Big Chief Skullgame No. 3, Take 3

Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning is a complex work, as the artist formerly known as Christian Scott leads us on a new path in his journey. Bark out Thunder Roar Out Lightning bridges past and future by marrying the folkloric styles, ceremonial and ritual practices of the Maroon and Afro-Indigenous Chiefdoms, and culture of New Orleans with Stretch Music. The result is a spellbinding exhibition of Afro-New Orleanian and West African expression where music, dance, and cultures unite.

Charlie Parker - Big Band (1950-1953) {Verve Master Edition 24bit rel 1999}
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© 1950-53, 1999 Clef Records / Verve / PolyGram Records | 559 835-2
Jazz / Bop / Bebop / Big Band / Saxophone

A reissue of the original 1952 Clef recording session, this is one of the few instances in Charlie Parker's later career where he played with something other than a small bebop group. Under contract at the time to Clef's Norman Granz, Parker was encouraged by the label to make recordings that took him out of his familiar settings and put him in with string arrangements, Latin rhythms, and larger band formats. This recording is the result of one of these experiments. Though Joe Lipman's arrangements are stellar, the musicians assembled for the sessions are an odd mix of pop-oriented big-band players and improvisers.

Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band, covering the years 1940-1942 in the great composer and bandleader's career, is essentially the third time that RCA has issued this material on CD. The first was a botched job, appalling even, with its flattened-out, compressed sound, along with a chopped version of "Take the A-Train" and other sonic and editorial errors. The second version was completely remastered and corrected the editorial problems, but featured no alternate takes from the band's performances. Beyond the original 66 tracks, nine additional cuts are featured here, including four brand-new master-take issues of "Another Pitter Patter," "Body and Soul," "Sophisticated Lady," and "Mr. J.B. Blues," as well as alternate takes of "Ko-Ko," "Bojangles," "Sepia Panorama," "Jumpin' Punkins," and "Jump for Joy"…

Cut at Gerdes Folk City in New York on February 26, 1962, this record shows Big Joe Williams in top late-era form, enjoying himself before an audience of mostly white college kids and beats. He plays his signature nine-string guitar, accompanying himself on kazoo, which basically works (even subbing for what would have been a fuzz-tone guitar on "Bugle Blues"), although the kazoo was never meant to be captured in digital sound. The material includes Tommy McClennan's "Bottle Up and Go" and 11 traditional songs, including the intense "Trouble Take Me to My Grave" (his version of a song more familiar in Muddy Waters' version as "I Can't Be Satisfied"), "Mink Coat Blues," and "Burned Child Is Scared of Fire," all done in lively fashion with daunting finger-picking…

Probably the first thing you should know about this album is that the Chicago Blues Festival of 1974 did not actually take place in Chicago; it was, instead, the name of European tour of American bluesmen. This live concert comes from the Blues Reference series of the good folks at Black and Blue. We have an interesting collection of Chicago musicians that includes 7 more tracks from 'Big Voice' Odum as well as 13 from pianist Sunnyland Slim. Fine guitar work from Jimmy Dawkins provides fireworks throughout the show.

Cab Calloway - Best of the Big Bands (1990) {Columbia CK 45336 rec 1930s-1950s}
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© 1930s-1950s, 1990 CBS Records / Columbia | CK 45336
Jazz / Big Band / Jive / Swing / Vocal Jazz

Cab Calloway's eccentric personality and wild onstage antics often overshadowed his musical contributions, when in fact, as this superb Columbia sampler demonstrates, the two went hand in hand. On all-time classic tracks like "The Jumpin' Jive," "Reefer Man," and the inexhaustible "Minnie the Moocher," the Hi-Di-Ho man's exuberance and vitality as a performer is grounded by his tight bandleading and the outstanding playing of his orchestra (which, over the years, included such greats as Dizzy Gillespie, Eddie Barefield and Chu Berry).

4-Time WC Handy Award Winner, premier shuffle drummer of the Muddy Waters, Legendary Blues Band and Muddy Waters Reunion Band fame, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith is back with his second release on Juke Joint Records. On this studio outing, Willie isbacked by a stellar, all-star group of veteran musicians. With blues straight from his heart, Willie Smith and the band take you to the good times and sounds of a south-side Juke Joint on a Saturday night.

In 1957, drummer Walter Perkins formed a quintet, the MJT + 3, that recorded four albums before breaking up in 1962. Walter Perkins was a longtime fixture in the Chicago jazz scene. He gained some recognition for playing with the Ahmad Jamal Trio during 1956-1957 (right before Jamal really caught on). A 1957 set for Argo led by Perkins (and also featuring trumpeter Paul Serrano, tenor saxophonist Nicky Hill, the young pianist Richard Abrams, and bassist Bob Cranshaw) used the name of MJT Plus 3. The better-known version of the band (with trumpeter Willie Thomas, altoist Frank Strozier, pianist Harold Mabern, and bassist Bob Cranshaw) recorded three albums for Vee-Jay during 1959-1960 and was popular for a time locally before breaking up in 1962.