Jazz Drummer Legends (2016)

Kenny Barron, the 72-year-old Philadelphia-born virtuoso, is the kind of jazz pianist whose resources are familiar and much-covered by mainstream swing players, but whose joyfully extravagant execution is a rarity today. That quality transforms this trio set from being a canter through a smooth-jazzy assortment of soft ballads, Latin smoochers and glossy swing. Barron has absorbed an encyclopaedia of jazz methods from a life on the road with legends such as Ella Fitzgerald and Stan Getz, and it pours out in these tracks. Magic Dance, with its glistening chords and Latin-jazz tick, sounds smooth at first but unleashes an impulsive torrent. Ballads such as In the Slow Lane display his impeccably light touch and Thelonious Monk’s Shuffle Boil isn’t Monkishly lateral but swings furiously.

Recorded over two days in Brooklyn in January 2018, Exoterm’s ‘Exits into a Corridor’ presents a new Norway/US supergroup playing compositions by bassist Rune Nergaard that mix thrashy, take-no-prisoners improv with dreamy, electronically-assisted soundscapes. Tough, muscular bass riffs from Nergaard and blasting, out-there saxophonics from Kristoffer Berre Alberts are complemented by the complex, multi-faceted musical personalities of drummer Jim Black and guitarist Nels Cline – both total legends in their field – to produce a distinctively edgy blend of influences and attributes.

After spending nearly the last decade and a half forging a highly successful career in artist tour management and concert & event promotion, popular Canadian blues vocalist/harp player Jordan Patterson has returned to his first love and passion; playing and singing the blues. The success of Patterson’s 2014 four song EP release The Back On Track Recording Project has thrust this contemporary blues artist back in the spotlight, reigniting a successful and exciting career and marking the triumphant return of one of Canada’s most beloved blues artists.

Look! Up on the bandstand! It’s a piano! It’s a saxophone! It’s a trumpet! It’s Superheroes, a bold and daring, wall-scaling, day saving, faster than George Benson’s blazing guitar, a Chick Corea synth run or Vinnie Colauita drum solo all-star jam session celebrating humanity’s global obsession with these godlike beings who have become multi-billion dollar comic book, film and TV icons.

Released in 1999 for Fantasy's Legends of Acid Jazz series, this CD unites two of Houston Person's classic Prestige sessions, 1968's Soul Dance and 1970s Truth!, on a single 78-minute CD. Soul Dance is heard in its entirety, but because the CD didn't have enough room to hold everything from Truth!, the track "If I Ruled the World" ended up being sacrificed. The personnel on the sessions differs - while Soul Dance employed organist Billy Gardner, guitarist Boogaloo Joe Jones, and drummer Frankie Jones, Truth! united Person with Frankie Jones, guitarist Billy Butler, electric bassist Bob Bushnell, and percussionist Buddy Caldwell. But the albums are fairly similar in their outlook. Both of them are quite accessible, and both emphasize Person's strong points: funky boogaloos, gritty blues, standards, and sentimental ballads…

Here are the articled funky beats that hip-hop DJs can’t stop diggin’ in the crates for – including rare grooves aplenty. What’s more, there’s soul, jazz and a message or two to go with those killer breaks. As sampled by everyone in rap - including you?