JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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For those of you who are familiar with Brad Mehldau from his Art of the Trio recordings, you might expect Largo to be studious and slightly fussy. You would be wrong. Largo is Brad Mehldau’s most eclectic and adventurous release to date, not only in his approach to composition, but in […]

JAZZBO NOTES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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I first became acquainted with pianist Jim McNeely’s compositions on his big band release East Coast Blow Out. His approach to arranging is unique, as are his compositions. Jim McNeely’s music sounds like absolutely no one else. He’s as much an original in his own way […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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Feels Good To Me is an extension of the Canterbury Sound, a hybrid of pop and jazz exemplified by such groups as Hatfield of the North. Drummer Bill Bruford’s band even includes keyboardist Dave Stewart, who was in Hatfield of the North, and guitarist Allan Holdsworth, who […]

JAZZBO NOTES RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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The Killer Bees project was born as a result of legendary percussionist Airto Moreira’s desire to revisit the days back in the early 70s when the cream of Manhattan’s musicians used to gather in lofts to jam with each other. Such luminaries as Chick Corea, Dave Liebman, Jan Hammer, Dave Holland, […]

JAZZBO NOTES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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Ho hum, another excellent album from McCoy Tyner on the Milestone label. Tyner’s years with Milestone yielded any number of superior releases, and Song For My Lady is no exception.
The problem for Tyner at this point was to find bandmates who could match him in terms […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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Weather Report (1982) opens with a bang, with the driving Volcano for Hire. The band, consisting of Joe Zawinul on keys, Wayne Shorter on sax, Jaco Pastorius on bass, Peter Erskine on drums, and Robert Thomas, Jr. on percussion, is possibly the greatest ever under the Weather […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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The operative word for Loud Jazz is fun. Without sacrificing formal sophistication or wickedly incisive solos, Scofield has written tunes that are witty and full of life. His band has incredible vitality, and the grooves all but jump for joy.
For Loud Jazz, Scofield is uses his regular band from that […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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It’s astonishing to think that one of the greatest free jazz recordings of all time would never have seen the light of day had it not been for the efforts of bassist Gene Perla, the founder of PM Records. If it weren’t for Gene, Open Sky would exist only as a […]

JAZZBO NOTES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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In the late 70s, Hal Galper had the misfortune of playing in a modal style very similar to that of McCoy Tyner, who basically owns that style. Plus, Galper can be a little sloppy at times, which relegates him to the 2nd level of jazz pianists […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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The 1963 Live at Birdland comes right before John Coltrane’s last period, where he largely abandoned traditional song forms in favor of improvisations on harmonic fragments, extended into epic, hypnotic drones, and even complete abdication of tonality at times.
Unusual for live Coltrane, the playing times of the […]