Frère Jacques – Round About Offenbach

Miles Davis - 'Round About Midnight (1956) {2006 DSD Japan Mini LP Edition Analog Collection SICP 1201}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 191 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 95 Mb | Full Artwork
© 1956, 2006 Sony Music Japan / Columbia | SICP 1201 | DSD | HQD High Quality Disc
Jazz / Cool / Hard Bop / Trumpet

The combination of attitude and intellect was irresistible. Beginning with ROUND ABOUT MIDNIGHT and proceeding through a remarkable succession of famous recordings over the next 30 years, Miles Davis became one of the greatest soloists, arrangers and talent scouts in the history of American music. People who didn't own a single jazz record came to know his name–Miles was a jazz icon.

In his liner notes to this album, philosopher/novelist Umberto Eco talks about Gianluigi Trovesi and Gianni Coscia revisiting Kurt Weill "in a musical drowse dominated by an almost oneiric principle of contamination." As you do. In plain English, Eco is suggesting that Trovesi and Coscia have approached the music as if in an eclectic, stream of subconsciousness daydream, interweaving Weill's compositions with their own and those of other simpatico composers. And he's spot on. Trovesi and Coscia appear to be in deep free association mode here, employing intuition and impressionism rather than literal historical reconstruction to celebrate Weill's singular and enduring legacy.

During the spring and summer of 1956, trumpeter Kenny Dorham recorded two studio albums with his Jazz Prophets, a small hard bop band involving tenor saxophonist J.R. Monterose and a rhythm section of pianist Dick Katz, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Arthur Edgehill. On May 31 of that year, Dorham's group performed live at the Café Bohemia with Bobby Timmons at the piano and guitarist Kenny Burrell sitting in on all but the first of four sets. Originally engineered by Rudy Van Gelder and remastered by him in 2001, Blue Note's 2002 double-disc "Complete" Dorham Café Bohemia edition combines every usable track taped during this exceptionally fine evening of live jazz…

Pierre Michelot was one of the very best jazz bassists in Europe, though few fans think of him as a bandleader, composer, or arranger. This reissue of an LP made for Mercury dates from 1963, where Michelot is joined by some of the top players on the continent. In addition to fresh arrangements of standard fare like "Cherokee" and "Bye, Bye Blackbird," the leader penned five compositions, including the tasty blues "Akkilino," which is an extended feature for his bass and Roger Guerin's muted trumpet. "Elephant Green" showcases flutist Raymond Guiot and Pierre Gossez's robust baritone saxophone in a melancholy ballad setting. Like many of Verve's Jazz in Paris CD reissues, this recording is a sleeper that is well worth acquiring, even if its running time is a tad miserly at around 32 minutes.