It used to be easier to pretend that an album was its own perfectly self-contained artifact. The great records certainly feel that way. But albums are more permeable than solid, their motivations, executions and inspirations informed by, and often stolen from, their peers and forbearers. It all sounds awfully formal, but it's not. It's the very nature of music — of art, even. The Six Degrees features examine the relationships between classic records and five… more »
Some good music never goes out of style: Jazz fans everywhere revere the cooking hard bop of the 1950s. So why is the other big '50s trend, cool jazz, barely on modern radar? If you want to know how fresh and airy it still sounds, hear trumpeter/composer/arranger/cool exemplar Shorty Rogers on "Popo," "Didi," "Four Mothers" and "Sam and the Lady" from his first 1951 octet session: tightly arranged, swinging jazz with breezy orchestral colors, and… more »
It used to be easier to pretend that an album was its own perfectly self-contained artifact. The great records certainly feel that way. But albums are more permeable than solid, their motivations, executions and inspirations informed by, and often stolen from, their peers and forbearers. It all sounds awfully formal, but it's not. It's the very nature of music — of art, even. The Six Degrees features examine the relationships between classic records and five… more »
It used to be easier to pretend that an album was its own perfectly self-contained artifact. The great records certainly feel that way. But albums are more permeable than solid, their motivations, executions and inspirations informed by, and often stolen from, their peers and forbearers. It all sounds awfully formal, but it's not. It's the very nature of music — of art, even. The Six Degrees features examine the relationships between classic records and five… more »
Before Bob Dylan or David Bowie or whoever else became famous for periodically reinventing themselves, Miles Davis was already at it. He first gained attention playing fast bebop trumpet with Charlie Parker, then fronted the nine-piece band that established softer cool jazz. (One of his collaborators was arranger Gil Evans, who'd go on to direct a series of orchestral LPs for Miles.) In the '50s Davis founded his first great quintet, a highly influential group… more »
A few years ago, Italian saxophonist Daniele D'Agaro was visiting Chicago, and a critic friend put on a fairly obscure record to stump him. D'Agaro listened for about three seconds, said: "Lucky."
Good ears. He knows the distinctive sound of Lucky Thompson after he started hanging out in Paris and playing sumptuous tenor saxophone ballads recalling old idol Don Byas's Parisian sides. On "Solitude" and "We'll Be Together Again," from Lucky in Paris 1959, his tenor's… more »
In 1955 or so, when Jimmy Smith was popularizing the Hammond B-3 electric organ in jazz, a Philadelphia bar owner who'd rented one coaxed Shirley Scott into giving it a try. They hit it off right away.
Scott played piano, so she knew the keyboard (the B-3 has two, and two octaves of bass pedals arranged like white and black keys), and she'd played trumpet in school, so she could think like a horn player, in… more »
As the fourth (fifth, if you count the Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel) entry in Columbia’s celebrated series of Miles Davis box sets, The Complete Columbia Recordings: Miles Davis & John Coltrane was perhaps the most anticipated set, and it’s easy to see why. The push and pull between Miles and Coltrane resulted in dynamic recordings that set the standard for modern jazz — and this was for their Prestige recordings, before they even moved to Columbia. Once Miles relocated to Columbia, he began to push the boundaries of his music. The progression from the sublime, after-hours ‘Round About Midnight to the modal Milestones is remarkable — all the more so when Kind of Blue, the culmination of Davis’ modal direction, is taken into the equation. Over the course of six discs, The Complete Columbia Recordings traces this progression, including the entirety of ‘Round About Midnight, Milestones, and Kind of Blue, plus selections from Someday My Prince Will Come, live album cuts, and 18 unreleased tracks, all alternate takes. Even if you’re familiar with this music — and any jazz fan will be — the chronological, session-order sequencing keeps it fresh, and it’s possible to marvel at how quickly their talents deepened. For neophytes, this isn’t really an ideal way to dive into these remarkable recordings, since there’s not only too much, but it’s arranged in a way that doesn’t ease the listener into the music. It’s designed to be a library piece for collectors, fans, and historians that have already absorbed the music fully. After all, the original album covers are not reproduced anywhere in the notes, and the discs themselves are cryptically identified with dots that parallel the numbers on a clock. For anyone who knows and loves this music though, this is an essential addition to a comprehensive jazz library. – Stephen Thomas Erlewine
