Mosura 1961

Mundell Lowe's score for the exploitation flick Satan in High Heels is an immensely enjoyable collection of exaggeratedly cinematic jazz. Lowe runs through all sorts of styles, from swinging big band to cool jazz, from laid-back hard-bop to driving bop. He pulls it off because his big band is comprised of musicians as skilled as Oliver Nelson, Al Cohn, Phil Woods, Urbie Green, Joe Newman and Clark Terry. They help give the music the extra kick it needs, and Satan in High Heels winds up as a terrific set of humorous and sleazy, but well-played, mainstream jazz.

Drugs and addictions defined most of Leo Parker's adult life, finally claiming it entirely in February of 1962 when he was only 36 years old. Only months earlier in 1961, in two sessions held on October 12 and October 20, Parker had played his heart out in what would have been his second album for Blue Note Records that year, and it had appeared that the baritone saxophonist was well on his way to a much deserved career comeback. The sessions, however, weren't released until almost 20 years later. Rollin' with Leo, presented here in remastered form, is a wonderful portrait of this unsung but brilliant player, whose huge, sad, but almost impossibly strong tone always felt like it carried the world on its shoulders…

Probably the greatest set in Baby Face Willette's all-too-slim discography, Stop and Listen matches the organist with the hugely sympathetic team of guitarist Grant Green and drummer Ben Dixon (the same trio lineup who recorded Green's debut LP, Grant's First Stand). With no saxophonist this second time around, it's just Willette and Green in the solo spotlight, and they play marvelously off of one another. As a soloist, Willette has a nimble, airy touch, and though he owes no debt to the modal style of Larry Young, he has a greater melodic imagination than many of his instrument's straight blues players…

Probably the greatest set in Baby Face Willette's all-too-slim discography, Stop and Listen matches the organist with the hugely sympathetic team of guitarist Grant Green and drummer Ben Dixon (the same trio lineup who recorded Green's debut LP, Grant's First Stand). With no saxophonist this second time around, it's just Willette and Green in the solo spotlight, and they play marvelously off of one another. As a soloist, Willette has a nimble, airy touch, and though he owes no debt to the modal style of Larry Young, he has a greater melodic imagination than many of his instrument's straight blues players…

This 1961 set has appeared under Eric Dolphy's name, but it is, in fact, bassist Ron Carter's date - his first as a leader. Carter and Dolphy had played together in Chico Hamilton's group and on Dolphy's important 1960 date Out There. Where? has elements in common with both, but is closer to Hamilton's late-'50s chamber jazz than to the more outward-bound Dolphy date. As on the Dolphy session, Carter is heard on cello for three of the six tracks. Carter's skill is undeniable, but his playing on Where? is a bit polite and monochromatic. The easygoing duet with George Duvivier, for example, is a quiet, back-porch conversation that makes few demands on either of these bass giants. Dolphy - playing bass clarinet, alto sax, and flute - is a far more interesting prospect, even if he doesn't blow his face off to the extent he did in other settings…

The remaster of Jack McDuff's hard swinging 1961 album The Honeydripper was overseen by Rudy Van Gelder himself, adding to the Concord/Prestige catalog the same treatment Van Gelder had done for Blue Note. The date featured the big tenor Jimmy Forrest, drummer Ben Dixon, and Grant Green on guitar in his recording debut. Green not only held his own with McDuff on the title track, "Dink's Blues," and "Blues and Tonic," but he plays gorgeous fills and chord voicings in Henry Mancini's "I Want a Little Girl." Green was always more than a sideman as this date attests, and though he was part of the rhythm section, his playing is a standout on this date. McDuff was already in full possession of his voice as an organist, and his hard bop leanings began to subside here as he embraced a more soulful approach, no doubt informed by the effect Jimmy Smith was having on jazz with his crossover…

Volume 2 of a double-length live set from the legendary Modern Jazz Quartet - recorded in Scandinavia in 1960, almost as a summation of the group's growing genius in the 50s! The tunes are a mix of John Lewis and Milt Jackson originals, plus other songs all given the wonderful MJQ twist - distilled into a sublime blend of piano, vibes, bass, and drums - all delivered with a sense of class, but never too much polish.