steps Ahead records, there are quite a few guests on various tracks including guitarists Steve Khan, Wayne Krantz, Jimi Tunnell and Chuck Loeb, electric bassist Victor Bailey and tenorman Rick Margitza. The music has spirit and drive, although nothing all that memorable occurs; the band lacked a lead voice on the same level as their alumnus Michael Brecker." -- Scott Yanow
"Beady Belle is a result of a collaboration between the two Norwegian musicians Beate S. Lech and Marius Reksjø which began at the University of Oslo. As music students they started playing together in several bands. In 1999 Beate began to produce her first own album for Jazzland Records in her home studio. After a while Marius took care especially in producing the groove elements. The record was entitled "Home". Because of the co-operation between Beate and Marius, the project name "Beate S. Lech" was abandoned and "Beady Belle" was created. In 2003 the new album "Cewbeagappic" was released. Since their first release Beady Belle are touring around the world with a live band, wich played also on "Cewbeagappic"." - Discogs
"Complex. Easy. White. Black. Electronic. Acoustic. Groovy. Ambient. Programmed. Played. Improvised. Composed. C.E.W.B.E.A.G.A.P.P.I.C. Just don't categorize Beady Belle. Fine, categorize them into Adult Contemporary, but don't say I didn't warn you.
After an awe-inspiring performance from Beady Belle's latest tour promoting their new CD, I felt inclined to go down to my local reseller and pick up the little plastic disc that they were offering. While it is not to be discounted as a lesser being, her live performance was exponentially better. Beady's vocal control somehow managed to captivate a full room of semi-drunk intimates. It felt as if she, Beate Lech, was singing right to me. It was an oddity as her voice tickled and teased my ears, from the slower Latin grooves of "Lose and Win" to the faster harmonies of the Deep House single "Bella".
Beady Belle, often grouped with Fauna Flash, Bugge Wesselsoft, and Mouse on Mars, have been growing strong since their first home-studio album, "Home". The majority of "Home" was filled with interesting musical journeys set to the theme of Jungle rhythms, save the incessant drone of a pulsing 909 bass drum. Since the release of "Ghosts", their first single in 2001, both the Jazz and Underground communities had begun to take notice of this Norwegian duo. Now that Beate S. Lech and bassist Marius Reksjo have found their footing, they are ready to step into the nu-Jazz world with "Cewbeagappic".
"It's a happy song, yet gloomy, it's about the day she died yet the day she started to live. It's a song about Bella's fear, yet her wishful dreams about her cutting lose from expectations at the risk of indifference. It all began the day she came home after being away for a long time" proclaims the introduction to "Bella", the first single off of Cewbeagappic. Unfortunately, this single is a beautiful disaster. A forced transition from an otherwise beautifully mixed CD really puts the whole feel off. But then again, all feelings of distaste towards the transition go away after about 4 seconds - the time it takes for Beate's voice to kick in. The groovy bass line appears next, and before you know it you're dancing in your shower.
And about that flow mentioned earlier. When pessimistic lyrics about life, "I let my oars fall into the water, good for them, getting what they want," love, "You blew me up, you had me punctured, you refilled me, administered artificial respiration to me, now I've forgotten how to breath by myself," and self "It's only an April fool, the truth is disguised, I wish I could stay as cool when reality bites," are mixed with bizarrely up tempo beats - its often hard to decide your mood. But if there is one thing that is quite easy to ascertain, it is that these lyrical maladities seem to blend together - drawing you into each life experience decreed in these short ballads.
"Cewbeagappic" is a pleasant, cooling, emotive mix of the best in jazz, down tempo, soul and house. If you have ever though that jazz is a thing of the past and never improves, this album is a one that you must listen to. No more Diana Krall, no more Cher, no more Portishead, and stay away from that Ibiza chillout - for Beate S. Lech and Marius Reksjo are a welcome replacement to the redundant solo-genre artists." - Jason Zalmanowitz
"Dee Dee Bridgewater performs 13 of Horace Silver's songs on her very well-conceived release. On most selections she is accompanied by her French quintet, but there are also two guest appearances apiece for organist Jimmy Smith and pianist Silver ("Nice's Dream" and "Song for My Father"). Bridgewater uplifts Silver's lyrics, proves to be in prime form, and swings up a storm. Other high points include "Filthy McNasty," "Doodlin'," and "Blowin' the Blues Away." A gem." -- Scott Yanow
"Guitarist John Abercrombie was one of the stars of ECM in its early days. His playing on this trio set with bassist Dave Holland and drummer Jack DeJohnette is really beyond any simple categorization. Abercrombie's improvisations are sophisticated yet, because his sound is rockish and sometimes quite intense (particularly on the nearly 11-minute "Sorcery 1"), there is really no stylistic name for the music. Holland contributed four of the six originals while DeJohnette brought in the other two (one of which was co-written with Abercrombie). The interplay between the three musicians is quite impressive although listeners might find some of the music to be quite unsettling. It takes several listens for one to digest all that is going on, but it is worth the struggle." -- Scott Yanow
"After Yolande Bavan replaced an ill Annie Ross in 1962, the vocal trio of Lambert, Hendricks and Bavan recorded three albums before disbanding in early 1964. This CD has some of the highpoints from each of the three albums: a trio date with guest Pony Poindexter on soprano from Basin Street East, an appearance at the 1963 Newport Jazz Festival (which has spots for trumpeter Clark Terry and tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins) and a performance from the Village Gate with cornetist Thad Jones and tenorman Booker Ervin. All of the guests get some solo space and the vocalists particularly sound strong on "Doodlin'," "Cousin Mary," "Swingin' Till the Girls Come Home," Hendricks' "Gimme That Wine," "Watermelon Man" and "Cloudburst." The Ceylonese singer Bavan definitely gave the group a slightly different sound than it had had with Ross, but she was not as strong a soloist although Bavan fared well in the ensembles. This CD gives one a definitive look at the group and is well worth picking up." -- Scott Yanow
"Guitarist and composer Marc Antoine is like Ottmar Liebert with teeth. He's an amazingly gifted guitarist who plays in flamenco and Latin jazz styles with equal grace and aplomb, and his recordings are slick, sweet, and lean heavily on the smooth jazz tip. That said, on Mediterraneo, his seventh album, there is some real fire in both material and playing. Like Oscar Lopez, Antoine goes for the heart of a particular piece of music in his soloing, and when he finds it, despite the arrangement, production, or textured ambience, he doesn't let go; he wrestles with it until it gives up every ounce of emotion and meaning it can muster. The title cut, with its gloriously languid drum program and Antoine's transcendent melody that comes across as a stunningly moving chanted prayer, is overwhelming in its melodic invention. On the opener, "Cubanova," a son rhythm track crosses a samba and Antoine's extended chord voicings create a tough yet airy backdrop for his in-the-pocket soloing. Keyboards by Frederic Gaillardet offer a washed soundscape that is reminiscent of piercing blue skies and sanguine ocean waves. The laid-back funky "Afromenco" illustrates the best of both genres. The biggest surprise on the set is the cover of Everything But the Girl's "Lady," with Samantha Murphy on vocals. He captures the innocence of the original while moving the entire cut over a continent or two and making it a souled-out Cuban-Brazilian ode. Ultimately, Mediterraneo is Antoine's finest moment to date, and is indicative of the kinds of changes he's moving toward as his grasp of his chosen musical vocabularies grows and expounds on that knowledge." -- Thom Jurek
"A man and a sax have to contend with many myths and prejudices, in combination and individually. Bendik Hofseth (34) has overcome them all. He is perhaps half way through his career, but has already experienced enough to fill two or three artists' lives.
His instrument is the sax, the source of his composing, singing and playing and, most difficult of all, his role as a searching homo ludens. With the instrument in front of him and the music inside him, he has been everything from celebrated child prodigy to pop star to respected jazz musician.
Bendik Hofseth started at the top. The jazz rock ensemble Steps Ahead (address: the most prominent recording studios in the USA) needed a replacement for their leading artist, Michael Brecker. The student of classical composition from Oslo had hopefully submitted a demo tape and dreamed in quiet moments of one day being able to attend a concert by his heroes. They wanted him to join them!
Hearing Bendik Hofseth has always been like opening a bag of sweets, full of assorted delicacies. You recognise the taste of chocolate, but can't get enough of all the other new, exciting, underlying, lingering flavours. His compositions were included on the Steps Ahead record N.Y.C. and laid the foundations for his solo career. He decided to begin with the figure nine.
On his debut IX (Nine), he researched and systematised all the music inside him. He played games and music through nine melodies about archaeological excavations in Afghanistan, the nine muses of Greek mythology, Hero's nine inventions, Copernicus' planetary system, Goethe's colour theory and Søren Kierkegaard's nine houses in Copenhagen, ending up with a nine-course meal on the composer's kitchen table. And when an aficionado of classical authors like Dante and Joyce feels the need to communicate, music is made.
Or he writes himself, including a short story that can be read forwards in Norwegian and backwards in English: "Red neon go or give" = "Evig ro og noen der" (eternal peace and someone there). He is not a pretentious introvert but a sophisticated pop soloist whose motto is: "You know you don't understand everything but think it's fine anyway".
Sony Music launched him worldwide, and from the back seat of all the airport limos he called all the days that passed "life". On Amuse Yourself, he allowed himself another theme-oriented excursion combined with unpretentious pop. In this case his concern is the hermit who isolates himself in order to emerge renewed. True enough, a picture of himself as he continued to tour with Steps Ahead, was soloist with Norwegian symphony orchestras, wrote theatre music and felt alien in most environments. And that makes a different kind of music.
metamorphoses on the Verve label was like returning to the sweetie bag where all the flavours tempt you through the chocolate jazz coating. He used tradition to squeeze out his new creations. Here we find all the genres, including atonal Norwegian folk music, from a composing musician who masters not only his profession but also the difficult art of communication. He points this out frequently; where other composers must wait for years to have their works performed by an orchestra, he can do it immediately and go on searching.
You also sense years of musical development, after having gone through the typical Norwegian school of allowing yourself to be inspired by non-Norwegian music, managing to cultivate what foreigners appreciate, namely the Norwegianness of the expression. Surviving as a soloist in a small market like Norway means giving and giving all the time, without being able to set the premises yourself. One of the lingering flavours after metamorphoses is that his back is straight and his self-respect regained. Plants, nature and temporal matters are the theme of Bendik Hofseth's Planets, Rivers ... and IKEA, where the Swedish furniture chain becomes the symbol of our trivial materialism. And here once again - the sweetie bag which overflows with appetising flavours and seductive variety. Half way through his career, perhaps only Tibetan overtone song is missing. But some flavours must be reserved for the next half." - Jostein Pedersen
"Bobo Stenson is best known for his longtime association with Charles Lloyd. On his trio set (which has fine support from bassist Anders Jormin and drummer Jon Christensen), he often sounds a bit like Keith Jarrett, Lloyd's pianist of the 1960s. Stenson shows more energy than one might expect to hear on an ECM date, although he also has several introspective explorations. Highlights include a somber "My Man's Gone Now," an impressionistic version of Duke Ellington's "Reflections In D," the Latin feel of "Minidatyr" and a spirited "The Enlightener." -- Scott Yanow
"Norwegian vocalist Endresen (who sings in English) is one of those 1990s artists who demonstrates the increasing difficulty in applying traditional 20th-century categorizations to many contemporary music albums. Although the singer/songwriter works with some notable jazz musicians, her records aren't really jazz; although they have plenty of experimental elements, they are firmly grounded in songs, and are more accessible than much "new music." Her pieces also betray the influence of some rock and folk (her voice is very reminiscent of Sandy Denny's), but bear even less concrete relationships to those forms. Endresen has recorded a couple albums for ECM that bear some hallmarks of the label's trademark spacious production values, but avoid sterility. Her abstract lyrics are backed by jazzy minimalist strokes that occasionally skate into dissonance. Drummer Jon Christensen and cellist David Darling are the most recognizable of the musicians on these discs, which have a broader appeal than the traditional ECM listening base." - Richie Unterberger
"TZH5 As they are known are an up and coming group determined to create beautiful yet challenging music.
Zetterberg’s lamenting bass opens Kaften. Gulz’s sparse piano creates the right mood. We think we are in for a relaxing session when all of a sudden, the tide turns, and we are caught in the middle of a windstorm. Fredriksson’s drums usher in Zetterberg’s relentless strumming. Doesn’t take long before the rest of the band joins in with Johnsson and Kullhammar duking it out in a battle of the reeds. Invigorating to say the least.
A rooster like sound from Kullhammar is a fitting introduction for this Mingus like romp. The Rhythm section swings the way Mingus used to during his finest moments. Familyfarm Blues is a shear delight. Johnsson and Kullhammer gel nicely throughout. Gulz offers some tasty piano as well.
A mid tempo selection, Fredneck, taken at an almost waltz like tempo. another exercise for the reeds. Smooth drumming from Fredriksson while Gulz takes a few delectable bars.
A lovely ballad, So This Is It, closes out this enjoyable set. Zetterberg and Gulz have a chance to stretch out on this one. Gulz’s opening piano is a beautiful intro to Zetterberg’s delicate bass playing. Fredriksson’s brush work make this selection all the more enjoyable.
The Torbjorn Zetterberg Hot Five [TZH5] are a group with a promising future. With drama, suspense and beautiful ensemble work woven into their music, they are a breath of fresh air to savour and enjoy." - Randy McElligot
"One of the most exciting trumpeters to emerge during the swing era, Roy Eldridge's combative approach, chancetaking style and strong musicianship were an inspiration (and an influence) to the next musical generation, most notably Dizzy Gillespie. Although he sometimes pushed himself farther than he could go, Eldridge never played a dull solo!
Roy Eldridge started out playing trumpet and drums in carnival and circus bands. With the Nighthawk Syncopators he received a bit of attention by playing a note-for-note recreation of Coleman Hawkins' tenor solo on "The Stampede." Inspired by the dynamic playing of Jabbo Smith (Eldridge would not discover Louis Armstrong for a few years), Roy played with some territory bands including Zack Whyte and Speed Webb and in New York (where he arrive in 1931) he worked with Elmer Snowden (who nicknamed him "Little Jazz"), McKinney's Cotton Pickers and most importantly Teddy Hill (1935). Eldridge's recorded solos with Hill, backing Billie Holiday and with Fletcher Henderson (including his 1936 hit "Christopher Columbus") gained a great deal of attention. In 1937 he appeared with his octet (which included brother Joe on alto) at the Three Deuces Club in Chicago and recorded some outstanding selections as a leader including "Heckler's Hop" and "Wabash Stomp." By 1939 Roy had a larger group playing at the Arcadia Ballroom in New York. With the decline of Bunny Berigan and the increasing predictability of Louis Armstrong, Eldridge was arguably the top trumepter in jazz during this era.
During 1941-42 Eldridge sparked Gene Krupa's Orchestra, recording classic versions of "Rockin' Chair" and "After You've Gone" and interacting with Anita O'Day on "Let Me Off Uptown." The difficulties of travelling with a White band during a racist period hurt him as did some of the incidents that occurred during his stay with Artie Shaw (1944-45) but the music during both stints was quite memorable. Eldridge can be seen in several "soundies" (short promotional film devoted to single songs) of this era by the Krupa band, often in association with O'Day, including "Let Me Off Uptown" and "Thanks for the Boogie Ride." He is also very prominent in the band's appearance in Howard Hawks' Ball of Fire, in an extended performance of "Drum Boogie" mimed by Barbara Stanwyck, taking a long trumpet solo -- the clip was filmed soon after Eldridge joined the band in late April of 1941, and "Drum Boogie" was a song that Eldridge co-wrote with Krupa.
Eldridge had a short-lived big band of his own, toured with Jazz at the Philharmonic and then had a bit of an identity crisis when he realized that his playing was not as modern as the beboppers. A successful stay in France during 1950-51 restored his confidence when he realized that being original was more important than being up-to-date. Eldridge recorded steadily for Norman Granz in the 1950s, was one of the stars of JATP (where he battled Charlie Shavers and Dizzy Gillespie) and by 1956 was often teamed with Coleman Hawkins in a quintet; their 1957 appearance at Newport was quite memorable. The 1960s were tougher as recording opportunities and work became rarer. Eldridge had brief and unhappy stints with Count Basie's Orchestra and Ella Fitzgerald (feeling unnecessary in both contexts) but was leading his own group by the end of the decade. He spent much of the 1970s playing regularly at Ryan's and recording for Pablo and, although his range had shrunk a bit, Eldridge's competitive spirit was still very much intact. Only a serious stroke in 1980 was able to halt his horn. Roy Eldridge recorded throughout his career for virtually every label." - Scott Yanow
"In 1950, trumpeter Roy Eldridge was having a bit of an identity crisis. Once considered one of the pacesetters, the emergence of Dizzy Gillespie and the bop stylists left Eldridge unsure what to do. But that year, when he travelled to France with Benny Goodman, the future seemed clearer. The Parisian audiences demanded that Eldridge play himself rather than try to copy the modernists, and he took their advice. This CD reissue features the complete output (including seven alternate takes) from two exciting recording sessions. Eldridge heads a quintet with tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims; two songs have vocals from Anita Love, and Roy does a good job of singing on the good-humored "Ain't No Flies on Me." While "Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams" (heard in two versions) is the classic of that session, the later date features Roy with a quartet, and he is top form on "If I Had You" and "Someone to Watch Over Me." -- Scott Yanow
"Like Fats Navarro and Charlie Parker before him, Sonny Clark's life was short but it burned with musical intensity. Influenced deeply by Bud Powell, Clark nonetheless developed an intricate and hard-swinging harmonic sensibility that was full of nuance and detail. Regarded as the quintessential hard bop pianist, Clark never got his due before he passed away in 1963 at the age of 31, despite the fact that it can be argued that he never played a bad recording date either as a sideman or as a leader. Known mainly for seven records on the Blue Note label with a host of players including such luminaries as John Coltrane, Art Farmer, Donald Byrd, Jackie McLean, Hank Mobley, Art Taylor, Paul Chambers, Wilbur Ware, Philly Joe Jones, and others, Clark actually made his recording debut with Teddy Charles and Wardell Gray, but left soon after to join Buddy DeFranco. His work with the great clarinetist has been documented in full in a Mosaic set that is now sadly out of print. Clark also backed Dinah Washington, Serge Chaloff, and Sonny Criss before assuming his role as a leader in 1957. Clark's classic is regarded as Cool Struttin' but each date he led on Blue Note qualifies as a classic, including his final date, Sonny's Crib with John Coltrane. And though commercial success always eluded him, he was in demand as a sideman and played dozens of Alfred Lion-produced dates, including Tina Brooks' Minor Move. Luckily, Clark's contribution is well documented by Alfred Lion; he has achieved far more critical, musical, and popular acclaim than he ever did in life." - Thom Jurek
"Recorded in 1958, this legendary date with the still-undersung Sonny Clark in the leader's chair also featured a young Jackie McLean on alto (playing with a smoother tone than he had before or ever did again), trumpeter Art Farmer, and the legendary rhythm section of bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones, both from the Miles Davis band. The set begins with one of the preeminent "swinging medium blues" pieces in jazz history: the title track with its leveraged fours and eights shoved smoothly up against the walking bass of Chambers and the backbeat shuffle of Jones. Clark's solo, with its grouped fifths and sevenths, is a wonder of both understatement and groove, while Chambers' arco solo turns the blues in on itself. While there isn't a weak note on this record, there are some other tracks that stand out, most notably Miles' "Sippin' at Bells," with its loping Latin rhythm. When McLean takes his solo against a handful of Clark's shaded minor chords, he sounds as if he may blow it -- he comes out a little quick -- but he recovers nicely and reaches for a handful of Broadway show tunes to counter the minor mood of the piece. He shifts to both Ben Webster and Lester Young before moving through Bird, and finally to McLean himself, riding the margin of the changes to slip just outside enough to add some depth in the middle register. The LP closes with Henderson and Vallée's "Deep Night," the only number in the batch not rooted in the blues. It's a classic hard bop jamming tune and features wonderful solos by Farmer, who plays weird flatted notes all over the horn against the changes, and McLean, who thinks he's playing a kind of snake charmer blues in swing tune. This set deserves its reputation for its soul appeal alone. [The CD version includes two bonus tracks: "Royal Flush" and "Lover"]." -- Thom Jurek
"Recorded in 1957, Sonny's Crib features a front line of Curtis Fuller, Donald Byrd, and John Coltrane with Clark on piano, Art Taylor on drums, and Paul Chambers on bass. Truly still a bebop recording, done a full year before the landmark Cool Struttin' session, nonetheless the set produced some awesome readings of classic tunes, like the opener, "With a Song in My Heart," with one of the knottiest Byrd solos ever. As Chambers and Taylor up the rhythmic ante and Clark comps with enormous chords in the background, the entire line solos, but it is Byrd's that is stunning in its complexity -- though Coltrane could play bebop as well as anybody. The most notable tracks on the session are the classic readings of Kurt Weill's "Speak Low" and "News for Lulu," the latter of which has been adopted by John Zorn as his theme. On the former, Clark's rearrangement, with Coltrane leading the front line, is truly revelatory. Using a Latin rhythm in cut time, Clark sets up a long, 22-note melody line that moves right into Trane's solo. He moves the key around and harmonically shifts gears as Clark follows and stays in the pocket for him while Trane uses the middle register for legato pyrotechnics. Fuller's next and covers over the blues inherent in the tune with pure swing, before Byrd brings it back into the fold with a gorgeous counterpoint of the melody. Clark taps his way into extended harmonics on the sixths and sharpens the accents as he trounces the original key and plays double trills to get back. The latter is a smokin' Latin take on the hard bop blues, with a staggered melodic line and a large tonal palette that gives the horn players room to explore the timbral possibilities of Clark's colors -- which are revealed in the loosest, skittering skein of bluesy phrasing this side of Horace Silver in his solo. In all, Sonny's Crib is a phenomenal recording, one that opened the door to hard bop becoming the norm in the late '50s, and one that drew deft, imaginative performances from all its players." -- Thom Jurek
"Arranger Gene Roland composed nine blues-based originals for this LP, featuring himself on soprano and mellophonium along with altoist Gabe Baltazar and trumpeter Marvin Stamm. This is one of the finer recordings by the Mellophonium Band, arguably Stan Kenton's last great orchestra. With the use of 20 horns, Roland was able to get a surprising amount of variety out of the material, making this a Kenton recording well worth investigating." -- Scott Yanow
"The emphasis is on standards and melodic material on this enjoyable LP from Creative World. Quite a few of the performances by Stan Kenton's Orchestra are features for talented individuals including the dramatic tenor of Vido Musso ("Santa Lucia" and "Pagliacci"), trumpeter Ray Wetzel ("September Song"), trombonist Milt Bernhart ("Artistry in Tango"), trombonist Carl Fontana ("Sunset Tower" and "Southern Scandal"), trumpeter Chico Alvarez ("Laura") and Maynard Ferguson ("What's New") although Shorty Rogers's "Viva Prado" is probably the best-known recording. A worthy collection mostly dating from 1950-51." -- Scott Yanow
"Although it was their sixth album overall, Tribal Tech's 1993 release, Face First, was only the second to feature the still-existing lineup of guitarist Scott Henderson, bassist Gary Willis, keyboardist Scott Kinsey, and drummer Kirk Covington. Previously, Henderson and Willis had juggled lineups and eased further away from traditional jazz toward improvisational fusion through the 1985-1991 albums Spears, Dr. Hee, Nomad, and Tribal Tech. But the quartet of musical leftists gelled on Face First, improving on its promising 1992 debut, Illicit. Henderson's solo on the opening title track -- over a percolating Willis bass line -- shows the guitarist's range of influences from Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix to Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Funk pieces like "Canine" and "Uh...Yeah OK" show glimpses of the group's future, all-improvised CDs; hummingbird-quick drummer Covington's lead vocal on the cover-band farce "Boat Gig" set the stage for Henderson"'s solo blues debut the next year. In between, synth-master Kinsey's jazzy "After Hours" and Henderson's New Orleans-tinged "Revenge Stew" provide thought-provoking rest areas -- necessary because of breathtaking ten-minute thrill rides like the blues, bop, and beyond of "Salt Lick." Willis' Weather Report-like "The Precipice" and "Wounded" ease you to the finish of Face First, the album that made a statement that Henderson, Willis, and company have not yet begun to finish." -- Bill Meredith
"Pianist McCoy Tyner's first and third albums as a leader have been reissued on this single CD from 1988, one of the best in the short-lived MCA series of Impulse sets (before GRP took over the project). Featured with two different trios (consisting of either Art Davis or Steve Davis on bass and Elvin Jones or Lex Humphries on drums), Tyner sounds more conservative and straightahead than on his live sessions with John Coltrane during the era. However his unique style is very much in evidence (almost fully formed at this early stage) and he introduces five fine originals (including "Inception" and "Effendi") and also performs fresh versions of nine standards, highlighted by "Speak Low," "We'll Be Together Again," "Star Eyes" and "Days Of Wine And Roses." In 1997 the Inception session was reissued by Impulse as a seperate CD but obviously this two-for-the-price-of-one set (put out in 1988) is the better buy." -- Scott Yanow
"While this isn't among Tyner's greatest recordings, it's still a rigorous, often exciting big-band date. The repertoire includes familiar Tyner compositions "Peresina" and "Blues On The Corner," originals from trombonist Steve Turre ("Juanita") and bassist Avery Sharpe ("January In Brazil"), plus other numbers by Angel Rangelov, Dennis Mackrel and the interesting "You Taught My Heart To Sing," co-written by Tyner and legendary Broadway lyricist/tunesmith Sammy Cahn. Although Tyner doesn't play with the ferocity or unpredictable edge that's characterized his finest sessions, he solos crisply, easily moving through hard bop, Afro-Latin and even swing-oriented big band settings. There's a comfortable feel, but not a staid one." -- Ron Wynn
"Recorded on the heels of a spectacular live date at London's Barbican Hall on July 6, 2002, Land of Giants features an all-star quartet led by '60s icon pianist McCoy Tyner. Showcasing a solid mix of Tyner originals and jazz standards, the group also includes vibist Bobby Hutcherson, bassist Charnett Moffett, and drummer Eric Harland. While the work here is by no means as provocative as the stuff Hutcherson and Tyner produced in their heydays, it nonetheless proves them to be utter masters of the straight-ahead modern jazz idiom and should appeal to longtime fans." -- Matt Collar
"This is an interesting project (reissued on CD) that works quite well. The already distinctive pianist McCoy Tyner utilized bassist Jimmy Garrison, drummer Elvin Jones and two Latin percussionists to interpret a full set of Duke Ellington songs (although "Caravan" was actually composed by Juan Tizol). For this CD the original seven tunes are joined by a "new" alternate take of "Gypsy Without A Song" and previously unreleased renditions of "It Don't Mean A Thing" and "I Got It Bad." In addition to some well-known standards, Tyner debuted an unrecorded Ellington piece "Searchin'" and revived "Mr. Gentle & Mr. Cool." This is an excellent outing that displays both Tyner's debt to the jazz tradition and his increasingly original style. This fine set was reissued on CD by Impulse in 1997." -- Scott Yanow
"Pianist McCoy Tyner's second set as a leader has as of 1996 not been reissued on CD. Featured in a trio with bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Roy Haynes, Tyner performs two of his originals ("Reaching Fourth" and "Blues Back") plus three standards and "Theme For Ernie." One of the two most original and influential pianists to fully emerge in the 1960s (along with Bill Evans), McCoy Tyner's unique chord voicings and ease at playing creatively over vamps pushed the evolution of jazz piano forward quite a bit. This outing, although not as intense as his work with the John Coltrane Quartet, is generally memorable and still sounds quite viable 35 years later." -- Scott Yanow
"Red Garland mixed together the usual influences of his generation (Nat Cole, Bud Powell, and Ahmad Jamal) into his own distinctive approach; Garland's block chords themselves became influential on the players of the 1960s. He started out playing clarinet and alto, switching to piano when he was 18. During 1946-1955, he worked steadily in New York and Philadelphia, backing such major players as Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, and Roy Eldridge, but still remaining fairly obscure. That changed when he became a member of the classic Miles Davis Quintet (1955-1958), heading a rhythm section that also included Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones. After leaving Miles, Garland had his own popular trio and recorded very frequently for Prestige, Jazzland, and Moodsville during 1956-1962 (the majority of which are available in the Original Jazz Classics series). The pianist eventually returned to Texas and was in semi-retirement, but came back gradually in the 1970s, recording for MPS (1971) and Galaxy (1977-1979) before retiring again." - Scott Yanow
"As the liner notes properly state, this CD (Red Garland's fourth as a leader for the Prestige label) has "jazz standards, ballad standards, blues ballads and just plain blues." The pianist's trio (with bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Art Taylor) swings such numbers as "C Jam Blues," "Will You Still Be Mine" (the latter from The Ahmad Jamal songbook) and "What Can I Say After I Say I'm Sorry" with spirit and subtle invention. All of Red Garland's Prestige recordings are worth getting." - Scott Yanow
"Red Garland's third session as a leader finds the distinctive pianist investigating eight standards (including "Please Send Me Someone to Love," "Stompin' at the Savoy," "If I Were a Bell" and "Almost Like Being in Love") with his distinctive chord voicings, melodic but creative ideas and solid sense of swing. Joined by bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Art Taylor, Garland plays up to his usual consistent level, making this an easily recommended disc for straightahead fans." - Scott Yanow
"Owner of a direct, lightly swinging, somewhat plain-wrapped tone that fit right in with the Blue Note label's hard bop ethos of the 1960s, Blue Mitchell tends to be overlooked today perhaps because he never really stood out vividly from the crowd, despite his undeniable talent. After learning the trumpet in high school -- where he got his nickname -- he started touring in the early '50s with the R&B bands of Paul Williams, Earl Bostic and Chuck Willis before returning to Miami and jazz. There, he attracted the attention of Cannonball Adderley, with whom he recorded for Riverside in 1958. That year, he joined the Horace Silver Quintet, with whom he played and recorded until the band's breakup in March 1964, polishing his hard bop skills. During his Silver days, Mitchell worked with tenor Junior Cook, bassist Gene Taylor, drummer Roy Brooks and various pianists as a separate unit and continued recording as a leader for Riverside. When Silver disbanded, Mitchell's spinoff quintet carried on with Al Foster replacing Brooks and a young future star named Chick Corea in the piano chair. This group, with several personnel changes, continued until 1969, recording a string of albums for Blue Note. Probably aware that opportunities for playing straight-ahead jazz were dwindling, Mitchell became a prolific pop and soul sessionman in the late '60s, and he toured with Ray Charles from 1969 to 1971 and blues/rock guitarist John Mayall in 1971-73. Having settled in Los Angeles, he also played big-band dates with Louie Bellson, Bill Holman and Bill Berry; made a number of funk and pop/jazz LPs in the late '70s; served as principal soloist for Tony Bennett and Lena Horne; and kept his hand in hard bop by playing with Harold Land in a quintet. He continued to freelance in this multi-faceted fashion until his premature death from cancer at age 49." - Richard S. Ginell
"Trumpeter Blue Mitchell was a virtual unknown when he recorded this Riverside album, his first as a leader. Now reissued on CD in the OJC series, Mitchell is heard in excellent form in an all-star sextet with trombonist Curtis Fuller, tenor great Johnny Griffin, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Wilbur Ware, and drummer Philly Joe Jones. In addition to some group originals, obscurities, and the standard "There Will Never Be Another You," the group also plays the earliest recorded version of Benny Golson's "Blues March," predating Art Blakey's famous recording." -- Scott Yanow
"This CD reissue bring back one of trumpeter Blue Mitchell's better sessions from his early period, his third recording as a leader for Riverside. Six of the selections also feature trombonist Curtis Fuller (in excellent form) and the tenor of Jimmy Heath in a sextet with pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Philly Joe Jones; the arrangements were provided by Heath and Benny Golson. The other three numbers are more informal and showcase Mitchell in a quartet with Kelly and the two Joneses. Excellent hard bop with the repertoire consisting of "The Way You Look Tonight," "Polka Dots and Moonbeams," "Nica's Dream" and two originals apiece from Golson, Heath and Mitchell." -- Scott Yanow
"Blue Mitchell was always a consistent, lyrical, and pleasing trumpeter. Although not as significant during the 1960s as Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard (much less Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis), Mitchell had his own appealing sound and was a major asset on many modern mainstream dates. This four-CD limited-edition Mosaic box set collects Mitchell's first six Blue Note dates as a leader: Step Lightly, The Thing to Do, Down With It, Bring It Home to Me, Boss Horn, and Heads Up. Three albums are by his quintet, which included tenor saxophonist Junior Cook and usually the young pianist Chick Corea and was formed shortly after he left Horace Silver, and the three others are with larger groups, two of which have arrangements by Duke Pearson. Among the other key sidemen are tenor great Joe Henderson, altoist Leo Wright, baritonist Pepper Adams, and pianists Herbie Hancock and McCoy Tyner. There are just two previously unreleased cuts (both alternate takes), but most of the sets have been somewhat rare for years, and taken as a whole, the swinging hard bop and boogaloo performances are Blue Mitchell's finest recordings as a leader." -- Scott Yanow
"Trumpeter Blue Mitchell and four-fifths of the Horace Silver Quintet (with Cedar Walton in Silver's place) perform a variety of superior songs on this CD reissue including Walton's "Turquoise," Tom McIntosh's "Cup Bearers," Thad Jones's "Tiger Lily" and a couple of standards. The music swings hard, mostly avoids sounding like a Horace Silver group, and has particularly strong solos from Mitchell, tenor-saxophonist Junior Cook and Walton; excellent hard bop." -- Scott Yanow
"This Blue Mitchell date is a classic, particularly the opening "Fungii Mama," which is really catchy. The trumpeter's quintet of the period (which includes tenor saxophonist Junior Cook, the young pianist Chick Corea, bassist Gene Taylor, and drummer Al Foster) also performs two Jimmy Heath tunes and a song apiece by Joe Henderson ("Step Lightly") and Corea. The record is prime Blue Note hard bop, containing inventive tunes, meaningful solos, and an enthusiastic but tight feel. Highly recommended." -- Scott Yanow
"As a member of saxophonist Ornette Coleman's early bands, bassist Charlie Haden became known as one of free jazz's founding fathers. Haden has never settled into any of jazz's many stylistic niches, however. Certainly he's played his share of dissonant music -- in the '60 and '70s, as a sideman with Coleman and Keith Jarrett, and as a leader of the Liberation Music Orchestra, for instance -- but for the most part, he seems drawn to consonance. Witness his trio with saxophonist Jan Garbarek and guitarist Egberto Gismonti, whose ECM album Silence epitomized a profoundly lyrical and harmonically simple aesthetic; or his duo with guitarist Pat Metheny, which has as much to do with American folk traditions as with jazz. There's a soulful reserve to Haden's art. Never does he play two notes when one (or none) will do. Not a flashy player along the lines of a Scott LaFaro (who also played with Coleman), Haden's facility was limited, but his sound and intensity of expression were as deep as any jazz bassist's. Rather than concentrate on speed and agility, Haden subtly explores his instrument's timbral possibilities with a sure hand and sensitive ear. Haden's childhood was musical. His family was a self-contained country & western act along the lines of the more famous Carter Family, with whom they were friends. They played revival meetings and county fairs in the Midwest and in the late '30s, had their own radio show that was broadcast twice daily from a 50,000-watt station in Shenandoah, IA (Haden's birthplace). Haden debuted on the family program at the tender age of 22 months, after his mother noticed him humming along to her lullabies. The family moved to Springfield, MO, and began a show there. Haden sang with the family group until contracting polio at the age of 15. The disease weakened the nerves in his face and throat, thereby ending his singing career. In 1955, Haden played bass on a network television show produced in Springfield, hosted by the popular country singer, Red Foley. Haden moved to Los Angeles and by 1957 had begun playing jazz with pianists Elmo Hope and Hampton Hawes and saxophonist Art Pepper. Beginning in 1957, he began an extended engagement with pianist Paul Bley at the Hillcrest Club. It was around then that Haden heard Coleman play for the first time, when the saxophonist sat in with Gerry Mulligan's band in another L.A. nightclub. Coleman was quickly dismissed from the bandstand, but Haden was impressed. They met and developed a friendship and musical partnership, which led to Coleman and trumpeter Don Cherry joining Bley's Hillcrest group in 1958. In 1959, Haden moved with Coleman to New York; that year, Coleman's group with Haden, Cherry, and drummer Billy Higgins played a celebrated engagement at the Five Spot, and began recording a series of influential albums, including The Shape of Jazz to Come and Change of the Century. In addition to his work with Coleman, the '60s saw Haden play with pianist Denny Zeitlin, saxophonist Archie Shepp, and trombonist Roswell Rudd. He formed his own big band, the Liberation Music Orchestra, which championed leftist causes. The band made a celebrated album, Song for Ché, in 1969 for Impulse. In 1976, Haden joined with fellow Coleman alumni Cherry, Dewey Redman, and Ed Blackwell to form Old and New Dreams. Also that year, he recorded a series of duets with Hawes, Coleman, Shepp, and Cherry, which was released as The Golden Number (A&M). In 1982, the Liberation Music Orchestra re-formed The Ballad of the Fallen (ECM). Haden helped found a university level jazz education program at CalArts in the '80s. He continued to perform, both as a leader and sideman. In the '90s, his primary performing unit became the bop-oriented Quartet West, with tenor saxophonist Ernie Watts, pianist Alan Broadbent, and drummer Larance Marble. He would also reconstitute the Liberation Music Orchestra for occasional gigs. In 2000, Haden reunited with Coleman for a performance at the Bell Atlantic Jazz Festival in New York City." - Chris Kelsey
"One of the better ECM recordings, this collaboration by bassist Charlie Haden, Jan Garbarek on tenor and soprano, and Egberto Gismonti (switching between guitar and piano) is filled with moody originals, improvisations that blend together jazz and world music, and atmospheric ensembles. This date works well both as superior background music and for close listening." -- Scott Yanow
"Charlie Haden loves film as much as music, combining both loves on the critically acclaimed Haunted Heart. Haden led his tremendous group Quartet West through 12 numbers, several, like Cole Porter's "Every Time We Say Goodbye," and Alan Broadbent's "Lady In The Lake," Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz's "Haunted Heart," and even the short introduction, with film ties and/or links. Haden transferred vocals on some numbers from Jeri Southern, Billie Holiday and Jo Stafford into the mix without disrupting or disturbing the group framework. Quartet West has emerged as a premier small combo, and Haden nicely paid tribute to the past without being held hostage to it." -- Ron Wynn
"Joe Zawinul belongs in a category unto himself -- a European from the heartland of the classical music tradition (Vienna) who learned to swing as freely as any American jazzer, and whose appetite for growth and change remains insatiable. Zawinul's curiosity and openness to all kinds of sounds made him one of the driving forces behind the electronic jazz-rock revolution of the late '60s and '70s -- and later, he would be almost alone in exploring fusions between jazz-rock and ethnic music from all over the globe. He is one of a bare handful of synthesizer players who actually learned how to play the instrument, to make it an expressive, swinging part of his arsenal. Prior to the invention of the portable synthesizer, Zawinul's example helped bring the Wurlitzer and Fender-Rhodes electric pianos into the jazz mainstream. Zawinul also has become a significant composer, ranging (like his idol Duke Ellington) from soulful hit tunes to large-scale symphonic-jazz canvases. Yet despite his classical background, he now prefers to improvise compositions spontaneously onto tape, not writing them out on paper.
At six, Josef Erich Zawinul started to play the accordion in his native Austria, and studies in classical piano and composition at the Vienna Conservatory soon followed. His interest in jazz piano, initially influenced by George Shearing and Erroll Garner, led to jobs with Austrian saxophonist Hans Koller in 1952 and gigs with his own trio in France and Germany. He emigrated to the United States in late 1958 after winning a scholarship to Berklee, yet after just one week in class, he left to join Maynard Ferguson's band for eight months, where Miles Davis first took notice of him. Following a brief stay with Slide Hampton, Zawinul became Dinah Washington's pianist from 1959 to 1961, and then spent a month with Harry "Sweets" Edison before Cannonball Adderley picked him to fill the piano chair in his Quintet. There Zawinul stayed and blossomed for nine years, contributing several compositions to the Adderley bandbook -- among them the major pop hit "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy," "Walk Tall" and "Country Preacher" -- and ultimately helping to steer the Adderley group into the electronic era. While with Adderley, Zawinul evolved from a hard bop pianist to a soul/jazz performer heavily steeped in the blues, and ultimately a jazz/rock explorer on the electric piano. Toward the end of his Adderley gig (1969-1970), he was right in the thick of the new jazz-rock scene, recording several pioneering records with Miles Davis, contributing the title tune of Davis' In a Silent Way album.
After recording a self-titled solo album, Zawinul left Adderley to form Weather Report with Wayne Shorter and Czech bassist Miroslav Vitous in November 1970. Weather Report gave the increasingly self-confident Zawinul a platform to evolve even further as his interest in propulsive grooves and music from Africa and the Middle East ignited and developed. He gradually dropped the electric piano in favor of a series of ever-more-sophisticated synthesizers which he mastered to levels never thought possible by those who derided the instruments as sterile, unfeeling machines. Weather Report eventually became a popular group that appealed to audiences beyond jazz and progressive rock, thanks in no small part to Zawinul's hit song "Birdland."
When Zawinul and Shorter finally came to a parting of the ways in 1985, Zawinul started to tour all by himself, surrounded by keyboards and rhythm machines, but resurfaced the following year with a short-lived extension of Weather Report called Weather Update (which did not leave any recordings). Weather Update quickly evolved into another group, the Zawinul Syndicate, which over the span of a decade has been tilting increasingly toward groove-oriented world music influences. Zawinul has also shown renewed interest in his European roots, collaborating with fellow Viennese classical pianist Friedrich Gulda from 1987 to 1994, producing a full-blown classical-based symphony Stories of the Danube in 1993 and following the near-disastrous Malibu fires of 1994, moving from California to New York City in order to be closer to Europe. In 2002 he released Faces & Places, his first studio album in several years and one that boasted an international roster of supporting musicians.
Though he continues to explore new musical paths at an age when most jazzers are long set in their ways, Zawinul's influence upon jazz has waned in recent years due to the jazz mainstream's retreat from electronics back to acoustic post-bop. But Zawinul's uplifting, still-invigorating later music may make him a prophet again if global music infiltrates the jazz world." - Richard S. Ginell
"This version of the Zawinul Syndicate could swing harder than any Zawinul-led unit since the heyday of Weather Report, as this two-CD set -- taken from three concerts in Berlin and Trier, Germany -- triumphantly illustrates. Small wonder, for the lineup of the Syndicate looks almost like a Weather Report alumni gathering, with Zawinul, the brilliant percussionist Manolo Badrena from the 1977 Heavy Weather band, and bassist Victor Bailey, from the great '80s global-funk edition forming a quorum, with Paco Sery on drums and Gary Poulson on guitar filling out the ranks. Zawinul remains a marvel at 65, always in touch with the idea and feel of the groove, weaving spare, enigmatic electronic comments and spangled layers of synthesizers into the mix, creating a touching dialogue in "Zansa II" with Sery's kalimba. Some of the material stems from the early years of the Syndicate, and "Indiscretions" and "Two Lines" date all the way back to Weather Report. Among the greatest groovathons -- at last presented in full glorious concert length on CD -- are "Indiscretions," which gets the voodoo going in an insinuating manner, and "N'awlins," which manages to evoke the Crescent City R&B feeling in a swingingly original way. The set's two anomalies are "When There Was Royalty," a curious intermezzo consisting of Zawinul's polystylistic solo piano musings poorly recorded in his home studio on a Walkman, and "Success," a spoken poem by Erich Fried set against the stunning blend of Berlin church bells and electronics. For a souvenir of the state of Zawinul's art in the 1990s, this is the album to get." -- Richard S. Ginell
"Placing Randy Weston into narrow bop-derived categories only tells part of the story of this restless musician. Starting with the gospel of bop according to Thelonious Monk, Weston has gradually absorbed the letter and spirit of African and Caribbean rhythms and tunes, welding everything together into a searching, energizing, often celebratory blend. His piano work ranges across a profusion of styles from boogie-woogie through bop into dissonance, marking by a stabbing quality reminiscent of, but not totally indebted to, Monk.
Growing up in Brooklyn, Weston was surrounded by a rich musical community: he knew Max Roach, Cecil Payne and Duke Jordan; Eddie Heywood lived across the street; Wynton Kelly was a cousin. Most influential of all was Monk, who tutored Weston upon visits to his apartment. Weston began working professionally in R&B bands in the late 1940s before playing in the bebop outfits of Payne and Kenny Dorham. After signing with Riverside in 1954, Weston led his own trios and quartets and attained a prominent reputation as a composer, contributing jazz standards like "Hi-Fly" and "Little Niles" to the repertoire. He also met arranger Melba Liston, who has collaborated with Weston off and on into the 1990s. Weston's interest in his roots was stimulated by extended stays in Africa; he visited Nigeria in 1961 and 1963, lived in Morocco from 1968 to 1973 following a tour, and has remained fascinated with the music and spiritual values of the continent ever since. In the 1970s, Weston made recordings for Arista-Freedom, Polydor and CTI while maintaining a peripatetic touring existence -- mostly in Europe -- returning to Morocco in the mid-'80s.
However, starting in the late '80s, after a long recording drought, Weston's visibility in the U.S. skyrocketed with an extraordinarily productive period in the studios for Antilles and Verve. Among his highly eclectic recording projects were a trilogy of "Portrait" albums depicting Ellington, Monk and himself, an ambitious two-CD work rooted in African music called The Spirits of Our Ancestors, a blues album, and a collaboration with the Master Gnawa Musicians of Morocco. Though he does tend now and then to recycle material written up to nearly half a century before, Weston in his 70s remains an unpredictable, unusually enterprising musician, issuing Khepera in 1998." - Richard S. Ginell
One of the biggest news stories in the entertainment industry recently has been the merger of two of its largest corporations, Bertelsmann and Sony Music Group, as they face challenging technological changes in the distribution of music and video products. While there has been much criticism of huge mergers like these, because the growing influence of just a few companies, there have been some unexpected benefits too. One of those resulted in the realization of Mosaic Select: Randy Weston. Here?s how it happened.
Randy Weston?s recorded output throughout his career has been inconsistent and sporadic, complicated even more so when he moved to Morocco and France after his early recordings in the United States. But a fortunate circumstance occurred when EMI acquired the labels possessing Weston?s earliest U.S. recordings: Jubilee, Roulette, United Artists and Colpix. Now under the same corporation?s ownership, this coincidence allowed Michael Cuscuna to re-release several of Weston?s early, and seldom heard, albums, as well as a previously unreleased session with Cecil Payne, Ron Carter and Roy Haynes.
Even though Mosaic Select: Randy Weston covers just six years, from 1957 to 1963, the growth in Weston?s playing and artistic imagination is evident to anyone who listens to all three CD?s. The second disk actually contains Weston?s earliest recordings in this box set, his previously titled Piano-A-La-Mode piano trio session with his friends Peck Morrison on bass and Connie Kay on drums. While some of his still-recognizable stylistic elements are present, including his use of the entire keyboard and dissonant indebtedness to Thelonious Monk, it wasn?t until his next album, the classic Little Niles, appeared in 1958 that he seemed to have found his voice--a voice arising from his love of family. From the box set?s first track from that album, ?Earth Birth,? arranged by Weston?s long-time associate Melba Liston (as were so many of his successive recordings), the first disk is full of Weston compositions that have since become classics: ?Little Niles,? ?Pam?s Waltz,? ?Let?s Climb a Hill.? Joined by Johnny Griffin on tenor sax, Idrees Sulieman and Ray Copeland on trumpet, Liston on trombone, George Joyner on bass and Charlie Persip on drums, Weston exhibits a flowing piano style that?s characteristic of his later work. At the time, Weston was dedicating the album to his children and composing all of the songs in three-quarter time. However, Little Niles was just the first recorded evidence of Weston?s fondness of meters in three, which developed into the more complex six-eight African works later.
The first disk concludes with Weston?s Live at the Five Spot, which he recorded with one of his admired masters of the genre, Coleman Hawkins, as well as with Kenny Dorham on trumpet, Wilbur Little on bass and Roy Haynes on drums (again with arrangements by Melba Liston). Starting with yet another Weston classic, ?Hi Fly,? this version become the one against which all others are compared, particularly when Hawkins lets fly with one of his inimitable solos, raspy and more aggressive than Dorham?s trumpet, played lightly and with exquisite precision.
The previously unreleased session with Cecil Payne on baritone sax is notable as provides even more documentation of Weston?s almost lifelong musical association with Payne, from the time they grew up as neighbors in Brooklyn until even now as Payne joins Weston in some of his concerts. Moreover, Payne constantly is overlooked as one of the premier baritone saxophonists in jazz; the 7 tracks of the Weston/Payne/Ron Carter/Roy Haynes session gives more evidence of the fertility of Payne?s imagination and the delicacy and movement of his style. Oddly, ?204? from this session sounds quite a bit like ?Hi Fly,? slowed down. Nonetheless, as a laid-back ballad based on the same changes, ?204? allows Weston and Payne to relax and play with confidence and an easy exchange of ideas.
But Disk 3 contains Weston?s true masterpiece, Uhuru Afrika, the extended composition for which he will be known, along with his immortal songs like ?Little Niles.? Weston believes that the listening public wasn?t ready for such a message-laden, and culturally unpopular, recording in 1960, when it was recorded. And he was right. African nations were just being freed from European colonialism, and their citizens were heady with excitement about the future possibilities of managing their own destiny (although now in hindsight, we can see that some of that promise was longer in coming than anticipated). Uhuru Afrika was recorded before Weston made his first trip to Africa, which altered his view of earth?s cultures as well as the subject matter of his music forever. Strangely enough, even though Uhuru Afrika received little notice when it was released, it?s music sounds familiar today because Weston has been playing it in concerts, on radio and in reissued CD?s. The continuing presence of Babatunde Olatunji and Candido Camero on percussion colored the music, even as a tune like ?Kucheza Blues? indeed was based upon blues changes, although it refers to African celebration and borrows more than a little once again from Monk.
Significantly, the complexity and cultural perspicacity shown by Uhuru Afrika contrast significantly with the more conventional work that Weston was playing only 3 years earlier. But his imagination was set, and by 1961 Weston had developed the characteristics of his style that would remain with him throughout the rest of his career, even as its richness deepened and Weston became even surer of his conclusions, both musical and cultural. - Jazz Review
"The twisted avant-jazz of Phillip Johnston first reared its head during the early '80s, when the composer and saxophonist was a staple of the downtown New York City underground music scene. There, he performed with a variety of artists both in and out of the jazz community, among them John Zorn, Eugene Chadbourne, Elliott Sharp, Wayne Horvitz, Butch Morris, and the dB's. He is a founding member of the Microscopic Septet and, after its demise, went on to lead Phillip Johnston's Big Trouble and Phillip Johnston's Transparent Quartet.
In addition to commissioned works in conjunction with a number of theatrical and dance productions, Johnston earned notoriety for his eclectic film work, scoring pictures by directors including Doris Dorrie, Philip Haas, and Paul Mazursky. Following the 1992 breakup of his group the Microscopic Septet, he soon resurfaced fronting the band Big Trouble, debuting with a self-titled LP on the Black Saint label. After scoring the film noir The Unknown, Johnston and Big Trouble returned in 1996 with Flood at the Ant Farm; Normalology followed a year later.
In 1998, Johnston enjoyed a release on Zorn's Tzadik label, Music for Films, and a release on Koch with his newly formed Transparent Quartet, The Needless Kiss. The group finds Johnston with tuba player and bassist Dave Hofstra, pianist/baritone saxophonist Joe Ruddick, and vibraphonist Mark Josefberg. The band followed up their debut with The Merry Frolics of Satan: The Georges Meiles Project in 1999." - Jason Ankeny
"Really, why should this music be called avant-garde? Should a band as gloriously fun as Phillip Johnston's Big Trouble really be given a stylistic label equated by many with either difficult art music or deadly serious free jazz? Yes, in the '90s jazz world, the enormously engaging saxophonist/composer and his band of accomplished musical pranksters definitely fell on the avant side of things, but that was more a reflection of the sorry state of the mainstream, in comparison to which, of course, any era's avant-garde is defined. In a rational world, Johnston's first post-Microscopic Septet project would be seen as appealing to a very broad audience segment -- say, those with ears on the sides of their heads. The ensemble's debut recording is unfailingly good-natured, in contrast to the work of the best-known New York downtowner at the time (who sat in awhile with the Micros), John Zorn. In addition to the Micros, of course, another touchstone to Big Trouble is Holland's Willem Breuker Kollektief, but Johnston's band flirts with humor and irony without ever falling into overt schtick. Big Trouble's expert balance of serious and light is achieved through ingenious arrangements that engage the heart and emotions with the most expressive qualities of creative and even free jazz, while wrapping the music in a bright, nearly pop music sheen. The warm colors of the band's reeds and horns -- including Johnston's soprano sax (his principal instrument), the trombone of Jim Leff, the bari sax or bass clarinet of Bob DeBellis, and the occasional tuba from bassist Dave Hofstra -- also seem calculated for maximum ear appeal. Highlights abound on Phillip Johnston's Big Trouble; there is no weak cut on the CD or weak segment within any cut. Whether affectionately tweaking the music of Steve Lacy, Herbie Nichols, or Raymond Scott, or romping through original material by Johnston, DeBellis, or Big Trouble drummer Kevin Norton, the band constantly throws the unexpected into the mix. Credit Joe Ruddick on keyboards and sampler for a lot of the wacky sonics, as on Lacy's "Hemline," where his synthesized squelches in one channel compete with the rubbery skronk of guest slide guitarist David Tronzo in the other. Speaking of guest guitarists, Adam Rogers emerges as a major contributor to several tunes; he puts the power into Scott's "Powerhouse" and the rousing, swooping, almost prog rockish album opener, Johnston's "The Invisible World." And those are his arpeggios, standing in for steel drums, on Johnston's Caribbean-meets-township flavored "Natural Confusion" (before the segue into the bandleader's swinging "Waltz of the Untouched," in which Ruddick sounds like he's comping on the organ at a baseball stadium). These musicians have a light and limber touch even when faced with daunting complexity, as in the steady rolling groove and multi-layered counterpoint of Johnston's "Chillbone," a lesson to minimalists in how to avoid sounding mechanistic. Throughout the recording, Johnston and his cohorts prove that "accessible" needn't be a dirty word, even in the avant-garde world. If you've got ears on the sides of your head, this CD's for you." - Dave Lynch
"The second CD by Philip Johnston's Big Trouble is jazz mixing great musicianship with a touch of madness. He treats Steve Lacy's "Hemline" as if it were penned by Raymond Scott (whose music was adapted for classic Looney Tunes cartoons) and "Bone" sounds like a wild improvisation on a childhood chant. Pianist Joe Ruddick's "Heaven, Hell, or Hoboken" has a nifty calypso beat with an intense cacophony of reeds and brass. Johnston is also a gifted composer; his "Pontius Pilate Polka" blends folk dances with swinging Dixieland interludes. "Mr. Crocodile" is a light samba with a touch of reggae. Highly recommended for fans of the great melting pot of jazz." - Ken Dryden
It's hard to say whether saxophonist-composer Johnston has a good ear for movies or a good eye for music. Either way, this CD of music for the silent movies of Georges Méliès perfectly captures the humor of the French film pioneer's short, whimsical fantasies. Johnston's music underscores the action the way good film music should, but it also adds a post-modern element of ironic commentary on the film's inevitable anachronisms and genre conventions.
Johnston's playful warping of old forms rescues the music from simple nostalgia. For instance, "Trip to the Moon" cycles through a march, a tango, and a fox trot, with quiet interludes for piano and vibes playing in a two-beat rhythm, but the melodies are full of angular leaps and little dissonances that are closer to music at the turn of this century than the turn of the last one. And Satan sounds like one smooth dude as the band swings with jaunty insouciance through "The Merry Frolics of Satan." "Journey Across the Impossible" sounds like the most thoroughly modern cut with agitated collective blowing over a tuba bass pattern. Johnston's Transparent Quartet, with Joe Ruddick on piano and baritone sax, Mark Josefsberg on vibes, and David Hofstra on bass and tuba handle the scores with breezy clarity and deadpan humor, seamlessly blending improvising and score interpretation. A video of these film treasures with this music would be the ideal way to appreciate Johnston's achievement, but if you close your eyes, the music conjures up vivid images on its own.
Fans of John Zorn's film series will immediately feel comfortable here: short ideas that intermingle widely varying musical worlds. Romantic old world cellos; niteclub jive; the jazz overtones of French noir detective cinema; Middle Eastern folk dance; Grand Ole Opry violins; shattered glass electric guitar; the circus sound from Fellini films; New Orleans' funeral dirge...
It's all there but something is missing; I feel vaguely unsatisfied. It just isn't as dense as Zorn. Or as wonderfully manically schizophrenic. I know it isn't fair to compare; the music should be taken on its own terms without being subjected to comparison but it is almost impossible to listen to this CD without realizing the influence that Zorn has had on fellow composers. This is a quality collection of music with excellent musicianship but I would rather listen to one of John Zorn's six million different CDs. There are some really nice pieces here that aren't as demanding on the listener; a good transition compilation to ween your mate off of easy listening into the world of difficult music. A good CD to listen to when you want something interesting without being overly demanding or intrusive.
You might consider this drummerless Phillip Johnston quartet a chamber group, with its stretched textures and rolling motifs. The group plays with a very filmic approach, building dramas up in the contrasts between Mark Josefsberg's vibraphone and the twin horns of Johnston and Joe Ruddick (who plays mostly baritone saxophone). Refereeing between the horns is bassist Dave Hofstra, who marks sonic areas with well-placed rhythm, careful never to force a tempo. The band has played scores to silent films, a practice at which Johnston excels. Here they move from "Pipeline," which Johnston says he wrote while imagining his musical inspiration, Don Van Vliet (a.k.a Captain Beefheart), to fine instances of musical counterpoint. This is a warm, vivid CD that works the way Jimmy Giuffre's trio did: hovering around and living within musical adventure without taking the heat miser's approach to energy.
"The Unknown is saxophonist/composer Phillip Johnston's soundtrack to the 1927 silent film of the same name. As with much of Johnston's other work, the music here is a witty, often changing mix of sounds and styles from various eras. Appropriately, there is an emphasis on various film music archetypes, although not just from the silent film era, but from more modern times, too. The tracks weave in and out of frantic, polka-driven chase-scene themes, genteel waltzes, nostalgic parlor-room piano sections, sultry noir-jazz passages, and more. Johnston also adds in more modern elements, from dissonant horn harmonies and free-leaning improvisation to a few rock-oriented rhythms and even some electronic/synthesizer touches. As a result, the music often feels familiar and hard to place at the same time. Johnston knows how to evoke a wide range of moods, whether it be suspense, melancholy, or something less easy define, and the main melodic themes are memorable as well as cleverly arranged each time they recur. This music holds up just fine without the visuals; one only wishes that the actual performances were a little more impassioned and less restrained than they are in places." - William York
"As one of the most prominent guitarists and session musicians in Sweden, Janne Schaffer has played with almost everyone at home, and quite a few important bands abroad. If he ever needs to send in his CV, it will contain names like ABBA, Bob Marley, and Jeff Porcaro. He also successfully pursued a career as a solo artist in the '70s, when he topped the charts and won some recognition abroad, but has had less success since the '80s. For a younger generation in Sweden, Schaffer is probably most well-known for being the guitar-playing zebra in Electric Banana Band, a platinum-selling band from a children's television show.
Schaffer was born in Stockholm just after the war. During the '60s, he was a member of a number of pop bands, including Noisemen, Chicks, and Ted and the Caracas, none of them becoming very well-known. But Schaffer was already a skilled guitarist and after being employed by a dance orchestra, he quit school. A dance orchestra meant endless touring and the young Schaffer had soon had enough and returned to school and Stockholm, where he formed the Sleepstones. A few of their songs charted, and as the real break didn't come, Schaffer left for Grapes of Wrath. It was now around 1970, his career as a session musician began, and very soon his reputation earned him the top jobs in Sweden. During the '70s, Schaffer played with famous artists like Ted Gärdestad, Cornelis Wresvijk, and Barbro Hörberg, as well as with international stars like Bob Marley, ABBA, and Johnny Nash.
In 1973, Schaffer released his self-titled solo debut. The album topped the charts, and playing keyboards on it was Björn J:son Lindh, whom Schaffer would work with a lot during most of the '70s and '80s. The second album, Janne Schaffer's Andra, also did well, in fact good enough for his third album, Katharsis, to be released to good reviews worldwide. This album was more fusion, where the first two had been instrumental guitar rock. In the late '70s, Schaffer played at a number of big jazz festivals. Tracks from one of these concerts are included on Montreux Summit, Vol. 1 and Montreux Summit, Vol. 2.
Earmeal from 1979 was recorded together with the brothers and father Porcaro from Toto, but the title was actually the name of a band Schaffer had formed a few years ago in Sweden, together with Lindh. A few years prior he had also written the music for a very popular children's show on Swedish television: Trazan och Banarne. When new episodes were to be filmed, the Electric Banana Band was created, including a good part of the Swedish studio elite led by Schaffer. The show was immensely popular and Schaffer's participation in the band well overshadowed his solo career, which in the '80s had lost speed. In his collaborations with Lindh, the music started to be more meditative and abandoned most of what was left of both jazz and rock, and also lost much of the audience.
Schaffer formed his own record company, Earmeal, in 1984, on which his following solo albums were released. But while these never reached the quality his earlier work had, his competence as a guitarist, and later as a producer, was still in demand. Through the '80s and '90s, he still participated on a great number of albums. Apart from this, Schaffer wrote film scores and worked together with classical composers. In 1997, he intended to gather the band Earmeal for a rock concert, but the arrangers suggested that the Electric Banana Band should reunite instead. The following tour was a big success, and a re-recording of old songs (and some new) sold platinum." - Lars Loven
Janne Schaffer is a Swedish guitarist who I seem to recall played with, of all bands, Abba. However, don't let that put you off as there certainly are no "Fernando's" on this disc. I was lucky enough to obtain a second hand copy of Janne?s, record called Earmeal and which I thought at the time was extremely good. In fact, Earmeal was so good, I recorded it onto cassette along with Al Di Meola?s Electric Rendezvous and, as these 2 albums sounded pretty similar, they complemented each other very well.
Based on my appreciation for this other album, I was anxious to track down anything more and ordered his self-titled CD that was reissued in 1990. Unfortunately, this disc is no where near as strong although there are some songs that show potential. Janne?s style on this record is (obviously), guitar based jazzy / poppy / proggy / fusion, if such a description can be allowed. Most songs are in the 3 to 4 minute range although one song extends to over 8 minutes whereby Janne can stretch the fingers a bit more.
While the material presented here has strength in some areas, my disappointment is even more increased as my dearly beloved very kindly evicted my only said copy of Earmeal from our house some years ago. How the hell do I find another copy now? Anyway, while Janne shows he is a very capable player, there is just not enough here to sink your teeth (and ears) into. If you can find a copy of Earmeal and enjoy Al Di Meola?s material, circa Electric Rendezvous, Casino or Elegant Gypsy, you?ll get more of the same technique, originality and overall appeal. - Progressive Ears
" Jonas Kullhammar has a cool name. Its implications in English also make it somewhat appropriate sounding: this young sax virtuoso has a big sound, like a cool hammer. The new CD from his excellent quartet also looks goofily cool, with a youthful-looking painting that makes Kullhammar out to be far more gangly than he actually looks to be in photos. Then there's the title, with its jokey frankness. But the music contained herein is no kids' stuff.
Europeans, as I understand it, are less concerned with the question, which is absurdly divisive here, of what should and shouldn't be called jazz. Plays Loud for the People is, for the most part, mature mainstream jazz. Its feet are firmly planted in the firmament of the modern jazz, bop and post bop continuum, yet - alert the media! - it's fun to listen to. A lot of the new jazz you hear, good or bad, suffers from a claustrophobia, a self-conscious fear of breaking any sacred jazz rules or making too much of a ruckus. Kullhammar and crew color inside the lines mainly, but they do so with no undue reverence for orthodoxy.
The disc is carefully ordered, starting with the hard driving "Snake City East," and alternating slow and fast tunes to track five (the Gene Ammons-esque rock-cha-cha, and most fun of all, "Bebopalulia"). Track six, "Behind Delight," another burner, breaks that pattern, and pianist Torbjörn Gulz (this is surely the only jazz combo with two Torbjörns, including bassist Zetterberg) mostly reveals a strong McCoy Tyner influence here, as in "Snake City East." He certainly could have picked a worse model. Kullhammar's tone is as voluminous, like Sonny Rollins', though he still has some distance to go to reach that level of mastery and personal style. The bass is mixed on the heavy side, and the drums are not overshadowed, still this quartet plays not so much loud as big.
The tunes, all penned by Kullhammar and Gulz, save a lone ballad by the other Torbjörn, range from twisting modern bop to heavy groove. This is an entertaining debut for a promising quartet. Its good taste is lightened up by good humor, and its liveliness makes it seem, well, alive." - Ty Cumbie
What I love about the Beat Generation Box Set is that in addition to serving as a great social portrait of the era, as well as hipster culture, throughout it maintains a sense of humor and focuses on its strange relationship and rivalry with American pop culture. Beyond mere literary readings, a colorful cast of charactors make the scene... from beboppers to hipsters, bongo beating philosophers to comedians and pop icons arise. One track might be Annie Ross's bebopistic tribute to Schizophrenia "Twisted", the next a recitation by Lord Buckley or Ken Nordine - in other tracks, square singers try to cash in on bebop and hipster culture... reporters go out on the streets of Greenwich village in search of America's lost youth, while others show beat generation icons in action from Dizzy Gillespie to Slim Galliard and Ray Brown Jr. - - Cuts from the rare, "How to Speak Hip" and even Lenny Bruce's Psychopathia Sexualis (I'm in Love With a Horse That Comes from Dallas) appear.
While by no means comprehensive, the three CDs along with the illustrated booklet are not only educational but incredibly entertaining.
If you enjoy this album, be sure to check out a reissue of Ken Nordine's Colors, as well as stuff by Harry The Hipster Gibson, Slim Galliard and Leon Watson, as well as the movie, "Sweet Love Bitter" (based on the life of Charlie Parker.)
"It comes from a saying Southern farmers use a lot," Allison explained of this 1962 set's title. "'I don't worry about a thing, because nothing's going to be all right.'" Swinging and wry as usual, the Mississippi-born singer-pianist divides his Atlantic debut between vocals and instrumentals, all made with minimal bass-and-drums backing. The entertainment factor wanders slightly on the wordless stuff, but thanks to songs such as "Your Mind Is on Vacation" and "It Didn't Work Out That Way," this is a good representation of Allison's style.
The silver-bearded Mose Allison has been recording since 1957--a long career nicely summarized by his boxed set Allison Wonderland--but he's not finished yet. For most of his career, Allison has stuck to the piano trio format, but on this album, he stretches out his laconic arrangements to allow room for such top jazz stars as guitarist John Scofield, saxophonist Joe Lovano and trumpeter Randy Brecker. These guests thrive in the atmosphere of Allison's restrained, blues-anchored songwriting, but it's his razor-sharp lyrics that still command the most attention.
Trumpeter Blue Mitchell's Blue Note debut went unissued for 17 years, only coming out on this 1980 LP (not yet reissued on CD). The set must have been lost in the shuffle, for the music is consistently excellent. Mitchell, tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, altoist Leo Wright, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Gene Taylor and drummer Roy Brooks perform four originals and obscurities, plus lyrical versions of "Sweet and Lovely" and "Cry Me a River." Worth searching for. - AMG
Downtown New York is famous for it's post-modern stew of approaches to the arts. A downtowner is likely to be a musician/artist or a poet/performer and the idea of one person controlling all aspects of a production isn't all that far-fetched. It's a new twist on the old Wagnerian ideal of gesamskunstwerk and perhaps the one figure that best represents this is Meredith Monk. Known as a dancer, choreographer, singer, and composer, Monk's work is complex and never complete without the visual element, based as it is on movement and striking stage pictures. Yet musically, she is a powerful force in her own right. Her conceptual frame work is based around her voice and exploring extended vocal techniques from world cultures and has developed from her early solo explorations, through the marvelous work with her vocal ensemble and even to her mega work opera, Atlas.
Mercy is the latest work to be recorded in the Monk canon, and it is a beauty. The piece is conceived for her vocal ensemble with the addition of a trio of multi-instrumentalists. Monk's process with a composition is interesting. She will supply sketches to her performers and then develop the work through improvisation, much like the process used by many modern dance troupes. The material is based on familiar musical modes and superficially has a resemblance to better known minimalists like Steve Reich and Phillip Glass. Except that with Monk, the improvisational element in the piece gives the works an internal life that goes beyond mere process music. Each piece is a journey, with a wonderful mix of the familiar and the surprising. The acuity of the vocal ensemble is astounding. They have all worked with Monk for many years and have assimilated her vocal techniques while each of them brings something original to the process. The result is a haunting recording, gently breaking over the listener like waves, but with a reservoir of deep emotion.
As always with a Monk work, it's a shame not to have a visual document for this piece. As DVD and CD-ROM technology get more and more advanced, it seems to me that this kind of work would be a no-brainer for technology. A DVD of the work might be more hypnotizing...in fact, if the work was recorded especially as a DVD, as opposed to a recorded live performance, this might be the best way to experience Monk's haunting work. That being said, this CD is a lovely, if only partial, document. ECM and Manfred Eichter have once again recorded this in their trademark sound.... spacious and dark, with an ambience that is as much a part of the music on their label as anything the performers do. This is marvelous late night music...deeply calming and emotionally moving. It is also one of the best introductions to the unique work of one of New York's most interesting post-modern figures.
This CD is more of a three star effort for me but I would rather err on the side of too much credit than too little when it comes to people trying to make honest music. My issues with this CD may be more of a personal thing anyhow so let me just lay it out for y'all and you be the judge. First, some information for ya. This is a collection of unrecorded material from Johnston's Microcosmic Septet days. The lineup on this CD includes Joe Ruddick on keyboards, Allan Chase on the alto sax, Paul Shapiro of the tenor, Robert DeBellis on the baritone sax, David Hofstra on the bass, Richard Dworkin on the drums and Johnston on the soprano sax. Stew Cutler sits in on guitar on three of the thirteen tracks. Second, the good news- all of these guys can flat out play. The music is a pastiche going from swing to sort of a Loony Toons Big Band thing to Blues to Bebop. The players play the heck out of everything seemingly never at a loss in what sound like some demanding charts and soloing with great verve and pithyness. For my ears, if I had to pick the outstanding players it would be Ruddick, and DeBellis. But they all sound good. The writing is very witty. Johnston writes for films a fair amount and it shows in his writing. The Looney Toon thing I mentioned is apt- he would have been great at scoring the epic Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd battles. My problem is that it is all a little too ironic and postmodern for me. I can hear no real emotional commitment to any one thing except the sheer fun on playing a lot of genres well in a clever way. Last night I went to hear a local gamelan band, The Venerable Showers of Beauty Gamelan directed by Widiyanto S. Putro. Only a few of the players in the gamelan were of the caliber of the musicians on Johnston's CD. Yet the gamelan playing will remain with me far longer. The gamelan players felt like they were playing with everything they had. This is probably an unfair criticism and, if I were ever to see Johnston et al., I might well be completely blown away. But this CD is a little dry for me. I don't come away from it humming any of the pieces or the solos. I hope this makes sense. But don't trust me on this. Listen to Johnston's music and see what you think. This is a very intelligent and personable man and his body of music reflects that. You may connect to his music right away.
I FINALLY found a Sid Phillips C.D after having to endure a childhood filled with scratchy long play albums of this particular artist. When my father unwrapped and played this C.D he had tears in his eyes! The full bodied heavy duty big band sound was back, sounding better than ever. Sids clarinet work is something than needs to be studied by every aspiring player of that instrument - he can make it talk! I am grateful that this C.D exsists and my father cannot recommend it highly enough ...
"Although he originally rose to prominence in the shadow of Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard was one of the first "Young Lions" to develop his own sound, mixing in elements of Freddie Hubbard and Marsalis. He studied piano from the age of five and took up trumpet in 1976. Blanchard was with Lionel Hampton during 1980-1982 and then replaced Marsalis with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. He found fame while with Blakey during 1982-1986, and then co-led a group with Donald Harrison. After taking time off to work on his embouchure (and returning with a greatly increased range), Blanchard became active writing film scores for Spike Lee. He played in the films Do the Right Thing and Mo' Better Blues, and then wrote for Jungle Fever and Malcolm X, launching a lucrative second career. Fortunately, Blanchard has not neglected his own playing and he has recorded several superior sets of advanced hard bop music." - Scott Yanow
The jazz soundtrack must provide musical accompaniment to a movie and, of course, it must swing. That's what New Orleans trumpeter Terence Blanchard does so well on this recording, which features noir-nuanced renditions of nine film selections from 1951 to 1995. Blanchard, a graduate of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and a noted film composer in his own right, is joined by two Jazz Messengers alumni, alto saxophonist Donald Harrison and trombonist Steve Turre. The late pianist Kenny Kirkland, bassist Reginald Veal, and drummer Carl Allen complete the rhythm section while special guest tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson offers his elliptical improvisations, with conductor Steve Mercurio's simpatico strings weaving a finely textured harmonic quilt. Blanchard takes Alex North's "A Streetcar Named Desire" down home with Turre's Coltrane-quoted solo and Harrison's Bird-like nod to Gershwin. Jerry Goldsmith's steely "Chinatown" is rendered mournfully, and André Previn's "The Subterraneans" is buoyed by Veal's delicious walking bass lines and Henderson's neocubist sax lines. Duke Ellington--who wrote the book on jazz soundtracks--is loved madly by the crew on his immortal "Anatomy of a Murder." Quincy Jones's "The Pawnbroker" is peppered by Allen's drum-brushed, soft-shoe rhythms, as is Bernard Hermann's "Taxi Driver," the former with Harrison's soulful horn work and the latter featuring Henderson's moody, melodramatic musings. Elmer Bernstein's "Man with the Golden Arm" has a fast-paced, fugal introduction that segues into a boppish melodic line, and Blanchard saves the best for last on his own spectral score for Spike Lee's antihood movie, "Clockers," with the trumpeter's pathos-pulsed solo and Kirkland's spotlight, which reminds us of why we will miss him.
"A sorely underexposed figure and a major influence on Miles Davis, pianist Ahmad Jamal isn't generally ranked among the all-time giants of jazz, but he impressed fellow musicians and record buyers alike with his innovative, minimalist approach. Jamal's manipulations of space and silence, tension and release, and dynamics all broke new ground, and had an impact far beyond Jamal's favored piano trio format. As an arranger, Jamal made the most of his small-group settings by thinking of them in orchestral terms: using his trademark devices to create contrast and dramatic effect, and allowing the rhythm section a great deal of independence in its interplay. Nonetheless, his ensembles were always tightly focused as well, following their leader through sudden changes in tempo or time signature, and often carrying the main riff of a tune.
Jamal's own playing was a model of economy; because he didn't overwhelm listeners with his technique, his flashes of virtuosity had significantly more impact. His lines were spare and light, yet melodically and harmonically inventive, and driven by complex left-hand chord voicings that broke with Bud Powell's right-hand emphasis. A chamber-like sensibility and a classical formality permeated much of his playing, yet he swung like a jazzman without fail. Miles Davis greatly admired him, borrowing liberally from his repertoire and arrangements, and encouraging his pianist Red Garland to imitate Jamal's playing as closely as possible; additionally, Jamal's concepts of space and subtlety greatly affected Davis in his own right, both as a soloist and as a bandleader who (as it's often put) let the music breathe. Ahmad Jamal was born Frederick Russell Jones in Pittsburgh, PA, on July 2, 1930. He first started playing the piano at age three, began his formal training at age seven, and was performing professionally by 11 under the name Fritz Jones (though he also used "Freddie" during World War II because of the German flavor of "Fritz"). By his teenage years, he had completed studies equivalent to a master's degree, and he had also taken up jazz, inspired by the likes of Erroll Garner, Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, Count Basie, and Nat King Cole. After graduating from high school, he toured in a supporting role, and caught on with George Hudson's orchestra in 1949. Later that year, he joined swing violinist Joe Kennedy's group the Four Strings, where he served as pianist and arranger.
In 1950, Jamal formed his own group, the Three Strings, which also included bassist Eddie Calhoun and the highly percussive guitarist Ray Crawford. They were discovered by Columbia executive and talent scout John Hammond in 1951, and signed to the label's OKeh subsidiary. Calhoun was later replaced briefly by Richard Davis, and then by Israel Crosby in 1955; in the meantime, Fritz Jones converted to Islam and changed his name to Ahmad Jamal around 1952. Over that period, the group -- eventually renamed the Ahmad Jamal Trio -- recorded two albums, which included the classic original "Ahmad's Blues" and a version of "Pavanne" that likely provided the basis for Miles Davis' legendary "So What," not to mention the note-for-note melody of John Coltrane's "Impressions" (years before either had composed those respective pieces).Later in 1955, Jamal switched over to the Chess label's Argo subsidiary, where his trio cut the groundbreaking Chamber Music of New Jazz. It was here that he first drew Davis' enthusiastic approval, and over the next few years, arranger Gil Evans would base some of his seminal work for Davis on Jamal's interpretations. In 1956, Jamal elected to replace guitarist Crawford with a drummer, Walter Perkins; he in turn was replaced by Vernell Fournier in 1958, which cemented the classic Jamal Trio lineup. The group took up residency in the lounge of the Pershing Hotel in Chicago, where its gigs were greeted with excitement and frequented by many local jazz musicians. These shows resulted in the classic live album Ahmad Jamal at the Pershing: But Not for Me, which became a left-field smash in 1958, climbing all the way to number three on the pop charts; its hit version of "Poinciana" remains Jamal's signature tune. Some jazz critics never forgave Jamal for this crossover success, though his championing by other musicians has largely muted their derision over time.In the wake of But Not for Me's success, Jamal opened his own club, the Alhambra, and recorded prolifically for Argo during the '60s. Some of his albums continued to enjoy crossover success, including 1958's Ahmad Jamal Trio, Vol. 4 and 1960's Ahmad Jamal at the Penthouse, the latter of which teamed the trio with a 15-piece string section masterminded by Joe Kennedy. Two live albums, Alhambra and All of You, documented the group's 1961 performances at Jamal's club, though unfortunately it would not exist for much longer. Neither would Jamal's trio, which disbanded in 1962; Crosby joined George Shearing's group, but was felled by a heart attack not long after. With arranger Richard Evans, Jamal recorded another jazz-with-strings session, Macanudo, that year, and subsequently formed a new trio with bassist Jamil Nasser (aka Jamil Sulieman) and drummer Chuck Lampkin. Lampkin departed in 1965 and was briefly replaced by Fournier (on the LP Extensions) before Frank Gant was brought in on a permanent basis the following year.Jamal experienced a minor resurgence in popularity during the late '60s thanks to albums like 1967's Standard Eyes and 1968's Cry Young, the latter of which returned him to the pop charts for the first time in eight years. Later that year, he moved from Cadet (the renamed Argo) to Impulse!, and recorded five albums over the next four years, including the live Montreux Jazz Festival set Freeflight (1971) and Outertimeinnerspace (1972), both of which found him experimenting with the Fender Rhodes electric piano in addition to his standard sound. Additionally, in 1970, he performed an oft-heard version of the theme from the film M.A.S.H. that was included on the soundtrack.
Jamal moved to 20th Century in 1973 for a series of decent-selling albums that kicked off with Ahmad Jamal '73, another session with arranger Richard Evans. Others included 1974's Jamalca, 1975's Jamal Plays Jamal, 1976's Steppin' Out With a Dream, 1979's One, and 1980's Intervals and Genetic Walk; of those, the former two and Intervals all made the R&B charts, while Genetic Walk was Jamal's fifth and final album to reach the pop charts. Nasser left the trio in the mid-'70s and was replaced by John Hurd, and the lineup was also expanded to include guitarist Charlie Keys for the 1976 concert set Live at Oil Can Harry's (a one-off for the short-lived Catalyst label).Night Song, recorded for Motown and released in 1980, found Jamal working with an atypically large group; elsewhere, he assembled a new trio of bassist Sabu Adeyola and drummer Payton Crossley. In the early '80s, Jamal toured and recorded in tandem with vibraphonist Gary Burton, and returned to a major label when he signed with Atlantic in 1985. Digital Works, Rossiter Road, Crystal, and Pittsburgh all made the jazz album charts over the next five years. He recorded for Telarc in the early '90s, including the well-received Chicago Revisited: Live at Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase (1992) and I Remember Duke, Hoagy & Strayhorn (1994). Also in 1994, Jamal was awarded the American Jazz Master Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Jamal subsequently signed with the French Birdology label, signaling the start of a full creative renaissance; his recordings were initially distributed in the U.S. by Verve and Atlantic, and later by the smaller Dreyfus Jazz label. His first effort, The Essence of Ahmad Jamal, Pt. 1, was rapturously received in France, and marked the first time he'd recorded in a small-group format with a saxophonist (tenor man George Coleman). He followed it with Big Byrd: The Essence, Pt. 2 (1997) and Nature: The Essence, Pt. 3 (1998), as well as the acclaimed 70th-birthday concert L'Olympia 2000. The 2003 set In Search of Momentum was also critically well-received." - Steve Huey
This LP was a change of pace for pianist Ahmad Jamal, whose trio (with bassist Israel Crosby and drummer Vernell Fournier) is joined by a 15-piece string section arranged and conducted by Joe Kennedy. The interpretations are generally pretty, but with enough variety to hold one's interest. Among the nine selections are Hoagy Carmichael's "Ivy," "Tangerine," "Ahmad's Blues" and "I Like to Recognize the Tune." - AMG
"Billy Taylor has been such an articulate spokesman for jazz, and his profiles on CBS' Sunday Morning television program (where he has been a regular since 1981) are so successful at introducing jazz to a wider audience, that sometimes one can forget how talented a pianist he has been for the past half-century. While not an innovator, Taylor has been flexible enough to play swing, bop, and more advanced styles while always retaining his own musical personality. After graduating from Virginia State College in 1942, he moved to New York and played with such major musicians as Ben Webster, Eddie South, Stuff Smith (with whom he recorded in 1944), and Slam Stewart, among others. In 1951, he was the house pianist at Birdland and soon afterward Taylor formed his first of many trios. He helped found the Jazzmobile in 1965; in 1969, became the first black band director for a network television series (The David Frost Show); in 1975, he earned his doctorate at the University of Massachusetts; and he both founded and served as director for the popular radio program Jazz Alive. But despite his activities in jazz education, Taylor has rarely gone long between performances and recordings, always keeping his bop-based style consistently swinging and fresh." - Scott Yanow
"For Billy Taylor's GRP release, his longtime trio with bassist Victor Gaskin and drummer Bobby Thomas is joined by baritonist Gerry Mulligan on three of the ten numbers (including "Line for Lyons"). The first five selections are jazz standards (best are "I'll Remember April," "Line for Lyons" and "Cubano Chant") while the last five include two Taylor originals, the ballad "Who Can I Turn To," Oscar Peterson's obscure "Laurentide Waltz" and Mulligan's "Rico Apollo" which is surprisingly performed without the composer. Excellent music." - Scott Yanow
This album is one of a kind, and fortunately the same top level of interest and quality is maintained from start to finish. The exception is "Will You Still Be Mine," which is slightly ahead of the rest. It is hard to imagine a record successfully combining big-band music with sound effects, but that is exactly what Zounds! What Sounds! is. What sounds? As if frogs, crickets, dogs, owls, apples, and carrots weren't enough, there also are pogo sticks, plungers, mechanical teeth, a bowling alley, a clock factory, and even "underwater detonation" -- plus many more. Zounds! What Sounds! is where fans of sound-for-sound's-sake and fans of melody can meet happily. - Tony Wilds
Though not strictly a jazz bassist and certainly one of the least flamboyant improvisers, Eberhard Weber is among Europe's finest bassists. His style doesn't embrace either a bluesy orientation or an animated, energetic approach. Weber's influences are primarily European, notably contemporary classical and new music. His technique of using contrasting ostinato patterns in different voices was taken from composer Steve Reich. He's also made innovations in bass design. Weber added an extra string to his electric bass at the top in the early '70s; this extended its range and gave it a deeper, more striking sound. He added yet another string above that in the late '70s. Weber once doubled on cello but dropped it to concentrate on acoustic and electric bass. Weber's father taught him cello at six, and he began to play bass at 16. He worked in school orchestras, dance bands, and local jazz groups. He met Wolfgang Dauner while participating in the Dusseldorf Amateur Jazz Festival in the early '60s; they worked together over the next eight years, both as a duo and in the group Et Cetera. Weber worked with Dave Pike in the early '70s, and co-led the band Spectrum with Volker Kriegel. His early-'70s album The Colours of Chloe was one of ECM's most acclaimed. He formed the group Colours in 1974 and toured America in 1976, 1978, and 1979, heading it until 1981. Weber also played from the mid-'70s to the early '80s with the United Jazz and Rock Ensemble. During the '80s, Weber worked and recorded with Jan Garbarek and also wrote film scores and gave solo concerts. He continued recording with ECM, both with his group and with other musicians such as Gary Burton. Weber has several ECM titles available on CD. - AMG
Of the many "reunions" of the now truly legendary Oscar Peterson Trio (feat. Herb Ellis and Ray Brown), this is certainly the best. Recorded at New York's "Blue Note" Jazz Club, the Trio (ably supported by drummer Bobby Durham) was clearly enjoying itself when it dug into old classics (You Look Good To Me, Reunion Blues) or newer tunes by Peterson himself (Nighttime, Song to Elitha). Peterson in his pre-stroke days weaves his usual spell, dazzling everybody with amazing displays of his technique, as in the rousing "Reunion Blues". He he also proves that he can swing gently and with feel, as in "You Look Good to Me", or convey deeper, moving renditions, as in his own "Nighttime", which is my favourite. Watch out for a great example of understatement after Ray Brown has finished his solo! The interplay of the three is really amazing, and the deep felt sincerity they display on every tune makes this an outstanding listening experience. If you think that some of his '50s recordings were to shallow, or if you are simply looking for the perfect Oscar Peterson record, this is the best you can get. (And if you cannot get enough, watch out for the other three records, especially "Encore at the Blue Note" with a particularly moving rendition of "Here's That Rainy Day".)
A French vocal group famed for tackling all manner of classical material (baroque, fugues, madrigals, orchestral overtures) and switching them to an a cappella swing setting, the Swingle Singers was formed in Paris during the early '60s by American expatriate Ward Swingle. By the time of their 1963 album debut, the group comprised eight voices -- Swingle, Christiane Legrand (sister of Michel), Jean-Claude Briodin, Anne Germain, Claude Germaine, Jean Cussac, Claudine Meunier and Jeanette Baucomont. That album, Jazz Sebastian Bach (titled Bach's Greatest Hits in America), earned the group a Grammy award and almost made the Top Ten. - AMG
Buying anything from Disconforme (Definitive Records) is a gamble, but this is a hit! Big time! Without going into detail the "Live at Jorgies" tapes have been previously released on vinyl and CD. The original release of "Live at Jorgies" and "Live at Jorgies and More" are highly sought after collector's items. They are recordings of Wes and his brothers live August 19, 1961 at Jorgies Jazz Club, St. Louis Mo. and a studio session recorded on November 1963 in NYC with Joe Williams on Vocals. Wes' playing is amazing. It's great to hear Wes in a truely live concert without song length restrictions. The sessions with Joe Williams are also nice, but more conservative. Unfortunately the tape recorder ran out of tape during "'Round Midnight." Disconforme made the foolish decision to edit the tape from 3:39 to 2:30, then applauses were grafted to the false ending. Bad choice, that extra minuet is worth hearing. The sound quality (an 8 out of 10) is the same as previous "Jorgies" releases with no sonic improvement. The liner notes are typical general biographical nonsense with no special relevance to the songs on the CD. Victor Young's composition, "Stella By Starlight" is mistitled "Starlight" by Unknown. This is a true hard-bop concert, and I'm delighted that it's back in print.
"One of the most adventurous arrangers of the 1990s and 2000s, Bob Belden took the music of Puccini, Prince, and (with the most success) Sting, and turned it into jazz. After graduating from the University of North Texas in 1978, he was with Woody Herman's Orchestra for 18 months, worked with Donald Byrd off and on during 1981-1985, played with the Mel Lewis Orchestra, and produced a couple of Red Rodney records. In 1983, Belden settled in New York as a writer for studio sessions. Influenced by Gil Evans, Belden debuted on Sunnyside with Treasure Island, before working on transforming non-jazz material into jazz. Belden also assisted with Columbia Records' Miles Davis reissue program. He played in a duet with trumpeter Tim Hagans, issuing a live album on Blue Note in 2000 entitled Re-Animation Live! The 2001 release Black Dahlia showcased a 12-part orchestra paying tribute to the late Elizabeth Short, a celebrated Hollywood actress who was killed in 1947." - Scott Yanow
Belden's tribute to Elizabeth Short (The Black Dahlia), an aspiring actress who was brutally murdered in the late 1940s, is an amazingly-crafted work that also mirrors the dreamlike music of Chinatown and other film noir pieces. A soundtrack without a movie, Black Dahlia instills a mythical and fantastic world around Short's difficult and lovelorn life, creating moods and atmospheres with some of jazz's top talent.
If you are a casual listener of swing music you will appreciate the way each track is complemented by the tracks that precede and follow it. The arrangements and engineering form a cohesive whole. This CD is well suited to casual listening throughout.
Or, if you are a dyed in the wool Audiophile you will enjoy the quality of the recording itself. This is as good as CD sound gets. The CD is recorded using the HDCD recording process but will also shine on a standard CD player. The DYNAMIC sound and large soundstage evident on this recording really captures the live Big Band sound and puts a lot of the swing recordings out there to shame.
But of course it is the quality of the performances that are the real gem on this CD. Some of the best musicians in Big Band are represented here. If you love instrumental Big Band you will love "The Age of Swing".
There really aren't any negatives to "The Age of Swing", it fires on all cylinders and appeals to the casual listener, the audiophile, and the Big Band fan. I highly recommend it, you won't be disappointed.
Don Byron in his liner notes says that Mickey Katz ( 1909-1985) had a "unique and quirky musical vision", and this extremely entertaining CD is a terrific tribute to Katz and his versatility. The prologue and Epilogue are both abstract jazz pieces, with excerpts from the original "Hello Solly !", of Mickey telling jokes interspersed with the music. Track # 2, "Frailach Jamboree" is straight fabulous klezmer, but with "Haim Afen Range" ("Home on the Range"), we get the beginning of the funny stuff ! Long before there was Allan Sherman or Weird Al, Mickey Katz was making hilarious musical parodies, and of those represented here, my favorite is "Seder Dance", which is a zany take on Khatchaturian's "Saber Dance".
Like Mickey Katz, Don Byron is a brilliant clarinetist, and has brought together a group of superb musicians for this CD. I must mention Mark Feldman on violin, and Uri Caine on piano who are utterly sensational, but they are all magnificent, and in what is the highlight track for me, "Dreidel Song", come together in a joyous sound that makes my heart leap inside me. I must also make mention of Lorin Sklamberg and Avi Hoffman, who do such excellent work with the vocals. Recorded in Astoria, N.Y., in 1991, the sound is good and the total time is 53:12 This CD might be perplexing for the casual listener, but if you love klezmer, and Yiddish humor, you are guaranteed to adore it.
Bass Desires has become a recurring concept since this 1985 date, when it was merely the title of a CD and not a band. But the two-guitar quartet has a special appeal to bassist-leader Marc Johnson, who's joined here by drummer Peter Erskine and celebrated guitarists Bill Frisell and John Scofield. A study in the stylistic contrasts and shared values of the two six-stringers, Bass Desires shows off Scofield's linear, rapid-fire and hard-edged attack and Frisell's floating solos that use guitar synth to bend lines with elastic flexibility. Johnson's Japanese-themed "Samurai Hee-Haw" has Scofield tempering his funk with touches of hoedown, while Frisell adds atmospheric waves of sound to the folk ballad "Black Is the Color." Johnson is a superb melodist, apparent particularly in his unaccompanied introduction to the "Resolution" theme from John Coltrane's A Love Supreme, where Johnson's solo space builds toward strong work from both guitarists. All the tunes show thought, with Erskine's title tune setting a slow-moving theme against a fast tempo he and Johnson set down. The group is a format that seems to work for all concerned, with Frisell and Scofield clearly thriving on one another's presence, as well as with the rhythm section.
Skip the cheese, pleez: this album is a creative, textured breakfast. I'm amazed at how disregarded Marcus Roberts is: the guy's a real talent: he's not just another blind piano player! I've heard him called "unoriginal" and "scared to depart from the confines of classic jazz." Ridiculous! Yes, the sound here won't upset fans of 1950s-1960s Miles or 'Trane or Rollins or Bud Powell. Yes, this soul flows in that vein. That's a criticism? Damn, Stan, let the cat play. This album is a marvelous concoction and I love it. Tune out the critics and tune in to Marcus.
This CD is a wonderful beginning to those venturing forth into the world of acid jazz, let alone the world of Cal Tjader. My most favorite cuts are "Cherry Blossoms" and "Theme from Burke's Law." These cuts, although diametrically opposed (musically speaking), present just the duality this CD offers. First, the Asian-influenced cuts create a sultry and spicy flavor of music for you to enjoy. The second half offers a more mellow, cocktail party-like atmosphere. No doubt you WILL find favorite cuts among the choice selection "Several/Breeze" offers!
Sonny Rollins' "Movin' Out" is a classic set of hard bop from the mid-50s. Four of the albums songs feature the personnel of Kenny Dorham, Elmo Hope, Percy Heath and Art Blakey joining Sonny, while on one track, the lenghty ballad "More Than You Know," the band consists of Sonny, Monk, Tommy Potter and Art Taylor. The standout tune on this recording is "Solid," one of Sonny's most covered compositions, and this is the definitive version. But the other songs are no slouches -- the title track and "Swinging for Bumsy" are hard driving, straight ahead boppers, while the high point on the mid-tempo "Silk N' Satin" is a glorious, distant echo-like trumpet line from Dorham. "Movin' Out" doesn't net a fifth star in my opinion because this is very short CD, only around 30 minutes. But the music is excellent, so "Movin' Out" may be short, but it is definitely sweet.
Sonny Rollins was (and I suppose still is) fond of standards. If any jazzman uses them, in accordance with be-bop theory, as a framework for something new Rollins does it here. This is 'Surrey with a fringe on top' as you have never heard it sound before; a surreal pre-reggae honk, and a duo to boot, which works perfectly and leaves any thought of the original far behind whilst spookily managing to respect its form and harmonic structure. 'Asiatic Raes' again evokes the black world outside America (Rollins antecedants were from the West indies) and is a treat, with alternating African and American jazz rhythms underpinning theme and top class variations - a treat. Tune Up, composed by Miles or Cleanhead Vinson, depending who you believe, is brilliant. Some reckon Sonny to be the greatest genuine improvisor and on this evidence you have to believe it. Blues for Philly Jo is an excellently turned out original, but it is with the two ballads, Namely You and Wonderful Wonderful that the alchemy of turning a standard into something new is again cleraly in evidence, even after forty-odd years. Paul Chambers and Philly Jo Jones are at the top of their game throughout and this is one of my all time favourites.
Before this live album was recorded saxophonist Sonny Rollins dabbled with a number of different sized groups. Eventually he settled on the trio with either drummer Pete La Rocha or Elvin Jones (pre John Coltrane classic quartet) and bassist's Wilbur Ware and Donald Bailey. A NIGHT AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD was the first recording ever made at the esteemed jazz club. I don't know what recording techniques were used, but some have expressed their reservations about the sound quality. I would like to dispell those reservations up front. This album does not sound quite as good as some later live recordings from the club. But if you turn it up it sounds practically as good. This is one of those albums that sounds better as you play it louder. Fiddle with your EQ a bit and you will be satisfied.
This double disc set is THE one to get-don't even consider earlier partial releases of material from this gig. Here all the music is properly sequenced and you can enjoy the interplay of the trio, the often goofy introductions by Rollins, the chatter between him and the audience, and you can hear him counting off the beginning of tunes which is kind of fun. You get a nice set of standards here including "A Night In Tunisia", "I've Got You Under My Skin", and "What Is This Thing Called Love?" as well as some great originals like "Sonnymoon For Two" and "Striver's Row".
The jazz trio is a bit easier to listen to when you talk about a piano-based trios like Sonny Clark or Bill Evans. Without the piano to provide a solid chordal foundation for the melody, it is easy to get lost. The bassist can only provide so much of a tonic root. Think of it as a vine that grows up and wraps itself around a wooden post or trellis; the vine adventures off to one side and then another, but always comes back to its foundation, its root: the post. In jazz, the piano and bass usually make up that post, the center around which the soloist works. Without the piano, the soloist is even more free to explore. This can be dangerous as the tonal boundaries of the music become less defined and blurry-in essence, the soloist may lose his or her way much more easily. And without the piano, to where does the soloist return? This certainly *could* have been the case with this recording. The fact that Rollins never loses his way is a testament to his brilliance and complete command of his instrument. It may take you a few listens to acclimate your ear to this piano-less trio, but when everything clicks for you, you'll be loving life. On one of his first albums as leader, Sonny Rollins was already showing us the future of jazz.
This cd is packed with timeless music. Rollins' performance on this classic from 1957 not only solidified him as one of the greatest tenors of his generation, but, along with all of the other material from his illustrious fifty plus year career, has stood the test of time to make him one of the all-time greatest musicians regardless of style. Backed by a duo of legends in bassist Ray Brown and drummer Shelly Manne, Rollins cooks from beginning to end. He is in prime form, still a relativly unknown tenor when this album came out, he plays like a man ahead of his years. Sonny's tone is hard, percussive, rasping, and even playful, a full spectrum of colors and moods. What makes this a truly great album is that every single note Rollins plays is a highlight. His soloing stands up to repeated listening and rewards the effort with something new each time through. Manne and Brown contribute fantastic performances of their own, matching Rollins by producing phenominal solos of their own. Even the usually aggravating practice of sticking alternate takes behind the originals hardly makes a difference. Rollins, Manne, and Brown are so brimming with ideas, the longer alternates offer the listener just that much more of a good thing. This is one of those albums that needs to be in every jazz collection, even the cover photo is a classic. Buy this cd if you do not already own it, you will not be dissapointed.
Expect the unexpected. That is the best advice to give someone going to an Available Jelly concert. Through the years, the line-up and the repertoire have changed many times. But there is one thing that you can be sure of: there?ll be some strong melodies. The music can be wild, dense, smooth, empty, swinging or pointillistic, but it?s always interesting.
Available Jelly emerged from the Great Salt Lake Mime Troupe when this American group of clowns, dancers, mimes and musicians visited Amsterdam in the mid-seventies to perform at the ?Festival of Fools?. The musicians stayed on, and a number of line-up changes later the group has developed into a constant feature of the Dutch improvised music scene. The music has maintained the theatricality and eclecticism associated with the theater but has gradually moved toward a more personal improvisational style. The current Available Jelly has been together since 1995 and brings together an all-star line-up.
The influences on Available Jelly?s music range from New Orleans jazz via Ellington to contemporary composition techniques, and from ethnic music (worldwide from the Balkan to Madagascar) to popular music, such as Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and the Beach Boys. The compositions and arrangements come from Moore and Boeren.
The ?simple? musical ideas in Moore?s compositions show great variety: they can be baroque-like arrangements for the wind instruments, elaborate hymns or plain sweet melodies reminiscent of chamber music miniatures. With his rampant eclecticism, he incorporates European folk traditions, Nino Rota themes, fragments of Dizzy?s Salt Peanuts, and pop songs.
Eric Boeren?s compositions give an important place to improvisation, allowing the individual members of the group to put their stamp on the music. He is influenced by many musical and non-musical ideas, whether a figure from the cartoonist Kamagurka, a favourite one-eyed pet dog, or South-American rhythms. But influence does not equal imitation: in Boeren?s hands, it is the attitude of the original that shows up in his work.
Available Jelly tours extensively throughout Europe and America. The group has recorded four CDs so far; a fifth CD is expected soon. The tradition of a yearly festival organized by Available Jelly is continued under the flag of dOeK. - dOeK
Not having recorded for a while I was happily surprised to be asked to do this album - I did not want to copy the great dance standards of the 30s/40s but infuse my 1998 musical sensibilities to the songs. Writing the orchestrations was fun because I just took off from the original music and went many different musical roads.
I've been a film/TV producer/director for quite a long time now and going back to writing music again was really fun - especially because I had great musicians and a great producer - Bruce Kimmel - to work with.
This is the new album of one of Holland's finest pianists Recorded in Oslo at the Rainbow Studio by ECM recording engineer Jan Eric Kongshaug. Once again Jeroen's delicate impressionistic playfulness brings great depth and intimacy to his music. Superbly backed by Dutch bassplayer Frans v/d Hoeven and Belgian drummer Dré Pallemaerts this eloquent trio breaths the music onto another level. Hints of Bley, Taylor and Jarret but unmistakably another step forward for European Improvised Music. Van Vliet marks his territory with an outstanding album and continues where he left off when he finished his previous solo album "Who's afraid". - EWM
Jazz Weekly review - Ken Waxman
What happens when you put two of the world's finest guitarists together ? The result is LDS. Recorded in 72/73, Columbia cleverly managed to unite these two giants who were extremly popular at that time. Carlos had Santana & McLaughlin was with Mahavishnu. A unification of their band members Douglas Rauch on bass, Mic Shrieve on Drums from Carlos's band plus Jan, Billy from Mahavishnu along with (late) Larry Young provided the necessary punch that makes this album potent even today. Carlos's style of playing shows Mahavishnu influence & is evident in this album as well as the earlier Caravanserai. The concept of using two guitars works well on this album due to the complex compositions. Unfortunately, this is the only official release from this era. A short live tour in 1973 between John & Carlos has never been released officially & people who have seen that tour swear that they have never ever seen such intense guitar work ! Wake up Columbia....can we have a live release at least in the 21st century ?
A highly uneven collection of 12 remixes, mostly of female jazz vocalists from 1960s, from the archives of the Verve label. As another reviewer observed, most of these remixes are likely to satisfy neither techno/downtempo/whateveryouwanttocallit nor jazz enthusiasts. Basic problem is shoehorning the jazz vocals into shoes that lose the rhythmic suppleness of the originals. The two that to my ears work the best, Rae and Christian's remix of the jump blues "Is You or Ain't You My Baby?" by Dinah Washington, and Masters at Work version of Nina Simone's "See-Line Woman," work the best precisely because the originals are the most R&B-oriented of the underlying tunes and the remixes stand up to the originals nicely. (The video for "Is You?" is quite entertaining as well.) The open triumvirate of Dormeister reworking Willie Bobo's "Spanish Grease," MJ Cole's version of Carmen McRae's "How Long Has This Been Going On?," and Thievery Corporation's remix of Astrud Gilberto "Who Needs Forever" make for nice party background music. The last three cuts, UFO/Sarah Vaughan "Summertime," Tricky/Billie Holladay "Strange Fruit," and King Britt/Tony Scott "Hare Krishna" bear out the adage that not all experiments succeed.
This was originally released on Columbia as "WOODY LIVE-EAST AND WEST" AND features one of the last live performances of the legndary early-to-mid sixties band that featured Bill Chase, Sal Nistico and Nat Pierce at Basin Street West in San Francisco. It has my very favorite all-time trumpet section, with Chase & Gerry Lamy splitting lead, along with Don Rader, Bobby Shew & Dusko Goykovich. The saxes had Nistico, with Gary Klein, Andy McGhee and Tom Anastas (folks, it doesn't get any better!). Don Doane (of Maynard's "Birdland Dream Band"), Frank Tesinsky and Henry Southall make up the bone section. Pierce is joined by Tony Leonardi & Ron Zito in the rhythm section.
Woody regrouped in New York after a lot of the guys went on to become stars on their own, and (typically) assembled a group of young lions and wily veterans for the Riverboat Room gig, most of whom went on to be stars wherever they played: Lloyd Michaels and Lin Biviano led a trumpet section with Dick Reudebusch, Bill Byrne and John Crews. Bill Watrous, Jim Foy & Mel Wanzo made up the bone section and Zito was joined by pianist Mike Alterman, with Bob Daugherty on bass.
The music selected is really interesting. (*NOTE: they repeated the original liner-notes error, so "Tomorrow's Blues Today" is REALLY John Capolla's rollicking blues riff, "Cousins," with Mike Alterman chewing up whole handfuls of keys on piano, & vice versa). The great stuff from the "east" gig is easily "Make Someone Happy," with Woody working his magic on alto ala Johnny Hodges and Zito holding back some fierce brass licks like a mindless metronome. Plus "Four Brothers," featuring Al Gibbons, Steve Marcus, Joe Temperly and my friend Bob Pierson (whose talent on flute is also featured on "Free Again"). From the "west" gig, I challenge anyone to pick out a better trumpet solo than Dusko Goykovich's arrangement and playing of "I Remember Clifford." There is also Pierce's treatment of Horace Silver's classic, "The Preacher" and Bill Holman's zany "Waltz For A Hung-up Ballet Mistress."
The soloists and the bands just keep blowing me away every time I play this album (which is a LOT!). It says a great deal about Woody's uncanny talent for putting together tremendous bands and then giving them enough room to blow their BEST!
Keith Jarrett, in his note about this session included in the liner, says that he hopes listeners get an appreciation of what jazz is all about on this live recording on a misty night in Allentown, PA, sometime back in the early to mid nineties. Given the large number of Jarrett trio recordings to choose from, starting in the early 80's, I find it amusing/ironic that my favorite is this VERY relaxed, spacious recording with PAUL MOTIAN on the drums, sitting in place of Jack DeJohnette on this one occasion. I never tire of this one, and the variety of material, as well as the generous performances give me no end of pleasure. Motian swings hard in an unobtrusive fashion, and Jarrett really seems to be enjoying being back on home turf. Gary Peacock is, as always, excellent. With a bewildering array of recordings to choose from, including Jarrett's own trio, I think this is an excellent place to start listening to the modern piano trio...if this is what jazz is about, count me in!
All Keith Jarrett's trio releases with drummer Jack DeJohnette and bassist Gary Peacock contain passages of luminous brilliance, and there are many here. The leader's predilection for emotional intensity predictably takes precedence over his vehicles on this occasion--all of them standards, or near-standards. At a live recording at New York's Town Hall in 1990, Jarrett first backs into Monk's "Bemsha Swing," then does exquisite service to the tune. Similar personal inflections appear in a rollicking interpretation of Dizzy Gillespie's "Woody 'n You" and a fine "Golden Earrings" and "Body and Soul." Throughout, Jarrett does things that no other pianist would. With a striking mixture of sympathy and independence, DeJohnette trundles, lags, and lurches, yet projects great solidity and dependability. Gary Peacock provides the more essential timekeeping, while providing much lift. Before ending with "Things Ain't What They Used to Be," the trio performs the only Jarrett original, the title track, and there's a great sense of liberation and flight.
Keith Jarrett and his regular trio partners (Gary Peacock on bass, Jack DeJohnette on drums) turn in an above average performance on this live disc recorded in Tokyo's Orchard Hall. Thanks to ECM's pristine recording, we are treated to every skittering whisper of DeJohnette's brushes, the remarkable geometry of Peacock's bass and, of course, Jarrett's telltale vocal exclamations. And on Tokyo, he gets off to a quick start, letting out a spirited whoop as the bass and drums of "It Could Happen to You" cascade into his rolling melody. From there, Jarrett is in good spirits and fine form, including wonderfully intertwined and melodic renditions of "Billie's Bounce" and "My Funny Valentine." Not only a welcome addition to the Jarrett shelf for fans, but a terrific place to begin an appreciation of the pianist.
Keith jarret, piano, Jack DeJohnette, drums and Gary Peacock started playing as a trio in 1983. They have realised about ten albums of standards since then most notably Standards Vol. 2, Standards Live, Still Live, The Cure, At The Blue Note, Tokyo '96. The standard of playing is always at peak, treating the choosen material with great sensitivity. This months release of a Paris gig from July 1999 is truely exceptional. Opening with Bouncing With Bud Jarret's chords are stunning along with DeJohnette open invintive rhythms. An exciting and bouyant opener. The title track Whisper Not displays Peacocks precise and virtuose bass at it's most revealing. The ballads are handled with superb musicality and tenderness. All the trio concerts have a different feel and sound and this one is perfect all round. This album is a double luckily, because when disc one finishes you feel the need for more!(1:53:10) Round Midnight is a treat and the trios rendition of Poinciana is surprisingly fresh and rewarding. There is a pure jazz 'sound' to this set that Jarrett fans and jazz fans in general will love. Do youself a favour, buy this, take four hours out, because you will listen to it twice.
"A very listenable recreation of melodic Bix music. Some of the finest contemporary musicians play on this album, lovingly and respectfully made. Included were three on Bix's instrument, cornet, Jon-Erik Kellso, Randy Reinhart, and Randy Sandke, who aren't Bix, but certainly capture his feel. Included is a wonderful booklet about Bix and the music that is very helpful in enhancing enjoyment of this excellent CD. Even if the listener somehow never heard of Bix but enjoys the creative feel for these pre-1931 tunes, this CD is a must have. And the list of these excellent musicians look like a "Who's Who" of creative young jazz players who obviously love what they do."
The Keith Jarrett Trio has reinvented itself on this 2-disc set as an adventurous and inspiring group that is never short on ideas. "Inside-Out", the first step in this "free" direction, was only a warm-up for this album, and even took a bad step at the end by trying to "excuse" the album by tacking on "When I Fall In Love" as the last track. Here, there are no holds barred.
The interplay is sensitive and incredibly dynamic; from a whisper to full-blown swinging frenzy, from hymn-like hypnosis to cathartic exorcism, this album has it all. The group sounds freshly inspired, locked in, yet as loose and free as any great Ornette Coleman or Paul Bley album.
There are no standards, no expositions to get to the meat of the matter, there are no traded fours, no redundant II-V-I's; nothing but three seasoned pros, outguessing everyone including themselves and find some magic telepathy in the process. This is great music, and great music-making.
Like Thelonious Monk, like Erroll Garner, Joao Gilberto has done little to change his style over the course of his musical life. I saw him play a month ago in San Francisco, and at age 73, all that has really changed is his voice, now colored by age, but not even a great deal. He still plays with tremendous focus and ability. And, like Basie's American swing or Django's European swing, he has his own swing which is purely Brazilian and purely Gilberto. And he still prefers to be his own band, dropping even the spare drums he had in the 60s and 70s. The Montreux show is outstanding. The crowd is very receptive, and usually interrupt the first few seconds of a famous song with applause. It's a strange tradition. In typical Gilberto fashion, he mixes the oldies with some newer songs, most notably Caetano Veloso's "Menino do Rio." The other highlights (though there really aren't any lowlights) are "Morena Boca de Ouro," "Pra Que Discutir com Madame," "Sem Compromisso" and "Preconceito."
Since he burst onto the jazz scene in the early 90's, Joshua Redman has constantly redefined the role of the jazz musician. Without abandoning his jazz roots he has found innumerable ways to advance the art of music. His musical sensibilities allow him to demonstrate tremendous musicality while at the same time making everything he plays popularly accessible.
This album was the point at which his stunning synthesis of genres really came into its own. Redman always records with only the finest musicians, and this album demonstrates it clearly with all four of the supporting cast truly understanding Redman's music and his mission. Brian Blade is the best drummer out there as far as I'm concerned (check out his CD "Perceptual" w/ the Brian Blade Fellowship). Peter Bernstien works the guitar, Peter Martin on piano, and Christopher Thomas handles the bass. All three of these guys are probably in the top 10 of young musicians on their respective instruments.
The entire album is great, and it's quite easy to play straight through, but I have a few favorite tunes. "Cat Battles" is awesome; great melody, great changes and great soloing by everybody. The first track, "Hide and Seek", is just cool, if only for Redman's incredible intro. I have some friends who live by "When the Sun Comes Down", and I sure can't argue with the fact that its a beautiful song.
This and his next two releases "Timeless Tales" and "Beyond" might very well be the future of jazz, and I wouldn't be at all disappointed if they were.
An ECM jazz release from the late 70's, a label distinctive for the endless stream of top-level musicians who have graced it's recording over three decades, this effort is directed towards the more atmospheric and relaxing end of the broad spectrum to be found on this label's several hundred releases, but is never boring or meandering owing to the high level of musicianship involed. The three are notable in their selectivity, carefully placing at times a single note or beat which proves ample to propel the music forward rather than allow it to linger too long. Many of ECM's best releases are to be found in the 1970's (I myself own in the neighborhood of one hundred of the label's releases from it's origin in 1969 to the present), and this one, while not really being particularly distinctive, but rather somewhat subdued, ranks among the better of them, although not the very best, which are themselves some of the best and most inventive jazz of the decade. This is well worth picking up, and while it would never be among someone's personal favorites, it is an addition to one's collection that many would find worthwhile.
"An outstanding work in the free jazz and avant-garde jazz idiom, the Mu sessions are among the most beautiful improvised duets recorded during the height of the free jazz movement. Recorded in France in 1969 and originally released on the BYG Actuel imprint, Mu remained an obscure collector's item for three decades until its reissue in two parts during the '90s. With Don Cherry on pocket trumpet, piano, Indian flute, bamboo flute, voice, bells, and percussion and Ed Blackwell on drums, percussion, and bells, the pair created one of the most telepathic improvisations on record, matched only by John Coltrane and Rashied Ali on the album Interstellar Space. From simple playful themes, Cherry develops a complex interplay with his partner that results in irrational mood changes and rhythm shifts, moving from ecstatic bird-call flurries through to fragile blues and nursery rhyme patterns. An African-inspired pulse groove follows the rapid-fire introduction, after which flurries of Cherry's pocket trumpet soar ecstatically into the air. More than three decades later, Mu is one of the few records that one can say sounds free, playful, candid, and revolutionary, an utterly arresting masterpiece that is a milestone in Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell's careers -- not to mention the free jazz movement in its entirety. Essentially, the recording represents such fire, passion, and energy that it can certainly reach listeners far beyond the avant-garde jazz academy. The Get Back reissue version is an exquisite collector's item in 180 gram vinyl." -- Skip Jansen
"Braxton has produced many excellent recordings through the years, but only a small number stand out from the pack the way this one does. This version of his pianoless quartet is captured live in an inspired, energized performance at the first Dortmund Jazz Festival in Germany. Trombonist George Lewis had only recently joined the group, replacing the more introspective trumpeter Kenny Wheeler. Braxton's compositions are uniformly brilliant, incorporating marching band themes, lightening-fast hard bop-influenced runs, and strings of non-syncopated eighth notes, all of which contribute to a sense of wonder and excitement. Also, Braxton is in marvelous form on his varied horns, springing forth an arsenal of seemingly endless ideas. His lengthy solo on "Composition 40 F" is among his best on disc, garnering a well-deserved enthusiastic reaction from the audience. By bringing Lewis into the group, Braxton helped to nurture one of the most astonishing and technically virtuosic trombonists in all of jazz. The young Lewis is hardly intimidated by the celebrity quality of the group, and from the outset, he engages in mouth-watering displays that match the saxophonist note for note. Whether playing open or muted, Lewis was one of the most effective interpreters of Braxton's complex compositions. There are fine contributions, too, from drummer Barry Altschul and especially bassist Dave Holland, but the intricate compositions themselves and the incredible soloing of the horns are what mark this one for the big leagues. Graham Lock's knowledgeable, erudite liners are a big plus in helping to understand this difficult but highly rewarding music." -- Steven Loewy
"The great Eric Dolphy recorded several albums for the Candid label as a sideman including dates with bassist Charles Mingus, trumpeter Booker Little, singer Abbey Lincoln and the Newport Rebels. This CD features eight alternate takes from these sessions, six of which were previously unissued. "Reincarnation of a Love Bird" and "Stormy Weather" are with Mingus in a group also featuring trumpeter Ted Curson, two numbers have vocals by Abbey Lincoln (Coleman Hawkins is heard from on "African Lady"), Dolphy is matched wtih trombonist Jimmy Knepper and the veteran trumpeter Roy Eldridge on "Body and Soul," and he proves to be a perfect partner of Booker Little in a sextet. Even the "complete" box sets that have been issued of these sessions do not include all of this music, which in general is up to the level of the originally-issued versions." -- Scott Yanow
"This very likable set, Eric Dolphy's first as a leader, has been reissued as a single CD and (along with some alternate takes) on Dolphy's huge Prestige box set. Teamed up with the young trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, pianist Jaki Byard, bassist George Tucker and drummer Roy Haynes, Dolphy introduces his tribute to Gerald Wilson, "G.W.," and rips into "On Green Dolphin Street," stretches out on flute on "Glad to Be Unhappy," and takes a memorable bass clarinet solo on the delightful "Miss Toni." Hubbard and Byard are also both in good form. A perfect introduction to Eric Dolphy's versatile talents, this boppish set is more accessible than many of Dolphy's more innovative recordings. Recommended." -- Scott Yanow
"Drummer Max Roach met up with the intense avant-garde pianist Cecil Taylor for a 1979 concert that resulted in this double CD. After Roach and Taylor play separate five-minute solos (Taylor's is surprisingly melodic and bluesy), they interact during a two-part 78-minute encounter that finds Roach not shy of occasionally taking control. The passionate music is quite atonal but coherent, with Taylor displaying an impressive amount of energy and the two masters (who had not rehearsed or ever played together before) communicating pretty well. This set is weakened a bit by a 17-minute radio interview that includes excerpts from the concert one just heard, although some of the anecdotes are interesting. No revelations really occur in the music, but it certainly holds one's interest." -- Scott Yanow
"Jazz pianist Ethan Iverson's classically informed writing and playing rivals that of the far more famous Brad Mehldau. Claiming influences as disparate as Stravinsky and Ornette Coleman, the Wisconsin-raised Iverson has displayed great potential at a rather young age. In 1991, he relocated to New York, eventually beginning private studies with Fred Hersch and Sofia Rosoff. He made his recording debut in 1993 at age 20 with School Work, a disc which featured tenor saxophone giant Dewey Redman. Iverson has since worked extensively with Reid Anderson, Mark Turner, Bill McHenry, and Patrick Zimmerli, among others. In addition, he has served as musical director for the Mark Morris Dance Group, and in that capacity has performed with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Yo Yo Ma. In 1998, Iverson's trio released Construction Zone (Originals) and Deconstruction Zone (Standards) in tandem, with the latter being hailed by a New York Times critic as a top-ten pick for that year. A 1999 follow-up, The Minor Passions, featured the famous drummer Billy Hart and was similarly hailed by the Times." - David Adler
"Upon reading Ethan Iverson's highly intelligent yet good-humored liner notes to this fine album, one is already acquainted with an artist of great sensitivity and imagination. The music doesn't at all disappoint. Accompanied by Reid Anderson on bass and Jorge Rossy on drums, Iverson sketches rich and varied piano portraits -- from the slow, ominous groove of "What the Kraken Knows" to the multimetric frenzy of "Hullabaloo 2" and the abstract, shifting ensemble configurations of "In Memoriam." Along with its sister CD, Deconstruction Zone (Standards), this record reveals Iverson as a musician of uncommon depth and personality." -- David R. Adler
"This exhilarating set of standards was conceived as a companion piece to Iverson's Construction Zone (Originals) and was recorded during the same two-day session. Revealing their roots in jazz tradition, pianist Iverson and his trio mates Reid Anderson (bass) and Jorge Rossy (drums) bring wit and wisdom to great old songs such as "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You," "The Song Is You," and "I'll Remember April." Other highlights include a powerful solo piano rendition of "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," a moving version of the seldom-heard "This Nearly Was Mine" (from the show South Pacific), and rhythmically bizarre reworkings of "All of Me" and "Have You Met Miss Jones." Anderson gets far more solo room this time around, which is a considerable bonus." -- David R. Adler
"This is a great radio session recorded in Leverkusen, Germany, on November 14, 2000. GratHovOx embodies everything uninhibited free improv can deliver. The presence of two of the genre's most prestigious veterans certainly has something to do with it. Fred Van Hove performs most of the set on a Steinway D piano. He grabs his accordion for "Foreplay/Vorspiel." Tony Oxley produces an astounding number of different sounds from his acoustic drum kit, keeping the electronics very discreet. Between them stands reedman Frank Gratkowski, using mostly instruments from the clarinet family this time around -- his raspy alto sax makes an appearance in the 20-minute "Trenches/Tranches." The trio aims at a kind of free improvisation that leaves room to breathe and listen without getting entrenched in the sonic scrutiny of Berlin reductionism. The music has movement, grace, and moments of sheer excitement that never lose sight of the group sound -- the perfect balancing act. Highlights are numerous but nothing quite compares to "Foreplay/Vorspiel." Gratkowski has his almighty contrabass clarinet in hand, but Van Hove is handling his accordion. To match the delicate wheezes of the squeeze box, Gratkowski decides to stick to the very upper register of the instrument. It may not sound like much but it truly is an understated tour de force. The way "Trenches/Tranches" boils down in its last five minutes to reveal tiny details in the playing of all three musicians also constitutes a moment of pure delight. Simply put, GratHovOx stands as one of the best free improv sessions released in 2002 and comes heartily recommended." -- François Couture
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"One of the great soprano saxophonists of all time (ranking up there with Sidney Bechet and John Coltrane), Steve Lacy's career was fascinating to watch develop. He originally doubled on clarinet and soprano (dropping the former by the mid-'50s), inspired by Bechet and playing Dixieland in New York with Rex Stewart, Cecil Scott, Red Allen and other older musicians during 1952-55. He debuted on record in a modernized Dixieland format with Dick Sutton in 1954. However Lacy soon jumped over several styles to play free jazz with Cecil Taylor during 1955-57. They recorded together and performed at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival. Lacy recorded with Gil Evans in 1957 (they would work together on an irregular basis into the 1980s), was with Thelonious Monk's quintet in 1960 for four months and then formed a quartet with Roswell Rudd (1961-64) that exclusively played Monk's music; only one live set (for Emanen in 1963) resulted from that very interesting group.
Steve Lacy, who is considered the first "modern" musician to specialize on soprano (an instrument that was completely neglected during the bop era), began to turn towards avant-garde jazz in 1965. He had a quartet with Enrico Rava that spent eight months in South America. After a year back in New York, he permanently moved to Europe in 1967 with three years in Italy preceding a move to Paris. Lacy's music evolved from free form to improvising off of his scalar originals. By 1977 he had a regular group that he continued to perform with throughout his career, featuring Steve Potts on alto and soprano, Lacy's wife, violinist/singer Irene Aebi, bassist Kent Carter (later succeded by Jean-Jacques Avenel) and drummer Oliver Johnson; pianist Bobby Few joined the group in the 1980s. Lacy, who also worked on special projects with Gil Evans, Mal Waldron and Misha Mengelberg among others and in situations ranging from solo soprano concerts, many Monk tributes, big bands and setting poetry to music, recorded a countless number of sessions for almost as many labels, with Sands appearing on Tzakik in 1998 and Cry on SoulNote in 1999. His early dates (1957-61) were for Prestige, New Jazz and Candid and later on he appeared most notably on sessions for Hat Art, Black Saint/Soul Note and Novus. Lacy, who had been suffering with cancer for several years, passed away in June of 2004." - Scott Yanow
"In this album's liner notes, Lacy explains that his quartet began as a streamlined version of his sextet, designed to play venues that can't afford the larger band. It certainly became much more than that; it might be posited that the quartet is the more conventionally jazz-like of the two bands. With vocalist/cellist Irene Aebi and pianist Bobby Few added, Lacy's tunes take on a bit more classical, "new music" air. The quartet, however, is a more rough-and-ready outfit, with the interplay between Lacy and fellow saxophonist Steve Potts taking on more importance. The two play extraordinarily well together. Lacy is a much more suave player than Potts, whose work has a sort of awkward, ungainly air, but whose playing is as devoid of contrivance as any improviser one could name. Bassist Jean-Jacques Avenel is a fine, hard-swinging, unfussy player with a clean technique, and drummer John Betsch is the tasteful, energetic, well-rounded percussionist Lacy's music requires. The band is refined in the best sense -- the tunes are intricate, the execution clean -- yet capable of generating great force. Intensity is a given, even in the quietest, most introspective sections. Much was made in the early '90s (when this record was made) of the jazz tradition. This music is a fine example of what happens when a visionary musician makes something extending and expanding upon the tradition his life's work. An excellent disc." --
"This fairly obscure effort from the Steve Lacy Quintet of 1979 features the great soprano saxophonist in typically exploratory yet thoughtful form on five originals. His interplay with the underrated altoist Steve Potts (who doubles on soprano) is the main reason to acquire the set, while violinist/vocalist Irene Aebi's contributions are typically eccentric and an acquired taste. Bassist Ken Carter and drummer Oliver Johnson are stimulating in support of the lead voices." -- Scott Yanow
"A consistently adventurous trumpeter who has stuck to playing avant-garde jazz throughout his career, Leo Smith's dry, introverted style (which makes extensive use of space) is a strong contrast to the more jubilant flights of Lester Bowie. Smith originally played drums, mellophone, and French horn before settling on trumpet. He gained early experience performing in R&B groups and played in an Army band while serving in the military. By 1967, Leo Smith was a member of Chicago's AACM. He soon helped to found the Creative Construction Company, an innovative trio with violinist Leroy Jenkins and multi-instrumentalist Anthony Braxton that toured Europe in the late '60s. Smith, who was involved in making the documentary film See the Music in 1970, formed the New Dalta Ahkri in New Haven, CT, an influential if under-documented band that at times included Henry Threadgill, Anthony Davis, and Oliver Lake. Smith studied ethnomusicology in the mid-'70s at Wesleyan, played with Braxton in 1976, and recorded with Derek Bailey's Company. He has also freelanced with his own diverse groups during the past several decades. After becoming a Rastafarian in the 1980s, he changed his name to Wadada Leo Smith. He began teaching at Cal Arts in 1993. Leo Smith, who founded the Kabell label in 1971, has also recorded for Freedom, Moers, ECM, Nesssa, FMP, Black Saint, Nessa, and Sackville in settings ranging from unaccompanied solos to a big band." - Scott Yanow
"Wadada Leo Smith's third Tzadik release finds him in a modern jazz quartet of seasoned jazz cats and legendary improvisers. Pianist Anthony Davis, bassist Malachi Favors Magoustous, and drummer Jack DeJohnette join Smith in creating an unhurried, mature and, frankly, atypical Tzadik release in that even though it may sound somewhat free to more conservative ears, it is hardly antagonistic and is unmistakably a piano jazz quartet. Regardless of classification, this is an album of excellent jazz that is so fresh and well executed as to define and remind what's great about listening to the music. It's a pleasant surprise that such an incredible lineup of musicians can come together and yield a musical sum still greater than what you would expect, when considering the individual "parts." The opening cut, "DeJohnette," is dedicated to the drummer and offers him a space to romp and roll during a busy solo. In fact, all of the musicians take quite active solos during this piece, which is followed by a tender and softly played number dedicated, appropriately, to Smith's wife Harumi Makino Smith. Following this comes the upswing of "Celestial Sky...," which begins with Smith's muted trumpet that is soon joined by anticipatory drums and bass that seem to barely reign in their excitement and need to run ahead, with Davis taking a mind-filling piano solo that crowns him the standout of this song's performance. The closing track, a hot, fast-moving piece named "America's Third Century Spiritual Awakening," is another highlight of this impressive album. Golden Quartet is Wadada Leo Smith's strongest date as a leader in quite some time and certainly is his best among his releases on Tzadik." -- Joslyn Layne
"Although not well known in American jazz circles, Gunnar Bergsten is among Sweden's finest baritone sax players and commands a great deal of respect among Scandinavian jazzmen. The melodic and recognizable Bergsten is sort of a middleweight champion of the baritone -- he has a bigger tone than Gerry Mulligan, but he isn't as aggressive or hard-blowing as Cecil Payne or Pepper Adams. Bergsten started to make a name for himself in the 1960s, when he attended the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm before playing in the bands of trumpeter Rolf Ericson and tenor saxophonist Bernt Rosengren. The 1970s found Bergsten continuing to record and play with Rosengren extensively and becoming a sideman for pianist Lars Sjosten. Bergsten also worked with Sjosten a lot in the 1980s, when he was part of saxman Tommy Koverhult's quartet. In the 1990s, Bergsten recorded for Stockholm's Arietta label as a leader and led a quartet of his own that included pianist Peter Nordahl, basssist Patrik Boman and drummer Leif Wennerstrom. It was in 1996 that Rosengren featured Bergsten promienently him on his acclaimed Arietta date Porgy and Bess, which provided jazz arrangements of the music from that George Gershwin musical. The excellence of Bergsten's Arietta output indicated that he deserved to be much better known in the U.S." - Alex Henderson
"Swedish pianist/composer Bobo Stenson made a name for himself in the late '60s as one of Europe's finest players, accompanying visiting luminaries like Gary Burton, Sonny Rollins, and Stan Getz. Underwear, his 1971 debut as a bandleader, began an ongoing collaboration with ECM Records and with drummer Jon Christenson. Christenson also joined Stenson on sessions with Jan Garbarek in the '70s and Charles Lloyd in the '80s and '90s, and played in Stenson's revamped trio along with Anders Jormin. 1993's Swedish Grammy-winning Reflections, 1998's War Orphans, and 2000's Serenity make the most of Stenson's lyrical, versatile style and the players' long history of working together." - Heather Phares
"This set of duets by pianist Bobo Stenson and saxophonist Lennart Aberg is quite personal, mostly very introspective, lyrical, thoughtful, and sometimes a bit dreary. Both of the players have strong technique but chose to emphasize their quieter sides for this project. Although there are some lively moments on Thelonious Monk's "Trinkle Tinkle," most of the pieces are like "Fragment An Sich," moving slowly and with pessimism. The combination works well on some selections (particularly "Nature Boy," "Begali Blue," and Lars Gullin's ballad "Gabriella"), but gets a bit tiresome when heard for a full CD. It is probably best to consume this rather downbeat set of duos just a few songs at a time." -- Scott Yanow
"Over its last two albums, Reflections (ECM 1516) and War Orphans (ECM 1604), the Bobo Stenson Trio has enveloped itself in a study of chromatic lyricism and modal architecture that balances the three traditional jazz elements for alchemy -- rhythm, harmony, and melody -- the organization of space within the composition. On Serenity -- the group's most ambitious project to date and Stenson's ever -- the Bobo Stenson Trio (Bobo Stenson, piano; Anders Jormin, bass; Jon Christensen, drums) has taken the results of its earlier explorations along this line and transformed them into an entirely new kind of spontaneous compositional terrain, one that holds balance for the space between players rather than on individual contributions of sound. The fact that this methodological apparatus has worked lyrically with adherence to Western scale and melodic invention is a surprise; that it has deepened over time as the band's communication and sense of adventure develops is a wonder. Over two CDs, Stenson proves his trio is capable of realizing spatial improvisation in the context of not only their own compositions and improvisations, but within the constructs of composers such as Wayne Shorter ("Sweet Pea"), Hanns Eisler ("Der Flaumenbaum"), Alban Berg ("Die Nachtigall"), Silvio Rodriguez ("EL Mayor") -- a Stenson favorite -- and Lorens Brolen, whose two-part "Polska of Despair" unites each of the CDs in the package and the recording date as a whole. Given the track record of Stenson and Jormin to compose or invent the kind of musico-linguistic symbolism necessary for this kind of improvising, it is perhaps more useful to look outside the quartet into some of these other compositions to see how their method of performance can reconcile Charles Ives, Berg, Eisler, and Wayne Shorter to one another while not betraying any hint of the composer's or trio's original intention, that a music as ethereal and strikingly crystalline and beautiful such as Stenson's can hold within it the apparent contradictions of atonalism, serialism, and vanguard humor (Ives). On Bolen's "Polska of Despair II," which appears on the first disc, Stenson and Jormin call the melody up with triads and fourths, as Christensen dances between them. On the third measure the melody introduces itself between triads, and other chords enter the space between the three members. Jormin moves to build upon those chords a minimal architecture of harmony and rhythm that is fed back to Stenson, who spaces out an even greater number of chords, all played in triad form, tossing out all sorts of rhythmic possibilities to Christensen, who moves away from his brushes and onto his sticks just as the chords disappear in a glimmer and single-note runs begin to appear from both piano and bass. The entire tune is open now, so chords both plucked and played can enter into a dialogue with one another and offer tonal sonances as a communicative gift to a drummer who contains all of it by moving forward into the next measure and stripping the seam for small arpeggios, and flatted sevenths tonally engage with other chords, and melody seeps through over the tonal structure of the improvisation. On Shorter's "Sweet Pea," percussion leads the way in; restrained, almost silent rhythmic patterns and polyrhythms introduce themselves via the drums, cymbals, the body of the bass, and the wooden top of the piano. It's the sound of a clock double-timing and reversing itself. As it gradually winds down, bass and then piano enter, creating a chromatic interval that stretches seemingly forever though it's only a minute or so. The harmony is the melody in Shorter's tune so chords and scalar invention go hand in hand in a restrained dynamic range gushing over only once or twice. The group's improvisations are stunningly original as well. "Fader V" by Stenson is a shimmering study in microtonal improvisation and space from the inside of the piano until it logically leads out via Christensen's tomtoms and two open E lines from Jormin. Without fail, the deep lyrical song at the root of Stenson's style and this trio's heart carries it out over the piano and into a space that is forever widening around the skeins of notes and chords. On Berg's "Die Nachtigall," the trio reveals the hidden melodic nature of serialism via timbral exploration and tempered tonal extension. Simply put, there are no records like the Stenson Trio's Serenity. The band has outdone themselves by their slow, careful development over three records and has become one of the premier rhythm trios on the planet. Serenity is not only the group's coup de grace, but also a jazz masterpiece of the highest order." -- Thom Jurek
"At the age of 30, tenor saxophonist and flutist Magnus Lindgren is already a perennial winner of jazz polls and competitions in Sweden. Like Chris Potter here in the States, Lindgren is a talented young player who often shows up as an accompanist on the best releases of the year as well as a leader of his own sessions. Lindgren was chosen as Sweden's Jazz Artist of the Year in 2001, his quartet?s debut album Way Out was nominated for a Swedish Grammy award, and his follow-up Paradise Open won Sweden?s coveted Gyllene Skiven gold record award.
With his new release, The Game, Lindgren continues to validate the praise heaped upon him, though not in the bold fashion that one might expect. The emphasis of The Game is on composition and most of its songs are structured to convey mood rather than set the stage for solos. This is immediately apparent on the opening track ?Holyem.? Though Lindgren?s trademark breathy tone and controlled lyricism are the first things you hear, he states the theme with deliberate patience and ornaments the melody with elegant phrases, never pursuing the conventional climax. Pianist Mathias Algotsson displays similar restraint in an effort to create the beautiful. It?s this kind of nuanced performance that informs many of the songs on The Game, but the record also serves up funky rhythms and swinging mid-tempo numbers that hold one?s interest as well.
One of the most appealing songs on The Game is ?Ethnomore,? a three-stage song cycle that glides from pulsating funk to rhythmic exploration to a smoldering Lindgren tenor workout, all in just under six minutes. The title track is another highlight with the quartet displaying impressive interplay as it deconstructs the entire composition and renews it using rhythm and melody as its foundation. Lindgren?s brisk version of ?Caravan? is hard to resist, and on ?Softly As In A Morning Sunrise? he delivers a gorgeous Sonny Rollins-style solo that is refreshingly free of clichés.
He may not possess the blazing speed or technical prowess of America?s top tenors, but Lindgren has developed a distinctive brand of lyricism that conveys a great range of emotion. The real surprise is that his flute playing is often more exciting than his tenor sax playing. His whispered overtones, cascading runs and soulful conception inject genuine excitement into songs like the shimmering ?Seven Is Heaven? and the spellbinding ?When You Go.?
If there's a drawback to The Game, it's that the quartet's rigid adherence to compositional structure often carries the sound into commercial jazz territory. But the condition isn't chronic. As Scandinavian jazz fans have learned, 'most any recording that features Magnus Lindgren is worth a good listen. The Game is no exception. - Ken Hohman
"Jazz trumpeter Tomasz Stanko began his tenure as a major force in European free jazz in the early '60s with the formation of the quartet Jazz Darins in 1962 with Adam Makowicz. From 1963 to 1967 he played with Kryzsztof Komeda in a group that revolutionized European jazz and made an impact across the Atlantic as well. Stanko also put in time with Andrzej Trzaskowski in the 'mid 60s before leading his own quintet from 1968 to 1973. The Tomasz Stanko Quintet, which included Muniak and Zbigneiw Seifert, garnered considerable critical acclaim, especially for their tribute to Komeda entitled Music for K. The early '70s brought collaborations with a number of avant-garde and creative jazz artists, including the Globe Unity Orchestra, Michael Urbaniak, Cecil Taylor and Gary Peacock. From 1974 to 1978 Stanko played in a quartet with Edward Vesala, then returned to performing as a leader and soloist. The '80s brought Stanko collaborations with Chico Freeman in Freeman's group Heavy Life, as well as work with James Spaulding, Jack DeJohnette and Rufus Reid. He was also briefly part of Cecil Taylor's big band in 1984. Shortly afterwards he formed another ensemble called Freelectronic. The '90s brought an alliance with ECM, which issued some of Stanko's most acclaimed work, including another lush, gorgeous tribute to Komeda, 1997's Litania, which was heavy with that composer's film work. The follow-up on ECM, 2000's From the Green Hill, drew from many of the same emotional and historic sources as Komeda's work, but this time the compositions were Stanko's. In 2002 Stanko's contributions to European jazz were honored when he was issued the very first European Prize, which was intended to honor outstanding European jazz musicians. During the final round of voting from 21 critics from as many countries, Stanko won 10 votes, narrowly topping the runner-up, Dutch piano player Misha Mengelberg." - Stacia Proefrock
"One of the major bop pianists of the last half of the 20th century, Barry Harris has long had the ability to sound very close to Bud Powell, yet he can also do convincing impressions of Thelonious Monk and has his own style within the bop idiom. He was an important part of the Detroit jazz scene of the 1950s, and has been a jazz educator since that era. Harris recorded his first set as a leader while in 1958, and moved to New York in 1960, where he spent a short period with Cannonball Adderley's Quintet. He also recorded with Dexter Gordon, Illinois Jacquet, Yusef Lateef, and Hank Mobley, and was with Coleman Hawkins off and on throughout the decade (including Hawk's declining years). In the 1970s, Harris was on two of Sonny Stitt's finest records (Tune Up and Constellation), and made many recordings in a variety of settings for Xanadu. Barry Harris has mostly worked with his trio since the mid-'70s, and he has recorded as a leader for Argo (1958), Riverside, Prestige, MPS, Xanadu, and Red." - Scott Yanow
"Barry Harris has long been one of the top interpreters of the piano styles of Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk. This CD reissue of a trio session with bassist Bob Cranshaw and drummer Clifford Jarvis finds him performing near the top of his form. Highlights include "Chasin' the Bird" (during the theme, Harris plays both countermelodies simultaneously), "'Round Midnight," "The Way You Look Tonight" and three fine originals. This is excellent music that should please bop collectors." -- Scott Yanow
"Accomplished musician Cyro Baptista has played the complete range of percussion instruments from his native Brazil, as well as many other world instruments. Based out of New York, he showed up on a Paquito D'Rivera release, and on John Zorn's film works in the mid-'80s, and Baptista continued to appear on the occasional Zorn release throughout the '90s. Other artists Baptista worked with through both decades belie his versatility: Laurie Anderson and Herbie Mann. He has backed Brazilian artists Caetano Veloso, Tom Ze, and Marisa Monte (on her 1991 N.Y.C. who's-who-studded Mais), and appears on several '90s releases from jazz singers Cassandra Wilson and Holly Cole. Baptista's excellent and varied resumé speaks of a strength of percussion that works in international, pop, and jazz musics. Zorn, bassist Greg Cohen, Marc Ribot, and Nana Vasconcelos perform on his first album as leader, Vila Loubos Vila Loucos. Released by Zorn's Avant label in 1997, the CD captures his wild interpretations of the music of Brazilian classical composer Heitor Villa Lobos." - Joslyn Layne
"Last Thursday night at Tonic was nothing but cálido. On stage were Tonic heroes John Zorn and Marc Ribot sitting quietly in the corner waiting for the cue of the man of the night, Cyro Baptista. Baptista who is Brazilian, has established himself as a world class percussion player among critics and played with several mainstream musicians such as Wynton Marsalis, Paul Simon, Herbie Hancock and Sting. Baptista has also expressed himself as somewhat of a maverick by way of his against the grain fusion work with musicians like John Zorn and Trey Anastasio.
Baptista began his set with a distant melody of the Brazilian drone instrument the berimbau and the looping of bird chirping. Organic and exotic utterances from very unusual instruments seemed foreign yet welcomed in the spare cement interior of the club. Part wild Pied Piper and part jester Baptista welcomed us into his world where all sound becomes music. The list of instruments and objects used on stage and in the studio ranged from the Brazilian pandiero to frog bells, a refrigerator and Coca-Cola bottles.
Just as Baptista established an ambiance of the electronically looped berimbau, bird calls and a chant in Portuguese, we heard the echoed harmony of bottles blown upon as a succession of men and women march through the crowd to join the aura on stage. The band busted into a funky dance beat and a chunky groove provided by Marc Ribot. Baptista roared along with the rhythm, a celebration of dance and percussion exploded on stage. Baptista played a percussive arsenal of electronic pads, cuicas, jaw harps, bells and congas. The rest of Beat the Donkey included a kit drummer, two percussive dancers, and a timbale player, all of whom flood rhythms that intoxicated the crowd to dance as if we were on the streets for Carnival.
Playing with Ribot on guitar is Viva De Concini, who surprised us all from behind the Kangol hat with several nasty distortion laden guitar solos. This aggressive guitar work was heard later in the set as the sound of the music shifts to more rock/punk arrangement. This mood change provided a darker tone and space for John Zorn and Marc Ribot to rip several streaming solos that gave the music an almost psychedelic feel.
Baptista who obviously liked to keep his music in flux, ushered the band from its overdrive course to more back-beat soul funk that was reminiscent of Maceo Parker or George Clinton. Plenty of wah-wah and velvet top hats made you feel as though P-Funk took a vacation to San Paulo and learned capoeira.
Brazilian accent was all over the music as the set continued spinning itself with hints of samba, funk, rock and hip-hop. Cyro closed the show dynamically reining in the stampede he had let loose with a stomp. The crowd roared with joy and smiles, the band smiling back, everyone having fun.
Cyro shook his beaker of culture, genre and rhythm that night and those of us who had sought musical intoxication or just to shake some booty were satiated with tunes that were danceable, positive and at times a bit absurd. This was my first Cyro Baptista show and I am definitely hooked. Tonic was an appropriate venue for him to let loose for his album release and let the full effect of his eclectic arrangements and dance party band to take hold of the crowd. I would have wanted to hear more from John Zorn, but when he did play it was impressive and well suited for the course and ambiance crafted by Baptista. Cyro Baptista's Brazilian background was obvious through his association of music with therapy. He and Zorn joked, ?We made some people sick and we cured some too?." - Ben Pomeroy
"The original Chico Hamilton Quintet was one of the last significant West Coast jazz bands of the cool era. Consisting of Buddy Collette on reeds (flute, clarinet, alto, and tenor), guitarist Jim Hall, bassist Carson Smith, and the drummer/leader, the most distinctive element in the group's identity was cellist Fred Katz. The band could play quite softly, blending together elements of bop and classical music into their popular sound and occupying their own niche. This six-CD, limited-edition box set from 1997 starts off with a Hamilton drum solo from a 1954 performance with the Gerry Mulligan Quartet; it contains three full albums and many previously unreleased numbers) by the original Chico Hamilton band and also has quite a few titles from the second Hamilton group (which has Paul Horn and John Pisano in the places of Collette and Hall). In addition, there are three titles from the third Hamilton Quintet (with Eric Dolphy on flute and alto) and a 1959 Duke Ellington tribute date that featured both Collette and Horn. Most of these performances were formerly quite rare and never reissued coherently before. Highly recommended to jazz historians and to listeners who enjoy classic cool jazz, this box is sure to be sold out quickly." -- Scott Yanow
"Although the RCA recordings featuring the Paul Desmond Quartet with Jim Hall were eventually reissued by the original label (also in a boxed set) after the last copy of this limited edition Mosaic box was sold, it is the Mosaic collection which will be remembered as a classic. Only that set includes the initial studio collaboration of Desmond & Hall for Warner Bros.; also present are reprints of Doug Ramsey's warm memorial tribute to the alto saxophonist, as well as Marian McPartland's brilliant portrait (written for Downbeat in 1960) and Desmond's own side-splitting article written for Punch about a Brubeck gig that went slightly haywire, all helping to unfold a portion of the mystery behind this man. The lyrical alto saxophonist found a kindred spirit and musical equal in the guitarist, and discovered that Hall was the perfect substitute for a pianist, a role left purposely unfilled on nearly all of Desmond's record dates as a leader. With Connie Kay on drums and a rotating cast of first call bassists, including Percy Heath, George Duvivier, Gene Cherico, and Gene Wright, Paul Desmond's cool toned alto sax explores a number of timeless standards, lesser known tunes, a few of the leader's originals (though none became remotely as well known as his hit "Take Five"), along with Hall's "All Across the City" and Wright's "Rude Old Man." There are no disappointing tracks within this collection, and the only minor flaw was the accidental omission of one track previously issued (and subsequently reissued) by RCA. If you haven't already acquired this now rare set, prepare to pay a fortune, but it is a very sound investment, which will likely provoke squabbles among any of any heirs who are jazz collectors." -- Ken Dryden
"Larry Young, one of the most significant jazz organists to emerge after the rise of Jimmy Smith, is heard on this limited-edition six-CD set at the peak of his creativity. Formerly available as nine LPs, the set includes the original Larry Young albums Into Somethin', Unity, Of Love and Peace, Contrasts, Heaven on Earth, and Mother Ship, while drawing from the compilations 40 Years of Jazz, The History of Blue Note (Dutch), The World of Jazz Organ (Japanese), and The Blue Note 50th Anniversary Collection Volume Two: The Jazz Message, and also including guitarist Grant Green's Talkin' About, Street of Dreams, and I Want to Hold Your Hand. Young was still very much under Smith's influence on the first four sessions released as Talkin' About, Into Somethin', Street of Dreams, and I Want to Hold Your Hand (all featuring a trio with Green and drummer Elvin Jones plus guests Sam Rivers or Hank Mobley on tenor and vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson). However, starting with the monumental Unity session (a quartet outing with Joe Henderson on tenor, trumpeter Woody Shaw, and Jones), Young emerged as a very advanced and original stylist in his own right. Young's final four dates (Of Love and Peace, Contrasts, Heaven on Earth, and Mother Ship) are generally pretty explorative and feature such notable sidemen as altoist James Spaulding and Byard Lancaster, guitarist George Benson, and trumpeter Lee Morgan along with some forgotten local players. This definitive Larry Young set is highly recommended." -- Scott Yanow
"This four disc-set contains all of the existing Concert Band Sessions from May 1960 to December 1962, and makes available for the first time five previously unreleased performances. Some seven others, whose original tapes are either missing or lost, are notated here for the sake of discography. This was, arguably -- after and aside from Mulligan's piano-less quartet with Chet Baker -- the most visionary music he ever made. It eclipses his nonet recordings of the 1950s because of the sophisticated charts written by trombonist Bob Brookmeyer, and the writing Mulligan was doing formed the strength of this band -- though this is not immediately apparent at the outset of Disc One. The set commences with a version of the band that included six brass, four reeds, Mulligan on baritone (and piano occasionally), bass, and drums. This band included Dave Bailey on drums, and Bill Takas on bass. Eight selections are issued here, one, a two-part 45, plus three previously unissued tracks. Some real nuggets were recorded here, including new Brookmeyer charts for "My Funny Valentine," and "Out Of This World." On the band's second outing, Mel Lewis replaced Bailey on drums, Buddy Clark replaced Takas on bass, and Nick Travis and Conte Candoli entered on trumpets, replacing Danny Stiles and Phil Sunkel on trumpets. The band's first album in this incarnation is one of most momentous, with stunning remakes of "Django's Castle," "Bweebida Bobbida," and "Sweet And Slow." Zoot Sims entered the band late in the year, and those cuts include stellar and memorable readings of "Come Rain Or Come Shine," "Young Blood," and the preciously unreleased "As Catch Can." Lewis remained with the band all the way until 1962, when he was replaced by Gus Johnson. More importantly, after the concert recordings of October 1960, Clark was replaced by the unsung Bill Crow on bass, and the big band really began its finest period, as evidenced by the Village Vanguard tapings from December 1960. Here, "Body And Soul," "Come Rain Or Come Shine," and "Walkin' Shoes" sound like brand new compositions because of the elegant counterpoint scripted by Brookmeyer and Mulligan. The reliance on these independently played lines in the backdrop of a solo was a trademark for this band, allowing for the most individual improvisations inside a tightly structured group. And given these sides, it's so easy to hear this as a band, and not just a collection of star soloists. The final disc is made up of Webster Hall performances form July 1961, which were the final sets played by the Lewis edition of the band. Mulligan's big band was fleshed out in 1962 with the addition of Jim Hall's textural richness on guitar at the end of 1962. From these two concerts "Israel," "Chuggin,'" "All About Rosie, Pt. 3," "Big City Blues," "My Kinda Love," and "Bridgehampton Strut," are the most memorable, and offer the view of Brookmeyer as having already emerged and eclipsed the confines of the band. In all, this is an essential document and certainly comes in handy now that the Mosaic sets of Mulligan's quartet and nonet recordings are out of print . While Mulligan never really exhausted his creativity, these particular sessions, coming after the revolutionary big bands of Kenton in the 1950s, and before the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra recordings of the mid-'60s, offer a stunning view of progressive big band music during the era." -- Thom Jurek
"Once Keith Jarrett gets into a concept, he likes to keep those tapes rolling. This two-disc live outpouring from a Standards Trio gig at Munich's Philharmonic Hall was the biggest offering from this group up to that time (it wouldn't hold that distinction for long) -- and once again, Jarrett treats his brace of pop and jazz standards with unpredictable, often eloquently melodic and structural originality. To cite a pair of highlights: "Autumn Leaves" always seems to bring out an endless flow of invention from Jarrett, and "The Song Is You" gets off to a rollicking start and maintains a nearly relentless energy level for 17 minutes, closing with a Spanish vamp. Again, the rapport with his onetime jazz-rock associate, drummer Jack DeJohnette, and bassist Gary Peacock is total; DeJohnette's mastery of shifting cymbal patterns while maintaining the pulse acts on the trio like a loose tether made of carbon steel. There is a considerable amount of Jarrett vocalizing, though; sometimes he sounds like a tortured animal. CD buyers get "Billie's Bounce" as a bonus." -- Richard S. Ginell
"This could also be called "The Laughing Musicians." Placing free jazz drum king Han Bennink into an Amsterdam studio with anarchist experimental punk guitarist Terrie Ex is a risky move. While Amsterdam's the Ex have been quite experimental in their approach to punk rock -- even recording with the late Tom Cora -- a go-for-it duet improv session with a drummer on Bennink's level could have proved to be disastrous. Instead, it turned out to be an afternoon of pure genius. Ex and Bennink understand the limitations of their situation, and that the lion's share of the improv's flow is on Bennink. They relax into that, and Terrie Ex goes about trying not so much to play over or in counterpart to Bennink, but to fill out the necessary sonic corridors to make the percussions appear more effectively in the front of the session. Ex is out of his league, and Bennink knows it -- so does Terrie. Therefore, the senior drummer stretches his counterpart's concepts of spontaneous composition and sonic interdependency. There are seams here to be sure, but that's what creates the odd, uncompromising beauty of this set. Over 17 selections -- that all sound like part of one large performance, dynamics and guerilla string tactics are employed for the sake of riding a rhythm style so densely layered it might have existed plainly on its own here. Where Ex lays out and allows Bennink to solo for long periods, it's not because he hasn't any ideas -- it's that he's marveling at the flow of Bennink's. And this is beautiful to behold on a record: one musician's education at the hands of another that creates, in the process, a deeply moving and viable work of caterwauling intensity and irrepressible good humor. Highly recommended." -- Thom Jurek
"Simply put, this is the finest album ever released by the Willem Breuker Kollektief as a jazz tentet (as opposed to the repertory ensemble they later became). In Holland contains the most creative orchestrations, and the most thrilling solo work by the Kollektief, and ranks among the best jazz albums of the '80s. Two of the songs here ("Tango Superior/Interruptie" and "To Be With Louis P.") were released on the compilation disk The Parrot, but the remainder were only available on vinyl as of 2001.
The first record of this two-LP set is essentially designed as a suite, beginning with a powerful overture, and continuing on through an uproarious tango featuring a comically frustrated Breuker on alto, a drunkenly careening showcase for the brilliant trumpeter Boy Raaymakers, a loving homage to Prokofiev, and a fleeting reference to Wagner. Altoist Bob Driessen soloing never sounded better, and the driving bass work of the invaluable Arjen Gorter causes one's jaw to drop. Next comes "To Be With Louis P.," a surging R&B number with Breuker in the hilarious role of sleazy lounge singer who nonetheless matches Maarten van Norden's wondrous tenor sax shouting note for note.
The second LP consists of four compositions, including a concertino by an obscure 17th century Swiss composer, and a ferocious reel called "Hopsa, Hopsa" that builds up, morphs, and goes bananas. It's an album highlight, featuring a breathtaking performance by WBK, and composed by the newcomer (who'd stick around) pianist Henk de Jonge. Also included is one of Breuker's most beautiful and moving compositions, "Marche Funèbre" (from his musical production De Vuyle Wasch, or 'Dirty Laundry'), whose themes are at once rich, somber, romantic, and inspired. Though the group lost quite a bit of freshness after the mid-'80s, In Holland qualifies as an extraordinary record by one of the most creative and enjoyable jazz ensembles to have emerged from Europe." -- Brian Olewnick
"Recorded about a month after their BASF release The European Scene, Live in Berlin is almost as fine an example of their earliest roots. The basic elements are all here, from the shameless purloining of themes from all conceivable genres (especially those not normally associated with the avant-garde) and their conflation with free jazz soloing to the revitalization of schmaltzy pop standards. There's still a certain roughness to the arrangements and performance, but Breuker's determination to set himself apart from the European free jazz scene as represented by the work of musicians with whom he collaborated early on, like Peter Brötzmann and Evan Parker, is very clear. As they and others moved more and more into abstract and non-idiomatic improvisation, Breuker attempted to balance those ideas with a structure that relied on song forms (especially those of composers like Kurt Weill) and the more classically influenced compositions of musicians like Carla Bley. He also insisted on the injection of large doses of humor, an anathema to most of his contemporaries. The Kollektief's spirited rendition of "Our Day Will Come" shows how successful this approach can be, and the album as a whole makes a good case for Breuker's stance. There is a somewhat muted recording quality here and, of the two earliest examples of this band, one would have to give the nod to the BASF release for musical and audio quality, but both are essential to a full understanding of Breuker's music." -- Brian Olewnick
"A live recording from Rouen, France, On Tour is an enjoyable, if unspectacular, representation of the Kollektief in the late '70s. Several of Breuker's regular touchstones are covered, including tight, rhythmic crowd-pleasers like "Hullie & Zullie" and "Florida," more expansive, jazzier pieces like "Antelope Cobbler," and bits of hilarity, here a mock country & western called "Potsdamer Stomp." The Kollektief always featured some of the finest soloists around and, among others, altoist Bob Driessen, trumpeter Boy Raaymakers, and trombonist Willem van Manen deliver the goods here. But overall, this album (with a slightly muffled recording quality) doesn't quite measure up to either earlier records like the BASF The European Scene or the subsequent Summer Music on Marge. It's good, but not essential." -- Brian Olewnick
"A musical theatre piece by Willem Breuker with text by Ischa Meijer and featuring vocalist Loes Luca, Deze Kant Op, Dames! appears to be a heavy-handed excursion into the theater of the absurd. Recorded live in performance, the show generates a good deal of audience laughter but, judging from the photographs in the accompanying booklet, these seem to have been generated by the Kollektief members parading around in "funny" clothes and blurting forth absurdist expostulations (and the occasional belch). Unfortunately, little of this humor carries over into the recording, at least for non-Dutch speaking listeners. Considering only the musical elements, one encounters the typical smorgasbord approach utilized by Breuker in a number of his previous soundtrack and theater pieces. While the spirit of Kurt Weill hovers noticeably over the proceedings, we also get the usual tangos, fanfares, Ellingtonia, and so forth.
As is often the case with Breuker's work after the mid-'80s, there is a certain steeliness and martial aspect to his melodies accompanied by staccato rhythms and nearly military cadences. There are indeed flashes of his previous composing and arranging brilliance, such as the bluesy "Lola's Nightclub" featuring some glorious work by the criminally undersung trumpeter Boy Raaymakers, as well as a catchy tune here and there, but they are few and far between. The members of his Kollektief handle their duties (which involve a good deal of singing and, presumably, acting) with precision and grace; the ensemble still harbored some of the finest individual musicians in European jazz. Trumpeter Andy Altenfelder, another extraordinary trumpeter virtually unknown in the United States, is especially fine. Otherwise, however, Ms. Luca sings in a brassy cabaret style that wears thin after a short while and, much of the time, Breuker seems to be treading water compositionally. While there are several enjoyable moments, this disc is not nearly up to the high standards set by Breuker himself in the '70s and early '80s." -- Brian Olewnick
"This long out-of-print Famous Door album was finally reissued by the Progressive label nearly 30 years after its initial release. Bill Watrous has long been known as one of jazz's top trombonists (having a beautiful tone and a very fluent command of the bebop vocabulary) and it is always a joy to hear veterans tenor saxophonist Al Cohn, pianist Hank Jones, bassist Milt Hinton, and drummer Steve Gadd. However, the biggest surprise of this set is the brilliant playing of the vastly underrated trumpeter Danny Stiles, who often competes with Watrous for solo honors. The original five-song program, which includes "Just Friends" (mistakenly credited to John Klemmer rather than John Klenner!) and a lengthy "Snafu," is expanded slightly with the inclusion of a second (and previously unreleased) version of Watrous' "Don't Tell Me What To Do." A fine bebop date most notable for the playing of the late Danny Stiles." -- Scott Yanow
"Bill Watrous recorded two albums for Soundwings during 1986-87, both of which showcased his trombone with orchestras arranged by Patrick Williams. On this diverse set, Watrous performs a few standards (including "There Is No Greater Love" and "Come Rain Or Come Shine") along with works inspired by classical music ("A Tribute To Debussy" and "Adieu Mon Petite Table" which is an aria made famous by Maria Callas). Watrous displays his pretty tone and impressive technique but, other than the repertoire, few surprises occur." -- Scott Yanow
"In typical Fantasy Records aplomb, this four-CD set collects the eight albums which the Modern Jazz Quartet either mentored or collaborated on during their tenure at the commencement and nadir of their reign as jazz's premier chamber ensemble. Beginning with the 1952 issue of Modern Jazz Quartet/Milt Jackson Quintet recording (the earlier Milt Jackson Quartet sides are not here for obvious reasons, as the band did not commence its fully developed form on them) featuring original drummer Kenny Clarke before Connie Kay replaced him, and ending with This One's For Basie in 1985; the association the MJQ had with Prestige was a monumental one. Signified on the band's first full-length outing included here, Django, were the quiet power and majesty the group would later showcase on its Atlantic recordings, MJQ, Fontessa, and the soundtrack for No Sun In Venice. More importantly, the band's run on Prestige showcased not only the roots of the chamber jazz sound, but a harder-edged swing than was displayed on the more expansive recordings on Atlantic. From the almost novel and humorous asides of "The Queen's Fancy," to the funkier, grittier side of the band displayed with Sonny Rollins as a guest on "No Moe," MJQ were always about swing and blues. Discs One and Two showcase the early days of the band on their debut, Django, with Sonny Rollins and Concorde recordings. Concorde is a pinnacle, and reveals John Lewis' writing and arranging to have opened up and embraced all of classical music's dynamic spectrum, while keeping the restraint of swing and the expressionism of the blues in full view. The more regal sound is the one that informed virtually all of the group's Atlantic sides in the years to come. But Concorde and Django are simply two of the first recordings that the label issued during the early 1950s. Discs Three and Four represent four Pablo albums: The Reunion at Budokan in 1981, Together Again at Montreux Jazz in 1982, Echoes from 1984, and finally, This One's For Basie. These sides offer a much more mannered and ritualistic side of MJQ, one that had its critics but nonetheless swung hard and took chances, particularly in their live encounters. There is a caveat, however, as has become typical of the Fantasy boxed sets: Perhaps they should be titled the complete "released" recordings, since there is only one unreleased track in the bunch, the deep sixed 16th alternate take of "Rockin' In Rhythm," from Topsy: This One's For Basie. Really, what is the label waiting for? Fans, no doubt, have most if not all of this material anyway, and there needs to be -- besides an excellent package, sets of liner notes by Eugene Holley and Chris Sheridan -- a definitive edition that includes the process-takes this band recorded to get to the final version: MJQ were nothing if not perfectionists. Still, it's a somewhat small complaint to have all of this material in one place and juxtaposed so brilliantly between the young jazz rebels and the celebrated masters." -- Thom Jurek
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