JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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If the Columbia boxed sets of Miles Davis’ fusion period, such as The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions, prove anything, it’s what a hack producer Teo Macero is. He is on record as protesting the release of the many tracks that were the raw materials for releases like Jack Johnson, Big Fun, […]

Jazzbo Notes Essential Recording
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Frankly, I was underwhelmed by the last couple of Scofield releases, 2000’s Bump and 2001’s Works For Me. I was beginning to wonder, “Is this end of the party?” Up to that point, Scofield had had a remarkable career, changing up and tweaking his style constantly, but […]

JAZZBONOTES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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One of the relatively minor works from John Scofield’s phenomenal association with the Gramavision label, Electric Outlet makes up in warmth what it lacks in urgency.
Electric Outlet is unusual in that this is the only one of Scofield’s albums on which he plays bass. That is fitting […]

JAZZBO NOTES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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Not counting the string of funky fusion recordings he made with his brother Randy, this eponymously named date was Michael Brecker’s debut as a leader. He was more than ready. The recording as a whole is a remarkably assured and matured work, balancing intricate ensemble passages […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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Paradoxically incredibly influential and impossible to successfully imitate, The Inner Mounting Flame perfectly encapsulated the prevailing trend in jazz in the early 70s, the complete atomization of the existing jazz genres into a thousand glittering shards.
The Mahavishnu Orchestra’s music contained, along with heaping doses of rock, elements […]

JAZZBO NOTES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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The first time I played my new Joe Henderson in Japan CD, when I heard the first strains of Round Midnight drift over the speakers, my first reaction was “Oh, no. Not again.”
If there’s any standard that receives undue reverence, it’s Round Midnight. Oh, I know […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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I wouldn’t fault anyone for mistaking the music on Self Portraits, Richie Beirach’s set of solo piano pieces, as modern classical music. Many of the techniques and harmonies are taken straight from the classical avant guarde. Much of the time, the rhythms are free, although now and then […]

JAZZBO NOTES RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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You can’t hide the overall good vibe that emanates from Time Capsule, Elvin Jones’ final session for the Vanguard label.
Elvin has played with the best: Coltrane, Shorter, Corea, Liebman, Grossman, Farrell, Hammer, Tyner and many more. To me, the players on Time Capsule don’t quite meet that […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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Probably the single greatest jazz/fusion release of the 70s, Wired combines the talents of Jeff Beck’s band from his previous album, Blow By Blow, with two members of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Jan Hammer and Narada Michael Walden. The result is magic.
Jeff Beck’s brute power and mastery of […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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Featuring extended sonic landscapes that expand and contract organically, Yellow Fields is unlike anything you will ever hear, with the exception of Eberhard Weber’s other releases with his group Colours, Silent Feet and Little Movements.
Jazz is generally defined as improvisational music that grows out of the blues, […]