Grant Green - Solid

Grant Green divides opinion. While many see him as a lesser player to the likes of Kenny Burrell or Wes Montgomery, there are those, like Michael Cuscuna (writing on the liner notes of "Solid") who see him as a thread linking Charlie Christian (the virtual inventor of hollow body jazz guitar) with great jazz guitarists of today such as Peter Bernstein and John Scofield. Grant Green was "a major link to... Charlie Christian..... he absorbed Christian, then bypassed such heroes of the day as Tal Farlow, Kenny Burrell and Wes Montgomery, and moved directly to the formation of his own identity."

Tracklist:

01 Minor League 7:05
02 Ezz-Thetic 10:41
03 Grant's Tune 7:00
04 Solid 7:23
05 The Kicker 6:23
06 Wives And Lovers 9:00

Personnel:
Grant Green (guitar);
James Spaulding (alto saxophone);
Joe Henderson (tenor saxophone);
McCoy Tyner (piano);
Bob Cranshaw (bass);
Elvin Jones (drums).

Miles Davis & Milt Jackson - Quintet & Sextet (1955)

Miles Davis & Milt Jackson - Quintet & Sextet (1955)

Lesser heralded than their collaboration with Monk (as documented on BAGS' GROOVE and MILES DAVIS AND THE MODERN JAZZ GIANTS), this August 5, 1955 session with vibraphonist Milt Jackson was Miles' last all-star collaboration before the formation of his first classic quintet. It marked a farewell to an older generation of acolytes and fellow travellers. Miles was entering a new era of leadership and international stardom, and generally he would only record with his working groups.

QUINTET/SEXTET is notable for two compositions by Jackie McLean: "Dr. Jackle" and "Minor March" (it appears on his famous 1959 Blue Note date NEW SOIL as "Minor Apprehension"). The former is a Charlie Parker-ish line featuring a masterful Milt Jackson symposium on the blues--Miles' typically lyric approach, a tart, spacious flight from McLean, and a soulful, dancing Ray Bryant. The latter is a mysterious minor figure with jabbing rhythm breaks and a joyous bridge that recalls "Tempus Fugit." McLean's vaulting cadences and fervent cry anti****te the rapture of his mature style, and Bryant takes a harmonically adventuresome solo.

Elsewhere the group digs into the Bud Powell-like changes of Ray Bryant's low, slow "Changes" (over the rock solid groove of Percy Heath and Art Taylor), and the quirky harmonies and angular melodies of Thad Jones' "Bitty Ditty." "Changes" inspires a lovely muted statement from Davis, and illustrates Bryant's unique blend of blues, sanctified gospel and bebop. Davis and Jackson combine for pungent voicings on the head to "Bitty Ditty," then demonstrate their elegant mastery of harmony and swing. Both are inspired by the shape of Jones' line, completely unfazed by its intricacies.

Tracklist:

01 Minor League 7:05
02 Ezz-Thetic 10:41
03 Grant's Tune 7:00
04 Solid 7:23
05 The Kicker 6:23
06 Wives And Lovers 9:00

Personnel:
Miles Davis ( trumpet )
Milt Jackson ( vibraphone )
Jackie McLean ( alto saxophone )
Ray Bryant ( piano )
Percy Heath ( bass )
Art Taylor ( drums )

Miles Davis - Seven Steps to Heaven (1963)

Opis:
"Seven Steps To Heaven" is one of those albums that you have to take in stride and listen to track by track and not so much as a cohesive album. Miles was in a state of flux in 1963. His quintet with Hank Mobley, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb had been disbanded, and Miles had been recording with Gil Evans. When the time came for a new lp, Miles was still working on getting a steady group together. So, in fact, this lp is in fact 2 ep's, as 2 different groups play on this lp, each with a very different character from the other.

Group 1- Miles, George Coleman (tenor), Victor Feldman (piano), Ron Carter, (Bass), Frank Butler (dr) (tracks 1,3,5). This group is quite traditional in outlook, and the tracks played show this. Miles' beautifully heartfelt performances are backed perfctly by Feldman's supple and understated piano. This group proved that Miles could pack a wallop on the standards. The tenor of Coleman and Carter's bass compliment Miles and Feldman very well. As a fan of jazz, I very much enjoy what this very short lived quintet did (2 days in April 1963 was the life of this group).

Group 2- Miles, Coleman, Carter, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams. 4/5 of what would be the 2nd great quintet are in action on tracks 2,4,6. The character of the band is immediatly felt on "Seven Steps to Heaven" (group 1 also recorded the song, as well as "So Near So Far"- track 4- and "Summer Nights", which landed on the "Quiet Nights" lp; perhaps at some point both takes of both of these songs will be on a remastered version of this lp to showcase the very different interpretations of the songs by the old and new guard), as Ron Carter's walking bass is pushed by Williams' drumming. Herbie Hancock's style is also apparent- a more open style as opposed to Feldman's more traditional block chord style.



This album definitely is an overlooked classic. The original versions of "Joshua" and the title track are worth the price of admission; "So Near, So Far" is absolutely beautiful. Add to that a chance to hear the underrated Victor Feldman on the ballad portion of the album (especially "I Fall in Love Too Easily"). But the greatest thing about this recording is the debut of what was the rhythm section to end all rhythm sections: even this early as a unit, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and the late Tony Williams sound awesome.

Tracklist:

01 Basin Street Blues
02 Seven Steps to Heaven
03 I Fall in Love too Easily
04 So Near, So Far
05 Baby Won't You Please Come Home
06 Joshua

Personnel:
Miles Davis (trumpet);
George Coleman (tenor saxophone);
Victor Feldman, Herbie Hancock (piano);
Ron Carter (bass instrument);
Frank Butler, Tony Williams (drums).

John Zorn - Jamie Saft Trio - Astaroth - Book Of Angels

With Sanhedrin: Unreleased Studio Recordings 1994-1997, saxophonist/composer John Zorn put a period on what turns out to be but the first phase of his Masada project. His voluminous Masada songbook, first emerging in '94 with his quartet featuring trumpeter Dave Douglas, bassist Greg Cohen, and drummer Joey Baron, has gone on to a wide variety of interpretations, including solo guitar, piano/violin recital, string trio, and electric octet.
But when Zorn indicated in the liner notes to Sanhedrin that he had composed an entire second book of Masada music in an almost ridiculously short period of time, the question arose as to whether there was something new to be said, after over two hundred compositions in the first Masada songbook so vividly and completely explored the juncture of traditional Jewish music and a variety of improvising contexts. Based on the first recording of Masada Book Two material, Astaroth, Book of Angels, it's clear that Zorn's frenetic imagination has yet to run dry. In fact, there are a number of surprises about Astaroth that create high anti****tion for future Book Two releases.

the kilimanjaro darkjazz ensemble - the kilimanjaro darkjazz ensemble [2007]

The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble - to właściwie duet z Holandii, Jason Kohnen i Gideon Kiers którzy zadebiutowali w 2006 roku w wytwórni Planet Mu.
Chcąc napisać kilka słów o tym krążku, słuchając go w tle, łapie się na tym, jak wiele emocji on we mnie wyzwala i tym samym jak niesamowitym materiałem częstują wyżej wymienieni panowie. Nie chcę, by zabrzmiało to jak anty-rekomendacja, w żadnym wypadku - jednak wypada mi ostrzec co niektórych, a właściwie przygotować przed pierwszym odsłuchem. Na początek więc - na pewno nie jest to płyta do relaksu, mi przynajmniej Niepokój obecny od początku do końca płyty nie pozwala na umysłowy odpoczynek. Nie znaczy to jednak, że któraś z kompozycji mnie męczy.
Niewinnie otwierający ,,The Nothing Changes'' z przewijającym się gitarowym riffem w filmowym stylu zdradza naturę albumu, na myśl przychodzą obrazy z pierwszych filmów grozy, którymi zresztą rzekomo panowie się inspirowali. Dalej natrafiam na prawdziwą ucztę - utwór ,,Pearls for Swine'' przybija mnie do łóżka - potężny, chaotyczny aby następnie stać się melodyjnym. Kolejne utwory na przemian równoważą i wzbudzają chaos. Pięknie multiinstrumentalne, jazzowe kompozycje całe utkane w eksperymenty i zabiegi elektroniczne. Projekt wyjątkowy, wydaje mi się, że z tą samą mocą co wzbudza huśtawkę nastrojów, tak samo wywołuje on skrajne opinie. Pozostaje pytanie, czy macie odwagę?

THE KILIMANJARO DARKJAZZ ENSEMBLE are a project which has always been tied to films. Films are luxurious because they dispose of all these boring, unimportant, and trivial parts of our lives. This allows them to fully control our sensations, to put us in a very specific mood. Joy and sadness are occasionally OK, endless joy or endless sadness are clinical. But there is one sensation which can be persistent and unconditionally bearable at the same time. In the absence of a better alternative, let's call it "the mood". The mood is what TKDE are aiming at. The mood.

Tomasz Stańko - Music For K

Back in 1970, when this disc was recorded, Tomasz Stanko, by now an internationally established and admired jazz personality, was already known as one of the very few convincing free-jazzmen. In his bold endeavours he was lucky to enjoy some understanding and sensitive partners. Earlier, in the sixties Stanko's experiences were both as a sideman and a leader. He cooperated with such greats as Krzysztof Komeda, Wlodzimierz Nahorny, Zbigniew Namyslowski, Andrzej Trzaskowski, Don Cherry and Albert Mangelsdorff, but his favourite partners were Janusz Muniak, Janusz Stefanski, Zbig Seifert and - a bit later - Bronislaw Suchanek. Tomasz Stanko Quintet flourished without personal changes for five years (1969-1973), scoring a big success during 1970 Jazz Jamboree.

Around that time, a year after untimely death of Krzysztof Komeda (1939-1969), the quintet recorded four pieces by Stanko, naming the LP after the main composition: Music for K", thus paying homage to the memory of deceased friend and expressing his emotional attitude toward his premature death. However, Stanko didn't attempt to relate here to Komeda's sound or style
and remains very much himself presenting his peculiar, personal way of shaping music, remote, on the surface only, from the structural clarity. His predilection toward spontaneous development of music, based on very few indispensable determinants, surprisingly dovetails here with the emotional content of such deeply felt numbers like "Cry" and "Music for K". It seems obvious that Stanko's free stems rather from Coltrane's last work and his shades of expression are rich and many.

Cinematic Orchestra - Live At The Royal Albert Hall

Live at the Royal Albert Hall is a live album by The Cinematic Orchestra, released in the UK on April 14, 2008 on Ninja Tune Records. The origi,al concert was performed on November 2, 2007 at The Royal Albert Hall in London.The Cinematic Orchestra is a British jazz and electronic outfit, created in the late 1990s by Jason Swinscoe. The band is signed to Ninja Tune independent record label. In addition to Swinscoe, the band includes PC (former DJ Food member Patrick Carpenter) on turntables, Luke Flowers (drums), Tom Chant (Saxophone), Nick Ramm (piano), Stuart McCallum (guitar) and Phil France (double bass). Former members include Jamie Coleman (trumpet), T. Daniel Howard (drums), Federico Ughi (drums) and Alex James (piano). The most recent addition to the band is Mancunian guitarist Stuart McCallum.