Exploring vintage jazz vinyl with a focus on label and pressing details, discographical information and critical musings on the music found within the grooves.
Considered to be one of Mulligan's best albums, What Is There To Say? is a fantastic piano-less quartet session that benefits greatly from the underrated talents of Art Farmer and Dave Bailey.
Read MoreWoody Shaw's last album for Columbia is a wonderful straight-ahead jazz session, with his quintet of talented players being joined by Gary Bartz on two tracks. As usual, Shaw was forging ahead with inventive ideas at a time when very few others in the commercial jazz world were following his lead.
Read MoreThelonious Monk's second album for Columbia is full of joyous playing and an ever-growing connection between the jazz master and his new quartet.
Read MoreThelonious Monk shows off his new quartet (featuring the great Charlie Rouse) on his Columbia Records debut, an album that left little doubt that the legendary talent still had much to offer the jazz world as it moved into the 1960s.
Read MoreWayne Shorter teams up with legendary Brazilian vocalist Milton Nascimento to create an alluring album that blends the sounds of jazz with the musical stylings of Nascimento's native Brazil.
Read MoreWoody Shaw and his bandmates fly through an exhilarating live set recorded soon after he joined Columbia Records, a period that would mark the appearance of some of the trumpeters finest work.
Read MoreBy 1976 Dexter Gordon had all but become a forgotten figure in the mainstream jazz world. His style of jazz had fallen out of fashion, pushed to the fringe as the more commercial leanings of fusion and smooth jazz became the flavors of the day. His successful return to the United States - after years in a self-imposed exile -was wonderfully documented on the double-LP Homecoming an album made even better with the presence of Woody Shaw blowing his tail off on the trumpet.
Read MoreIn 1954 J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding started a fruitful partnership that would run for the next two years, first on Savoy, then Bethlehem and finally ending with a few records for Columbia. The pairing would result in a run of quality albums that brought the two trombonists both critical praise as well as commercial fame. For most of this time they operated as a quintet, with the two trombone front-line joined by piano, bass and drums. Jay & Kai + 6 is rightfully billed to "The Jay and Kai Trombone Octet," as for this outing they are joined by six trombone players in addition to the regular rhythm section. The twelve tunes are arranged by either Johnson or Winding, who manage to not only find space for all the players, but to keep the music exciting and fresh as well.
Read MoreAt the final record shop stop on my recent vacation, I was flipping through the jazz "new arrivals" when I came across a copy of the world-famous Time Out for the ridiculous asking price of $1. That's not a typo, it was indeed marked at one whole dollar. And this was no trashed copy, the cover was a strong VG+, while the vinyl fell somewhere between VG and VG+. My interest was peaked.
Read MoreThere is not much to be said about Louis Armstrong that hasn't been said before, he was the defining figure in early jazz and his influence continued to reach far and wide even after his commercial and critical standing began to fade. As Miles Davis once said, "You can't play anything on a horn that Louis hasn't already played."
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