Jazz Articles

Ahmad Jamal: Ahmad Jamal Trio: Complete Recordings

by Robert Iannapollo
March 9, 2007

It's surprising that Ahmad Jamal, clearly one of the benchmarks of jazz piano in the '50s, has been neglected by most jazz writers. Though he's clearly been a popular favorite, most of the positive commentary has focused on “Miles Davis really liked him. That's actually a bit of an understatement. One might even say Davis was obsessed with Jamal for a while. From the titles on this set, which collects 41 tracks (the first recordings from Jamal's trio recorded between ...

Charlie Parker with Lennie Tristano: Charlie Parker with Lennie Tristano: Complete Recordings

by Greg Thomas
August 18, 2006

This recording, a fine addition to Charlie Parker's oeuvre, documents Lennie Tristano's extensions of the bebop idiom. Considered by some to be more of a cult figure with a small school of followers than a recognized major innovator of jazz, Tristano's contributions may now be viewed at in a better light. Parker's seminal place in the pantheon of jazz gods has long been established and rightfully so. Tristano himself once said, “If Charlie Parker wanted to invoke plagiarism laws, he ...

Duke Ellington: Complete Legendary Fargo Concert

by Samuel Chell
March 15, 2006

America's greatest jazz musician performing his own music on his favorite instrument--the orchestra--and not just any edition of Ellington's band but arguably his best, especially with bassist Jimmy Blanton and tenor sax great Ben Webster. What more could you ask for? An inspired performance? The band is tight and spirited thoughout this five-hour engagement. Faithful audio reproduction? The fidelity is miraculously close to being state of the art for a 1940 recording made on marginal equipment by hobbyists. Blanton's bass ...

Don Byas: Don Byas: Complete American Small Group Recordings

by Mike Neely
January 13, 2003

Oklahoma born tenor saxophonist Don Byas moved easily between swing and bebop with an earthy, blues sound that brings to mind Coleman Hawkins but with a lightness of touch and rhythmic agility reminiscent of Lester Young. He successfully synthesized these two influences, in many ways updating them into the bebop era. Byas mastered the breathtaking tempos associated with Parker and Gillespie but avoided the angular, sharp phrasing- with the result that his up-tempo approach had a more rounded, swing solo ...

John Kirby: The Complete Columbia & RCA Victor Recordings

by Craig Jolley
February 1, 2002

There were only about four good bass players during the 1930's, and John Kirby wasn't one. Still, he somehow made his name (in part because of connections and good looks), and he led one of the most popular small bands of the time. Pete Brown (alto) and Frank Newton (trumpet), both magnificent blues players, began as the primary soloists, and the band (originally a coop) began recording in 1937 under the name of whoever got the gig: Newton, Buster Bailey, ...

Charlie Christian: The Complete Charlie Christian

by Craig Jolley
August 1, 2001

Note: This review covers the four-disk sets The Complete Studio Recordings and The Complete Live Recordings.

Charlie Christian is often described as the first great electric guitar soloist, but he was more. Together with Lester Young, Nat Cole, Coleman Hawkins, and Roy Eldridge he paved the way for bebop by stretching swing era rhythmic and harmonic concepts. He conceived wonderfully imaginative solos with a single-note, saxophone-like attack,

often accenting in unexpected places and creating lines with unusual intervals. Christian had ...