Big 1986

"But it's Shakespeare's coffin!" Dupree exclaimed when he saw the enormous grand piano awaiting him in the studio on July 21, 1971, where on one of his numerous visits to Paris he had been asked to record. But regardless of the piano his puncher’s hands worked out on - usually it was a humble upright - Champion Jack Dupree expressed the essence of the blues.
During his prolific career Dupree often paid tribute to men he admired by improvising a blues to their memory. So he recorded The Death of Big Bill Broonzy, The Death of Luther King, President Kennedy Blues, and The Death of Louis, which gives its title to the present collection. Armstrong had died a few days earlier, on July 6, and Dupree evokes with feeling their days together as children in the Waifs’ Home…

At the beginning of this set Oscar Peterson so overwhelms the normally gentle "Tristeza" that it almost becomes a parody. Fortunately, the remainder of the bossa nova-flavored LP is more tasteful. Even if Peterson is overly hyper in spots, he is able to bring out the beauty of such songs as George Gershwin's "Porgy," Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Trieste," and "Watch What Happens," in addition to stomping through the straight-ahead "You Stepped out of a Dream."

Count Basie's final small-group studio session (one of a countless number for Norman Granz during Basie's last decade), this outing features trumpeter Snooky Young (who was last with the orchestra in the early '60s), tenor great Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and the dependable guitarist Joe Pass (along with rhythm guitarist Freddie Green). The repertoire lives up to the album's title: blues and swing standards all played with joy and spirit.

You are encouraged to accept this invitation to the DVD party of the Manhattan Transfer's 'Vocalese Live' featuring Cheryl Bentyne, Tim Hauser, Alan Paul, and Janis Siegel and recorded live at Nakano Sun Plaza Hall, Tokyo. All you have to do to RSVP is get yourself a copy of this live event featuring one of the best contemporary Vocal Jazz groups of our time.
Riding a wave of nostalgia in the '70s, the Manhattan Transfer resurrected jazz trends from boogie-woogie to bop to vocalese in a slick, slightly commercial setting that sometimes failed to gel with the group's close harmonies. Originally formed in 1969, the quartet recorded several albums of jazz standards as well as much material closer to R&B/pop.

Lots of rare music was uncovered when these recordings were first released. Duke Ellington did a remarkable number of private recordings with small groups taken from his orchestra and the selections included on this CD reissue are some of the best. A "Combo Suite" from 1967 introduces Billy Strayhorn's "Intimacy of the Blues" along with five forgotten but worthy originals while the music on the second half of the program (some of which features organist Wild Bill Davis) dates from 1970; "All Too Soon" showcases Ellington's new tenor Harold Ashby. Excellent music.

This is a remarkable record by the Howard Alden-Dan Barrett Quintet. Although the group has an instrumentation of guitarist Alden, trombonist Barrett, Chuck Wilson on alto and clarinet, bassist Frank Tate, and drummer Jackie Williams, its arrangements (some by Buck Clayton) often make the band sound a bit like the John Kirby Sextet, a classic unit comprised of trumpet, alto, clarinet, piano, bass, and drums. The delightful unit uplifts such tunes as "Lullaby in Rhythm," "I May Be Wrong," Charlie Shavers' "Dawn on the Desert," "Stompin' at the Savoy," and even Thelonious Monk's "Pannonica," revitalizing small-group swing. Highly recommended.

MIG Music presents this 5 disc set (3 CD & 2 DVD) of the Big Country shows at Rockpalast from 1986 (Essen) and 1991 (Bonn).