Latest News: Jazz, Classic Recordings
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Classic Recordings,
The Amazing Bud Powell Volumes 1 & 2 19th June 2020
Matt revisits timeless recordings from the genius who defined bebop piano, Bud Powell.
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Classic Recordings,
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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Classic Recordings,
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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Classic Recordings,
Charles Mingus - The Black Saint & The Sinner Lady 24th April 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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Classic Recordings,
Steve Lacy - Morning Joy 11th April 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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Classic Recordings,
John Coltrane - Giant Steps 27th March 2020
This week Josh revisits John Coltrane's timeless mid-period masterpiece Giant Steps.
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Classic Recordings,
McCoy Tyner - The Real McCoy 6th March 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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Classic Recordings,
Herbie Hancock - Thrust 17th February 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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Classic Recordings,
The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Vols 1 & 2 31st January 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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Classic Recordings,
Edmond Hall 10th January 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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Classic Recordings,
Nina Simone in Concert 13th December 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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Classic Recordings,
Teddy Wilson 24th October 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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Classic Recordings,
The World of Cecil Taylor 19th September 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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Classic Recordings,
Erroll Garner - Concert by the Sea 10th September 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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Classic Recordings,
Joe Henderson - Inner Urge 4th September 2019
One of the tenor players most enduring sessions, Inner Urge has lost none of its freshness over the past 50 years.
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Classic Recordings,
Archie Shepp on Impulse! 7th August 2019
One of the great saxophonists of the sixties, Archie Shepp made some of the most exciting and politicised recordings of the era, in a series of albums that documented the civil rights struggle.
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Classic Recordings,
Bill Evans - Everybody Digs Bill Evans 30th July 2019
With his second album, Everybody Digs Bill Evans, the pianist re-invented the role of his instrument in jazz. Over 60 years later it remains as fresh as when it was first released, and is the ideal first step into Evans's discography.
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Classic Recordings,
Keith Jarrett - The Köln Concert 23rd July 2019
Talk about behemoths - this week I pull out The Köln Concert, Keith Jarrett's game-changing solo album. Over forty years later it hasn't lost any of its power.
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Classic Recordings,
Roland Kirk - Volunteered Slavery 12th July 2019
Volunteered Slavery presented Roland Kirk at his most inclusive, exuding a lust for life that burns to this day.
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Classic Recordings,
The Atomic Mr. Basie 27th June 2019
Matt explores the origins behind the Count Basie Band's 1957 comeback album The Atomic Mr. Basie, a big band tour de force with state of the art compositions by Neal Hefti... the man who would go on to write the Batman theme!
