Jazz Articles
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Mike Cooper: Oh Really!? / Do I Know You? / Trout Steel / Places I know / The Machine Gun Co. With Mike Cooper
by Jakob Baekgaard
“Riverboat captain, they called my name / Time to sing my song / I didn't know that the song was wrong / Don't sing that way again." These lyrics from the song “Trout Steel" are penned by guitarist, singer and songwriter, Mike Cooper, and they point directly to the iconoclastic nature of his art. While he is often conveniently pigeonholed as a blues guitarist, Cooper is so much more, and he often sings the “wrong" songs, venturing ...
read moreCaldera: Caldera / Sky Islands
by Jakob Baekgaard
Mention the word “fusion" and a list of familiar names often turns up: Miles Davis, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams' Lifetime, Return to Forever and Weather Report. But what about Caldera? Aficionados of the genre will probably know about them but, to many listeners, they will be a new discovery and, thanks to a BGO reissue of their first two albums on Capitol, it's now possible to take a deeper look at the group that emerged at the height ...
read morePamela Polland: Pamela Polland / Have You Heard The One About The Gas Station Attendant?
by Jakob Baekgaard
The singer-songwriter movement of the seventies paved the way for several new voices in popular music, but not everyone got the success of Carole King, whose album Tapestry (Ode, 1971) marked a peak in the movement, commercially and artistically. Pamela Polland was one of the artists whom fame eluded. Polland was poised for a big breakthrough with a record contract for CBS and the staunch support of label president, Clive Davis. However, things didn't turn out as planned. ...
read moreSteve Khan: Public Access / Headline / Crossings
by John Kelman
It's been a great couple of years for Steve Khan fans who are (relatively) new to the guitarist's work, especially his early releases, thanks to UK-based BGO Records. First, his '70s-era trio of fusion-centric LPs on Columbia Records, 1977's Tightrope, 1978's The Blue Man and 1979's Arrows, were remastered and reissued in a 2015 two-CD set, Tightrope / The Blue Man / Arrows. As fine as those records are, however, BGO's 2016 reissue of Khan's early '80s triptych, which has ...
read moreMilt Jackson: Sunflower / Goodbye
by Jakob Baekgaard
Even if vibes player Milt Jackson had just played with The Modern Jazz Quartet and not embarked on a solo career, his place in jazz history would be secure. However, Jackson was much more than a vital part of the famous chamber jazz group and he recorded a string of excellent albums, including three sessions as a leader for Creed Taylor's label, CTI. Two of those albums are now conveniently gathered in a single-disc package from British ...
read moreCharlie Rich: Every Time You Touch Me (I Get High) / Silver Linings / Take Me / Rollin' With The Flow
by Jakob Baekgaard
There is an anecdote about the legendary singer Elvis Presley, who walked into the office of Sun Records to do an audition. He was asked by receptionist Marion Keisker what kind of singer he was and Presley answered: “I sing all kinds." The same could be said about another Sun Records-affiliate, the pianist, composer and singer, Charlie Rich. Rich never got as famous as Presley, even though he was just as talented, but he released a steady ...
read moreArthur Blythe: Lenox Avenue Breakdown / In The Tradition / Illusions / Blythe Spirit
by Jakob Baekgaard
Jazz-reissues are important because they help to write and rewrite jazz-history. Through reissues, the prominence of an artist is maintained and the canon is confirmed, but it can also be questioned and corrected. A double-disc from the excellent reissue label, BGO, brings four key records from leader and alto saxophonist, Arthur Blythe, back into circulation. The records, all released on Columbia, are: Lenox Avenue Breakdown (1979), In The Tradition (1980), Illusions (1980) and Blythe Spirit (1981). The ...
read moreEyewitness Trilogy
by John Kelman
Emerging on the New York scene in the mid-1970s, guitarist Steve Khan didn't long at all to develop a strong reputation as both chameleon-like session guitarist—comfortably crossing over from the jazz world into pop and rock and gracing albums by artists ranging from Esther Phillips, Freddie Hubbard and David Sanborn to Phoebe Snow, Billy Joel and Steely Dan—and valued member of the Brecker Brothers Band, playing on the seminal uptown group's sophomore effort, 1976's Back to Back, as well as ...
read moreGraham Collier: The Day of the Dead
by Nic Jones
Graham Collier's death, in 2011, lends this release a sad air--at least until the gravity of the music is considered, because truly the composer/arranger has gained some measure of immortality through it. Recorded over the years 1976 to 1978, the albums collected here mark a period of transition from Collier the bassist and small band leader to Collier the composer for large ensembles who grasped the implications of the tonal palette such groups could offer. In his ...
read moreKen Wheeler & The John Dankworth Orchestra: Windmill Tilter
by Jack Kenny
"Lost" has been a favored word in the last few years. Miles Davis' late sixties group was called lost because it did not record officially. Trumpeter/composer Kenny Wheeler's Windmill Tilter truly has been lost--until now. Recorded in 1968, the Windmill Tilter suite has only previously been available on increasingly rare and expensive LP. Rumor had it that the original tapes had been destroyed and, while a release was promised a few years back, it never materialized. Now, ...
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