we Want Miles

The Gerry Mulligan Quartet - What Is There To Say? (1959) {2014 Japan Jazz Collection 1000 Columbia-RCA Series SICP 4255}
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© 1959, 2014 Columbia / Sony Music Japan | SICP 4255
Jazz / Cool / West Coast Jazz / Baritone Saxophone

Reissue with latest 2014 remastering. Comes with liner notes. The last of the pianoless quartet albums that Gerry Mulligan recorded in the 1950s is one of the best, featuring the complementary trumpet of Art Farmer, bassist Bill Crow, and drummer Dave Bailey along with the baritonist/leader. This recording is a little skimpy on playing time but makes every moment count. Virtually every selection is memorable, with "What Is There to Say," "Just in Time," "Festive Minor," "My Funny Valentine," and "Utter Chaos" being the high points. Highly recommended both to Mulligan collectors and to jazz listeners who are just discovering the great baritonist.

Denny Zeitlin - Zeitgeist (1967) {2015 Japan Jazz Collection 1000 Columbia-RCA Series SICJ 81}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 249 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 113 Mb
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© 1967, 2015 Columbia / Sony Music Japan | SICJ 81
Jazz / Hard Bop / Post Bop / Contemporary Jazz / Piano Trio

Reissue with the latest 2015 DSD remastering. Comes with liner notes. Pianist Denny Zeitlin is sporting a beard on the cover of this fourth album for Columbia Records – and his music here definitely reflects a bit of a change from his earlier cleaner-cut image! Denny steps a bit outside at times – never to much so to make the album a session of avant jazz, but definitely showing the listener at the start that he's able to stretch out in the same way as some of the more adventurous pianists of his generation – yet really sound best as a master of lyrical understatement, as on his previous few records! Zeitlin's command of chords is wonderful – these blocks of color and subtle sound in his hands – inspired by Bill Evans, but taken in a whole new direction – and set up here in two different trios, with either Charlie Haden or Joe Halpin on bass, and Oliver Johnson or Jerry Granelli on drums. The real star of the show is always Denny.

Robben Ford is an American rock, blues and jazz guitarist. Ex-member of fusion pioneers Yellojackets, he is admired for his solo works but also known for his collaborations with giants of music like Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, George Harrison and many others. He comes from a generation of Californian musicians who contributed to eliminate boundaries between different genres, often writing and performing timeless music that will stand the test of time.

An octogenarian jazz master who exerted an influence on not just other pianists, but most prominently on Miles Davis, Ahmad Jamal has remained a vital presence on the music scene since the 1950s. His nuanced 2017 album, Marseille, finds him drawing upon his years of experience with a set of originals and covers that reveal just how vital and creative he remains. Primarily, the album showcases three distinctly varied interpretations of the title track, a hypnotic, modal ode to a city he loves, and to a greater extent a country that awarded him the prestigious Chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et de Lettres in 2007. In fact, Marseille was even recorded in France; specifically in the Parisian suburb of Malakoff. Joining Jamal are several longtime associates including bassist James Cammack, former Jazz at Lincoln Center drummer Herlin Riley, and percussionist Manolo Badrena.