Jazz Articles
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Faces: Early Steps
by Doug Collette
Released somewhat under the radar in the fall of 2025, Early Steps is the missing link in the chain of archiving projects within the vault of the now-defunct British band Faces. Its content discovered by late band member Ian McLagan while researching the essential box set Five Guys Walk Into A Bar (Rhino, 2004), this compendium joins the anthology Stay With Me (Rhino, 2012), the collection of full-length albums (plus a disc of outtakes, rarities, ...
Continue ReadingFeats Don't Fail Me Now (Deluxe Edition) (3CD)
by Doug Collette
Inside the twenty-page booklet enclosed within the Feats Don't Fail Me Now (Deluxe Edition), an erudite essay by esteemed author/biographer Dennis McNally gives due recognition to artist Neon Park's outlandish front cover image for Little Feat's fourth longplayer. As with the other imagery of this artist that adorns the group's various longplayers, it is a thought-provoking yet unsettling combination of humor and cultural commentary that deserves the insightful notation, so, like the period photos of the musicians adorning the triple-fold ...
Continue ReadingThe Doors: Live at Konserthuset, Stockholm September 20, 1968
by Doug Collette
An excellent companion piece to the comparably memorable Live in Bakersfield August 21, 1970 (Rhino, 2023) and Live At The Matrix 1967: The Original Masters (Rhino, 2023), Live at Konserthuset, Stockholm September 20, 1968 features a live radio broadcast from September 20, 1968. Capturing The Doors at one of their performing peaks, it is apposite to another stop on the same European tour with Jefferson Airplane where lead vocalist Jim Morrison missed a show. As was usually the ...
Continue ReadingThe Doors: Live At The Matrix 1967: The Original Masters
by Doug Collette
With a glossy finish adding to the diaphanous effect, the color filters applied to the images of the Doors inside and outside the package capture the essence of the music inside. In a most practical sense. Reliably sourced from the master tapes this time--in contrast to the 2008 release--Live At The Matrix 1967 : The Original Masters contains thirty- seven tracks from the San Francisco shows and posits the iconic group as a balanced four-man collective prior to the popularity ...
Continue ReadingJoni Mitchell: Joni Mitchell at Newport
by Dave Linn
Just over a year ago, in July 2022, the internet was abuzz with the news that Joni Mitchell had performed at the Newport Folk Festival. After regular gatherings at Mitchell's home by various artists of a younger generation, who saw her as a major influence on their music, they decided to put their so-called “Joni Jam" live on stage. Audience videos of various quality circulated which led to the impression that the get-together, organized by singer Brandi Carlile, Marcus Mumford ...
Continue ReadingRFK Stadium, Washington, D.C. 6/10/73
by Doug Collette
As much or more so than any previously released new release or archive package, the cover art of Grateful Dead's RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C. 6/10/73 accurately (and vividly) reflects the nuances of the music behind the enticing graphics. In a pastel green and pink/orange color scheme of both matt and glossy finish, Masaki Koike's intricate designs hint at the dense subtleties the iconic band infuses into its chosen range of material during this approximately four-hour cull from the larger seventeen-CD ...
Continue ReadingBob Weir: Ace - 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (2CD)
by Doug Collette
Befitting its heady milestone date, the title of Bob Weir's initial solo album, Ace, carries multiple meanings. First of all, it was the Grateful Dead guitarist, vocalist & songwriter's nickname at the time of its gestation and completion (his bawdy persona as such mirrored in the ultra-suave pose on the inside photo as well as the risque cover art). More importantly, the album's name is also a reflection of the gambling lore so prevalent in songs of the ...
Continue ReadingLittle Feat: Waiting For Columbus Live Deluxe (8 CD) Box Set
by Mike Jacobs
Aside from the Grateful Dead (and possibly Rush), there's perhaps no band that can boast a more die-hard fan base than Little Feat's. It seems that embracing a group with prime instrumental and songwriting skills, that authentically incorporates rock, country, blues and New Orleans funk, with some jazz and even fusion touches, that were the darlings of their top-tier rock contemporaries and DJs alike--and that for some reason never really got the popular attention they deserved--makes the embrace that much ...
Continue ReadingLyceum Theatre, London, England - 5/26/72
by Doug Collette
The final night of any given tour can find the musicians excited at the prospects of jobs well-done throughout the prior road work or exhausted and lethargic from their previous labors. Fifty years ago, when the Grateful Dead's Europe '72 (Warner Bros., 1972) was released, the third LP of the set (conceived as such in part as fulfillment of their contract with the label), included material from the final show of the now mythic tour, clearly documenting how these psychedelic ...
Continue ReadingGrateful Dead: Dave’s Picks Volume 38: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY 9/8/73
by Doug Collette
For all the most practical of reasons, the Grateful Dead were never better in live performance than in 1973-1974. Those pertinent virtues of this iconic rock and roll band on stage are fully on display over the course of this three-CD edition of Dave's Picks, a clear depiction of the sweet spot between structured and open-ended playing, based on splendid songs, within which the group comfortably resided during this period. First off, the iconic band had a wealth ...
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