Sonny Rollins Volume One

Sonny Rollins issued only three albums on the Impulse! label, all of them recorded between 1965 and 1966. This volume in The Impulse Story series features three tracks each from Sonny Rollins on Impulse!, Alfie (the music included consists of re-recorded titles he wrote for the score), and East Broadway Run Down. These three albums feature Rollins in a number of settings. The numbers from Alfie were recorded with a ten-piece band arranged and conducted by Oliver Nelson. The On Impulse! tunes were recorded with ace drummer Mickey Roker, pianist Ray Bryant, and bassist Walter Booker. East Broadway Run Down features the great saxophonist in the company of Elvin Jones, Jimmy Garrison, and Freddie Hubbard on the title track. What they all reveal is an artist at the absolute top of his game as an improviser and as a composer. Rollins' star may have shone differently from Coltrane's during these years, but just as brightly. The standout cuts on this set are the the standard "On Green Dolphin Street," "Alfie's Theme," and the stunning 20-plus-minute "East Broadway Run Down," with Rollins blowing further out than he ever had on one of his own records.

Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

What you see is what you get, an excellent little compilation of the various faces of soul-jazz as presented by the Verve label with their amazing array of artists from Hugh Masekela to Willie Bobo and Herbie Mann on the one hand, and Dizzy Gillespie, Jon Hendricks (in an outstanding reading of Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man") the Heath Brothers, and Teddy Edwards on the other. The track list is wonderfully varied, too: there's a smoking version of Hancock's "Cantaloupe Island" by Masekela, a pair by Jimmy Smith, and a big band – a new entry by the acid jazz group the James Taylor Quartet, but they get it deep; and Wynton Kelly goes deep into soul and blues with "Escapade." Anyway you cut it, it comes out great.

The CD reissues of the two albums titled The Amazing Bud Powell put the important recordings in chronological order (which they weren't in the LP versions) and add some alternate takes; all of the music has also been included in a definitive four-CD box set. Although the latter is the best way to acquire the important performances, this CD gives one a strong sampling of pianist Bud Powell at his best. Powell is heard in a classic session with trumpeter Fats Navarro and tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins (which is highlighted by exciting versions of "Dance of the Infidels," "52nd Street Theme," and "Bouncing With Bud") and in a trio performing "Over the Rainbow" and three versions of his intense "Un Poco Loco."

The Modern Jazz Quartet - At Music Inn. Volume 2 (1959) {2013 Japan 24-bit Remaster} [Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series]
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 271 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 95 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 90 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remaster
© 1959, 2013 Warner Japan / Atlantic / Rhino | WPCR-27153 | Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series
Jazz / Cool / Third Stream

Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. The second volume of the Modern Jazz Quartet at the Music Inn was released in 1959, a year after its historic first volume with guest Jimmy Giuffre. The format on this set is similar, with pianist John Lewis, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, bassist Percy Heath, and drummer Connie Kay moving through a gorgeous medley of standards to open including "Stardust," "I Can't Get Started," and "Lover Man," with beautiful and clever counterpoint between Lewis and Jackson on the melody lines. There are two of Lewis' originals here as well.

"Jon Irabagon releases the latest installment of his I Don't Hear Nothin' but the Blues series, adding rising star Ava Mendoza to his no-frills, brutal ensemble.

Clifford Jordan & The Magic Triangle - On Stage, Volume 3 (1975) {SteepleChase SCCD31104 rel 1994}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 266 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 94 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 21 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1975, 1994 SteepleChase | SCCD31104
Jazz / Hard Bop / Post Bop / Saxophone

This final installment of a 1975 concert in Amsterdam finds tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan in fine form, joined by Cedar Walton, Sam Jones, and Billy Higgins. The set includes an extended workout of Jones' "Seven Minds," Sonny Rollins' calypso favorite "St. Thomas" (which is marred somewhat by problems with the master tape), and two enjoyable works by Walton. Like the previous two volumes, this one is also recommended.

It's regrettable that Stan Getz and Chet Baker disliked one another personally, for they had so much in common musically. Both came out of jazz's Cool School, had delightful tones, favored subtlety and restraint, and both could be incredibly lyrical - no jazzman has played ballads more beautifully than Getz or Baker. Recorded live in Norway in 1983 but not released commercially until 2000, Quintessence, Vol. 2 offers a rare chance to hear them co-leading a quintet. One wishes that Getz and Baker (who are joined by pianist Jim McNeely, bassist George Mraz and drummer Victor Lewis) had been able to put their personal differences aside and play together more often, for the two are a highly appealing combination on standards that range from "It's You or No One" and "I'll Remember April" to Billy Strayhorn's "Blood Count," Gerry Mulligan's "Line for Lyons," and Sonny Rollins' "Airegin"…