Michael Ullman
Vince Guaraldi isn’t the heaviest of jazz pianists: he played at a time when McCoy Tyner and Bill Evans were omnipresent. But his tunes, his gently humanist approach to music, meant that he reached listeners that others couldn’t or didn’t.
This collection, Newvelle Records’ first series release in two years, features original compositions by Elan Mehler, Michael Blake, Dave Liebman, and Nadje Noordhuis.
Given Keith Jarrett’s current disability, this new ECM recording is an unexpected gift to his fans.
The sound of both musicians is indelible: trumpeter Enrico Rava is warm and rounded; pianist Fred Hersch, often icy, is fetching and detailed.
Four! is one of Hampton Hawes’ most satisfying sessions, for the variety of the repertoire and the quality of the performances.
Play or Die brilliantly showcases what Miles Davis heard in Tony Williams’ playing: variety of sound within a restricted framework.
Manel Fortià’s album of his Spanish-tinged compositions is meant to wake us up to what the bassist can do.
Ornette Coleman turned to me and said, “You know, you can never really be out of tune. You are always in tune with something.”
Oscar Peterson always seemed at his best live, which is how we find the pianist in this beautifully recorded, newly issued set.
The trio shares Cecil Taylor’s love of rational freedom and adventure, but it doesn’t try to reproduce the pianist’s rip-roaring intensity.
Classical Music Commentary: What’s Next for the Boston Symphony? — Lessons from the Past