Ray Bryant France

Ray Bryant's first solo piano album is rightfully considered a classic. Bryant, at the time thought of as a young modern traditionalist, has always felt perfectly at home playing the blues. He performs five original and diverse blues on this set along with "Lover Man" and "Rockin' Chair," showing that he really never needed a bassist or a drummer to sound like a complete band. This Prestige album was reissued in the Original Jazz Classics but thus far only as an LP; highly recommended in any case.

Dizzy Gillespie - The Verve/Philips Dizzy Gillespie Small Group Sessions (1954-1964) {7CD Box Set Mosaic MCD7-234 rel 2006}
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© 1954-64, 2006 Verve / Philips / Mosaic Records | MCD7-234
Jazz / Bop / Afro-Cuban Jazz / Trumpet

These sessions document unequivocally why Dizzy Gillespie is still considered one of the greatest improvisers in the history of jazz, for his mastery of the instrument, his command of time, his control over musical ideas, and his ability to entertain. He was blessed during this period, which spans 1954 to 1963, with stellar sidemen, unparalleled arrangements, and a surge of excitement for making music.

The new phenomenon electro swing Bart and Baker self-proclaimed "oldest active DJs" (almost a century between them). For 5 years their evenings dedicated to swing moods have been winning audiences trans-generational and some people like Dita Von Teese, Marc Jacobs, Max Raabe. There are many DJs who play retro music in France and abroad, but Bart & Baker have probably felt since their inception in 2005, there was a public open to a sophisticated blend of different genres of "crooning" and the French variety, the sounds of big band and of course their world variations, hip hop or electro-swing…

If a listener picks up a 50-minute jazz album that only contains four songs, he or she will rest assured that the musicians really get a chance to stretch things out. In the case of Decidedly, featuring tested players like trumpeter Roy Eldridge, guitarist Joe Pass, tenor Johnny Griffin, and pianist Ray Bryant, this is a good thing. Recorded live in 1975 in Antibes, France, before an appreciative audience, the material is being issued for the first time in 2002. The group kicks off with an Eldridge original, "Bee's Bloos," and settles into a relaxed groove for the rest of the show. A 16-minute take of "Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)" follows, with lengthy, soulful solos handed in by everyone. Bassist Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen and drummer Louis Bellson offer tasteful underpinning along with a little muscle on "Undecided"…

Guy Lafitte was one of the greatest french jazz musician. This pleasant,sympathetic man from the Pyrenees,a mountainous region of the south of France, near Spain, started his career in Paris just after World War II, and often played with great american soloists, including Bill Coleman,Lucky THompson,Sammy Price or even Sonny Rollins. He loved music, friendship, good wine and cassoulet, and his death a few months ago, aged 71,was a great loss.In this Black & Blue reissuue, he pays his dues to his master Coleman Hawkins ("It's the talk of the town","Stuffy","One for the Bean") gives us a marvelous version of "Body and soul", Hawk's tune, and even plays a Charles Trenet's song,"Bonsoir jolie Madame". This is great mainstream jazz,great tenor saxophone, and listening to it,I remember a TV broadcast where Guy was filmed in a New York club playing with Ray Bryant and reaching the stars.

Gilded by strings and horns, keyboards and flutes, and driven by a propulsive disco beat, Albert is about as slick as Albert King ever got, but he manages to turn in a few strong performances on the album. On the whole, the songs aren't particularly distinctive, and the instrumental support is way too anonymous, but hardcore Albert fans may find a couple solos, a couple of phrases worth hearing beneath all the heavy-handed production and thumping beats. Albert King is truly a "King of the Blues," although he doesn't hold that title (B.B. does). Along with B.B. and Freddie King, Albert King is one of the major influences on blues and rock guitar players. Without him, modern guitar music would not sound as it does – his style has influenced both black and white blues players from Otis Rush and Robert Cray to Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan.