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DEXTER GORDON - Something Different (1975)
What is different about this set (recorded in a particularly busy year for Dexter Gordon) is that the veteran tenor is joined by a trio (guitarist PhilipCatherine, bassist Niels Pedersen and drummer...
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CHARLIE HADEN, BILLY HIGGINS, ENRICO PIERANUNZI - First Song (1992)
"...a set that grows in stature almost every time it's heard. Pieranunzi takes an even stronger claim for major league status with a well-structured and resonant performance, dark-toned lyricism that...
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LESZEK MOZDZER, LARS DANIELSSON, ZOHAR FRESCO - Between Us And The Light (2006)
Another sparkling gem in Leszek Mozdzer’s rich catalogue, Between Us and the Light (which, as far as I know, despite its English title has been published only in Poland) sees the Polish piano genius in...
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MAL WALDRON, STEVE LACY - Sempre Amore (1987)
Among the many things that Mal Waldron and Steve Lacy have in common when it comes to music is a special reverence for two of the most distiguished composers in jazz - Thelonious Sphere Monk and Edward...
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PAUL BLEY - Sonor (1984)
For Paul Bley to comment that this 1983 recording is the best collection of his music to emerge since 1961 is a provocative statement unless, knowing Bley, he's just kidding around. Since this is even...
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PAUL MOTIAN - The Story Of Maryam (1983)
The Story of Maryamis the first album by Paul Motian to be released on the Italian Soul Note label. It was released in 1984 and features performances by Motian with Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano, along...
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STEVE KUHN - Trance (1975)
Trance, Steve Kuhn's second recording for ECM, was actually recorded a mere ten days after Ecstasy, his solo piano debut for the label. Trance features Kuhn playing both electric and acoustic piano,...
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STEVE KUHN - Motility (1977)
This is one of Steve Kuhn's more unusual studio sessions, which was recorded for ECM in 1977. At times, the pianist seems less like a post-bop musician and more like someone dabbling in new age music,...
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STEVE KUHN - Ecstasy (1974)
Producer Manfred Eicher (who had admired Kuhn’s work since the 1966 album The October Suite), came to New York in September 1974 to record the quartet album Trance, and then mixed the record at Oslo’s...
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STEVE KUHN - Playground (1977)
After many years off records, Sheila Jordan began to become more active in jazz in the mid-'70s. Her two recordings as part of pianist Steve Kuhn’s quartet, of which this was the first, gave her both a...
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STEVE KUHN TRIO - Quiereme Mucho (2000)
Veteran pianist Steve Kuhn and his trio (with bassist David Finck and drummer Al Foster) dig into six Spanish and Mexican melodies with Quiereme Mucho, turning them into straight-ahead jazz. Latin...
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STEVE KUHN - Pavane For A Dead Princess (2006)
Anything that pianist Steve Kuhn does is likely to be beautifully executed and tasteful, and Pavane for a Dead Princess is no exception. Here, he and his empathic collaborators David Finck (bass) and...
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SCOTT COLLEY - Subliminal...(1997)
Scott Colley's writing reaches new heights on this very fine record. Joined by Chris Potter on tenor sax and bass clarinet, Bill Carrothers on piano, and Bill Stewart on drums, the bassist delivers...
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ENRICO PIERANUNZI, PAUL MOTIAN - Doorways (2004)
Enrico Pieranunzi is one of the most recognized jazz pianists in Europe, but he doesn't get enough exposure in the United States, since he has recorded almost exclusively for European-based labels....
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AKI TAKASE, DAVID MURRAY - Blue Monk (1993)
Aki Takase has recorded quite a few duets with reed players sinse this was put out back in the early nineties and most of them are quite satisfying. Blue Monk with David Murray is in that category as...
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BILL CARROTHERS - I Love Paris (2005)
One great thing about jazz is that an artist is more likely to be measured by his or her career arc, rather than the success or failure of a single release. It also means that, when an artist releases...
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JASON MORAN - Black Stars (2001)
Thirty-seven years ago, Sam Rivers helped bolster the debut Blue Note album of a Boston drum prodigy named Tony Williams. While pianist Jason Moran's no newcomer, the 77-year-old Rivers is doing the...
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BOBO STENSON - Reflections (1996)
While not every cover photo necessarily gives insight into its album, the sleeve of the Bobo Stenson Trio’s Reflections reveals something at the heart of this music: light. The first time I laid eyes...
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WALTER NORRIS, GEORGE MRAZ - Drifting (1974)
"Although the pianist Walter Norris first recorded in an avant-garde context with Ornette Coleman in 1959, he is primarily a lyrical musician with a fine, pianistic touch. And this is nowhere more...
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CARLA BLEY - Live (1982)
This is a live set recorded in 1981 at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. Much of this same band also recorded the half-live I HATE TO SING album at the same venue a few years later....
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