100 of The Most Beautiful Piano Solos Ever

Composer and pianist Carla Bley has been very consistent, if not exactly prolific, for most of her 40 years in jazz. When she and bassist/life partner Steve Swallow hired British saxophonist Andy Sheppard – then one of his country's young lions as both a composer and as a reedman – in 1989, they hired him on and he's been with the group ever since. The recorded evidence was heard on Sheppard's first appearance with Bley on the utterly beguiling Fleur Carnivore, and later on the fine trio recording Songs with Legs in 1995. Drummer Billy Drummond joined the unit as a permanent member in the early part of this century, and on 2004's Lost Chords debut, locked in with a unit that seemed to be evenly weighted all around.

The Mannish Boys lineup may change, but it is always one of the most solid bands ever put together and this incarceration is no different. Led by the Sugar Ray Rayford and Randy Chortkoff up front, with Kirk Fletcher and Frank Goldwasser as axe men, Willie J. Campbell on bass and Jimi Bott on drums, they are as solid a blues band as one can find anywhere. And then you add the likes of Candye Kane and Laura Chavez, Kim Wilson, Steve Freund, Kid Ramos, Mike Welch, Fred Kaplan and Bob Corritore (among others) and it becomes a blues extravaganza! Randy Chortkoff has steered this band and his label quite well, and this sixth CD for the ‘Boys remains centered in the blues and delivers a powerful punch. It’s stripped down some, but it works well, and maybe even better!

Bennie Maupin's Cryptogramophone label follow-up CD to Penumbra both parallels and provides a departure from that excellent effort. What is similar is the softer tone Maupin is displaying in his far post-Headhunters days, refined by experience and cured though wisdom. The music Maupin plays on this beautiful effort is even more subdued, as he collaborates with an ensemble of relatively unknown musicians from Poland. If you've been hearing recent efforts from Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko and his ECM recordings with the teenage pianist Marcin Wasilewski and his trio, you hear stark similarities. But further, the recently reissued Maupin epic Jewel in the Lotus, which was also on ECM, is quite different than this ECM sounding project. Old may in fact be new again in some respects, but in this case, new is really new. Maupin offers so much appealing music within the undercurrent, starting with the delicate but paced "Black Ice" and the waltzing title track with Maupin on soprano sax. Separate flute and piano lines are woven into a more somber waltz "Tears," or the sparse, spacy, long "Spirits of the Tatras" with dynamics patiently rendered up and down with lots of piano from Michal Tokaj, who rivals the crystalline musings of Wasilewski on the entire album.

Artie Shaw - The Last Recordings, Volume 3 (1945-1949) {2CD Wyastone-Nimbus NI 2729~30 rel 2009}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 466 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 276 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 48 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1945-49, 2009 MusicMasters / Wyastone / Nimbus | NI 2729~30
Jazz / Bop / Swing / Big Band / Clarinet

The material on CD 1 dates from the latter half of Artie Shaw’s career as a bandleader, which ended with his retirement in 1954. Always presenting tasteful and often unusually deep interpretations of big-band jazz and dance music, and featuring his exquisite and frequently profound clarinet improvisations, Shaw’s career climaxed in his rise to superstar status as the most popular musician in North America at the height of the Swing Era in 1939.

Other than jazz and classical, there are few other musical genres where vocals don't dominate, but Ronnie Earl sets out to prove that blues can be another. This entirely instrumental album never lags for a second of its hour-and-a-quarter playing time, all without a word being sung. Instead, Earl uses his magnificent guitar tone – a stinging combination of Santana, Hubert Sumlin, Mike Bloomfield, Otis Rush, and Albert King – and command of dynamics to wring more soul from his material than all but a handful of vocalists could ever achieve. He does this without the blinding speed or enhanced volume of the most popular blues six-stringers, but by the sheer intensity of his playing on these 11 tracks.

John Coltrane - Live at The Village Vanguard Again! (1966) {Impulse! Japan, 32XD-598, Early Press}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 256 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 99 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 139 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1966, 1987 Impulse! / MCA Records Japan | 32XD-598
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Saxophone

Live at the Village Vanguard Again! is one of the more hotly contested albums in John Coltrane's catalog. Released less than a year before his death, the original recording showcased his new quintet with Alice Coltrane, piano; Pharoah Sanders, tenor saxophone; Jimmy Garrison, bass; and Rashied Ali, drums. Additional percussion on the date was provided by Emanuel Rahim. The three selections here are what survive from a much longer tape. Coltrane's signature ballad "Naima" opens the album and goes on for over 15 minutes. One of the most iconic tunes in his repertoire, the treatment it is given here is radical. While the melody is referenced in the beginning, Coltrane moves it aside fairly quickly to concentrate on improvisation.

Milt Jackson - Milt Jackson At The Museum Of Modern Art (1965) {Verve Originals rel 2008 B0011221-02}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 275 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 97 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 17 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1965, 2008 Verve / Universal | B0011221-02 | Verve Originals
Jazz / Hard Bop / Modal Music / Soul Jazz / Vibes

One of the hippest Milt Jackson albums of the 60s – a set that definitely lives up to its Museum Of Modern Art setting! The performance is one of the most famous from that museum's well-remembered series of 60s jazz concerts – and it features Milt Jackson's quintet really stretching out nicely – hitting sharper tones and bolder notes than in some of their other sessions of the decade, and possibly picking up a freer feel overall in the live setting. Milt's vibes are wonderfully accompanied by the reeds of Jimmy Heath and piano of Cedar Walton – both players who mix soul and modern elements in the same sort of perfect blend that Jackson hits. And the rhythm section is tightly snapping and soulful – never too groove-oriented, but always conscious of a sense of a swing – thanks to bass from Ron Carter and drums from Candy Finch.