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 […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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Most of Thelonious Monk’s significant work was recorded fairly early in his career, so I was surprised to find out that Solo Monk dates from 1964.
Most of the tunes on this date are covers of pop tunes from the 30s and 40s. How Monk imbues these tunes with his personality gives […]

JAZZBO NOTES RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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When I got Bobby Broom’s new CD Plays For Monk in the mail, I was intrigued. As far as I know, he’s the only guitarist that’s done a date almost entirely made up of Monk compositions. And Broom was doing the date as a trio!
On the face of it, that’s pretty […]

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 […]

DON’T BOTHER
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As much as I would like to, I can’t entirely dismiss Bireli Lagrene’s Standards.
First of all, there is the sheer virtuosity involved. Lagrene can play guitar very well, and of course Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen is one of the greats on the upright bass. Andre Ceccarelli is less impressive on drums, but […]

JAZZBONOTES RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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It’s funny that no matter what band Charles Mingus happens to be fielding, matter what the year, the music has a similar feel. A large part of that of course is that the tunes and arrangements are written by Mingus, and the rhythm section of Mingus’ muscular bass and Dannie Richmond’s shape-shifting […]

NOT WORTH YOUR TIME
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If Fourmost comes across as a little geriatric, there’s a reason: all of the players are senior citizens.
Alright, I’ll admit that’s not really fair. Many of the classic Blue Note organ dates were full of lazy renditions of tunes like Midnight Special, so Fourmost isn’t all that different in that […]

JAZZBO NOTES RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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It is not always necessary to innovate. There is a place for straight ahead renderings of existing styles, especially if they are played with energy and taste. That’s where Payton’s Place fits in.
As it’s title would suggest, Zigaboogaloo is a straight up boogaloo tune that wouldn’t have been out of place […]

JAZZBO NOTES RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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There’s something perversely entertaining about listening to guitarist Larry Coryell wank away at rock and roll cliches on top of Better Git Hit In Your Soul, Mingus’ umpteenth remake of his big hit, Better Get It In Your Soul.
Three Or Four Shades Of Blues is late Mingus, and admittedly not […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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One of the problems with Monk is the difficulty of finding musicians who were sympathetic to his music. Fortunately, on Monk’s Music, Thelonious is playing with a kindred spirit, Art Blakey, who was keyed into the Monkian universe.
It’s not that Ray Copeland (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax), and Coleman Hawkins (tenor […]