Barney`s Version

1944 (1996). Barney Bigard is one of the great jazz clarinetists. Although most famous for playing in Duke Ellington's band, Bigard performed with a host of lesser bandleaders, giving a series of distinctive, lyrical performances with each. 1944 collects Bigard's performances with the Capitol International Jazzmen, Zutty Singleton's bands, and his time with Roger Kay. Although not as consistently revelatory as his playing with the Duke, these sessions show Bigard to be a master of his instrument, displaying fabulous technique and great lyricism throughout. The Classics label has done a fine job at remastering, and the excellent liner notes round off a nice package…

Barney Wilen - Tilt+6 (1957) {2014 Japan Jazz Collection 1000 Columbia-RCA Series SICP 4197}
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© 1957, 2014 Columbia / Sony Music Japan | SICP 4197
Jazz / Bop / Saxophone

Reissue with latest remastering. Comes with liner notes. Important early work from one of the greatest European saxophonists of the 50s – a seminal batch of music recorded for the Vogue label in the 50s! Wilen also recorded famously with American musicians during the 50s – including Miles Davis and Art Blakey – but this set features Barney's searing tenor in the company of an all-French group – with the boppish Maurice Vander on piano, plus Charles Saudrais on drums, and Bibi Rovere on bass. Titles include more than a few Monk tunes – including "Hackensack", "Think of One", and "Mysterioso" – plus other jazz standards like "Night In Tunisia" and "Blue N Boogie" – all given a new sort of voice by Wilen. The 6 bonus tracks include alternate versions of "Blue N' Boogie", "Nature Boy", "Hackensack" and "Blue Monk", plus "We See" and "Let's Call This".

Swedish trombonist Eje Thelin and French tenor saxophonist Barney Wilen were two of the top European jazz musicians for several decades before their deaths in the 1990s. They first joined forces briefly in Thelin's quartet in 1963. Based in bop and earlier forms of jazz, Thelin and Wilen were open to freer improvising and music from other countries. In 1966 they joined forces, and two sessions are included on the 1966 With Barney Wilen CD. The first one features a quintet with pianist Lars Sjösten, bassist Erik Lundborg, and drummer Rune Carlsson that is joined by eight brass, bass clarinet, and flute for four inventive Thelin originals. While those performances are excellent, it is the other five numbers (which include second versions of a pair of Thelin's tunes plus "It Could Happen to You" and "Dear Old Stockholm") that are of greatest interest.

If the picture of three grown men hanging onto giant, colored swirl sticks looks a bit odd, or if the title The Poll Winners seems a bit conceited, the music, nonetheless - recorded in 1957 - still sounds great. Besides, guitarist Barney Kessel, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer Shelly Manne really did win polls in Down Beat, Playboy, and Metronome in 1956, and this is precisely what brought the players together. Here, on their first outing, they interpret nine pieces for 40 lovely minutes of modern jazz. After kicking off with a fine take on Duke Jordan's "Jordu," the group delivers an emotionally warm, six-minute version of "Satin Doll," one the album's highlights. While each player is always fully engaged in this small setting, Kessel's guitar supplies the lead voice…

Barney Kessel - On Fire +5 (1965) {Emerald-Interplay Japan XQAM-1639 Mini LP DSD rel 2015}
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© 1962, 1965, 2015 Emerald / Interplay / SSJ Japan | XQAM-1639 | Mini LP | DSD mastering
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Guitar

Cardboard sleeve reissue with DSD mastering. Five bonus tracks. Rare and groovy work by Barney Kessel – originally recorded for a strange subsidiary of Phil Spector's record label! The album's quite different than some of Kessel's other albums of the earlier years – recorded live with a gritty feel that's really nice – a bit more edge on the strings of the guitar, and a rumbling tone that's a far cry from his lighter work for Contemporary in the 50s. Kessel still retains much of his ability to produce a bell-like tone on the guitar – but he rings out with a tremendous amount of force – spurred on by the crackling club rhythm section of Jerry Scheff on bass and Frank Capp on drums. Titles include 2 great originals – "Slow Burn" and "Sweet Baby" – plus an excellent version of "Recado Bossa Nova", and the tunes "The Shadow Of Your Smile", "Just In Time", and "One Mint Julep". CD features five bonus tracks – including 'Fly Me To The Moon", "The Gypsy In My Soul", and "April In Paris".

This 1959 concert in Paris by Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers has been sporadically available on various labels, but this reissue in Verve's Jazz in Paris series is the best sounding and best packaged of the lot. Blakey's group of this period (Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Jymie Merritt, and Walter Davis, Jr.) is in great form during an extended workout of Morgan's intense blues "The Midget," and Dizzy Gillespie's timeless "A Night in Tunisia" is kicked off by Blakey's an electrifying solo. But it is the addition of some special guests for the first two numbers that proves to be extra special. Bud Powell, sitting in for Davis, and French saxophonist Barney Wilen, on alto rather than his normal tenor sax, are both added to the band for inspired versions of Powell's "Dance of the Infidels" and "Bouncing with Bud." Morgan's trumpet playing is outstanding throughout the concert. This is one of the essential live dates in Art Blakey's rather extensive discography.