JAZZBO NOTES RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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Most of life’s surprises tend to not be all that great, but A Little Night Waltz is a definite exception.
Before A Little Night Waltz, I had never heard of pianist G. F. Mlely. My loss. The guy swings like mad, has impeccable phrasing and technique, and doesn’t really sound like […]

JAZZBO NOTES RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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On Freddie Hubbard’s previous date, Red Clay, he played a little bait and switch on the listeners. The first and last tunes were funk, but everything in between was advanced post bop, kind of like getting a dog to eat a pill by inserting it into a piece of steak. On […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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Mysterious Traveller functions as an unexpected waystation in Weather Report’s evolution. In the previous album, Sweetnighter, Zawinul had drastically changed the sound of the group, focusing almost maniacally on groove. On Mysterious Traveller, it’s not quite as simple. The grooves are more varied and more subdued. This time, there is more […]

JAZZBO NOTES RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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The original Head On recording was one of those third-stream efforts that were intermittently attempted throughout the sixties and early seventies by the likes of Joe Zawinul and Miles Davis. The composer Bobby Hutcherson is working with here is the classically trained pianist Todd Cochran, who joins vibist Hutcherson, along with […]

JAZZBO NOTES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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The SFJazz Collective has a pretty unique history. The genesis of this octet came from the organizers of the SFJazz Festival and the Artistic Director of the festival, saxophonist Joshua Redman.
The idea was to have a more or less permanent ensemble that would pay tribute to influential composers of […]

CLASSICS THAT I HATE
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The Lost Trident Sessions has long been considered one of the holy grails of fusion. At the time it was recorded, there was disagreement among the members of the group as to whether the music contained therein was underorchestrated or just fine the way it was. Eventually, the group decided to […]

All Jazzbo Notes members are invited to enter the “Miles Davis - On The Corner” Giveaway Contest.
Critically trashed on it’s release, On The Corner is considered a masterpiece these days. Goodness knows it’s got enough great musicians playing on it, people like Dave Liebman, Badal Roy, Herbie Hancock, Don Alias, and Jack Dejohnette. According to […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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I used to think that guitarist Joe Pass was kind of square. I don’t know what I was thinking.
Sure he’s a straight up bebop player, but when you’ve got the chops, endless creativity and taste of a Joe Pass, who cares? He can play with a big band and get himself […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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The Real McCoy was the start of McCoy Tyner’s modern period, which would eventually reach it’s peak during the Milestone years.
On The Real McCoy, Tyner’s playing wasn’t as blistering as it would later become, but he was already delving into modal playing and composing, and he’s got a killer band to […]

NOT WORTH YOUR TIME
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Dave Liebman started his career playing with people like John McLaughlin, Miles Davis and Elvin Jones. His first group that I know of was Open Sky, a trio with drummer Bob Moses and bassist Frank Tusa. Then Liebman went on to found Lookout Farm, with Richie Beirach, Don Alias, John Abercrombie, […]