A Ticklish Affair (1963)

Donald Byrd - A New Perspective (1963) {Blue Note RVG rel 1999}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 267 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 96 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 39 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1963, 1999 Blue Note / Capitol Records | 7243 4 99006 2 2
Jazz / Hard Bop / Trumpet

This unusual set was one of the most successful uses of a gospel choir in a jazz context. Trumpeter Donald Byrd and a septet that includes tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, guitarist Kenny Burrell, and pianist Herbie Hancock are joined by an eight-voice choir directed by Coleridge Perkinson. The arrangements by Duke Pearson are masterful and one song, "Cristo Redentor," became a bit of a hit. This is a memorable effort that is innovative in its own way, a milestone in Donald Byrd's career.

The Chico Hamilton Quintet - A Different Journey (1963) {2012 Japan Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series WPCR-27190}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 278 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 100 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 193 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remaster
© 1963, 2012 Reprise / Rhino / WEA / Warner Japan | WPCR-27190 | Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series
Jazz / Cool / Hard Bop / Post Bop / Drums

Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. Different is right – as this obscure early 60s side shows Chico Hamilton really opening up, moving past the modern chamber style of the late 50s, into the freer modal rhythms that characterized his incredible work of the 60s! The group's the beginning of that sound too – with Charles Lloyd on tenor and flute, Gabor Szabo on guitar, and Albert Stinson on bass – joined by George Bohannon on trombone, who slides around the grooves to expand the bottom of the album's sound nicely!

Exotic and Latin albums were big deals in the 1950s and early '60s, and singers as diverse as Dean Martin, Lena Horne, and Peggy Lee were recording with castanets and bongo drums. Peggy Lee was so successful at the style that she cut two albums of light pseudo-Latin jazz in 1960. Like Peggy Lee, Julie London combined a restrained vocal approach with jazz phrasing and a cool attitude with icy sex appeal. But while London had Lee's stripped-down musical approach, she just didn't share her unrelenting rhythmic vocal drive or her innate feeling for exotic rhythms. It doesn't help that London is paired with arranger Ernie Freeman, who was usually better at crafting Nashville and soft rock style charts than Latin jazz arrangements. This isn't a bad album - London sounds casual and confident throughout - but it is a rather bland one, and isn't blandness what these types of exotica albums are supposed to be fighting against…

Art Blakey Quartet - A Jazz Message (1963) {2006 Japan Impulse! UCCU-9307 24-bit}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 240 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 90 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 32 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1963, 2006 Impulse! / Verve / Universal Music Japan | UCCU-9307 | 24bit mastering
Jazz / Hard Bop / Drums

Art Blakey, without any Jazz Messengers – but still coming through loud and clear, thanks to help from a unique group that features Sonny Stitt on tenor, McCoy Tyner on piano, and Art Davis on bass! The album's still got all the hardbop charm of Blakey's best Blue Note dates, but also feels a bit more spontaneous too – and the basslines of Davis are a wonderful change from the usual – beautiful sounds that drive the record quite strongly up from the bottom! Titles include the killer "Cafe", plus "Blues Back", "Just Knock On My Door", "Summertime", and "The Song Is You" – and the album features fantastic blowing from Stitt!

Widespread respect for Earl Hooker, one of the unsung giants of the blues, is long overdue, and his rather limited available discography belies a great original talent. P-Vine Japan has attempted to put this right with Blues Guitar: The Chief and Age Sessions 1959-1963, an intelligent and authoritative collection of Hooker's early-'60s heyday, containing instrumental classics such as "Blue Guitar" and "Blues in D Natural." Both sound quality and packaging supersede all previous reissues of this work and, as such, this release becomes perhaps the cornerstone of any Earl Hooker collection.