Taking the listener on a smoother, rather than bumpier, ride down the moonlight highway of jazz is Wes Montgomery, a chief architect of the world's guitar virtuoso scene. Not only is his brilliant command of the six-string present here, so is the vivid color tones of notes and blue notes played between…
Jazz pianist David Hazeltine, like many baby-boomer musicians, is influenced by Wes, Buddy, and Monk Montgomery and Cedar Walton. For what he calls his most personally driven recording date, he pays tribute to them by composing a four-part suite inspired by their sounds. Hazeltine and his quintet which includes the formidable vibraphonist Joe Locke and longtime collaborator tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander give alms with some well-conceived and executed modern mainstream jazz.
This whopping 17-cut collection by über guitarist Montgomery will be of interest not only to hardcore fans (for its amazing sound) but also for the beat hunters, soul-jazz fans, and groove collectors everywhere. The material was all recorded between 1964 and 1968. It features Montgomery during one of his most creative periods, when he was working at making his own brand of sophisticated soul-jazz marketable to a larger orchestra - sometimes to the chagrin of dedicated hard bop fans. The experimentation, in terms of material as well as production, is staggering as evidenced here. Some of the players backing Wes include trombonist Urbie Green, drummer Grady Tate, conga legends Ray Barretto and Candido, percussionist Willie Bobo, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassists Richard Davis and Ron Carter…
After their acclaimed recording of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, La Nuova Musica and David Bates expand their PENTATONE discography with Handel’s Unsung Heroes, in which the instrumentalists of Handel’s operas are put centre stage. Traditionally restricted to an “invisible” existence in the orchestra pit, La Nuova Musica’s obbligato instrumentalists – violinist Thomas Gould, oboist Leo Duarte and bassoonist Joe Qiu – are now in the limelight. They will stand as equal partners alongside a world-class line up of soloists – soprano Lucy Crowe, mezzo-soprano Christine Rice and countertenor Iestyn Davies – showing how Handel wrote music as virtuosic and lyrical for his unsung heroes as for their singing counterparts.
David Grisman's self-named "Dawg" music defies traditional categories, as it is such a unique blend of many influences, including bluegrass, jazz, gypsy music, Latin, and so much more…