JAZZBO NOTES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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Alright, a little disclosure here. I’m not a big fan of either Milt Jackson or Wes Montgomery (I know — total heresy). So you might want to take my opinion of Bags Meets Wes with grain of salt.
I actually think it’s really good.
First off, it’s a straight bebop date, which […]

WORTH A LISTEN
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I was pretty excited when I picked up The New Standard. I mean, talk about a dream team: Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker, John Scofield, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette, and Don Alias. It doesn’t get any better than that.
The challenge in a date like The New Standard comes in taking a batch of […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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Double Edge was to be David Liebman and Richie Beirach’s last great duet performance together, meaning that it has their characteristic combination of uncommon lyricism and intense swing. After this, as a duo, they leaned too far into 20th Century classical music harmony for me, at the expense of communication.
If you’re […]

WORTH A LISTEN
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There can never be too many recordings from the early 70s featuring keyboardist Jan Hammer. At the time, Hammer was simply on fire. On John Abercrombie’s Timeless, he’s featured on organ, synthesizer and piano. Too bad he had to be playing with guitarist John Abercrombie. I’m sorry, but no way is Abercrombie […]

JAZZBO NOTES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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I’ve got to admit, I’ve been sleeping on Terence Blanchard. I had the impression that he was a traditionalist in the Wynton Marsalis mode. Guess not.
Flow Part 1, starts out with a tasty groove, courtesy of Derrick Hodge on acoustic bass and drummer Kendrick Scott. Blanchard’s head plays around the […]

WORTH A LISTEN
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Pianist Makoto Ozone can be a problematic musician. On the one hand, he has an unquestioned wealth of musician scholarship and his technique is hard to fault. On the other hand, he can fall prey to cuteness at times. On the other hand, sometimes his ambition exceeds his grasp.
The last time I […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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I avoided Echoes Of A Friend for a long time because it’s a collection of McCoy Tyner piano solos, and because the friend Tyner is referring to in the title is Coltrane. Not that I have anything against Coltrane, but Tyner has referenced him so much elsewhere that devoting an entire […]

JAZZBO NOTES RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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Oftentimes, superstar groups don’t really live up to their billing — too many egos jostling for space. The same is true for double CDs. How many concepts really require 150 minutes of music? To some degree, the second truism applies to Miles From India.
The concept of Miles From India has several […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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Outbreak may have drummer Dennis Chambers’ name above the title, but this is really producer/keyboardist/arranger/composer Jim Beard’s date, and that’s just fine. Of course, Beard has designed the album to showcase Chambers’ awesome drum playing, and that’s one of the major pleasures of Outbreak, but only one among many.
Beard has recruited […]

JAZZBO NOTES RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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My guess is that Black Market is one of Joe Zawinul’s favorite Weather Report dates. Why? Well, it’s a major Third World groove machine which, judging by the interviews Zawinul has given over the years, seems to be his main priority. Another thing that Zawinul should be justifiably proud of: his […]