You want some Old School soul jazz, like the Crusaders? Well, it’s not a thing of the past; here’s a team that sounds live, alive and humming over deep grooves, like a stack of CTI records from the 1970s sitting…
Month: June 2022
VINYL JOYS…Lou Donaldson: Blues Walk (Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series)
Blue Note Records continues to release vintage jazz titles in vinyl format to remind people what it was like to actually sit down and listen to music. What a concept! The latest albums focus on hard bop, with Lou Donaldson’s…
PIANO THREESOMES…Alan Broadbent Trio: Like Minds, Dana Fitzsimon: Fault Lines
Three of a kind always beats a pair… One of the most lyrical bopping pianists, and yet never getting the accolades he deserves, is Alan Broadbent. Consistently consistent, this latest album with Harvie S/b and Billy Mintz/dr is a workshop…
THE COLLEGE OF HARD BOP…Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers: Live In Moers 1976
As Art Blakey said 20 years before on his album with Clifford Brown, he declared then that he saw himself as bringing up “young guys” the rest of his life, thus starting the Art Blakey School of Hard Bop, with…
Cyrus Chestnut: My Father’s Hands
Pianist and worship leader Cyrus Chestnut gives a tribute to his father, a deacon in the church as well, on this strong trio album with Peter Washington/b and Lewis Nash/dr. As with all his albums, Chestnut gives a solo recitative…
BEYOND BECHET…The 6: Complete Recordings 1954-1956
There are many labels out there that specialize in “historical” and reissues, but none come close to the consistency and dedication to obscurity than Spain’s Fresh Sound Records. This two disc, 37 song collection is a case in point, bringing…
SOLO VIBES…Tom Collier: The Color of Wood
It’s hard to carry off a solo album under any condition, but even more so when the only instrument is the vibraphone. Yet, Tom Collier pulls it off with cleverness and accessibility combining his own originals with clever covers of…
A NEW MEANING TO “60s ROCK”…Rolling Stones: Licked Live In NYC
Arguably the greatest rock band ever, and definitely the longest lasting, The Rolling Stones are caught on film on this 2 cd/dvd returning to where they began their initial “Invasion” of America back in 1964, two score years earlier, at…
UNDER-APPRECIATED ALTO…Herb Geller: European Rebirth-1962 Paris Sessions
It’s understandable that alto saxist Herb Geller (1928-2013) has been overlooked over the years, as he came onto the scene when there was a surfeit of alto sax players, most in the wake of either Charlie Parker, or consciously avoiding…
PUTTIN’ ON THE RITZ IN HOLLYWOOD…Ella at the Hollywood Bowl-The Irving Berlin Songbook
In case you didn’t know, Ella Fitzgerald (under the advice of Norman Granz) was the one who essentially invented delivering albums of “Songbooks”. Her reads of material by Porter, Gershwin, Mercer, etc launcher her career from being a respected jazz…