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Frank Sinatra: Sinatra - Vegas
by Samuel Chell
Frank Sinatra Sinatra--Vegas Reprise Records 2006 Downbeat magazine's listing of this recording as among the best of 2007 reminds us that not the least of the phenomenal one's talents was his towering strength as a “jazz singer": Sinatra, in fact, was a classy hat trick, a spectacular three-act opera, three ...
Samuel Chell's Best of 2007: Two Distinguished Dozens
by Samuel Chell
Any artist has a love-hate relationship with the past, the “modern" descendant necessarily engaged in an Oedipal struggle with the formidable progenitor. Yet without acknowledging the continuing presence of the past, there can be no tradition. And without tradition--which prizes the “inventive" above the “creative"-- there can be no genuine art. Attempts to create beauty without ...
Jack Reilly Trio: Innocence - Green Spring Suite
by Samuel Chell
Jack Reilly Trio Innocence: Green Spring Suite Unichrom 2007 “A man's reach must exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?" Pianist/composer Jack Reilly is a creative spirit whose temperament matches that of an indomitably positive, life-affirming major poet such as Robert Browning. Seeing obstacles as challenges, set-backs as opportunities, ...
Rufus Harley: Pipes of Peace
by Samuel Chell
Rufus Harley Pipes Of Peace B.L.A.S.T. 2007 Not too many subjects would seem more assured of cinematic success than a profile of the world's first and only recognized jazz bagpiper--whose life story ended, moreover, with his appropriation of the title “International Ambassador of Freedom." On the other hand, when a ...
Miles Davis: Miles Davis: Live at the 1963 Monterey Jazz Festival
by Samuel Chell
This recording is so fresh and alive sonically and so rich and rewarding musically that forty-five years literally melt away upon hearing it. One doesn't know whether to express gratitude to the producers for releasing a recorded event of such historic significance and rare beauty, or annoyance at those responsible for keeping it on ice for ...
Terry Gibbs: Terry Gibbs Quartet Featuring Terry Pollard
by Samuel Chell
This eponymous album, made in 1954 for Mercury's EmArcy label, was Terry Gibbs' first recording under his own name and established him as the “wild man of the vibes" (he still is!). The nine tunes are a combination of Gibbs originals and swing era-classics, with only one ballad (Jimmy Van Heusen's “Imagination") to give the listener ...
Keely Smith: The Essential Capitol Collection
by Samuel Chell
Keely Smith The Essential Capitol Collection Capitol/EMI 2007 Of all the great American female singers, Keely Smith may be the most naturally gifted. The instrument, the technique, the sense of melodic line all invite the closest analysis and emulation--simply exemplary, textbook examples of the art of singing. How ...
Kenny Dorham: Kenny Dorham: Jazz Contrasts
by Samuel Chell
In the new liner notes included with this addition to the Keepnews Collection on Riverside, the producer expresses his satisfaction with this 1957 “blowing" album, showcasing the trumpeter whom, after Clifford Brown, he considers second to none. Recorded approximately a year following Brown's passing, the date demonstrates Dorham's gifts as a balladeer, composer and, above all, ...
Les Paul: Jazz Guitarist
by Samuel Chell
Perhaps the greatest revelation of Chasing Sound, the DVD based on the recent Public Broadcasting Service telecast of the career of Les Paul, is that the icon is still a conscious, thinking human being and performing musician. After that dubious birthday album American Made/World Played (EMI, 2005), which trumpeted the return of the inventor of the ...
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers: Caravan
by Samuel Chell
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers Caravan Riverside Keepnews Collection 2007 Given the limited activity of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers for the Riverside label, Caravan is a somewhat curious early entry in the string of remasters making up the Keepnews Collection. Even avid collectors of the band's recordings tend to ...
