This 1969 concert by the Thelonious Monk Quartet was produced by a high school student and recorded by his school’s janitor. It presents this particular group at its optimistic best.
Jazz Album Reviews: Mesmerized By Vinyl — Newvelle, Louis Armstrong, and Stan Getz
Playing vinyl involves holding something in your hand, putting a needle down and, at least on my high end system, listening to sound quality that can mesmerize.
Jazz Album Review: Ken Field’s “Iridescence” — Some Enchanted Strangers
Iridescence is a masterful set, with none of the tentative feeling …he bipped when he should have bopped …that sometimes afflicts free jazz outings.
Jazz Album Review: Quinsin Nachoff’s “Pivotal Arc” — Rhythmic Vitality Galore
This is demanding contemporary music that succeeds at the trick of pulling you in — and makes you glad to be there.
Jazz Album Review: Dave Pietro’s “Hypersphere” — Complexity, Made Clear
Dave Pietro is a fine, distinctive composer, an agile, precise saxophonist, and a band leader to be trusted.
Album Review: Deerhoof and Wadada Leo Smith — Electrical Soul Music
That this assemblage works so well is a tribute to the big ears and hearts — and collective intelligence — of all the players here.
Jazz EP Review: Esperanza Spalding and Fred Hersch: Live at the Village Vanguard — A Divine Duo
Yes, purchasing this EP will help out a good cause, but the musical value of this fabulous duo’s performance is priceless.
Jazz CD Review: John Scofield’s “Swallow Tales” — Steve Swallow’s Quirky Romanticism
This is an intelligent, inventively performed, be-boppish tribute to a composer I now know better than ever.
Jazz CD Review: “The Jerry Granelli Trio Plays Vince Guaraldi and Mose Allison” — Paying Exciting Homage
The interpretations of the covers in this beautifully realized tribute album will bring back memories of the originals in a way that is enlivening rather than nostalgic.
Jazz Album Review: Brian Landrus’s “For Now” — With Strings Attached
Saxophonist Brian Landrus seems to know what he’s got in this magnificent trio: Fred Hersch on piano, Drew Gress on bass, and Billy Hart on drums.