JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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If you’ve never heard Charles Mingus before, Modern Jazz Symposium is a great place to start. It’s utterly accessible, and yet it contains all of the earmarks of what makes Mingus special.
Although free jazz had not officially been invented yet, there are free sections in this music. Mingus’ aesthetic was fluid. […]

JAZZBO NOTES RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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There is a tendency to want to overpraise Archie Shepp’s Four For Trane (reissued on the GRP label), his first date as a leader. After all, you’ve got a photograph of John Coltrane on the cover, as if to give his seal of approval. Coltrane was Shepp’s bandleader at the time.
In […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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Hermeto’s debut album as a leader, Yogurt, was intriguing without a doubt, but it really doesn’t prepare you for the brilliance of his follow up, Slaves Mass (on the Collectables label).
The most striking composition is probably the title tune, which starts out with a rather strange form of percussion — Hermeto […]

WORTH A LISTEN
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Chick Corea’s career path in the decade between 1965 and 1975 is one of the most fascinating in jazz. As a leader, he started out playing advanced post bop. Then he played with Miles Davis when Miles was transitioning from post bop to fusion. Once Corea left the Davis group, he formed […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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Open Sky’s follow up to their underrated debut, Spirit in the Sky was recorded in the studio rather than live, like it’s predecessor. There is no dropoff in energy however. The principal musicians, Bob Moses (drums), Dave Liebman (reeds), and Frank Tusa (bass) are on fire.
The opener, Amy, has a simple […]

JAZZBO NOTES HIGHLY ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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Bob Moses’ Bittersuite in the Ozone (reissued on Amulet Records) is unique in the history of jazz. It is not exactly a free jazz album, although there is free jazz in it, and the playing is often very free. The best way to describe Bittersuite in the Ozone is as […]

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 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 ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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Even by the standards of early 70s fusion, Weather Reports eponymously named debut is quite daring. The music ranges from the ethereal opener, Milky Way, to the contemplative Morning Lake, to the driving post bop of Seventh Arrow.
But what really distinguishes this early version of Weather Report […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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There are so many good reasons to own Mwandishi. First off, it’s an opportunity to own three of Herbie Hancock’s best dates as a leader for the price of one release. Secondly, it captures a time in Hancock’s development as an artist when he was undergoing a […]