May 18th, 2023
Cécile McLorin Salvant's "Mélusine," Part 2: The Vinyl Edition The best living jazz singer's new French album sounds better still on LPBy: Fred Kaplan
In March, I wrote a rave review of Cécile McLorin Salvant’s "Mélusine", her second release on Nonesuch and the most unusual album that she (or any other singer on a major label) has ever produced: a series of songs adapted to a 14th-century fairy tale about a half-woman/half-dragon and the revenge she wreaks on a man who looks where he shouldn’t. Some of the songs were written centuries ago; others were Broadway showtunes, vaudeville ditties, or Salvant... Read More
May 13th, 2023
"In the Shadows" Gil Evans Orchestra World Pacific Title Gets the "Tone Poet" Spotlight early iteration of "La Nevada" here called "Theme" is but one highlightBy: Michael Fremer
Reissue annotator Thomas Conrad just about backs into his praise for this lesser known Gil Evans album but he gets the vehicle parked without incident and by the time you've finished reading, if you peruse the notes before playing the record, you'll be anxious to hear it, especially if like Conrad and many other Evans fans (count me in) you can't get enough Evans on record— whether he's covering Hendrix or arranging so many classic albums with... Read More
May 3rd, 2023
Harold Vick's Blue Note Session Leader Debut And Finale with Blue Mitchell, Grant Green, John Patton and Ben DixonBy: Michael Fremer
Why saxophonist Harold Vick's Blue Note debut as bandleader was also his last, isn't clear. It certainly couldn't have been because the session was a musical disappointment. Far from it! Maybe it's because the date produced an album closer to the hard charging warm up for an r&b review than what Blue Note was typically releasing in 1963. Vick had played with all here but trumpeter Blue Mitchell and all had played in or skirted the r&b... Read More
April 26th, 2023
Verve's By Request Series Releases Gabor Szabo's "The Sorcerer" Szabo Conjures Up Magic in 1967By: Evan Toth
Live albums aren’t always my preferred format. Sure, there are certain tracks that I’ve grown accustomed to hearing performed in the live vein, but I’m not often excited about the prospect of an album “captured” in a live setting, or of a particularly excellent live recording. I’m primarily interested in music that’s created in the studio; that’s what I consider the recording artist's ultimate canvas. However, Hungarian guitarist Gabor Szabo is one of my... Read More
April 24th, 2023
Deep Catalogue Gems from Wheeler and Vasconcelos Lead Off ECM Reissue Series Arvo Pärt, Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek and others to followBy: Jan Omdahl
ECM is arguably the most influential jazz label since the heydays of Blue Note and Impulse!. The German label recently announced Luminessence, its first ever audiophile vinyl reissue series. The two first releases, reviewed here, are Kenny Wheeler's Gnu High and Nana Vasconcelos' Saudades.
Read MoreApril 22nd, 2023
Previously Unreleased Chet Baker Sessions Make For a Sweet Record Store Day Release 1979 Vara Studio sessions are a dutch treatBy: Michael Fremer
Zev Feldman's Jazz Detective label lived up to its name with the discovery of two previously unreleased and unheard since their first airing in 1979 on Dutch Radio, Chet Baker performances, released for RSD 2023 as a double LP set. Unlike many newly discovered recordings, this one's excellent sound matches the quality of the music.
Read MoreMarch 24th, 2023
Cécile Salvant's Mélusine magic The greatest jazz singer of our time expands her range to French Renaissance, cabaret, and much moreBy: Fred Kaplan
Cécile McLorin Salvant has reached the point in her career where she can, apparently, get away with doing whatever she wants. Dreams and Daggers and The Window solidified her status as the preeminent jazz singer of our time. Ghost Song, her debut on Nonesuch Records, cracked open all genres, covering a range enveloping Kurt Weill, Kate Bush, Harold Arlen, a 19th-century folk ballad, and a half-dozen original songs, which matched the album’s standards for wit, swing,... Read More
March 16th, 2023
Hill's "Dance With Death" Is A Lively Set! why this 1968 recording, a new "Tone Poet" series release, sat on the shelf until 1980 is a mysteryBy: Michael Fremer
No one knows why this Andrew Hill album recorded October 11th 1968 wasn’t released until 1980 as part of a Michael Cuscuna produced series. “Tone Poet” Joe Harley doesn’t know, nor, he told me, does Cuscuna. Harley posits a few possible reasons, none of which have anything to do with the music here, which in 1968 clearly was release-worthy. The vinyl revival/resurgence whatever you wish to call it has been a boon to artists like the late composer/performer/academic... Read More
March 10th, 2023
Van Morrison’s Backward Tumble Is Fully Underway From the archives: You're best waiting for Van to get energized againBy: Tracking Angle
In commemoration of Van Morrison's new album Moving On Skiffle, we revisit a past era of Van mediocrity via our archive review of 1996's How Long Has This Been Going On?
Read MoreMarch 5th, 2023
Nathan Davis Live Recordings Re-pressed by Sam Records The 3LP 'Live In Paris' is still available and highly desirableBy: Michael Fremer
This recently re-pressed set of Nathan Davis live in Paris recordings should help create a new following for this somewhat overlooked American multi-instrumentalist, composer, and educator who turned down a Blue Note contract and an offer to join Art Blakey's group, remaining in Paris during the turbulent 1960s.
Read MoreMarch 3rd, 2023
Christian McBride's 2009 Collaborative Project Got a 2021 Limited Edition Double Vinyl Release great sound and musicBy: Michael Fremer
I got invited to a record launch party for Christian McBride's new album "Christian McBride's New Jawn Prime" held at Oswald Mills Audio's Brooklyn loft. "Conversations...." had been sitting unplayed for far too long so I figured I'd give it a spin to prep for the launch.McBride listening to his new album played back on the OMA K3 turntableI'm not sure if he'd ever heard any of his recordings reproduced on a system... Read More
February 28th, 2023
Jason Moran's Voyage From the Ancient to the Future The pianist's brilliant revival-tribute to bandleader-composer James Reese EuropeBy: Fred Kaplan
Jason Moran’s latest album, From the Dancehall to the Battlefield, is a staggeringly ambitious work, nothing less than a stab at reconceptualizing jazz history, hoisting a fairly obscure figure—the composer-bandleader James Reese Europe (1881-1919)—onto the pantheon of major innovators, a project that forges new links and traces a new path of the music’s evolution, with Lt. Jim Europe (as he was also known) at the—or at least a—center.
Read MoreFebruary 7th, 2023
"Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus" Gets the Craft "Small Batch" One-Step Treatment Vince Guaraldi's other classic albumBy: Michael Fremer
The Brazilian Bossa Nova flower had not yet bloomed in America when in 1959 the movie "Black Orpheus" became the Cannes Film Festival Grand Prize Winner. The movie is a re-telling of the Orpheus legend set in Rio de Janeiro with the Mardis Gras as backdrop. The music was by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Luis Bonfa, one of whom, Jobim, would become a household name if not in 1963 when Stan Getz released Jazz Samba, then a year later when Getz/Gilberto exploded... Read More