5 Round

This progressive jazz supergroup had previously contributed tracks to three high-profile holiday jazz recordings (including a GRP collection and Take 6's He Is Christmas), but never took the full plunge into the stocking stuffer realm until now. There's definitely a sense of spunk and spontaneity as the quartet does its first and second takes, but most of the arrangements are pretty standard jazz hipster stuff, allowing for saxman Bob Mintzer, pianist Russ Ferrante, and bassist Jimmy Haslip to impress listeners with cool solos.

Saxophonist Stefano Di Battista's third release for Blue Note records, Round About Roma, is awash with lush, orchestral arrangements in concert with a silky smooth jazz touch and shifting rhythms. With this outing, the artist pays homage to his birthplace as he paints a vivid musical canvas of Rome, Italy – where he conjures up imagery of a city beset with intrigue and romance.

Another in a long line of fine Jazz 'Round Midnight collections from Verve, this Erroll Garner installment finds the pianist on a fine set of both trio sides and solo pieces. And if a jazz figure was ever tailor-made for this ballad-heavy series, then it's the dulcet-fingered Garner.

Phil Woods - Round Trip (1969) {2016 Japan Verve 60th Rare Albums SHM-CD Reissue Series UCCV-9611}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 259 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 88 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 193 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1969, 2016 Verve / Universal Japan | UCCV-9611
Jazz / Post Bop / Modern Big Band / Progressive Jazz / Saxophone

Verve 60th Anniversary Rare Albums SHM-CD Reissue Series. Reissue with SHM-CD format. Hip and groovy work from Phil – very different than both his earlier bop-heavy sides, and his freer European recordings – recorded with some great backings by Johnny Pate, the excellent Chicago soul arranger who also did some great soundtrack work! Pate's come up with some tight short tracks that have a nice groovy late 60s Verve feel – over which Woods solos angularly on alto, working amidst woodwinds by Jerome Richardson and Jerry Dodgion, piano by Herbie Hancock, trumpet by Thad Jones, and some light strings that trickle in and out from time to time.

Third ECM album by French-African drummer Manu Katché, following the best selling 'Neighbourhood' and 'Playground'. 'Third Round' features a completely revised ensemble line-up, but is faithful to a group concept that The Guardian described as "beautifully mutated grooves and jazzy themes", with all participants elevated by the physical presence of Katché's beats and drum patterns. Once again, all music is written by Manu, and his insinuating melodies testify to parallel lives in pop and jazz. The album was recorded in the South of France with producer Manfred Eicher.