Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall
(Blue Note Records)

There are no less than six reviews of Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall at this website. These reviews are penned by the right honorable Samuel Chell, Chris May, John Kelman, Jim Santella, David Rickert, and Norman Weinstein. These writers all are the cream of the crop at the website. I have little to add to what these fine writers have expressed except that the music on this disc is so well performed, so well recorded, and so essential that its discovery and release of tantamount to the 2005 discovery a draft score for Beethoven's Grosse Fugue for Piano-Four Hands, at the Palmer Theological Seminary in Philadelphia... Continue

John Coltrane Quartet
One Down, One Up: Live at the Half Note
(Impulse! Records)

From Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane At Carnegie Hall break ahead 8 years to 1965 on One Down, One Up: Live at the Half Note and the listener will be treated to a much different, but not totally surprising John Coltrane. March 26th and May 7th, 1965 lies toward the end of the watershed period for John Coltrane and his "classic" quartet. Coltrane closed 1964 recording his seminal A Love Supreme and began 1965 starting The John Coltrane Quartet Plays, which the quartet completed just after the Half Note performances. This is late in Coltrane's lengthy transition from his Be Bop and Hard Bop roots to the practice and perfection of Free Jazz that would occupy the saxophonist until his death in 1967... Continue

Bill Evans
The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961
(Riverside Records)

"All that remains is the hope that one day Fantasy, Inc. will find the lost sides of that early summer afternoon 40 years ago and release a complete recording [The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961] as they have done for so many other artists, including Evans. We should honor the quiet genius in these songs." That day has come.... Continue

Tommaso-Rava Quartet
La Dolce Vita
(CAM Jazz Records)

It was bassist Giovanni Tommaso who was initially approached with a proposed two disc survey of Italian film music as seen through the jazz prism. La Dolce Vita (The Sweet Life is the first of these recordings to be released, Secondo Tempo is the follow up)... Continue

Enrico Rava
Full of Life
(CAM Jazz Records)

Full of Life reveals a different musical side of Enrico Rava, one devoid of the round, mid-register sepia tone of La Dolce Vita. Rava presents a bright and playful tone, one not afraid of taking chances, albeit those chances do not stray far from the mainstream... Continue

Alyssa Graham
What Love Is
(Self Produced)

Great things often come humbly disguised. While not the perfect metaphor, it comes pretty close to describing vocalist Alyssa Graham's new recording What Love Is... Continue

That is the end of my personal list. Here are some of the recordings that I would have liked to have given written consideration. I bow to my colleagues who did.

Cream
Royal Albert Hall: London May 2-3-5-6, 2005
(Reprise Records)
Review by Doug Collette

Writer's Note: Doug Collette and I have an almost hermetic sympatico for the same music styles and artists. I have written in response to his fine evaluations and intend to do so for this recording (adding little insight more than likely). We are two old hippies holding up the '70s Rock end of things at AAJ.

The reunion of Cream that took place this past may in London is a mixture of arrogance, curiosity and courage. Arrogance because that's at the root of their chosen name, intimating the trio is 'the cream of the crop' of musicianship. Curiosity because both fans and music lovers in general had to wonder what Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce might sound like after not playing together for over 35 years... Continue

Miles Davis
The Cellar Door Sessions 1970
(Sony BMG Legacy)
Review by Greg Masters

For devotees of Miles Davis's so-called "electric period," the full release of the music recorded live in December 1970 at the Washington, DC club The Cellar Door has long been something of a holy grail... Continue

Art Pepper
Mosaic Select 15
(Mosaic Records)
Review by Jim Santella

Featuring Art Pepper's 1956 and 1957 Aladdin sessions, which have been issued on The Return of Art Pepper (Jazz West), Collections (Intro), Modern Art (Blue Note), Just Friends (Pacific Jazz), Solo Flight (Pacific Jazz), The Art of Pepper (Omega) and The Art of the Art (Nadja), Mosaic's 3-CD boxed set portrays the alto saxophonist in familiar company, full of life and at his best. The collection includes several bonus tracks, alternate takes, and material that was previously available only on reel-to-reel tape... Continue

Wasilewski/Kirkiewicz/Miskiewicz
Trio
(ECM Records)
Review by Glen Astarita

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