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Larry Young: Unity – 1965 – The Missing Link
by Marc Davis
In high school and college in the 1970s, I was a huge fan of progressive rock, especially Yes and Emerson Lake & Palmer. As a pianist myself, I was floored by Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson. How did they do that? Fast, creative, loud, part-rock, part-jazz, part-classical. Wow. My obsession with Moog synthesizers led ...
Bennie Green: Soul Stirrin’ - 1958
by Marc Davis
In the 1950s, Blue Note was a reliable bastion of hard bop. Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers set the tone, and dozens of artists--some famous, some not--followed. But Blue Note also had small oases of not-bop, often by artists you've never heard of. Bennie Green is one of those guys, and if you ...
Sonny Rollins, Volume One – 1956
by Marc Davis
It's easy to like Sonny Rollins. The guy is bluesy, edgy and clever. And it almost doesn't matter which period of Rollins' career you choose. It's all pretty terrific. But there's an unexpected down side: Because Rollins has so many fantastic recordings, listening to ones that are merely good can be a little disappointing. ...
Ornette Coleman at the Golden Circle - 1965
by Marc Davis
Let's start with a disclaimer: I'm not a fan of free jazz. So why would I even bother with an album I was pretty sure I'd dislike? There's a practical answer: It was on sale. I was in a record store recently that was having a buy-one-get-one-for-$1 sale. So I got a CD I ...
Dexter Gordon: Our Man in Paris – 1963
by Marc Davis
For some reason, Dexter Gordon doesn't immediately leap to my mind when I think of A-list bop saxmen. He should. Our Man in Paris is all the evidence you need. Gordon made a bunch of terrific records for Blue Note from 1961 to 1964. Some say Go! from 1962, with pianist Sonny Clark, is ...
Charlie Rouse: Bossa Nova Bacchanal – 1962
by Marc Davis
What a happy record! And what a delightful change from the usual 1960s Blue Note formula. You know the drill. In the 1960s, Blue Note was the go-to label for two kinds of jazz: hard bop and soul-jazz. But Blue Note was never the reigning bossa nova label. When the Brazilian phenomenon swept the ...
Donald Byrd: A New Perspective - 1963
by Marc Davis
A New Perspective is unlike any jazz album you've heard before--and the change is refreshing. The biggest difference? Voices--singers, but not jazz singers. A New Perspective includes a seven-voice gospel choir, singing wordless syllables. Not scat, but pure notes. At first, the choir feels wrong. The very first notes of this 1963 ...
Stanley Turrentine and The 3 Sounds: Blue Hour – 1960
by Marc Davis
Every good record collection has music for many moods. Feeling frantic? Try Dizzy Gillespie or the Ramones. Feel like dancing? Definitely the big bands. Feeling wistful? Maybe Ben Webster or Frank Sinatra. But if you're feeling blue, you need Stanley Turrentine, and Blue Hour is exactly the right prescription. Stanley Turrentine is ...
Joe Henderson: Page One – 1963
by Marc Davis
Joe Henderson is one of those jazz guys who made such a spectacular comeback late in life that you tend to forget how good he was in the beginning. Page One is all the evidence you need of Henderson's early heroics. Let's start at the end. The last four albums of Henderson's ...
George Braith: The Complete Blue Note Sessions - 1963-64
by Marc Davis
Playing two saxophones at once is a gimmick, and not a very good one. It can be done, and maybe if your name is Rahsaan Roland Kirk, you can even sell a few records doing it. But it's not a great artistic achievement, and the sound you get is mostly tinny and obnoxious. Which ...
