BeBop / Hard Bop - CD Reviews (481)
When I receive a review copy of anything on "32 JAZZ", my heart begins to palpitate. What goodies are they sending me this time? This is a beautiful reissue of a session wh…
Read more...
The late Woody Shaw was one of the best jazz trumpet players in the late 1960s through the early 1980s. Perhaps he wasn't better known because he had one foot planted in th…
Read more...
Ford is one of the stars of the unheralded generation who came up in the seventies playing it relatively straight - if you can call playing with the late Charles Mingus pla…
Read more...
When most folks talk about the great trumpet players of the 60s, you know they're going to mention Miles, Lee Morgan, Kenny Dorham & Freddie Hubbard, but rarely - oddly eno…
Read more...
From the first notes of David Rees' bluesy Yamaha grand piano and Barry Watson's soul-stirring harmonica on the title cut of Mr. Watson's debut album Building Dreams, the l…
Read more...
This one runs by so fast: subtle grace, flawless hands, a playful wink at odd moments. That Hank Jones, and it's also Fats Waller, two great stylists best known for other t…
Read more...
The John Adams Quartet conjures up an image of a four-volume biography of an American President or perhaps a new minimalist string quartet from a contemporary composer. The…
Read more...
The Best Bassist You Never Heard Of Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (b.1946 - d.2005) was a legendary Danish bassist and …
Read more...
Dimitrios Vassilakis is a tenor & soprano saxophonist/composer from Greece, though he has been known to hobnob with an American or three (his latest CD Daedalus features Da…
Read more...
There is a little dark bar I like to go to where people know things. We wile away the nights in friendly arguments. Which phase of Bergman’s career gave us the best movi…
Read more...
An Excellent Early Miles Davis Rarity In July 1956, Miles Davis returned to his hometown for a two-night stint at the infamous Peacock Alley in Gaslight Square. A…
Read more...
The year was 1957. Monk and Trane got together for a couple nights at the Five Spot. This music is timeless. By now, any serious jazz fan knows this music by heart. But aft…
Read more...
The jazz idiom is famous for initiating a gathering of great players for unforgettable sessions. In 1978, four of the best in the business gathered to combine their talents…
Read more...
For the jazz fan who likes the way Monk performs on a piano, this is a perfect gift. These eleven selections were originally recorded in San Francisco, California on Octobe…
Read more...
Jack McDuff’s importance to the sub-genres of jazz is beyond what anyone had previously given him credit for, in truth he is an important link to the blending of jazz, soul…
Read more...
.... As if every note was sent from Heaven A Review of Miles Davis’ Masterpiece, "Kind of Blue" Browsing for something new at a local record store, I glanced over in the ja…
Read more...
Arnett Cobb is "Movin’ Right Along" on all eight tracks that encompass this original jazz classic. Released in 1960 originally, it was a roadmap to the sound of bop with se…
Read more...
This is certainly an ironic title for someone that ended up in jail for possession of heroin. Art Pepper’s Smack Up was a classic exploration of his instinctive abil…
Read more...
As a prelude to his first undisputed classic "Saxophone Colossus," "Tenor Madness" was recorded in May ’56 during a hyper period of recording. Hoping to distance himself fr…
Read more...
A Modern Jazz Symposium of Music and Poetry is a classic recording that should not be overlooked. It was originally released in 1957 between the absolut…
Read more...