For the first time in at least five years, it seems that the jazz market has evened out, with few surprises and even fewer reissues when compared with the plethora of vault goodies that have seen the light of day over the past decade. Although Ken Burns’s Jazz created some momentum, marketing ploys favored the kind of compilation discs that hardcore jazzers stay away from like the plague. Nonetheless, among the slim pickings this year were the selected gems listed below, in no particular …

Well it’s been a few years now that the legendary recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder has been working on restoring the legacy that he’s played such a big part in. The man responsible for the larger than life sound that categorized the vast majority of Blue Note recordings from the late ‘50s to the late ‘60s, Van Gelder first started his project of remastering albums in 24-bit digital for Japan. While the American counterpart series to the Japanese is quite a bit smaller in scope, quite re …

Following the most recent batch of Van Gelder reissues that focused on the label’s earliest sides (the current set of Stateside RVG Editions numbers some 56 albums), a new set of titles launched at the start of 2002 attempts to pick up some stray items from the modern period, including several albums that have never been available in the United States on compact disc. So, in no particular order, here’s a quick synopsis of some praiseworthy and up-to-the-minute RVG Editions. Maybe it was the s …

When it comes to the opportunity to expose some of the many talents that got lost in the shuffle during the ‘50s and ‘60s, no other concern has more to unearth than Fantasy’s group of associated labels, including Prestige, Riverside, and Contemporary. Through their Limited Edition Series, Fantasy is able to present releases that will undoubtedly appeal to only a small number of jazz fans, but will nonetheless have importance in bringing to light some unfairly ignored performers and performances. …

Without a doubt, the piano trio provides an ideal format for jazz. Complex and yet ideally manageable, the grouping can speak with the authority of a big band or bring it down to a soft whisper. Furthermore, the bass and drums offer up enough variety in terms of sound and texture to keep it all interesting. Even after Bill Evans and others have had their say in terms of what the piano trio offers, the ensemble continues to be a viable one in the hands of some modern practitioners, as we shall se …