Englishman in Ney York

George Russell was one of the most forward-thinking composers and arrangers on the jazz scene during the 1950s, but his work was generally more appreciated by musicians than the jazz-buying public. New York, New York represents one of many high points in his career. He assembled an all-star orchestra, including pianist Bill Evans (a frequent participant on Russell's recordings), Art Farmer, Bob Brookmeyer, John Coltrane, and Milt Hinton, among others. In Rodgers & Hart's "Manhattan," Russell has the soloists playing over the orchestra's vamp, while he also creates an imaginative "East Side Medley" combining the standards "Autumn in New York" and "How About You." His original material is just as striking as his arrangements, while vocalist Jon Hendricks serves as narrator between orchestra segments.

Frank Zappa - Zappa In New York (2019) {5CD Box Set, 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition ZR20029 rec 1976}
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© 1976, 2019 Zappa Records / UMe | ZR20029
Rock / Experimental Rock / Avant-Garde / Art Rock / Jazz Rock

Of all the Zappa live albums out there (and there’s a lot, so we have to be careful what we say), the double album rendering of his December 1976 New York shows has always occupied a prominent position in the fan club’s “best of” ratings. There are misgivings, of course. The omission of the showstopping “Punky’s Whips”; the mass of edits and rearrangements that went into the final running order; the fact that close to two years elapsed between concert and LP…. But, if you stopped worrying about what could have been, and focus simply on what you got, it was a fabulous album.

One of Chick Corea's most ambitious projects was the recording of almost 60 hours of music with nine different groups over a three-week run at the Blue Note in December 2001; it must have been a challenge to choose the dozen performances for this two-CD set. The first disc begins with scat singer par excellence Bobby McFerrin joining the pianist to scat his way through three selections, including a stunning medley of an excerpt from Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez" and Corea's "Spain." Bassist Miroslav Vitous and ageless drummer Roy Haynes provide the pulse to his extended work "Matrix." Corea's well-crafted tribute to Bud Powell, with Terence Blanchard and Joshua Redman in the front line, combines two of Powell's greatest works, "Glass Enclosure" and "Tempus Fugit." But Corea is at his most lyrical when old friend Gary Burton joins him to revisit the pianist's masterpiece, the shimmering "Crystal Silence."

The fact that something was founded as a side project doesn't necessarily mean that the participants don't take it as seriously as they take their other endeavors. Blackfield, for example, started out as a side project for singer/multi-instrumentalist Steven Wilson, who had been leading Porcupine Tree for a decade when he co-founded Blackfield with Israeli singer/songwriter Aviv Geffen in the early 2000s…

Frank Zappa - Zappa In New York (1976) {2CD Rykodisc RCD 10524/25 rel 1995}
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© 1976, 1995 Rykodisc / The Zappa Family Trust | RCD 10524/25 (LP March 3rd 1978)
Rock / Experimental Rock / Jazz Rock

Official Release #23. Zappa in New York was recorded in December 1976 at the Palladium and originally intended for release in 1977. It was held up due to arguments between Frank Zappa and his then-record label, Warner Bros. When the two-LP set finally appeared in March 1978, Warner had deleted "Punky's Whips," a song about drummer Terry Bozzio's attraction to Punky Meadows of Angel. When Zappa reacquired the album and released it as a double CD in 1991, he restored "Punky's Whips" and added four bonus tracks.

Live in New York City, February 8, 1975 is the recently unearthed recording of Braufman with his five-piece band, Cooper-Moore (piano, ashimba, recitation), William Parker (bass), John Clark (French horn), Jim Schapperow (drums) and Ralph Williams (percussion), in an early 1975 live radio session. Live in New York City, February 8, 1975 was recorded soon after the recording of Braufman's debut album Valley of Search for the India Navigation Label and marks the first meeting for William Parker and Cooper-Moore, whose musical partnership has flourished ever since.

The first album co-billed to John Lennon and Yoko Ono to actually contain recognizable pop music, Some Time in New York City found the Lennons in an explicitly political phase…

Tragic genius who reinvented the electric bass guitar, playing complex, long lines and amazing solos at remarkable speeds.
Jaco Pastorius was a meteor who blazed on to the scene in the 1970s, only to flame out tragically in the 1980s. With a brilliantly fleet technique and fertile melodic imagination, Pastorius made his fretless electric bass leap out from the depths of the rhythm section into the front line with fluid machine-gun-like passages that demanded attention. He also sported a strutting, dancing, flamboyant performing style and posed a further triple-threat as a talented composer, arranger and producer. He and Stanley Clarke were the towering influences on their instrument in the 1970s…