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Jazz Articles about Woody Shaw
Roy Brooks: Understanding
by Pierre Giroux
Roy Brooks was a preeminent hard-bop drummer who early on participated in seminal recording dates led by Horace Silver, Yusef Lateef and Sonny Stitt. In this release entitled Understanding, produced by Cory Weeds and Zev Feldman for Reel To Real Records, Brooks is documented live by The Left Bank Jazz Society at The Famous Ballroom in Baltimore on November 1, 1970. The limited-edition 180 gram 3-LP gatefold set of previously unreleased material, features a stellar band including trumpeter Woody Shaw, ...
Continue ReadingNeil Swainson Quintet: 49th Parallel
by Pierre Giroux
For those who are geographically inclined, the 49th Parallel is the location of the Canada/US border that runs from British Columbia to the Manitoba/Ontario line. For those with a more musical inclination, it is the title of a limited edition vinyl LP reissue (of a 1987 CD) on Reel to Reel Records by the Neil Swainson Quintet. The recording was supervised by that indefatigable Canadian jazz musician and entrepreneur Cory Weeds. This hard bop session was originally recorded ...
Continue ReadingAcoustic Jazz in the 70’s - McCoy Tyner, Woody Shaw, Sonny Rollins, VSOP, Scott Hamilton (1972 - 1978)
by Russell Perry
Jazz-rock fusion was a powerful force in the music in the early seventies, but noticeably began to run out of steam mid-decade. European influences began to gain traction as the decade progressed as represented by the rise of ECM. American acoustic jazz musicians, who seemed to be taken for granted, continued to produce fine music and garnered renewed interest as the decade ended. In this hour we will listen to representative 1970s acoustic jazz from McCoy Tyner, Woody Shaw and ...
Continue ReadingHank Mobley: The Complete Hank Mobley Blue Note Sessions 1963-70
by C. Andrew Hovan
The music world has changed considerably since Michael Cuscuna and Charlie Lourie founded their boutique reissue label Mosaic Records back in 1983. From its inception, vinyl was still the preferred format, shortly to be overtaken by the popularity of the compact disc. At the cusp of vinyl's recent resurgence, Mosaic briefly got back into that format only to find themselves on the brink of closing up shop. Fortunately, the powers that be have forged on and recent CD boxed sets ...
Continue ReadingWoody Shaw: At Onkel Po's Carnegie Hall: Vol. 1: Hamburg 1979
by Chris May
Woody Shaw was born a decade or so after quintessential hard-bop trumpeters Lee Morgan, Donald Byrd and Freddie Hubbard, Shaw's professed role model. He came to the party late but he came bearing gifts—a strong technique, an ability to play inside and outside with equal conviction, and a lot of soul. These qualities were to the fore on two sideman albums on which Shaw's reputation was established, Eric Dolphy's Iron Man (Douglas, 1963), Shaw's recorded debut, and Larry Young's Unity ...
Continue ReadingWoody Shaw Quartet: Live in Bremen 1983
by Maurizio Zerbo
Nei suoi tre anni di attività, il secondo quintetto di Woody Shaw ha lasciato tracce significative nel jazz grazie ad importanti dischi come United, Lotus Flower, The Time Is Right. In questo concerto tedesco del 1983 il quintetto diventa quartetto per l'assenza del trombonista Steve Turre, che si rivela un involontario volano di creatività per il leader, chiamato ad affrontare le sue policentriche composizioni con una maggior predisposizione alla libertà esecutiva. Oltre a testimoniarne la proverbiale tecnica ...
Continue ReadingWoody Shaw: Tokyo 1981
by C. Michael Bailey
That trumpeter Woody Shaw is considered “underrated" may be a considerable understatement. Shaw died at age 44 in 1989, but he managed to release 33 recordings as a leader (27 in his lifetime) and worked in collaboration with Gary Bartz, Art Blakey, Chick Corea, Stanley Cowell, Eric Dolphy and most notably with Dexter Gordon, on his 1976 Homecoming: Live at the Village Vanguard (Columbia). His recording, Rosewood (Columbia, 1978), his first major label release, is considered his masterpiece. Shaw's seamlessly ...
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