Jazz Articles about Various Artists

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Various Artists: A New Generation - Twelve Urban Jazz Grooves

by Ian Nicolson
March 1, 1999

Apart from its central Soho location (just up the road from Ronnie Scott's) and its reputation for prestige and exciting food, Terence Conran's mega café Mezzo has also being bolting on some class jazz to its weekday line-ups for a while now. And although neither the club nor the regular clientele are as committed to the music as the fans who have made Soho's Pizza Express, Kettners (and Ronnies itself) into London jazz meccas, there's no getting around the fact ...

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Various Artists: Brasil 2mil and Beleza Tropical 2

by Ian Nicolson
March 1, 1999

After one too many Sunday mornings lugging half the contents of Tesco around bits of south London dampened by profoundly unconvincing snowflakes, I reach for something tropical. So perhaps it's no coincidence that both Luaka Bop and the Austrian jazz-to-pop Ziriguiboom label fancy their chances with compilations of new Brasilian jazz at this time of year.

Jazz musicians have eagerly embraced latin influences - and vice versa - since at least the end of WW2. There was even a period ...

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Various Artists: All Night Jazz

by Ian Nicolson
March 1, 1999

You can buy Linn Products hi-fi from Glasgow to Bombay to Tokyo, and a lot of people do. I wonder how many realise that the same company has a kid sister operation called Linn Records that believes in the same Grails: quality, precision and musicality. And one more at least - that Scottish talent is the match for anywhere else's. Periodically, the label issue samplers from their roster of predominantly folk and jazz acts, and hi-fi shops are often the ...

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Looking Back: West Coast Classics

by Gaylord Smith
February 1, 1999

This second batch of six Pacific Jazz CD reissues in the “West Coast Classics" series is sort of a tale of two cities--or, more precisely, a tale of two communities within a city (Los Angeles), one white, one black and often worlds apart.

Producer Richard Bock's label began largely as a white, cool-school label in the early '50s and found its direction modifying as the music changed late in the decade. These collections -- divided racially into three ...

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Various Artists: Brazilian Horizons, Volume 2

by AAJ Staff
February 1, 1999

This continues a series from last year, showing the lasting influence of samba/bossa nova on jazz musicians, and their effect, in turn, on Brazil. While Volume One was mostly in the ‘Seventies, this one digs deep, going nearly a quarter-century to show how long the two musics have been married – and how deep the love for each other.

We first hear a flute – and not just any guitar. It’s Antonio Carlos Jobim, playing his tune “Dreamer” while its ...

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Various Artists: Arbors Records Sampler, Volume One

by AAJ Staff
February 1, 1999

The ‘Thirties were an interesting time for jazz. The years between Dixieland and Swing brought a lot of new players on the scene, brought new instruments to the fold (guitar, tenor sax), and did wonders with the pop tunes of the Golden Age of American Song. The ‘Nineties are an interesting time for jazz. A record label is using modern technology (digital recording, the long playing time of CDs) so this joyous music will be heard on more than scratchy ...

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Various Artists: Jazz For When You're Alone

by AAJ Staff
February 1, 1999

It began with JAZZ FOR A RAINY AFTERNOON, issued over a year ago. Beneath its beautiful cover was a splendid anthology, its gentle, slightly bitter tunes evoking rain and the emotions coming with it. It was a calculated attempt to sell “mood music”, maybe the first in jazz since the now-defunct Moodsville label. And it worked. Two more discs came out (same design, same general format), and all three made Top 15 on Billboard’s jazz chart. This is the latest, ...