Up Horace Parlan

This marvellous Bebop record is musical reference for anyone listener . The piano solo and comping are instructive, the tenors are didactic and the guitar edificatory, all extraordinary.

Stanley Turrentine's stint with Creed Taylor's CTI label may not have produced any out-and-out classics on the level of the very best LPs by Freddie Hubbard, Hubert Laws, or George Benson, but the bluesy tenorist's output was consistently strong and worthwhile for all but the most stridently anti-fusion listeners. Salt Song was Turrentine's second album for CTI, and while it's perhaps just a small cut below his debut Sugar, it's another fine, eclectic outing that falls squarely into the signature CTI fusion sound: smooth but not slick, accessible but not simplistic. In general, keyboardist Eumir Deodato's arrangements have plenty of light funk and Brazilian underpinnings, the latter often courtesy of percussionist Airto Moreira.

This guitar duo, which performs frequently on the European jazz scene, involves a pair of Sweden's best jazz guitarists. Ulf Wakenius can claim ownership of a prestigious throne in the international jazz guitar kingdom. Since 1997, he has been guitarist in the Oscar Peterson Quartet, which at least suggests a passing knowledge of every chord substitution known to mankind. He follows in the footsteps of such legends as Barney Kessel, Herb Ellis, and Joe Pass. The other member of the Swedish Guitars Unlimited is Peter Almqvist, and while he can't boast of gigging with Oscar Peterson, he has recorded with pianist Horace Parlan which actually is preferable to many jazz fans. The group has performed for several decades, building from the initial sensational fan base that was created when the guitarists first combined forces in 1980 in their picturesque hometown on the Gota river…

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…

These nine ballads were recorded by Stanley Turrentine between 1962 and 1969. Apart from being a genuinely wonderful set of romantic tunes, Music for Lovers showcases a soft side of the great tenor's playing. Turrentine is one of the quintessential soul-jazz saxophonists. His Blue Note recordings from the 1960s with Shirley Scott are generally the works cited, but there is so much other material on offer that a small collection like this is welcome. A pair of ballads with Scott on organ are here, representing that darker groove aspect, but so are tunes with pianists like Sonny Clark, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Horace Parlan, and Cedar Walton…