Latest News: Jazz, Classic Recordings
-
Classic Recordings,
Chick Corea - Children's Songs 3rd February 2025In a moment of mid-career lucidity, the jazz fusion pioneer issued this unaccompanied statement of sweeping but deceptive simplicity.
-
Classic Recordings,
Stan Getz & Kenny Barron - People Time 28th January 2025Stan Getz and Kenny Barron's People Time captures a poignant live jazz performance recorded months before Getz's death, documenting an extraordinary connection and virtuosic improvisation from two giants of jazz.
-
Classic Recordings,
Benny Goodman - Live At Carnegie Hall (1938) 22nd January 2025Making musical history, Benny Goodman takes jazz to New York's Carnegie Hall in a live recording that changed the way people viewed the genre. It still swings today; much as it did in 1938.
-
Classic Recordings,
Arve Henriksen - Places of Worship 8th January 2025Guest writer Spence Grady waxes lyrical about Arve Henriksen's haunting Places of Worship. Prepare yourself for a near-mystical experience...
-
Classic Recordings,
The Jazz Composer's Orchestra 23rd December 2024A sprawling opus of sixties avant-garde jazz, The Jazz Composer's Orchestra is Michael Mantler’s bold vision of orchestral chaos and free improvisation. Featuring legends like Pharoah Sanders and Cecil Taylor, it’s a dark, brooding masterpiece that challenges conventions, rewarding those ready to embrace its dense, anarchic beauty.
-
Classic Recordings,
Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago 11th December 2024Capturing two saxophone giants, Cannonball Adderley and John Coltrane, in a pivotal 1959 hard bop recording session that preceded by only a matter of months, some of the genre's most influential recordings.
-
Classic Recordings,
Keith Jarrett Quartet featuring Jan Garbarek - Belonging 12th November 2024A seminal jazz album in European jazz, Belonging by the Keith Jarrett Quartet showcases Jarrett's innovative compositions and the genesis of a new group, featuring the unique tones of Jan Garbarek's saxophone.
-
Classic Recordings,
The Clifford Brown & Max Roach Quintet - Clifford Brown & Max Roach 31st October 2024Clifford Brown and Max Roach's self-titled album, released in 1954, marked a pivotal moment in jazz history. Featuring Brown's virtuosic trumpet and Roach's innovative drumming, the album exemplifies the spirit of hard bop at its finest.
-
Classic Recordings,
Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out 24th October 2024The landmark 1959 jazz album by the Dave Brubeck Quartet is renowned for its innovative yet tuneful use of unusual time signatures. Featuring the iconic title-track the album blends jazz and classical elements, challenging rhythmic norms.
-
Classic Recordings,
Miles Davis - Sketches of Spain 17th October 2024The third collaboration between Miles Davis and Gil Evans produced the masterly Sketches of Spain, an expansive album with flavours of flamenco and classical orchestration, and still regarded as a transformative album in jazz history.
-
Classic Recordings,
Jazz at Massey Hall with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Max Roach, & Charles Mingus 10th October 2024Billed as ‘The Greatest Jazz Concert Ever’ Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus and Max Roach came together for one night only. Recorded live in Toronto at Massey Hall, on May 15th 1953, the quintet were captured into jazz folklore. A historic performance that featured titans of the jazz world, it would be the first and last time this quintet shared the stage.
-
Classic Recordings,
Art Blakey - Moanin' 3rd October 2024The passing of saxophonist Benny Golson, who was the last surviving musician to play on Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers’ iconic recording Moanin’ in 1958, invites us to reflect on his masterful role in shaping the group’s timeless sound.
-
Classic Recordings,
Sonny Rollins, 'A Night At The "Village Vanguard"' 24th April 2024Following a reissue of this exemplary live date in all its glory, we examine the recording which features the great saxophonist during one of the most dynamic and powerful stages of his improvisational development.
-
Classic Recordings,
Jimmy Giuffre, 'Music For People, Birds, Butterflies & Mosquitoes' 8th November 2023In many ways ahead of its time, this underappreciated mid-career gem from the late master of mult-instrumental freeness is well worth a re-examination.
-
Classic Recordings,
Sarah Webster Fabio, 'Jujus/Alchemy of the Blues' & 'Together to the Tune of Coltrane's “Equinox”' 20th September 2023Following the reissue of two long out-of-print recordings of her poetry set to a killer funk accompaniment, we take a closer look at the life and career of the pivotal Black writer and activist.
-
Classic Recordings,
John Coltrane, 'Africa/Brass' 24th August 2023Whilst underappreciated upon its release, Trane's bombastic first album for Impulse! from 1961 would seal his fate as one of the label's most iconoclastic artists and performers.
-
Classic Recordings,
Stan Tracey Quartet, 'Jazz Suite Inspired by Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood' 10th May 2023In light of a new vinyl reissue of this seminal British jazz release, we take a look at how the 1965 recording captures the Welsh poet's imaginative genius.
-
Classic Recordings,
Ahmad Jamal Trio, 'The Awakening' 26th April 2023Underrated at the time of its release but having since gone on to be adored by jazz cats and hip-hop producers alike, this album reveals the late pianist at his most joyously creative.
-
Classic Recordings,
Dexter Gordon, 'Go!' 2nd March 2023On the influential saxophonist's centenary, we revisit the much acclaimed Go!, released during his 'New York Renaissance' period.
-
Classic Recordings,
Bill Evans & Jim Hall, 'Undercurrent' 25th October 2022Following a long period of mourning, Bill Evans returned to music with a slew of new projects, one of which being this classic duo session with guitarist Jim Hall.