Jazz Articles
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Various: Head Jazz
by AAJ Staff
Slap on your big ol' '70s headphones and get ready for a ride. Cozying up with Eddie Harris's Silver Cycles," Head Jazz takes your ears (and whatever may be between them) on a hairpinned tour of contemporary jazz. A combination of a Magritte painting and Fellini film, Head Jazz leads listeners down path after crooked path in a never predictable but always fascinating and oddly rewarding series of twists and turns, many of which are contained within the songs themselves.
read moreStan Getz: My Foolish Heart
by AAJ Staff
Opening with a snappy Invitation," this newly-found home recording shows off what producer Joel Dorn calls prime Getz." Rodgers and Hart’s Spring is Here" wafts and splashes through a fragrant rain chilled by Jack DeJohnette’s shivery brush work, but DeJohnette sharpens the tempo for Chick Corea’s Litha," sparking Stan and Richie Beirach to burning life.
This is not another Desafinado" compilation. This is Getz cookin’ it up with a team of ‘big name’ players. Dave Holland’s bouncy ...
read moreSonny Stitt: Just the Way It Was: Live at the Left Bank
by AAJ Staff
To inaugurate his latest musical milestone--the starting of Label M--one of jazz’s most underrated production legends, Joel Dorn, has taken a set by his musical counterpart, the electrifying saxophonist Sonny Stitt, from the vaults of the Left Bank Jazz Society and put it back on vinyl (er- plastic). In doing so, he helps sustain the Society’s mission of keeping a jazzy light in the window for new and future generations.
From a sobbing rendition of "Cry Me ...
read moreEugene McDaniels: Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse
by AAJ Staff
This is soul. Not Al Green soul. Not Isaac Hayes soul (but perhaps a bit closer to that). This is the soul of the black man. It is the soul of a student of history who is sick and tired of force-feeding and ready to spit back. This is the soul of a man tired of the system and using his art to reframe and correct it.When it first came out in 1971, Eugene McDaniels’ vitriolic statement irked ...
read moreJames Blood Ulmer: Memphis Blood
by C. Michael Bailey
Memphis Blood could very possibly be as historic a recording as Howlin' Wolf's Evil .
Everything about this release is Romantic. The music ranges from some of the earliest recorded blues for the 1920s to novelty tunes from the '50s and '60s. The recording venue is perhaps the most famous ever, the home of seminal recordings by Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Howlin' Wolf, and Ike Turner, not to mention Elvis Presley. The universal concept of man reckoning ...
read moreGary Burton and Stephane Grappelli: Paris Encounter
by C. Michael Bailey
The old guard meets the new. Here is the phenomenon Gary Burton, before he became an institution.
In 1969, Gary Burton was blazing jazz trails that could not exactly be described as traditional. He teams up with Le Hot Club of France Stephane Grappelli, conservative stalwart in the European tradition, for a little stroll around the block. The year 1935 was a long time ago. Here we have an electric bass. Not only that, Steve Swallow is behind it. Round ...
read moreStan Getz: My Foolish Heart "Live" at the Left Bank
by Matthew S. Robinson
Opening with a snappy Invitation," this newly-found home recording shows off what producer Joel Dorn calls prime Getz." Rodgers and Hart’s Spring is Here" wafts and splashes through a fragrant rain chilled by Jack DeJohnette’s shivery brush work, but Jack sharpens the tempo for Chick Corea’s Litha," sparking Stan and Richie Beirach to burning life. This is not another Desafinado" compilation. This is Getz cookin’ it up with a team of name’ players. Dave Holland’s bouncy upright runs are electric ...
read moreSonny Stitt: Just the Way It Was: "Live" at the Left Bank
by Matthew S. Robinson
To inaugurate his latest musical milestone, the starting of Label M, one of Jazz’s most underrated production legends, Joel Dorn, has taken a set of his musical counterpart, the electrifying saxophonist Sonny Stitt, from the vaults of the Left Bank Jazz Society and puts it back on vinyl (er... plastic) to sustain the Society’s mission of keeping a jazzy light in the window for new and future generations. From a sobbing rendition of Cry Me a River" which is recognizable ...
read moreHubert Laws: Wild Flowers
by Craig Jolley
Wild Flower is the best flute record I know of. Hubert Laws plays flawlessly and sensitively as usual, but the record really belongs to John Murtaugh. Murtaugh came up as a Los Angeles tenorist in the 1950's but made his reputation as a writer. The program was thoughtfully considered. Each composition has its own identity and feeling. Taken together there is variety and balance. Five tunes feature Murtaugh's magnificent string writing.
The string sound is dry and tart, not lush ...
read moreRay Bryant: Somewhere In France
by Jim Santella
Recorded in 1993 before a live audience somewhere in France, this session was sitting around in Ray Bryant's home on a cassette tape that the sound man had handed him after the performance. The artist hadn't had time to listen to it; he hadn't even realized he was being recorded until the performance was over.
The session turns out to be a significant milestone that documents this unique pianist. As a solo piano performance, the music is unobstructed. The sound ...
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