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550
Album Review

Horace Silver: Horace Silver: Re-Entry

Read "Horace Silver: Re-Entry" reviewed by John Ballon


Rare and essential live recordings that capture the great Horace Silver Quintet in action at New York City's Half-Note. Always a force to be reckoned with, Silver's mid-60s band was consistently adventurous, original, and funky, anchored in the steady rhythms of bassist Larry Ridley and drummer Roger Humphries, and steeped in the passion of Joe Henderson's tenor sax. In many ways, these recordings are defined by Henderson's inspired playing, as Joe gets many chances to ...

126
Album Review

Various Artists: Jazz That Swings

Read "Jazz That Swings" reviewed by AAJ Staff


As the “Nouveau-Swing" era dies a well-deserved death, it leaves in its overdone, under-appropriately handled wake on valuable lesson: real Swing swings!

Fortunately, the folks at 32 Jazz were able to not only ride the wave but pick out the crests that rose highest. Though a few of the tracks on this compilation are a bit watery, most of them are absolutely tidal.

The opening “Love Theme from ‘The Sandpiper’" (a.k.a. “The Shadow of Your Smile") finds key man Cedar ...

252
Album Review

Various Artists: 32 Gems from 32 Jazz

Read "32 Gems from 32 Jazz" reviewed by AAJ Staff


In marking their third year on the independent label scene, 32 Jazz has put together an impressive three-disc compilation culled from their broad and well-researched library (which now contains the entire Muse/Landmark discography, as well as rare album and television productions by the likes of Judy Garland and Tom Jones). From Nat Adderly to Zoot Sims, this box has it all set! With an educational booklet which lists the catalog history of each selection, Gems includes a number of vocalized ...

117
Album Review

Various Artists: Jazz for...

Read "Jazz for..." reviewed by AAJ Staff


In this ever-burgeoning series of compilations, legendary producer-cum-label boss Joel Dorn leaves an inexpensive but no less luminescent light in the window for those of us who are lost in a sea of moods and music, looking for the right fit. From quiet times to rainy afternoons to top-down trips in the old jalopy (an old jalopy with a CD player, of course!), these practically-packaged chart-toppers pull from 32’s wide and impressive selection of jazz masters to provide a broad ...

225
Album Review

Sam Jones: Something In Common

Read "Something In Common" reviewed by David Adler


Bassist Sam Jones, one of the unsung rhythm section heroes in jazz, leads a stellar ensemble on this 1978 Muse session, now reissued by 32 Jazz. The music is burning, the sound is vibrant and huge. But this kind of record was destined to fall through the cracks. Recorded at the height of the fusion era, with the Marsalis-led neotraditionalist resurgence still years away, the album was decidedly not of its time. With its roster of hard bop heavyweights — ...

174
Album Review

Richard Davis: Forest Flowers

Read "Forest Flowers" reviewed by Todd S. Jenkins


Continuing a pattern that’s becoming all too common with 32 Jazz reissues, this set is a heavily flawed collection of performances by a generally fine bassist. The label heads seem to rummage through the dusty closets of name artists, seeking out weak sessions that probably wouldn’t see the light of day again if the performers weren’t famous for better works. Such is the case with Forest Flowers, culled from three lesser Richard Davis sets from the 70s.

Davis is a ...

196
Album Review

Sam Jones: Something In Common

Read "Something In Common" reviewed by David A. Orthmann


The reissue of these two sessions from the mid-seventies affirms the vitality of hard bop more than a decade after its heyday. Something In Common features some of the genre’s principal practitioners, most of whom played in definitive ensembles led by Horace Silver, Art Blakey, or Cannonball Adderley. The material is generated largely from within the band, including three choice items from the songbook of pianist Cedar Walton. Particularly noteworthy is his latin-tinged, minor classic “Bolivia.”

With the exception of ...

399
Album Review

Sam Jones: Sam Jones: Something In Common

Read "Sam Jones: Something In Common" reviewed by AAJ Staff


The seemingly inexhaustible Muse catalog, now in the possession of 32 Jazz, has yielded yet two more noteworthy albums, compiled as Sam Jones: Something In Common. The first one, Something In Common from a 1977 studio date, is by far the more interesting one, as it reunites Jones with his long-time friends Cedar Walton and Billy Higgins. In addition Slide Hampton, Blue Mitchell and a young Bob Berg join in, elevating each other’s compositions through effective arrangements and penetrating solos.

276
Album Review

Billy Childs: Bedtime Stories: A Tribute To Herbie Hancock

Read "Bedtime Stories: A Tribute To Herbie Hancock" reviewed by AAJ Staff


With Todd Barkan now at the helm of 32 Jazz, West Coast jazz musicians are receiving more attention, what with the label releasing new CD’s by under-recorded and vastly talented pianists Denny Zeitlin and Billy Childs, among other musicians with a West Coast presence. With the jazz press concentrated in New York and to a lesser extent in Chicago, Childs’ lack of visibility and his diligence in orchestrating projects like Dianne Reeves’ new album, The Calling: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan, have ...

240
Album Review

Billy Childs Trio: Bedtime Stories

Read "Bedtime Stories" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


These days, piano trio-based recordings are sprouting faster than weeds growing out of concrete; however, the highly respected pianist Billy Childs breathes renewed life into a set dedicated to pianist/composer Herbie Hancock, titled Bedtime Stories – A Tribute to Herbie Hancock. And along with the ace rhythm section of bassist George Mraz and drummer Billy Hart, the leader supplements this impassioned date with a soul-funk version of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine”, along with stylish renditions of Sting’s “Fragile”, Wayne ...


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