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Dave Valentin: Sunshower
by Douglas Payne
Flautist Dave Valentin is fast becoming as ubiquitous a player as his former teacher, Hubert Laws, used to be. Indeed, Valentin has become the flautist of choice on a great quantity of recent Latin jazz recordings by such varied artists as McCoy Tyner, Tito Puente, Elaine Elias and Dave Samuels. Not as distinctive as Laws (nor ...
Ron Affif: Solotude
by Douglas Payne
Solo jazz attempts to make too much of either a good thing or not enough of something else. In solo guitar jazz, Joe Pass set the standard in 1973 with his series of Virtuoso recordings. But, for allthe Pass acolytes currently plying their trade, guitarist Ron Affif stands out. And not just because he records for ...
Gene Ammons: Boss Tenor
by Douglas Payne
This relaxed, swinging quintet session from 1960 isn't the landmark that many of the other releases in this series are. But it is among the finest, most rewarding music tenor great Gene Ammons (1925-74) ever made. Boss Tenor -- easily confused with Boss Tenors , the 1961 Verve record Ammons cut with Sonny Stitt -- is ...
Sonny Rollins: Saxohone Colossus
by Douglas Payne
In 1956, while still a member of the legendary Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet, tenor titan Sonny Rollins (b. 1930) cut one of his most definitive albums. Imposingly titled Saxophone Colossus , it very quickly became a jazz classic and remains today one of a handful of absolutely essential jazz albums. As vast as Rollins's talents proved ...
Various: Prestige 50th Anniversary Commerative Editions
by Douglas Payne
In celebration of Prestige's 50th anniversary, Fantasy has released a set of ten commemorative editions of some of the label's greatest triumphs. Each of these mostly historic releases is limited to 10,000 copies. Note to fans: get 'em while you can.Each set continues to be widely available through the Original Jazz Classics ...
Thelonious Monk / Sonny Rollins: Thelonius Monk & Sonny Rollins
by Douglas Payne
Hard as it is to believe, states this disc's back-cover blurb, “Thelonious Monk was widely dismissed as an eccentric, while many found the young Sonny Rollins's tenor far too aggressive compared to the then-cool norm." As time passed, though, Monk became progressively more Monk-like (and less likely to explore anything outside of his own increasingly familiar ...
Horace Silver: Retrospective
by Douglas Payne
The hugeness of Horace Silver's musical legacy remains unforgivably unavailable. Blue Note Records, to which the pianist and composer gave outlet to his vast and historically significant discography over a full quarter century, is easily to blame for such inexcusable oversight. This four-disc collection, however, attempts to amass Silver's significance in one fell swoop. Designed as ...
Various Artists: The Prestige Records Story
by Douglas Payne
From 1949 through 1971, Prestige Records was among the most famous and successful of the independent jazz labels. Perhaps only Blue Note, which had its reign during roughly the same period, provided Prestige with significant competition. Both maintained strong, unique identities--even shared many of the same musicians and, in most cases, engineer Rudy Van Gelder. But ...
Mike Stern: Play
by Douglas Payne
If Mike Stern were a guitarist coming out of the 1960s, he'd be a hero today. Sure, there's always John McLaughlin. But not many other guitarists then - or now - could play rock guitar with the high degree of intimacy and the non-assaulting technical prowess that Mike Stern has always possessed.Plus, if there ...
Ted Nash Double Quartet: Rhyme & Reason
by Douglas Payne
Rhyme and Reason seems strikingly serious. Even the combination of reed player Ted Nash's quartet, featuring pianist Frank Kimbrough and bassist Ben Allison, with a string quartet signals a certain seriousness.But reading Nash's notes reveals the disc's inspiration is the naturally creative marvel of children, specifically his own daughters. With this, Nash has attempted ...
