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 ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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In some ways, the music in The Eleventh House is surprisingly simple, especially harmonically.
Most of The Funky Waltz is one chord, with a melody which is pentatonic. Low-Tee-Tah, despite the ornamental flourishes of Larry Coryell, essentially revolves around a dominant 7th augmented 4th chord. Similarly, Yin is based on a […]

JAZZBONOTES RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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Season Of Changes is an very innovative release, flying in the face of prevailing fashion in the jazz world.
Most jazz releases from young musicians these days are slavishly devoted to hip hop rhythms. There’s nothing of the kind to be found on Season Of Changes, which is doubly surprising considering that the […]

JAZZBO NOTES RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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If there was ever an appropriate title for a CD, it’s Bob Moses’ When Elephants Dream Of Music. The music is often spacey, and yet it has a solid bottom end and an abundance of horns, all which serves to remind us of our ponderous friends in the animal kingdom. Composer/arranger […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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How do I defend giving Offering status as an essential recording? Sure, there’s Steve Marcus’ burning Coltranesque lines on tenor sax; Larry Coryell offers a convincing blend of rock and jazz stylings on guitar, avoiding the more egregious rock cliches that he was often prone to; Mike Mandel is mostly tasteful […]

WORTH A LISTEN
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For a long time now, listening to each new Chick Corea recording has been a frustrating experience, and To The Stars is no exception.
Obviously, Corea’s abilities as a pianist have not diminished in the slightest since the glory days of the late 60s and early 70s. On To The Stars, Corea writes […]

JAZZBO NOTES RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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I’ve got a confession to make. I didn’t buy Out Louder simply on the merits of the musicians. I listened to the samples on Amazon.com first. What I heard wasn’t the sound of innovation — it was more like putting on a pair of comfortable sneakers. The first several tunes on […]

JAZZBO NOTES ESSENTIAL RECORDING
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Filles De Kilimanjaro represents one of many transition points for Miles Davis. It marks the end of the 2nd great quintet with Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, Ron Carter, and Herbie Hancock. It was the last date before the epochal In A Silent Way.
Miles had just married Betty Mabry, a young […]

JAZZBO NOTE RECOMMENDED RECORDING
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Let me start by stating the obvious: Screaming Headless Torsos is not for everyone. It’s a combination of flaming lead guitar, funk, metal, rap, and yodeling. Yes, yodeling.
I’m not going to lie to you. Dean Bowman, the nut who’s on vocals, can be downright irritating. I would have been happier if […]

DON’T BOTHER
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Okay, here’s a question for you. Imagine that you’ve come across a date you’ve never heard of before with the following personel: Jim Pepper on tenor, Larry Coryell on guitar, Steve Swallow on bass, Keith Jarrett on keys, and Bob Moses on drums. Would you be interested? Hell, yeah!
Sucker.
I’m always in favor of […]