The title is a sneaky misnomer. It’s not mainstream funk—it’s obscure soul-jazz and jazz-funk originally released on Mainstream Records. And it slaps. Mainstream Funk gathers … Read More “Various Artists: Mainstream Funk (Wewantsounds)”
Had he accomplished just one of the following—creating and promoting the game-changing Jazz at the Philharmonic concert series; launching the Clef, Norgran and Verve labels; … Read More “Various Artists: Norman Granz: The Founder (Verve)”
The best parts of the live Jazz & the Philharmonic are the ones it downplays. It’s being sold as a CD, but the included DVD … Read More “Various Artists: Jazz & the Philharmonic”
Amidst all of the hoopla surrounding the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ arrival in America, it’s worth tossing aside the group’s cultural impact for a … Read More “Various Artists: The Beatles: A Jazz Tribute”
Some albums, especially many of those issued by the venerable German label ECM, unfold like movie soundtracks. The magnificent six-CD set Selected Signs III-VIII unfurls … Read More “Various Artists: Selected Signs III-VIII”
Mickey Hart, one of the musicians featured on The Road to Jajouka, once said that his band, the Grateful Dead, was not in the music … Read More “Various Artists: The Road to Jajouka”
The five-CD set Long Story Short is a distillation of the 2011 Music Unlimited festival in Wels, Austria, curated by angry-jazz saxophonist Peter Brötzmann. The … Read More “Various Artists: Long Story Short: Curated By Peter Brötzmann”
This double-CD, packing 23 tracks per disc, is loaded with music as far from corporate as can be. A sequel to the acclaimed roots rarities … Read More “Various Artists: The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of”
“Poetry makes nothing happen,” W.H. Auden quipped, but it has long been the bailiwick of artists to make something happen long after the dust has … Read More “Various Artists: Arts for Life: My Life is Bold”
Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen officially launched GRP in 1982, applying high standards for audio production to recordings featuring jazz masters (Dizzy Gillespie, Gerry Mulligan) … Read More “Various Artists: GRP 30”
