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Jazz Articles about Duke Pearson
Joe Henderson: The Complete Joe Henderson Blue Note Studio Sessions
by Scott Gudell
If an artist stamps his jazz passport with any one of these labels--Blue Note, Verve, Milestone--it's pretty much a guarantee that you've arrived in style. Tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson has traveled with all three and more. The 2021 reissue from the prestigious Mosaic Records focuses on Henderson's 1960s tenure with Blue Note offers a new opportunity to experience an abundance of rich and creative jazz from the decade. Big band and bop were duking it out in the ...
read moreHank 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 ...
read moreBlue Note 50th Anniversaries: December 1968 & More
by Marc Cohn
Alrighty then. It's the first week of a new month. Our regulars know it's time for Blue Note 50th anniversary salutes. We've got three for you from Duke Pearson and the big band, Detroit pianist Kenny Cox, and Jack Wilson. Continuing a series we started at few months ago, we have BN-4, two sides of a 12-inch 78 from 1939. And then there's our chronological Sonny Rollins celebration with a session with Miles Davis and a handful of 21st century ...
read moreDuke Pearson: WAHOO!
by Greg Simmons
Duke Pearson occupied an unusual position within Blue Note Record's roster of artists. In addition to recording as both leader and sideman he also served as the label's A&R man, following in the footsteps of Ike Quebec. Pearson also served as the arranger on many albums, including sessions--Stanley Turrentine's Rough 'n' Tumble, comes to mind--where other pianists took over the keys. Pearson's own WAHOO! carries an exuberant title for what turns out to be a pretty laid back ...
read moreDuke Pearson: The Right Touch
by Hrayr Attarian
Don't judge a book by its cover the old saying goes, but how about judging a record by its title? Rarely a title is as appropriate for a recording as with pianist Duke Pearson's The Right Touch, recently reissued by Blue Note as part of the Rudy Van Gelder (RVG) Edition series.
The six tunes, all composed and arranged by Duke Pearson, burst with a creative vitality that is complex and accessible at the same time. The compositions are both ...
read moreDuke Pearson: Mosaic Select 8
by Colin Fleming
While even the most successful attempts at blending jazz with bossa nova rarely result in a form of musical expression that moves beyond the tendencies of either, here is a style that does just that--an exploratory music we can confidently term the innovations of Duke Pearson.
Compiled from the pianist's late sixties Blue Note sessions, with a few tracks from 1970 included, there is little in jazz that bears resemblance to what we encounter on these five studio ...
read moreMosaic Select 8: Duke Pearson
by C. Andrew Hovan
Duke Pearson Mosaic Select 8 Mosaic Records
In recent years artists such as Mike LeDonne and Jim Rotondi have brought to light the overwhelming lyrical gifts of composer Duke Pearson in their own recordings of some of his most memorable lines. Unfortunately, too much of Pearson's work lies just under the radar of your average jazz follower, a fact made all the more frustrating by circumstances that find very little of his catalog presently available on ...
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