100 of The Most Beautiful Piano Solos

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.

Mal Waldron - The Complete Remastered Recordings On Black Saint & Soul Note (2012) {4CD Set CAM Jazz BXS 1014}
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© 1986, 1989, 2012 CAM Jazz London / Kepach Music | BXS 1014
Jazz / Hard Bop / Post Bop / Piano

Four more boxed sets from CAM Jazz presenting the complete works of key artists from the catalogues of the famed Italian labels. Attractively presented, Excellent sound. INCLUDES THE ALBUMS: THE GIT GO - LIVE AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD (1987) THE SEAGULLS OF KRISTIANSUND (1989) CROWD SCENE (1992) WHERE ARE YOU? (1994). The four albums recorded by Soul Notes are greats. Two of them are for the same concert at Village Vanguard in 1986 with Woody Shaw, Charles Rouse, Regie Workman and Ed Blackwell. Great group, great concert. Only five themes in two CD, incredible improvisation a very good recorded. "The git go" and "The seagull of Kristiansund" are pure jazz in live.

Miles Davis - My Funny Valentine (1964) {2006 DSD Japan Mini LP Edition Analog Collection SICP 1211}
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© 1964, 2006 Sony Music Japan / Columbia | SICP 1211 | DSD | HQD High Quality Disc
Jazz / Hard Bop / Modal Music / Trumpet

One of the finest live albums in the history of jazz, My Funny Valentine presents the Miles Davis Quintet live at the Lincoln Centre's Philharmonic Hall in 1964. Surrounded by the vibrant and youthful rhythm section of Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass) and Tony Williams (drums), Davis was enjoying a strong new surge of creativity, and played with a stunning level of invention and passion throughout. The resonance of the long title track - one of those flawless performances that happens only very occasionally - dominates the record. Front-line partner George Coleman (tenor saxophone) chose a good evening to play some of the most beautiful solos of his life.

Artie Shaw - The Last Recordings, Volume 3 (1945-1949) {2CD Wyastone-Nimbus NI 2729~30 rel 2009}
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© 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.

Charlie Mariano & Jerry Dodgion - Beauties Of 1918 (1957) {2011 Japan Jazz Masterpiece Best & More 999 Series TOCJ-50186}
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© 1957, 2011 World Pacific / EMI Music Japan | TOCJ-50186 | Jazz Masterpiece Best & More 999 Series
Jazz / Bop / Cool / West Coast Jazz / Saxophone

Pianist Russ Freeman, who produced this record, related it this way : “The last time we were (with Shelly Manne’s quintet) in San Francisco, we went to blow at some motel on the outskirts of town one afternoon. There were some other musicians there; we took turns playing. Jerry (Dodgion) was there. The afternoon wound up with Charlie and Jerry playing the blues with a rhythm section for about twenty minutes. It was one of the most memorable experiences I have ever had, and I wasn’t even playing!

Volume 1 of the two-volume Genius of Modern Music set comprises the first sessions Thelonious Monk recorded as a leader, on October 15 and 24 and November 21 of 1947. It's impossible to overstate the importance of these sessions…

Of the virtues attributable to the classical guitar, the intimate nature of the instrument ranks highly. Ironically it is that very characteristic which for so long relegated the guitar to the salon where it remained until rescued and promoted to the concert platform by the great Andrès Segovia (1893-1987). Perhaps it is this intimate nature that makes the guitar so ideally suited to accompaniment of the human voice, especially the female’s. Many composers including Schubert and Villa-Lobos pursued guitar/voice combinations.