Thad Jones And Mel Lewis Live at The Village

The second recording by the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra is the equal of the first. Most memorable here are "Little Pixie," Fats Waller's "Willow Tree," and particularly, the spirited "Don't Git Sassy." With arrangements by Thad Jones, Bob Brookmeyer and Garnett Brown, and an all-star cast that includes trumpeters Snooky Young, Marvin Stamm and Richard Gene Williams, valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer, the reeds of Jerome Richardson, Jerry Dodgion, Joe Farrell, Eddie Daniels and Pepper Adams (all of whom solo), pianist Roland Hanna and bassist Richard Davis, among others, this was one of the great big bands.

A year after Thad Jones' decision to end his musical partnership with drummer Mel Lewis, Lewis' jazz orchestra was changing its sound. Valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer became the big band's chief arranger for a time, and his charts show the influence of modern classical music while usually still swinging. This hard to find LP features the orchestra playing live at their home base (the Village Vanguard), and such soloists as pianist Jim McNeely and Dick Oatts on alto and soprano; flugelhornist Clark Terry, and Brookmeyer himself are featured on the nearly 16-minute "El Co" and "The Fan Club."

Steve Coleman - Live at the Village Vanguard, Vol. 1 (The Embedded Sets) (2018) {Pi Recordings Digital Download}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/48kHz - Official Digital Download (bandcamp.com) -> 0.99 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 362 Mb | Cover | 5% repair rar
© 2018 Pi Recordings | PI76
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Saxophone

Alto saxophonist Steve Coleman’s Live at the Village Vanguard, Vol. I (The Embedded Sets) is his first live release in over 15 years. It captures his band Five Elements in two joyous sets at the historic New York venue where some of the most famous jazz recording from the likes of John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and Bill Evans have been made.

Back in the late 1960s, Solid State put out four LPs in their series Jazz for a Sunday Afternoon. The five titles with Dizzy Gillespie have been more recently reissued on a two-CD Blue Note set titled Live at the Village Vanguard. Laserlight improves upon the packaging by including two additional titles (from Vol. 3) on their first two CDs; unfortunately, the two lengthy songs ("Satin Doll" and "Straight No Chaser") from a Harry "Sweets" Edison date that comprised Vol. 4 remain out of print. The first disc of this three-CD set has a very interesting, if sometimes erratic date matching Gillespie with violinist Ray Nance (sometimes replaced by trombonist Garnett Brown), baritonist Pepper Adams, pianist Chick Corea, bassist Richard Davis, and either Mel Lewis or Elvin Jones on drums. Nance's violin playing is adventurous and eccentric, and there are some loose moments, but Dizzy holds the music together and Pepper Adams is in top form.