Japan+jazz+masterpiece+best+more

Sonny Stitt - Stitt Goes Latin (1963) {2011 Roost Japan Jazz Masterpiece Best & More 999 Series TOCJ-50190}
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© 1963, 2011 Roost / EMI Music Japan | TOCJ-50190 | Jazz Masterpiece Best & More 999 Series
Jazz / Bop / Soul Jazz / Saxophone

Sonny Stitt goes Latin – and the results are tremendous! The set's still got all the soulful feel of the best Stitt sessions for Roost, but it brings in some nice Latin rhythms too – inflecting things with that blend of soul jazz and congas you might find over at Prestige or Blue Note, yet also taking things further, too – given the Roost/Roulette connection to the New York Latin scene! Sonny plays both alto and tenor, and gets jazzy accompaniment from Thad Jones on trumpet – but the rhythm section is the real charmer here – and features a young Chick Corea on piano, Larry Gales on bass, and the trio of Willie Bobo, Patato Valdes, and Chihuaua Martinez on percussion! Most tunes are originals – a great change from the usual Latinized standards you might find on a set like this – and Stitt's got this nicely exotic tone in his reeds which is a further highlight of the record – almost a Yusef Lateef inflection at points.

Paul Smith Quartet - Softly, Baby (1957) {2011 Japan Jazz Masterpiece Best & More 999 Series 24bit}
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© 1957, 2011 Capitol / EMI Music Japan | TOCJ-50212 | Jazz Masterpiece Best & More 999 Series
Jazz / Bop / Cool / Piano

A great Capitol moment from pianist Paul Smith – an artist who really cut some of his best material ever for the label ! The Smith sound is at the height of its powers here in the late 50s — kind of a blend of jazz and more easy-going pianistic modes — often stretched out with lots of flourishes by Smith on the keys, but never the too-flowery styles used by some of his contemporaries ! Instead, Paul keeps things nice and lean — always enough to be plenty swinging in all the right moments — with quartet help from Barney Kessel on guitar, Joe Mondragon on bass, and Stan Levey on drums.

Phil Woods And His European Rhythm Machine - Alive And Well In Paris (1968) {2010 Pathe Japan Jazz Masterpiece Best & More 999 Series}
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© 1968, 2010 Pathe / EMI Music Japan | TOCJ-50087 | Jazz Masterpiece Best & More 999 Series
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Post Bop / Saxophone

Phil Woods & His European Rhythm Machine was a brilliant though short-lived quartet that made a handful of albums between 1968 and 1973, though most of them are long out of print. Happily, this early studio effort, with pianist George Gruntz, bassist Henri Texier, and drummer Daniel Humair, has been reissued in Japan by Toshiba-EMI, all of whom provide first-rate rhythmic support and make the most of their solos. The leader's "And When We Are Young" was written in tribute to Senator Robert Kennedy, who was gunned down by a cowardly assassin in the spring of 1968 in the midst of Kennedy's celebration of his presidential primary victory in California. The piece begins with a mournful dirge before cutting loose with some wailing post-bop.

The Fourth Way - Werwolf (1970) {EMI Music Japan Jazz Masterpiece Best & More 999 Series TOCJ-50264 rel 2011}
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© 1970, 2011 Harvest / EMI Music Japan | TOCJ-50264 | Jazz Masterpiece Best & More 999 Series
Jazz / Fusion / Jazz Rock / Post Bop

Experimental at the time, this is a difficult listen years later. Recorded live at the 1970 Montreux Jazz Festival, this album features some challenging compositions by pianist Mike Nock. Violinist Michael White shows why he was a potential star, but this heavily electrified jazz is too abstract for most. The Fourth Way was a pioneering jazz-rock fusion group formed in the late 60s, before the horizons of the genre narrowed, and fusion became a perjorative term. The group was formed in the heady days of the San Francisco music era, comprised of pianist Mike Nock and violinist Michael White (both from the John Handy group), with bassist Ron McLure (from the Charles Lloyd quartet) and drummer Eddie Marshall.

Charlie Mariano & Jerry Dodgion - Beauties Of 1918 (1957) {2011 Japan Jazz Masterpiece Best & More 999 Series TOCJ-50186}
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© 1957, 2011 World Pacific / EMI Music Japan | TOCJ-50186 | Jazz Masterpiece Best & More 999 Series
Jazz / Bop / Cool / West Coast Jazz / Saxophone

Pianist Russ Freeman, who produced this record, related it this way : “The last time we were (with Shelly Manne’s quintet) in San Francisco, we went to blow at some motel on the outskirts of town one afternoon. There were some other musicians there; we took turns playing. Jerry (Dodgion) was there. The afternoon wound up with Charlie and Jerry playing the blues with a rhythm section for about twenty minutes. It was one of the most memorable experiences I have ever had, and I wasn’t even playing!

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Golden Boy (1963) {2010 Japan Jazz Masterpiece Best & More 999 Series TOCJ-50063}
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© 1963, 2010 Colpix Records / EMI Music Japan | TOCJ-50063 | Jazz Masterpiece Best & More 999 Series
Jazz / Hard Bop / Bop / Drums

Originally released in 1964, Golden Boy features drummer Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers performing songs from the Lee Adams and Charles Strouse Broadway musical for which the album is titled. Based off the play, written by Clifford Odets and William Gibson, Golden Boy was a socially conscious musical about a Harlem prize-fighter trying to escape his working class roots. A somewhat obscure Blakey release, Golden Boy nonetheless features plenty of improvisatory, hard bop firepower.

Slide Hampton - The Fabulous Slide Hampton Quartet (1969) {2010 Japan Jazz Masterpiece Best & More 999 Series TOCJ-50086}
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© 1969, 2010 Pathé / EMI Music Japan | TOCJ-50086
Jazz / Post Bop / Modal Music / Trombone

A real treat – one of the few small group sessions ever recorded by Slide Hampton during the 60s! The session was cut in Paris, where Hampton had taken up residence at the end of the decade – and was done with an all-star group that features Joachim Kuhn on piano, Niels-Henning Orsted-Pederson on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums. The quality of the work is great – with very long tracks that dance with the freedom you'd expect from Kuhn's piano work, yet which also still swing very nicely in Hampton's usual groove. In all, we'd be tempted to rate this one as one of the more free-thinking trombone jazz sides of the 60s – and it's certainly one of Slide's finest records overall!

Joe Pass - Simplicity (1967) {2011 Japan 24-bit Remaster} [Jazz Masterpiece Best & More 999 Series]
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© 1967, 2011 World Pacific Records / EMI Music Japan | TOCJ-50234
Jazz / Hard Bop / Guitar

One of our favorite albums by guitarist Joe Pass, rather spare, featuring Joe in a very intimate setting – guitar with little other backing, save for light percussion, and some occasional instrumentation, like vibes or organ. The mood is very gentle, which is perfect for Pass' light touch on the strings – and the selection of tracks makes for a lovely blend of modes that show Joe at his expressive best. Titles include "Luciana", "You & Me", "The Gentle Rain", "Some Time Ago", "Nobody Else But Me", and "Where Was I".

The Cannonball Adderley Quintet - 74 Miles Away / Walk Tall (1967) {2011 Japan 24-bit Remaster} [Jazz Masterpiece Best & More 999 Series]
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© 1967, 2011 Capitol / EMI Music Japan | TOCJ-50153
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Saxophone

With the hit "Mercy Mercy Mercy" still reverberating on the sales charts, Capitol simply had the Quintet crank out one live club date after another at this point, hoping for another smash. They never really got one, but Cannonball and Nat Adderley, in league with pianist Joe Zawinul, bassist Victor Gaskin and drummer Roy McCurdy, left a strong legacy like this vigorous live Hollywood gig. One of Nat's best gospel-styled hip-shakers, "Do Do Do," opens the record, and Joe Zawinul comes up with another bluesy, catchy self-help tune in the vein of "Mercy" called "Walk Tall," prefaced by another of Cannonball's wryly inspirational talks.

Cannonball Adderley - Live! (1964) {2011 Japan 24-bit Remaster} [Jazz Masterpiece Best & More 999 Series]
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© 1964, 2011 Capitol Records / EMI Music Japan | TOCJ-50152 | Jazz Masterpiece Best & More 999 Series
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Saxophone

Cannonball Adderley with David Axelrod production – a combination that couldn't miss back in the 60s! In keeping with the success of the Mercy Mercy Mercy album done with Axelrod, Capitol did everything they could to catch Cannonball in a live setting – a great move, given the open, soulful energy his group had in the format – crowd-pleasing, but always plenty darn creative too! Added to the mix here is some nice production by David Axelrod, capturing all the right moments in all the right ways – especially when Joe Zawinul steps up to take some sweet solos on the keys – and the great Charles Lloyd serves up some mighty nice work on flute and tenor sax. Other players include Nat Adderley on cornet, Sam Jones on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums – and titles include "The Song My Lady Sings", "Little Boy With The Sad Eyes", "Work Song", and "Sweet Georgia Bright".