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Dave Holland / Gonzalo Rubalcaba / Chris Potter / Eric Harland: The Monterey Quartet: Live at the 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival
by Mark Corroto
Supergroups thrown together for jazz festivals are, as a general rule, a disappointment. The chemistry of a regular working unit is usually missing, and they tend to resort to “theme-solo-theme" weariness. Not so when the supergroup is made up of dedicated composers and listeners such as The Monterey Quartet, assembled on the occasion of Monterey's 50th anniversary celebration concerts in 2007.
Bassist Dave Holland, together with two familiar players--Chris Potter and Eric Harland--are joined by the Cuban pianist ...
read moreDave Holland / Gonzalo Rubalcaba / Chris Potter / Eric Harland: The Monterey Quartet: Live at the 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival
by John Kelman
A bonus of festival work is the opportunity to recruit musicians for new collaborations. It doesn't always work, but sometimes it does, and when Monterey Jazz Festival Records' General Manager Jason Olaine worked with Vision Arts manager Louise Holland to bring together bass icon Dave Holland, saxophonist Chris Potter, drummer Eric Harland and pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, it seemed like a match made in heaven.
It was. The Monterey Quartet: Live at the 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival, ...
read moreDave Holland / Gonzalo Rubalcaba / Chris Potter / Eric Harland: The Monterey Quartet: Live at the 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival
by Mark F. Turner
The Monterey Jazz Festival has an ongoing rich history of great performances: Louis Armstrong (1958), Miles Davis (1963), Tito Puente & His Orchestra (1977), Shirley Horn (1994) and many others. MJF's 50th anniversary celebration in 2007 continued that honored tradition of swing, resulting in Terence Blanchard's Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo with his performance on Dizzy Gillespie's classic “Be-Bop" by the MJF 50th Anniversary All-Stars. At that same festival, another group of all-stars--the quartet extraordinare featuring bassist Dave ...
read moreDave Brubeck: Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival 1958-2007
by George Kanzler
One of the paradoxes of jazz is that the individual is highly valued, yet iconoclasts are often undervalued, either by critics or audiences. Pianist Dave Brubeck has had no trouble attracting fans over more than half a century, but critics have been less embracing, often saying he doesn't swing. Brubeck became wildly popular in the '50s, when his quartet with alto saxophonist Paul Desmond pioneered jazz concerts at colleges. Students then were familiar with classical music--music appreciation ...
read moreArt Blakey and the Giants of Jazz: Live at the 1972 Monterey Jazz Festival
by Stuart Broomer
The Giants of Jazz was an all-star band assembled by promoter George Wein in 1971. While Dizzy and Monk were the most celebrated members, the band also included Art Blakey (drums), Sonny Stitt (sax), Kai Winding (trombone) and Al McKibbon (bass). By the time it arrived at the Monterey Jazz Festival in September of 1972, Gillespie had to absent himself to return to his own band and the group had inspired substitutions in the trumpet chair--here both ...
read moreCal Tjader: Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival 1958-1980
by David Rickert
Cal Tjader began his career as a stalwart member of the West Coast jazz scene, swinging his vibes through breezy versions of standards with the likes of Vince Guaraldi and Stan Getz. Along the way he delved into Latin music and after that it colored almost everything he did. His progression as an artist is explored on this compilation of performances from the Monterey Jazz Festivals, spanning the time period from 1958 to 1980. The first five ...
read moreDave Brubeck: Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival 1958-2007
by David Rickert
If there is any artist perfectly suited to jazz festivals, it's pianist Dave Brubeck. He gained notoriety through playing for eager tweed jacketed undergrads at college concert halls instead of for barflies at dingy clubs and recorded a few hit songs without losing his jazz cred. It makes sense, then, that Brubeck has performed several times at the Monterey Jazz Fesitval. Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival 1958-2007 captures him from several different years there, and with several different bands.
read moreShirley Horn Trio: Live At the 1994 Monterey Jazz Festival
by Joel Roberts
No jazz singer ever sang as softly and slowly and with such subtle command as Shirley Horn. Her voice often just above a whisper, she forced audiences to hush up and pay attention as she delivered lyrics without flash or pretense, but with a knowing sense of life lived and dues paid.
Three years to the month of her passing in 2005, it’s a gift for Horn’s devotees to have a chance to hear this collection ... read moreLive at the Monterey Jazz Festival: Monterey Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary All Stars
by Joel Roberts
For its 50th anniversary last summer, the Monterey Jazz Festival assembled a multi-generational allstar group--including tenor sax legend James Moody, trumpeter Terence Blanchard, pianist and musical director Benny Green, bassist Derrick Hodge, drummer Kendrick Scott and singer Nnenna Freelon--to reflect the festival's long and diverse musical history. The live recording of the group's performance exhibits some of the unevenness common in these sorts of jam sessions, but the set is more cohesive than most and there are some brilliant moments, ...
read moreMiles Davis: Miles Davis: Live at the 1963 Monterey Jazz Festival
by Samuel Chell
This recording is so fresh and alive sonically and so rich and rewarding musically that forty-five years literally melt away upon hearing it. One doesn't know whether to express gratitude to the producers for releasing a recorded event of such historic significance and rare beauty, or annoyance at those responsible for keeping it on ice for all these years. In any case, it's music that could have been recorded yesterday, assuming a cast like this one could be reassembled.
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