Barney Kessel Live At The Jazz Mill 1954 (2016) {modern Harmonic Mhcd 007}

“There is no hurry to this music, but there is great depth,” observed London Jazz News about Danish guitarist Jakob Bro’s trio with two kindred-spirit Americans: bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Joey Baron. This poetically attuned group follows its ECM studio album of 2016, Streams – which The New York Times lauded as “ravishing” – with what Bro calls “a dream come true,” an album recorded live in New York City, over two nights at the Jazz Standard. Bay of Rainbows rolls on waves of contemplative emotion as the three musicians explore five pieces from the guitarist’s catalog, with the gorgeous “Copenhagen” a favorite reprised from Gefion, Bro’s 2015 ECM release. Others – “Evening Song,” “Red Hook” and the volatile “Dug” – are recast intimately and elastically for trio after having been initially documented by larger ensembles. Bookending Bay of Rainbows are two versions of the richly melodic “Mild,” the abstracted second rendering illustrative of Bro and company’s ability to push and pull the music into mesmerizing new shapes, onstage and in the moment.

Don't let the photos on some of Sara Gazarek's albums and promtional stuff–a barefoot young lady dressed more like a folk singer from the 60's–fool you. This lady is a jazz singer–and an up and coming jazz lion at that. Recording an album live–especially an acoustic jazz album–has to be somewhat schizophrenic for an artist. On one hand, there is the "electricity" that performing before a live audience can bring to a performance; on the other hand, any miscues or imperfections are likely to make it to the recording, too.

Thelonious Monk - Live At The Jazz Workshop - Complete (1964) {2CD Set, Columbia C2K 65189 rel 2001}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 958 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 357 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 47 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remaster
© 1964, 2001 Columbia / Legacy / Sony Music | C2K 65189
Jazz / Post Bop / Modal Music / Piano

The tapes of these two 1964 San Francisco shows stayed locked up at Columbia Records until the label drew a double-LP from them shortly after Monk's death in 1982. Never issued on CD in the U.S., that album is now superseded by this packed document that nearly doubles its length, restores edited portions of several performances, and adds a dozen performances that sometimes better the original recordings. Monk, saxophonist Charlie Rouse, bassist Larry Gales, and drummer Ben Riley are unsurprisingly on point for the dates, which are filled with numerous classics from the Thelonious book.

Les McCann - Les McCann Ltd. in San Francisco: Recorded Live at the Jazz Workshop - Complete Recordings (1960) {Fresh Sound FSR-CD 682 rel 2012}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 371 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 145 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 16 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1960, 2012 Pacific Jazz / Fresh Sound Records | FSR-CD 682
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Piano Trio

Les McCann Ltd. in San Francisco: Recorded Live at the Jazz Workshop was recorded in December of 1960 and released in 1961 on the Pacific Jazz label. Backing his piano were bassist Herbie Flowers and drummer Ron Jefferson. The original LP of this date featured seven selections – only about half of the entire gig. This Fresh Sound reissue contains four more tracks, bringing the total to 11.

The great trumpeter's set here was recorded live at the Warsaw Jamboree Jazz Festival in 1991 with Michael Urbaniak on violin, Donald Braden on tenor sax, Ronnie Matthew on piano, Jeff Chambers on bass and Ralph Penland on drums.

Here is a mismatch if there ever was one - or so it would appear. The always-elegant, always-spacious and graceful Marian McPartland, queen of the NPR program Piano Jazz, playing live with bluesed-out bebop reveler Willie Pickens in a live setting. But that's as far as contradictions go. This pair knows how to put together a program of piano duets and stress their differences rather than their similarities. It is as simple as sitting down Earl Hines and Fats Waller at the keys and telling them to go for it, that's how different these styles are. But somehow it works, and works so well that the listener will be stunned to know this was a one-off…