JAZZBO NOTES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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It’s nice to see young people like Stefon Harris taking the trouble to really learn the history of the music (at least from bebop to the present). Besides having the chops on vibraphone, he’s integrated the styles from those periods into his playing, composing, and arrangements.
His arrangments on Black Action […]

JAZZBO NOTES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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I consider Decoy to be the best date Davis recorded after his temporary “retirement” in the 70s due to illness, basically because of the performance of the musicians.
This time around, he’s got a killer band behind him: John Scofield on guitar, Darryl Jones on bass, Al Foster on drums, Bill […]

JAZZBO NOTE HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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On a previous post, in which I reviewed Stone Alliance’s Live In Amsterdam, I wrote that the music felt incomplete, as if bassist Gene Perla was so busy outlining the chords and providing a groove that he couldn’t imply any outside harmonies for saxophonist Steve Grossman to play over.
I realize […]

JAZZBO NOTES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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Identity is rather typical in some ways of Airto Moreira’s mid 70s work in general, and of the collaboration between American jazz artists and Brazilian musicians during the 70s in general.
Identity was produced by Herbie Hancock and benefits from the excellent work of Wayne Shorter on soprano sax and […]

JAZZBO NOTES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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When I listen to Illicit these days, I think of it as the album where Tribal Tech first experimented with the free jams which have come to dominate their releases.
But back then, thank goodness, there was alot of variety in Tribal Tech’s approach.
Take the opener, The Wave. Clearly, guitarist Scott […]

JAZZBO NOTES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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So Nao Toca Quem Nao Quer (on the Intuition Music label) is certainly Brazilian music first, but it has a heavy jazz element, and even some elements of modern classical music, so as far as I’m concerned, it’s world fusion.
The first thing you have to say about So Nao Toca […]

JAZZBO NOTES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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If you heard about a live CD of Eric Dolphy recorded in Holland with a Dutch pickup band, you might not expect too much. Pickup bands are often composed of utility players who accompany anyone and everyone who passes through. Last Date seems to be just such a recording, so […]

JAZZBO NOTES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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Gary McFarland’s America the Beautiful is hard to classify. Certainly it’s a big band jazz album. Contained within the orchestra is the quintet of Warren Bernhardt on piano, Eric Gayle on guitar, Chuck Rainey or Jerry Jemmott on bass, Bernard Purdie or Bill Lavorgna on drums, and Warren Smith on […]

JAZZBO NOTES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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Back in the early 80s, Steps Ahead was probably the most forward looking jazz unit of it’s time. Composed of jazz players and studio cats out of New York City (with the notable exception of Brazilian pianist Eliane Elias), Steps Ahead forged a new sound out of pop elements, acoustic […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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When I listen to Metheny/Mehldau (released on Nonesuch Records), the first thing that comes to mind is the piano/guitar duets of Bill Evans and Jim Hall, and that’s not to suggest that Pat Metheny sounds like Jim Hall or that Brad Mehldau sounds like Bill Evans. They do not. But the […]