Michel Legrand - Anthology (2013) {15CD Box Set EmArcy--Universal Music France 5345569}

Autumn 2013 marks Legrand's great return to the music scene: two concerts with Natalie Dessay at The Olympia in Paris (October 28th and 29th) followed by a tour through France and Europe, and also his first memoirs, Rien n'est grave dans les aigus, to be published by the Cherche-Midi Editeur. To tie in with these events, Universal Classics & Jazz France has undertaken the most ambitious, abundantly prolific and extravagant record-project ever devoted to Michel Legrand: a 15CD boxed-set which brings together every face and aspect of every domain on the Legrand continent; in other words, songs, jazz, original film-soundtracks, symphonic works, musicals…

Mulgrew Miller Trio - From Day To Day (1990) {Landmark LCD-1525-2}

Mulgrew Miller's fifth CD as a leader is a potent trio affair with bassist Robert Hurst and the highly in-demand drummer Kenny Washington, focusing mostly on the pianist's strong originals. All of Miller's compositions hold interest, especially the soft waltz "From Day to Day" and cooking hard bop vehicle "Playthang." The leisurely "What a Difference a Day Made" is a soulful throwback to the early '60s, while his solo interpretation of "More Than You Know" is spacious, delicate, and lyrical. His romp through Miles Davis' "Four" is another gem, though it is inexplicably omitted from the CD booklet, evidently overlooked, as it was not present in the LP edition of this release. Sadly, with Fantasy's sale of the Landmark catalog, this enjoyable CD lapsed from print.

Charles Bell and The Contemporary Jazz Quartet - Another Dimension (1962) {2013 Japan 24-bit Remaster} [Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series]

Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. A wonderful set by the enigmatic Charles Bell – a 60s modernist, but one with a great sense of soul! The album definitely lives up to its title, and has a fresh approach to the medium – a style that has some of the Modern Jazz Quartet influence in its structure, yet which also shares some more complex rhythmic ideas from the Ornette Coleman camp – mixed with a straighter hardbop vibe as well! The blend is quite compelling – and in addition to Bell's work on piano, the set also features Bill Smith on guitar, Ron Carter on bass, and Allan Blairman on drums. Titles include "Satan Said", "Django", "Portrait Of Aunt Mary", "Theme", and "Bass Line".

Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley's Beach Party (1963) {Hip-O Select B0015214-02 rel 2011}

A blistering live album, especially in mono, cut by Bo Diddley and company in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on July 5 and 6, 1963. This album contains 30-plus minutes of the best live rock & roll ever issuedd on record. Diddley and company are "on" from the get-go with a killer instrumental erroneously credited as Chuck Berry's "Memphis" (which it isn't), that's a showcase for Diddley's attack on his instrument and a crunching assault by the rest of the band (all in that shave-and-a-haircut-two-bits beat), cymbals on top of an overloaded bass, and what sounds like every rhythm guitar in the world grinding away.

Bill Evans Trio & Guests - Live In Nice 1978 (2010) {2CD Set, Jazz Lips Music JL778}

This release presents a complete never before released live performance by the great Bill Evans with an unusual trio that never made a studio album (featuring drummer Philly Joe Jones and bassist Marc Johnson). Joining them are Lee Konitz for three amazing quartet tracks, Curtis Fuller (who joins Konitz and the trio for a marvelous quintet version of Lover Man), and Stan Getz and Christian Escoude (who join Fuller and the trio for the finale on All the Things You Are). A rare interview with Evans made right after the Nice concert has also been included on this release, as well as another unissued concert by the same trio taped in Italy a few days later.

Bill Evans - Piano Player (1998) {Columbia CK 65361}

Although this 1998 CD may at first glance seem to be a reissue, all but three of the 11 selections had never been released before. The highly influential pianist Bill Evans is heard in five different settings. An unissued (and slightly earlier rendition) of the third section of George Russell's "All About Rosie" (a showcase for Evans with Russell's 14-piece orchestra) starts off the release. Next are the three previously issued but somewhat obscure numbers: a live rendition of "My Funny Valentine" with Miles Davis in 1958 (played by just a quartet) and two songs from a 1962 set headed by vibraphonist Dave Pike.

Air Pocket (The Fowler Brothers) - Fly On (1975) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000}

Reissue with the latest DSD remastering. A warm and soulful set of fusion tracks – issued only in Japan, but recorded by a hip group from the US! Air Pocket features the Fowler Brothers – Walt, Bruce, Ed, and Steve – on trumpet, trombone, bass, and alto, respectively – plus drummer Chester Thompson, guitarist Mike Miller, and pianist Stu Goldberg, who really plays some great moog, clavinet, and electric keys on the set! Tunes are well-written – a bit choppy, but never too jamming, and really just done in this nice blocky way that creates a slightly funky approach, and a good degree of soul. Titles include "Elephant's Graveyard", "Hi Lo Redic", "Colors For Marvin", "Night's Move", and "Becky".

Jack DeJohnette - Made In Chicago (2015) {ECM Records}

With Made In Chicago, an exhilarating live album, Jack DeJohnette celebrates a reunion with old friends. In 1962, DeJohnette, Roscoe Mitchell and Henry Threadgill were all classmates at Wilson Junior College on Chicago’s Southside, pooling energies and enthusiasms in jam sessions. Shortly thereafter Jack joined Muhal Richard Abrams’ Experimental Band, and Roscoe and Henry soon followed him. When Abrams cofounded the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians in 1965, DeJohnette, Mitchell and Threadgill were all deeply involved, presenting concerts and contributing to each other’s work under the AACM umbrella.

Budd Johnson - Budd Johnson and the Four Brass Giants (1960) {Riverside OJCCD-1921-2 rel 1999}

This reissue of a Riverside album, which surprisingly has not yet come out on CD, is a classic. The great Budd Johnson, who takes tenor solos throughout the date and also contributes a bit of clarinet in addition to providing the arrangements, is matched with four distinctive and very different trumpeters: Clark Terry, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Nat Adderley and Ray Nance (who doubles on violin). With Tommy Flanagan or Jimmy Jones on piano, bassist Joe Benjamin and drummer Herb Lovelle, the group performs four swing standards and four of Johnson's swinging originals. The colorful brassmen, Budd's versatile solos, and the inventive arrangements make this a particularly memorable set. Highly recommended.

John Hicks - Piece For My Peace (1996) {Landmark LCD-1545-2}

Pianist John Hicks has long been a master of the modern mainstream without necessarily blazing any new paths of his own. On this CD he is featured on a pair of solo numbers, a duet with flutist Elise Wood (a sensitive version of Duke Ellington's "Star Crossed Lovers"), a trio rendition (with bassist Curtis Lundy and drummer Cecil Brooks III.) of "Mood Swings," with a quintet (a blazing version of "My Shining Hour" that has both Bobby Watson and Vincent Herring on altos) and five selections with the full sextet. Four standards follow six obscurities (including Charles Mingus' "Diane"). Hicks, who often shows off the influence of McCoy Tyner's voicings, has never recorded an uninspired record and this one is better than average for him. Due to the variety of moods, instrumental colors and settings, the music is continually interesting and well worth acquiring.

Bluegrass Champs - Live From The Don Owens Show (2018) {Yep Roc Records YEP-2555 rec 1958-1959}

This recording is as much about rockabilly, ‘50s country and blues as it is about bluegrass - more a hybrid by a young, but seasoned, combo in changing musical times. The Bluegrass Champs held their own or even bested other Washington D.C. talents like Roy Clark, Patsy Cline, Link Wray and Charlie Daniels. They had spent most all of their lives in music and in the late 1950’s were soaking up all the new sounds without denying airy mountain roots. Made up of four members of Country Music Hall of Fame inductee Pop Stoneman’s family, the Bluegrass Champs were master musicians by 1958.

Donald Byrd - Street Lady (1973) {Blue Note Rare Groove Series rel 1997}

A landmark album by Donald Byrd – the first one where he really started to click with jazz-funk producer Larry Mizell! Mizell and Byrd had worked together previously on the Black Byrd album – a soaring bit of futuristic jazz funk that took Byrd's career to a whole new level – but this album's the one where they really began to make the formula cook, blending together tight funky rhythms, spacey keyboards, soulful vocals, and some of Donald's best solo work of the 70s! The whole thing's a masterpiece, and all tracks sparkle – including "Lansana's Priestess", "Witch Hunt", and "Street Lady", one of the funkiest tracks ever on Blue Note. A haunting record with a beautiful spacey groove, and one of the best-ever albums on Blue Note!

Ornette Coleman Quintet - Complete Live At The Hillcrest Club (1958) {2007 Gambit Records 69272}

Ornette Coleman's epic 1959 LPs The Shape of Jazz to Come and Change of the Century were pivot points in modern post-bop jazz and early creative music. This recording is a prelude to those epics, a live two-night engagement in October of 1958 at the Hillcrest Club in Los Angeles. The Coleman quintet, with trumpeter Don Cherry, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Billy Higgins, plus a then-young pianist Paul Bley, sets up that new shape of jazz. This eight-selection set features three of Coleman's signature originals, two standards, and three lesser-known, fairly rare pieces that Coleman did at the time.

Andre Williams & The Sadies - Night & Day (2012) {Yep Roc Records YEP-2269}

Toronto alt-country garage rockers the Sadies began sessions for Night & Day with legendary punk-blues wildman Andre Williams in 2008. At that time, Williams was in his seventies and dealing with a plethora of legal troubles as well as pretty heavy substance abuse issues. Eventually the sessions were put on hold while he worked through his legal problems and cleaned up. A few years later, the two factions reconvened to finish work on the album, and the difference in Williams' demeanor and state of being was, as they say, "night and day." This album continues the team-up that began with 1999's collaborative Red Dirt album, and casts Williams' dead center as a greasy narrator or unfiltered barker, humbly backed by the Sadies' respectable but comparatively squeaky clean, garagey (occasionally fiddle-driven) country-blues.

Art Farmer - Art Farmer Quintet At Boomers (1976) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000}

Reissue with the latest DSD remastering. Although flugelhornist Art Farmer permanently moved to Europe in 1968, he has returned many times to the United States to play. For this live LP (recorded for East Wind and released domestically by the defunct Inner City label), Farmer joins up with tenor-saxophonist Clifford Jordan, pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Billy Higgins for lengthy versions of Charlie Parker's blues "Barbados," "I Remember Clifford," "'Round Midnight" and "Will You Still Be Mine." The group had not rehearsed beforehand but rehearsals were not really needed for these hard bop veterans and even an uptempo version of the ballad "Will You Still Be Mine" comes off quite well.