Jazz Articles about Woody Shaw

About Woody Shaw

Album Review

Neil Swainson Quintet: 49th Parallel

Read "49th Parallel" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
September 15, 2020

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 ...

Radio & Podcasts

Acoustic Jazz in the 70’s - McCoy Tyner, Woody Shaw, Sonny Rollins, VSOP, Scott Hamilton (1972 - 1978)

by Russell Perry
May 5, 2020

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 ...

Album Review

Hank Mobley: The Complete Hank Mobley Blue Note Sessions 1963-70

Read "The Complete Hank Mobley Blue Note Sessions 1963-70" reviewed by C. Andrew Hovan

by C. Andrew Hovan
March 8, 2020

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 ...

Album Review

Woody Shaw: At Onkel Po's Carnegie Hall: Vol. 1: Hamburg 1979

Read "At Onkel Po's Carnegie Hall: Vol. 1: Hamburg 1979" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
November 6, 2019

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 ...

Album Review

Woody Shaw Quartet: Live in Bremen 1983

Read "Live in Bremen 1983" reviewed by Maurizio Zerbo

by Maurizio Zerbo
February 27, 2019

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 ...

Album Review

Woody Shaw: Tokyo 1981

Read "Tokyo 1981" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
July 12, 2018

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 ...

Extended Analysis

Woody Shaw: The Complete Muse Sessions

by John Kelman
September 9, 2013

The past couple years have been banner ones for reviving the legacy of Woody Shaw, a trumpeter and composer who--emerging in the early '60s on albums by extant jazz stars like Eric Dolphy, Andrew Hill, McCoy Tyner and Horace Silver, and contributing to on-the-rise names including Larry Young and Chick Corea--has all-too-often been overlooked. Still, with younger horn players like Alex Sipiagin releasing tribute albums like Generations (Criss Cross, 2010), it's clear that, for some, the trumpeter's impact and influence ...