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Thelonious Monk: Brilliant Corners
by Richard J Salvucci
Writing about being “lost for words" is not the ideal way of starting a review, but it may be the plain truth. Perhaps Thelonious Monk is an acquired taste. Perhaps not. Whatever the case, this particular release of Brilliant Corners is just that--brilliant.The whole package is superb and really defines Craft Recordings “Small Batch" vinyl series. The technical literature accompanying the recording says “Each edition is cut from its original analog tapes by Bernie Grundman and pressed on ...
read moreNew Faces - New Sounds
by C. Michael Bailey
The jazz name Wynton Kelly is typically associated with other artists' endeavors, such as John Coltrane's Giant Steps (Atlantic, 1959), Miles Davis' Kind of Blue (Columbia, 1959) or Wes Montgomery's Smokin' at the Half Note (Verve, 1965), just to mention three landmark recordings. While he always seemed best cast in supporting roles, Kelly did have a highly respectable solo career, and while it was neither as productive, nor considered as critically important as his sideman roles, it is still worthy ...
read moreOscar Pettiford & Jan Johansson: In Denmark 1959-1960
by Chris Mosey
Oscar Pettiford was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, in 1922, of a Choctaw Indian mother and a half Cherokee, half African American father. He became one of the most influential bass players in the history of jazz, building on the innovations of Jimmie Blanton to make the bass a genuine solo instrument. He jammed with the founders of bebop at Minton's Playhouse then followed Blanton by joining the Duke Ellington Orchestra from 1945-48. In 1958 ...
read moreOscar Pettiford & Jan Johansson: In Denmark 1959-1960
by Jakob Baekgaard
If anyone should doubt how much it has meant to the Danes that a number of prominent American jazz musicians have lived in Denmark for a shorter or longer time, they just need to walk around the streets of Copenhagen. Here you will find street names such as Ben Webster Street, Ernie Wilkins Street and Kenny Drew Street. Another jazz street is named after bassist Oscar Pettiford. Pettiford, along with Swedish pianist Jan Johansson, is the subject ...
read moreOscar Pettiford: The Complete Big Band Studio Recordings
by Michael Steinman
Whether playing bass or cello, Oscar Pettiford was an extraordinary soloist and ensemble player with a singlar sound and focused attack who levitated sessions with Coleman Hawkins, Miles Davis and Duke Ellington, among many others. In '56 and '57, when Swing Era big bands had given way to small groups and singers, it may have seemed defiant to assemble a jazz orchestra of well-known and presumably costly soloists, but the OP assemblage made two records and appeared at Birdland. This ...
read moreOscar Pettiford: The New Oscar Pettiford Sextet
by Derek Taylor
Pettiford and Mingus together, reason enough alone to rush out and purchase this disc. A chance to hear these two string giants on the same session is a rare occasion and should not be passed up. Previously only available in part on the exhaustive Complete Mingus Debut Recordings box set these recordings have been long overdue for reissue in their original form. The fact that the rest of the players along with the music they tackle are of equally high ...
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