WORTH A LISTEN
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Randy Weston has said that arranger Melba Liston is his musical soul mate, and he has a point. Her bottom-heavy arrangements lumber along like an inebriated bear, which fits with Randy Weston’s Monk in Africa style. The only problem for me is that Randy Weston, if he is playing with a small […]

WORTH A LISTEN
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In a sense, Miles Ahead is only nominally a Miles Davis release. Yes, his lyrical trumpet style is unmistakable, but by necessity, the opportunities for serious improvisation are constrained by the elaborate arrangements by Gil Evans for a 19 piece band.
Let’s get this out of the way. Miles plays fine, with his […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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For me, I’d rather listen to Tete Montoliu play solo more than any other single pianist. His 1974 release Songs For Love is one of the reasons.
He has a very consistent approach to material, which is not really a drawback for me.
Take Montoliu’s interpretation of J. van […]

JAZZBO NOTES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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Actually, this reissue by Rhino records includes not only The Rise and Fall of the Third Stream but also Zawinul’s release Money In The Pocket.
As you would expect from the title, The Rise and Fall of the Third Stream is an attempt to fuse ideas from classical music with jazz, […]

JAZZBO NOTES RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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Normally, I don’t listen to a lot of straight ahead mainstream jazz, but I’ve got to admit, I was quite taken with Mikey’s Waltz.
Guitarist Mike Wheeler has chops galore, an inventive melodic sense, a lovely tone slightly reminiscent of Joe Pass, and judging from his unerring ability to swing, a metronome […]

All Jazzbo Notes members are invited to enter the “John Coltrane - Meditations” Giveaway Contest.
Meditations is considered by many to be one of John Coltrane’s late period masterpieces. According to Scott Yanow at Allmusic.com, Meditations is …
…arguably the finest of the John Coltrane-Pharoah Sanders collaborations. On five diverse but almost consistently intense movements (”The Father […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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You might be wondering what I could possibly add to the oceans of ink that have been spilled by writers analyzing and commenting on Kind of Blue, possibly the most universally loved Miles Davis date, if not the most loved jazz date of all time. Am I going to offer a […]

JAZZBO NOTES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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Listening to Next Best Western, the opening tune of Underground (released on the Sunnyside label), I couldn’t help but be reminded of Traveling Mercies, Potter’s previous studio date. That’s true even though his band is completely different. Performing in his bass-less quartet are guitarist Wayne Krantz, keyboardist Craig Taborn, and […]

WORTH A LISTEN
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Part of the problem here might be that I’m not a huge fan of Wes Montgomery (heresy, I know), but I’m not terribly impressed with Pat Martino’s Remember: A Tribute To Wes Montgomery.
For those who don’t know the story, Pat Martino had brain surgery in 1980 in order to correct an aneurysm, […]

JAZZBO NOTE HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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On Afreecanos, the phenomenal pianist and musicologist Omar Sosa is still reminding us that most, if not all music, originates from the continent of Africa.
For example, on Oliu, at first the music sounds almost like a blues, until the vocalist joins in. I’m not sure what language he’s singing (I […]