Michaeö Jackson 2022

Vibraphonist Milt Jackson teams up with pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Ray Brown and (on six of the eight songs) either Billy Higgins or Frank Severino on drums. Together they play group originals and (on the two drumless pieces) a pair of standards. Although the material was largely new, the swinging style is timeless and Milt Jackson typically sounds in top form; has he ever made an indifferent recording?

Despite the pessimistic title, all of the members of this particular quartet (vibraphonist Milt Jackson, pianist Oscar Peterson, bassist Ray Brown and drummer Grady Tate) were still active into the mid-'90s. The music is unsurprising but still quite enjoyable and virtuosic as Bags and Co. perform blues, standards and ballads with their usual swing and bop-based creativity. Highlights include the title cut, "Stuffy," "What Am I Here For" and a vibes-piano duo version of "A Time for Love."

The 1981 European leg of the River tour is a seminal chapter in Springsteen's performing career, with the six-night stand at Wembley Arena its culmination. London 6/4/81 presents the brilliant fifth show of the run with key changes from the previously released final night including "The Ties That Bind," "Jackson Cage," "Racing in the Street" and "Backstreets," plus vital recent additions "Trapped" (played for only the fourth time), "Follow That Dream" and "Johnny Bye Bye." The 27-song set wraps with an epic, 15-minute "Detroit Medley" that takes a welcome Memphis detour.

French composer Fernande Breilh-Decruck showed signs of a promising career from an early age, when she won several prizes at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris (harmony, fugue, piano). As an assistant professor of harmony, she trained many students, including one who became very famous and later dedicated her a score: “To Fernande Decruck, with all the gratitude and fond memories of the author – Olivier Messiaen”.

The Emerald Duets is a crowning achievement among Wadada Leo Smith's many recorded duo collaborations with drummers/percussionists, that have previously featured such creative giants as Ed Blackwell, Jack DeJohnette, Milford Graves, Louis Moholo-Moholo and Gunter Sommer, among others. The Emerald Duets features four master drummers who have each, in their own unique fashion, contributed to the way modern drumming has developed in the past six decades and how it is now perceived. Pheeroan akLaff, Andrew Cyrille and Han Bennink are each featured on one disc and Jack DeJohnette on two discs, including Smith's five-part composition "Paradise: The Gardens and Fountains" that fills the fifth disc of this boxed set in its entirety.