ko ko mo Breather

This four-disc, 100-track box set traces famed bebop trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie's career from his early years with Teddy Hill, Lionel Hampton and Cab Calloway through his work with figures like Coleman Hawkins and Billy Eckstine. It includes his 1947 concert at Carnegie Hall with Charlie Parker and concludes with the famous sessions that Gillespie recorded with Parker and Thelonious Monk for Norman Granz in 1950. At a budget price, this package captures Gillespie's peak years and performances and makes a deep introduction to this amazing musician. The sound transfers are decent, but audiophiles may find that the noise reduction processes used on these tracks leaves some of them sounding a little on the thin and muted side. Given the fair price and the volume of material compiled here, though, this set is a smart purchase.

Charlie Parker was a pioneer of many of the elements and characteristics that make up the 'classic' BeBop sound, forever pushing the boundaries of tempo, tonality and improvisation beyond the limitations of his time. His influence is only too clear today, and is no better demonstrated than in this spectacular tribute performance. Phil Woods, Red Rodney, Rufus Reid, Roy Haynes and Monte Alexander perform their own collective tribute to the great improviser and composer in this very special live concert from Cannes, 1990.

Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band, covering the years 1940-1942 in the great composer and bandleader's career, is essentially the third time that RCA has issued this material on CD. The first was a botched job, appalling even, with its flattened-out, compressed sound, along with a chopped version of "Take the A-Train" and other sonic and editorial errors. The second version was completely remastered and corrected the editorial problems, but featured no alternate takes from the band's performances. Beyond the original 66 tracks, nine additional cuts are featured here, including four brand-new master-take issues of "Another Pitter Patter," "Body and Soul," "Sophisticated Lady," and "Mr. J.B. Blues," as well as alternate takes of "Ko-Ko," "Bojangles," "Sepia Panorama," "Jumpin' Punkins," and "Jump for Joy"…

The rhapsody of the vocal tracks is matched by the more private dialogues of the instrumentals. Demanding but rewarding, this is an essential Konitz album.

On 2017’s Everybody Works, Melina Duterte introduced Jay Som to the world. The first proper release under her new stage name (which she adopted from a Wu-Tang name generator) delivered Duterte’s bedroom pop with punchy immediacy. Since that time, she’s relocated from California’s Bay Area to Los Angeles to explore new territories as a musician and producer. During a solo retreat to Joshua Tree, Duterte fleshed out the beginnings of her next Jay Som project, Anak Ko—a sonic travelogue of self-acceptance and growth.

Downbeat with Asia-Flair Bamboo One is the name of the first CD produced by the guitarist and live musician Bernhard Kowatsch and composer and keyboarder Daniel Huber. As Ko-Dan they will take you to foreign lands with their exciting sound mixture. You mustn't travel to Asia, to listen to far-eastern-sounds: Ko-Dan have written most of their tracks in Thailand, India and Vietnam and even some were recorded there. That is why Bamboo One is a melting pot of downbeat-grooves and music-styles that create a promising and slightly foreign sound. Ko-Dan's Asian inspired music mixture carries the listener, with out of the ordinary and soft sounds, to the point it will remind you of Pat Metheny's soft and unobtrusive guitar playing…