Bill Evans's return to full activity in 1962 came almost a year after his celebrated trio recordings at the Village Vanguard. Just ten days after that classic "live" session, bassist Scott LaFaro had died in a highway accident. Evans, deeply shaken, eventually reformed his trio with the same drummer (Paul Motian) and Chuck Israels on bass. Their first visit to a studio was for a dual purpose: To make an all-ballad-tempo album, Moonbeams, and this "normal" set at the same time. It was producer Orrin Keepnews's thought that recording eight slow numbers in a row might prove unduly enervating; accordingly, the total two-album repertoire was interspersed over three days of recording and the net result was two excellent additions to the Evans catalog. With Chuck Israels, Paul Motian. Tracks: How My Heart Sings, I Should Care, in Your Own Sweet Way (take 1), Walking Up, Summertime, 34 Skidoo, Ev'rything I Love, Show-Type Tune.
Vinyl LP pressing. Saxophonist and flutist Sam Rivers followed-up his striking debut Fuchsia Swing Song with the tremendous album Contours, which was recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's Englewood Cliffs, NJ studio in 1965 with a top flight band featuring Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Joe Chambers on drums. The quintet explored four of Rivers' engaging original compositions - "Point of Many Returns" "Dance of the Tripedal" "Euterpe" and "Mellifluous Cacophony" - with a profound spirit of freedom and innovation while keeping a foot firmly planted in Post-Bop. Blue Note Records' Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series is produced by Joe Harley and features all-analog, mastered-from-the-original-master-tape 180gm audiophile vinyl reissues in deluxe gatefold packaging. Mastering is by Kevin Gray (Cohearent Audio) and vinyl is manufactured at Record Technology Incorporated (RTI).
More than 30 years ago Miles Davis recorded this music in the company of such other giants as Milt Jackson, Thelonious Monk, Kenny Clarke, Percy Heath, Sonny Rollins, and Horace Silver. Today the music they made is regarded as classic. "Bags' Groove," in two versions, is a perfect illustration of the improvisatory process, and the various delights that can develop from take to take; the date with Rollins reveals his development toward major status. It is hard to believe that having heard these 1954 recordings, the critics could have called Davis's triumph at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1955 a "comeback." with Milt Jackson, Thelonious Monk, Percy Heath, Kenny Clarke, Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver. Tracks: Bags' Groove (2 takes), Airegin, Oleo, But Not for Me (2 takes), Doxy.
In 1960, the hugely innovative Coltrane was taking some giant steps of his own - this was the first recording of an entirely Trane-penned set and it achieved the stunning emotional intensity for which his live work was renowned. Warner Jazz. 2005.
Duke Ellington's "The Feeling of Jazz" from Black Lion Records, remastered for the first time in decades by legendary engineer, Bernie Grundman. Performed by the 1962 Duke Ellington Orchestra featuring: Cat Anderson, Harold Baker, Aaron Bell, Bill Berry, Lawrence Brown, Roy Burrowes, Harry Carney, Chuck Conners, Buster Cooper, Leon Cox, Paul Gonsalves, Jimmy Hamilton, Johnny Hodges, Ray Nance, Russell Procope, and Sam Woodyard.
Recorded on August 26, 1965 (and not released until after his death in heavily edited form), Sun Ship was the final recording by John Coltrane's quartet with drummer Elvin Jones, pianist McCoy Tyner, and bassist Jimmy Garrison. After nearly four years together, this band had achieved a vital collective identity. When Coltrane moved toward metrically free styles of rhythm and melody (with tunes often based on one chord or a short series of notes as themes), the quartet's rhythmic pulse and collective interplay evolved accordingly. The title track opens with a splintered theme. Garrison and Jones group dramatically around the leader's call, then rhythmically abstract the pulse; they imply a central rhythm more than state one. Tyner crafts a monumental solo full of crashing modulations and heated single lines. Coltrane reenters at full tilt, alternating throttled upper-register cries with crunching bass declamations, using multiphonics and altissimo as the levitating rhythm boils around him. Garrison and Jones are featured on "Ascent" and "Attaining, " where they unveil bold new solutions for coming in and out of tempo, and manipulating dynamics while maintaining an amorphous yet authoritative ebb and flow. The gyrating, oceanic waves of "Dearly Beloved" suggest earlier balladic explorations such as "Alabama, " with Coltrane's keening tenor providing a taut melodic focus for the multi-layered, nearly ritualistic rhythms surrounding him. Tyner's great chordal waves and contrapuntal motion build to a surging climax before the saxophonist reenters to bring them all home. On "Amen, " the saxophonist announces a spare modal theme that evokes swing, but refracts it through free jazz. While a summation for this quartet, Sun Ship is also an exciting if unfinished prelude to Coltrane's final period of transformation.
The debut recording by acoustic upright bassist and vocalist Esperanza Spalding, a native of Portland, OR, is an exercise in joy and freedom. Well rendered for such a very young musician, it's quite notable, considering the certainty of her concept and clarity of her vision. While steeped in contemporary jazz, there are Latin flavors, unabashed free moments, and some implied and direct swing. Further, it is an expression of her well-being, optimism, and future hope for her life in this music. Also in her peer group, pianist Aruan Ortiz and drummer Francisco Mela add a hundredfold to this music and establish themselves as leaders-to-be, and are quite capable partners for Spalding's wonderful sounds. The first piece, a take of the Jimmy Rowles evergreen "The Peacocks," let's you know something special is going on. Spalding's bass leads out with the probing piano of Ortiz as wordless vocals and a modal jam all precede the melody, followed by a free section. The imagination quotient of this interpretation is off the charts. "Mompouana" is a most impressive circular tune surrounding the sweetness and light of Spalding's voice in a 9/8 time signature, choppy piano motifs, upper to midrange drama, and thoughtful, intricate secondary lines. In their ultimate playful state, "Perazuan" and "Perazela" show Spalding's ability to scat, with Ortiz on the former and furiously alongside Mela on the latter track. The other covers are a darker-than-the-original rendition of Chick Corea's neo-bopper "Humpty Dumpty" and the personable, lighthearted "Loro," written by Egberto Gismonti. "Two Bad," with a feeling reminiscent of the standard "Alone Together," is a brittle, quirky, and unpredictable tune that is the only instrumental of the lot. Spalding sings no lyric content whatsoever; her style is all natural, sensual, and precious. Whether she is coerced to sing songs in the future is to be determined. Junjo is an auspicious beginning that should catch the ears of any lover of great music.
The famed extended recording sessions of the Miles Davis Quintet, wherein they taped the band's basic repertoire (and what a marvelous mixture of jazz originals and standards) in the manner of nightclub sets rather than the repetition of the usual studio takes. Cookin' was the first to be released and it excited listeners not only with it's contents but with it's promise of more to come. Davis, Coltrane, Garland, Chambers, and Philly Joe: one of the classic groups in the history of jazz. It established a level of excellence that was to foster a long, successive line of outstanding Davis quintets and sextets through the Fifties and Sixties. From the muted eloquence of "My Funny Valentine," through the fingerpoppin' "Blues by Five," to the urgent swing of "Airegin" and "Tune-Up," Cookin' has the ability to thrill the listener no matter how many times it is played-the mark of an all-time great performance. With John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones. T
Matana Roberts is one of the leading lights of contemporary African-American experimental music, combining her widely recognized gifts as an alto saxophone player and improviser with an intensely engaged re-definition of American Jazz traditions. While it may sound trite, we truly feel this music speaks for itself. It rallies adventurous improv, experimental voice and narrative, a wide array of black folkways, and Matana's impassioned lead playing to tremendous emotional and conceptual effect.
Limited edition high definition premium 180gm vinyl LP repressing of this classic Jazz album. Originally issued on vinyl, the ongoing popularity of LP pressings and repressings has ensured the longevity of this format for years to come. Jazz Wax Records. 2010.
Calling Planet Earth comes from a concert recorded at Tivoli Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark on December 5, 1971. Sun Ra and his Arkestra are captured in their prime, while exploring some of their most far out material to date. The recording is finally getting it's first ever vinyl release. This Record Store Day 2015 exclusive pressing is limited to 2,000 copies worldwide. Colored Vinyl version is no longer available 2016.
