E H Carr

Sun Bear Concerts - documenting five complete solo performances by Keith Jarrett in Japan - counts as a milestone achievement in the history of jazz recording. As Down Beat wrote, on the occasion of the original release, Jarrett’s improvisations are “the inventions of a giant, overpoweringly intimate in the way they can draw a listener in and hold him captive. Jarrett has once more stepped into the cave of his creative consciousness and brought to light music of startling power, majesty and warmth.”

Sibling of the legendary Robert Farnon, Dennis Farnon is a brilliant arranger composer in his own right, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the two albums compiled here. Recorded at the end of the 1950s, when stereo recording had begun to take hold, Dennis collected together a star studded studio orchestra to interpret his exquisite arrangements. Caution, Men Swinging and The Enchanted Woods not only throw the spotlight on Dennis's skills, but also the instrumental brilliance of A grade West Coast jazz and session musicians.