Jazz Reviews
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John Abercrombie - Timeless
11th Aug 2020
John Abercrombie's debut put the guitarist in the company of Jan Hammer and Jack DeJohnette for a sequence of contrasting mood pieces, from the fiery to the ethereal, and helped cement the ECM sound.
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Paul Motian Trio - It Should've Happened a Long Time Ago
7th Aug 2020
Paul Motian’s seminal trio record with Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano showcased the key components of Motian’s classic quintet with some forward-thinking twilit jazz, proving to be one of the most important releases of all the trio’s careers.
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Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book
27th Jul 2020
Ella Fitzgerald’s take on classic Cole Porter tunes served not only as the beginning of the now-legendary Verve Records, but a springboard for the singer that reinvigorated her mid-career.
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Herbie Hancock - Maiden Voyage
9th Jul 2020
Herbie Hancock's nautical concept album remains some of the eminent pianist and composer's most enduring work from his early period, a culmination of his time spent with Miles Davis and honing his sound on the prestigious Blue Note label.
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Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown
29th Jun 2020
Josh appreciates the brilliant chemistry between vocalist Sarah Vaughan and trumpeter Clifford Brown on the singer’s eponymous record.
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The Amazing Bud Powell Volumes 1 & 2
19th Jun 2020
Matt revisits timeless recordings from the genius who defined bebop piano, Bud Powell.
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Miles Davis - In a Silent Way
29th May 2020
Josh revisits Miles Davis's pivotal recording In a Silent Way, quieter little brother to the following year's Bitches Brew.
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Herbie Nichols
7th May 2020
Between 1955 and 1957 pianist and composer Herbie Nichols recorded four classic albums before passing away in obscurity in 1964, leaving it to later generations to discover his true genius. Matt argues the case for placing Nichols alongside Monk in the pantheon of jazz pianists.
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Charles Mingus - The Black Saint & The Sinner Lady
24th Apr 2020
This week Josh pirouettes to Mingus's celebrated jazz-ballet The Black Saint and The Sinner Lady for the latest Classic Album choice.
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Steve Lacy - Morning Joy
11th Apr 2020
One of the finest jazz recordings of the eighties, Steve Lacy's Morning Joy continues to hold its fascination over thirty years later.
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John Coltrane - Giant Steps
27th Mar 2020
This week Josh revisits John Coltrane's timeless mid-period masterpiece Giant Steps.
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McCoy Tyner - The Real McCoy
6th Mar 2020
It was a sad coincidence to hear of McCoy Tyner's passing shortly after posting this Classic Album Review of The Real McCoy. Thankfully Tyner's wonderful 60-year contribution to music lives on.
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Herbie Hancock - Thrust
17th Feb 2020
Herbie Hancock's Thrust is a jazz-funk tour de force that saw the keyboard whiz-kid experimenting with new gear and an exciting new drummer.
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The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Vols 1 & 2
31st Jan 2020
Take a trip into the Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, with this brand new issue of volumes 1 & 2 of these classic albums on one disc from the ezz-thetics label.
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Edmond Hall
10th Jan 2020
Clarinetist Edmond Hall is the focus of this week's Classic Album feature, a brilliant musician who managed to maintain a long and distinguished career through the changing stylistic tides of jazz.
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Nina Simone in Concert
13th Dec 2019
Nina Simone in Concert from 1964 stands as one of the most politically charged statements of the Civil Rights Movement, and a key album of Simone's career. From the perspective of late 2019 it stands as a timely warning of the dangers of complacency.
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Teddy Wilson
24th Oct 2019
Teddy Wilson was the definitive pianist of the swing era, an artist who appeared on many great recordings from the 1930s through to the 1970s. This week Matt focuses on Wilson's ebullient recordings made after the American recording ban was lifted in 1944.
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The World of Cecil Taylor
19th Sep 2019
A snapshot of Cecil Taylor on the cusp of breaking free from all conventions, The World of Cecil Taylor is the sound those very conventions being stress tested in the jazz lab, with a young Archie Shepp doing his best to keep up.
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Erroll Garner - Concert by the Sea
10th Sep 2019
Erroll Garner's Concert by the Sea is a hardy perennial that became one of the best selling jazz albums of all time. An expanded edition was issued in 2015, finally allowing us to savour in full that magical September evening in 1955 at the Sunset School, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.
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Joe Henderson - Inner Urge
4th Sep 2019
One of the tenor players most enduring sessions, Inner Urge has lost none of its freshness over the past 50 years.
