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The Amazing Bud Powell, Volumes 1 and 2 – Blue Note 1503 and 1504
by Marc Davis
In the pantheon of bebop's Founding Fathers, there are three giants. Everyone knows Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Everyone forgets Bud Powell. Like Bird and Diz, Powell could spit out notes faster than anyone before or since. Also like Bird and Diz, Powell sometimes fell in love with his own speed, so some recordings ...
Horace Silver: The Hard Bop Grandpop
by Marc Davis
With musicians, and artists generally, there's a tendency to think the best work is the earliest. It's usually true. Paul McCartney was never better than when he recorded with the Beatles. Chuck Berry's best work was the early hits like “Johnny B. Goode" and “Roll Over Beethoven." Tom Wolfe hasn't written anything as good ...
Miles Davis, Volume 1 and 2 -- Blue Note 1501 and 1502
by Marc Davis
Miles Davis didn't record much for Blue Note Records, just three sessions in three years. So it's odd that the very first two CDs in Blue Note's classic 1500 series--the 100 albums from the 1950s that made Blue Note the top label in hard bop--are from Miles Davis. They're not bad records, but they're ...
Marcus Roberts: Portraits in Blue
by Marc Davis
This has to be the most raucous, the most bluesy, the most improvisational “Rhapsody in Blue" ever recorded. And not all of the best improvisation is by Marcus Roberts. Wailing clarinets and wandering trumpets abound. And it is all in a spirit of the original, so much so that I believe jazz-loving George Gershwin would have ...
My Blue Note Obsession: A Ridiculous Quest Begins
by Marc Davis
Two years ago, I bought 31 Agatha Christie novels--all at once. Then I wanted more. It didn't seem nutty at the time. My local library sells used books. One day I was in the store and there they were: a set of blue-covered, leatherette books. It was the Agatha Christie Mystery Collection by Bantam ...
George Gershwin: Gershwin Performs Gershwin: Of Rhythm and Constipation
by Marc Davis
Insert your favorite toilet joke here.I tried. I considered dozens of poop puns, then finally decided nothing could top reality. So here it is:In the 1930s, George Gershwin--already a huge star--hosted a radio show on which he played piano between laxative commercials.It's funny, really, when you hear it. And yet ...
Various Artists: Impulsively Ellington!: A Tribute to Duke Ellington
by Marc Davis
It's not hard to find Duke Ellington cover songs. Nearly every jazz musician alive (and many long dead) has covered an Ellington tune or two. Some have done entire albums. Ella Fitzgerald did a three-CD set. Many covers are so well-known and so ordinary, they're hardly worth finding. “Sophisticated Lady" has been done to ...
Chicago Transit Authority / Chicago II / Chicago III
by Marc Davis
Chicago, the rock band, is not what you remember. Well, it is, but it's also more than that. The Chicago you remember is the hit machine of the '70s: “25 or 6 to 4," “Beginnings," “Make Me Smile," “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" and many others. Of course, Chicago is also ...
Art Tatum: Trio Days
by Marc Davis
I was wrong. I like Art Tatum. But in a slightly different way. My introduction to Art Tatum, many years ago, was a series of solo piano albums. They left me cold. No question, the man was gifted beyond belief. He could play faster, more accurately and with a greater sense of ...
Chick Corea: The Ultimate Adventure: You Can't Return to Forever
by Marc Davis
The Beatles are gone. I know that. But I keep thinking if I buy just one more Paul McCartney CD, maybe the old magic will return. Maybe. But it never does. Paul McCartney is like that. You know how great he was with the Beatles. You even know how great some of ...
