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Thad Jones: Detroit-New York Junction – Blue Note 1513
by Marc Davis
Before he became famous as the leader of a big band, Thad Jones was a trumpet player, and a damn good one. In 1956, Jones led his first jazz group. It was a small sextet--unlike his later, more celebrated ensemble, co-led by Mel Lewis. This short album, which chronicles that session, has only five ...
Thelonious Monk: Genius of Modern Music, Volume 1 – Blue Note 1510
by Marc Davis
There's bebop, there's hard bop--and then there's Thelonious Monk. It's not hard to imagine where the bebop pioneers found their new sound in the late 1940s, after World War II. It emerged from the big bands, which were dying. It was a natural progression. Hard-charging, uber-fast soloists pushed the limits of speed and rhythm, ...
My Pet Peeve: The Mislabeled CD – Clifford Brown Memorial Album – Blue Note 1526
by Marc Davis
And now it's time for a personal pet peeve, something far worse than a squeaky sax or a fumble-fingered pianist: The mislabeled CD. Today's example: The Clifford Brown Memorial Album. Let's start by noting that this is a terrific record--recorded in 1953, released in 1956, shortly after Brown's tragic death in a ...
The Jazz Messengers at the Café Bohemia, Volumes 1 and 2 – Blue Note 1507 and 1508
by Marc Davis
Is it possible for a band to be both legendary and underrated? The Jazz Messengers at the Café Bohemia makes that case. Jazz fans know the Jazz Messengers is the definitive, go-to band for straight-ahead hard bop. Art Blakey was both master drummer and master talent scout--the man who co-founded and sustained the celebrated ...
J.J. Johnson: The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Volumes 1 and 2 – Blue Note 1505 and 1506
by Marc Davis
Think of jazz, and the trombone almost never comes to mind. Didn't used to be. In the beginning, every jazz band had a trombone. But that was the Dixieland era, and Dixieland bands aren't much in vogue anymore. (Unless you're a fan of HBO's Treme and you listen to Trombone Shorty. Sadly, not enough ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
