Just Between Friends, bassist Ron Carter and tenor saxophonist Houston Person’s first studio duo encounter since Dialogues in 2002, boasts a spot-on album title. A … Read More “Houston Person & Ron Carter : Just Between Friends”
In an era of hyperbole run riot, modesty can be a most becoming attribute. Alec Dankworth-yes, the son of British saxophonist John Dankworth and vocal … Read More “Alec Dankworth : If You’re Passing By…”
If, on listening to Perfect Circularity, you aren’t immediately reminded of I Concentrate on You, the 1974 duet recording uniting saxophonist Lee Konitz and bassist … Read More “Gary Foster/Putter Smith: Perfect Circularity”
Although he spent his entire adult life playing bass with a swath of the most acclaimed jazz musicians of his time, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen also … Read More “Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen : The Unforgettable NHOP Trio Live”
It would be difficult, from the evidence provided by the first volume of Sunnyside Records’ quarter-century anniversary collection, to determine if this intrepid indie possesses a label … Read More “Various Artists: Sunnyside Twenty-Fifth Anniversary: Volume 1”
In the accompanying notes to Re: Pasolini, pianist Stefano Battaglia clarifies his ingenious musical interpretations of the works of Italian film auteur, poet and political … Read More “Stefano Battaglia : Re: Pasolini”
The names tell the whole story. Johnny Hodges, Cootie Williams, Rex Stewart, Barney Bigard-the principal figures of these seven vital discs, not to mention their … Read More “Duke Ellington: The Complete 1936-1940 Variety, Vocalion and Okeh Small Group Sessions”
Mainstream swing recordings featuring veteran players can carry a special set of deep satisfactions. Musicians who came of age playing in big bands and/or working … Read More “Hank Jones with Frank Wess: Hank and Frank”
Gary Smulyan’s latest album comes with a built-in game sure to please bop-ophiles the world over. Each of the near-to-obscure jazz tunes the baritone saxophonist … Read More “Gary Smulyan: Hidden Treasures”
Sidney Bechet was the original saxophone colossus. The New Orleans pioneer displayed such a larger-than-life presence on soprano saxophone and clarinet at such an early … Read More “Sidney Bechet: Mosaic Select 22”
Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and John Coltrane, Yuri Yunakov and Ivo Papasov. If the latter names don’t carry the historic cachet of … Read More “Yuri Yanakov and Ivo Papasov: Together Again”
The final two decades of Red Mitchell’s career might be dubbed “the duo years.” From the start of the ’70s to his death in 1992, … Read More “Red Mitchell and George Cables: Live at Port Townsend”
Geoffrey Haydon wasn’t at Toronto’s Massey Hall back in 1953 when Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Bud Powell and Max Roach gathered for an … Read More “Quintet of the Year by Geoffrey Haydon”
Like an unadorned cardboard box that houses a jewel, the cover of drummer Harvey Mason’s latest album doesn’t let on about the hidden riches within. … Read More “Harvey Mason: With All My Heart”
