Jazz Articles about Sam Jones

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Donald Byrd: Byrd in Hand (RVG Edition)

by Robert Gilbert
February 24, 2003

Of the jazz trumpeters who blazed a trail during the 1950s and '60s, Donald Byrd has never really gotten his due. He came into his own at the same time as Miles Davis, Clifford Brown, Chet Baker, Kenny Dorham, etc. were on the scene, unjustly diverting some attention away from Byrd. Yet a listen to a small part of his recorded output reveals a trumpeter with a well-developed penchant for lyricism and who, over time, learned to use space as ...

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Freddie Hubbard: Open Sesame

by Craig Jolley
March 1, 2002

Open Sesame (1960) was Freddie Hubbard’s first record as a leader. If it was his only record it would be legendary, but within two years he had recorded four better ones. What raised the other records above Open Sesame was the drummers: Philly Joe Jones, Elvin Jones, and Louis Hayes. There is nothing wrong with Clifford Jarvis—he swings, he interacts with the other players, and he fits the band’s conservative concept. But on his best records Hubbard fed off his ...

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Sam Jones: Something In Common

by David Adler
March 1, 2001

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 — ...

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Sam Jones: Something In Common

by David A. Orthmann
January 1, 2001

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 ...

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Sam Jones: Sam Jones: Something In Common

by AAJ Staff
January 1, 2001

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.

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Cedar Walton: Three Sundays In The Seventies

by AAJ Staff
December 1, 2000

Label M launched its new enterprise with a stunning live and previously unreleased concert by Stan Getz at the Famous Ballroom in Baltimore. With more than 200 tapes recorded by Baltimore's Left Bank Jazz Society legally in its possession, the label continues to remaster and enhance the tapes from a home recorder that captured the spirit of the concerts. In some respects, the Society recorded during what has become a golden age for some of the greatest musicians in jazz.