Men At Work 1990

Pete Levin - Party In The Basement (1990) {Gramavision R2 79456}
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© 1990 Gramavision | R2 79456
Jazz / Post Bop / Jazz Blues / Soul Jazz / Organ

Pete's first solo album for Gramavision was a tribute to Gil Evans, with whom Pete worked for 15 years. Much of the album is performed by an 8-piece all-star band - all alumni of the freewheeling Gil Evans Monday Night Orchestra.

Founded in 1989 by Kai Hansen in Hamburg, Germany after leaving Helloween, Gamma Ray borrowed straight from the Helloween classics, and continued to pioneer Hansen’s style of power metal…

Danny Elfman's score for the blockbuster sci-fi comedy Men in Black ranks among his best work, capturing the ridiculous, tongue-in-cheek thrills of the film with ease. It has the same oversized, cartoonish appeal of Elfman's work for Tim Burton, but with a less whimsical flair, which suits the action film. And even though the music perfectly suits the film, it also works as an individual entity on its own, which is what makes the record a satisfying listen.

Tenor saxophonist Stan Getz's neo-big band album Apasionado has been consigned to minor league status since its original release in 1990. It does, indeed, look unpromising: recorded in fall 1989, when Getz was undergoing treatment for the cancer which would kill him less than two years later; with a pair of synthesizers replicating a string section; and with the commercially astute but MOR focused Herb Alpert producing. But 20 years on and rereleased, Apasionado rises way above expectations. Getz is in soaring form, commanding attention so completely that the ersatz strings, and Alpert's slight arrangements, become irrelevant, barely emerging from the distant background where they belong. Apasionado, despite the received wisdom, is actually a very fine Getz album. The album's structure was modeled, in large part, on Getz's masterpiece Focus (Verve, 1961), on which the saxophonist improvised, with practically no rehearsal and without prewritten melodies, over a suite played by a string orchestra arranged by Eddie Sauter.

Don Pullen - Mosaic Select 13 (2004) {3CD Set, Mosaic Records MS-013 rec 1986-1990}
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© 1986-90, 2004 Mosaic Records / EMI Music | MS-013
Jazz / Post Bop / Modern Creative / Mainstream Jazz / Piano

The 13th volume in Mosaic's limited-edition Select series showcases the late work of the late pianist and composer Don Pullen. Contained within the box are the two fine albums by the George Adams-Don Pullen Quartet, Breakthrough and Song Everlasting. These two recordings were the first the pair had done domestically. The band's previous output was released on Soul Note, and musically very good. Both Blue Note albums are simply stunning. The interplay between the pianist and saxophonist Adams was near symbiotic and was augmented by the stellar rhythm section of bassist Cameron Brown and drummer Dannie Richmond. Three of the four men – excepting Brown – were alumni of the Charles Mingus band. These two albums are the best of what post-bop jazz had to offer in the 1980s.

When these recordings first came out, far in advance of the period instrument revolution, they were revelations. Though modern instruments were used, there was an effort to get performance practices right… And there was the incredibly powerful, absolutely heavenly sound of that chorus of men and boys, as well as the lifelike recordings that perfectly captured the vast space of the Chapel of King's College. Since that time there have been other performances that depict the letter of each work to a greater degree than these, but many listeners will argue that there are none that have better encapsulated the spirit of this music… These are star-studded "great singing" recordings in which the artists will be remembered as much as the music itself.

Aaron Sachs was an American jazz saxophone and clarinet player. He released a few LPs in the '50s and worked with a number of well-known jazz artists such as Benny Goodman, Sarah Vaughan, Earl Hines, Red Norvo, Anita O'Day and Dizzy Gillespie.
Aaron Sachs: "I wanted to bring to this album a new kind of spirit, a combination of moods, a contrast of arrangements. The first two recording dates were comprised of eight men. Two trumpets, one trombone, two saxophones and three rhythm, drum, bass and piano. The third recording date had five men, using guitar, clarinet, piano, bass and drums. The last date included all of my original compositions with the exception of "Nancy", which Frank Sinatra takes credit for…