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Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis (Prestige: Goin' to the Meetin'
by Derek Taylor
The esthetic and visceral aspects of Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis’ music have been on my mind a lot lately. My regular AAJ column “Combing the Fantasy Catalog” allowed me the welcome chance to explore his Prestige label legacy at length, but much to my regret this recent reissue wasn’t in circulation until after I’d put the wrap ...
Gerry Mulligan Quartets: In Concert
by Derek Taylor
Gerry Mulligan’s pianoless quartet with Chet Baker is commonly cited as an early artistic apogee in the careers of both its frontline participants. Less widely lauded, Mulligan’s other quartet with valve trombonist/pianist Bob Brookmeyer, which followed on the heels of the Baker association, was every bit as creatively prosperous and this pair of concerts reissued by ...
Shirley Scott: Like Cozy
by Derek Taylor
In the ranks of unsung organists Shirley Scott has to be among the most overlooked. A veteran of countless Prestige studio gigs and an indispensable creative cog in the Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis organ combo of the late 1950s her role in popularizing and broadening her instrument’s appeal is difficult to overstate. Yet she’s rarely named among ...
Zoot Sims & Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis: The Tenor Giants
by Derek Taylor
In the traits of tone and phrasing tenor icons Zoot and Jaws were hardly doppelgangers. Jaws of the clipped rasp and pinched carving wail and Zoot with the more effusive, easygoing sound- the two together made for instant and compelling contrast in terms of both philosophy and execution. The common ground the pair shared was in ...
The All Rectangle: Ke Ala Mano (The Way of the Shark)
by Derek Taylor
Geometry is purely relative construct in the realm of The All Rectangle. Comprised at various points of anywhere from three to seven players its an aggregate that routinely circumvents spatial strictures in search for an all-expansive sound. Through strong musicianship and a creative consensus that integrates elements of electronica and trance into the fusionary legacy first ...
William Parker: Song Cycle
by Derek Taylor
With a reputation and creative resonance that continues to blossom William Parker has come along way since his beginnings in creative improvised music at the dawn of the 1970s. Much more than a formidable bassist, though it's through this persona that he's arguably garnered the most clout, each succeeding project and album continues to reveal the ...
Flaherty/ Kelley/ Voigt/ Cook: The Ilya Tree
by Derek Taylor
Creative improvised music is alive with provincial nooks and crannies, geographical pockets where the music thrives with relative independence from its more visible urban epicenters. These regional locales are in fact one of the primary channels by which the tradition is propagated and expanded upon. Paul Flaherty is an acknowledged patriarch of one such province- up-state ...
World Saxophone Quartet: 25th Anniversary
by Derek Taylor
Dressed to the nines in white tuxedos for the cover photo of this disc the WSQ obviously takes its quarter-century anniversary seriously. As they should, the four saxophonists have been something of an institution since their inception in 1976. Rolling the years forward from their inaugural run the group has undergone the requisite changes and growing ...
Earl Hooker: There's A Fungus Amung Us
by Derek Taylor
The reasons behind Earl Hooker’s lack of public notoriety are not difficult to discern when his discography is stacked up against that of his more famous cousin John Lee Hooker. The bulk of Earl’s legacy lies in the prolific, but largely anonymous session work he did for labels like Chief, Chess and King and it wasn’t ...
Dexter Gordon: L.T.D.
by Derek Taylor
For most fans of hard bop the fact that this disc presents previously unreleased Dexter Gordon of late 60s vintage will alone be sufficient impetus to make the remainder of this review superfluous. Discovery of vault tapes is always cause for celebration and this set, recorded on the occasion of one of Long Tall Dex’s (source ...
