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DAVID MURRAY - Ballads for Bass Clarinet (1993)
Murray's obvious strengths as a tenor saxophonist tend to eclipse his gifts on bass clarinet, that big odd horn that looks a bit like an anorexic tenor, and sounds in the same range, but with a...
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DON PULLEN - The Sixth Sense (1985)
Pianist Don Pullen was one of the first of the jazz avant-garde to be both swinging and out in his playing (David Murray and Henry Threadgill would also do their parts, especially during the 1980s)....
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MAL WALDRON, JACKIE McLEAN - Left Alone' 86 (1986)
Although he wasn't maintaining the same nonstop pace he had in the early '60s, Jackie McLean still played magnificently throughout the 1980s. He demonstrated that repeatedly on this 1986 duo date with...
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OLD AND NEW DREAMS - Tribute To Blackwell (1987)
In Nov. 1987, a three-concert Ed Blackwell Festival was held in Atlanta. The festival served as a good excuse to reunite the members of Old And New Dreams (trumpeter Don Cherry, tenor-saxophonist Dewey...
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PAUL BLEY - Synth Thesis (1994)
This 1994 recording of Paul Bley playing piano and accompanying himself on synthesizers has long been a misunderstood part of his catalog. For many this was a sellout, a cheap experiment with...
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ENRICO PIERANUNZI - Current Conditions (2003)
"I once described Thelonious Monk's original recording of 'Ruby My Dear' as 'sentiment without sentimentality'. Enrico Pieranunzi's playing and compositions have that same quality in their own way. No...
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MASQUALERO - Bande À Part (1986)
Masqualero was the Arild Andersen Quintet by another name, a name that both tipped its hat to Wayne Shorter while casting its gaze toward a future that was decidedly Andersen’s. Note the formidable...
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RENAUD GARCIA-FONS - Alboreá (1996)
Jazz has taken some unexpected directions in Europe. Garcia-Fons is a double-bass player, and he leads a French quartet that consists of himself, another double-bass player, an accordionist and a...
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MUSIC REVELATION ENSEMBLE (1988)
Music Revelation Ensemble, one of the first and best free jazz/funk bands. On "No Wave", its 1980 Moers Music debut, the band was comprised of James "Blood" Ulmer (guitar), David Murray (tenor...
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RABIH ABOU-KHALIL - The Sultan's Picnic (1994)
Composer and oudist Rabih Abou-Khalil generates variety and interest by bringing aboard different guest musicians for each album. The personnel on Sultan's Picnic is so similar to that of Blue Camel...
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BOB BROOKMEYER - Electricity (1994)
Listeners expecting the music on this CD to be similar to Bob Brookmeyer’s jazz records of the 1950s will be surprised. The emphasis here is not on Brookmeyer’s valve trombone playing (which is barely...
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ADAM MAKOWICZ - The Music of Jerome Kern (1993)
Adam Makowicz is a pianist heavily influenced by Art Tatum. Makowicz explains being amazed (like so many) by Tatum as he listened to him for hours in his native Poland. That led the door to listening...
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CHARLIE HADEN - Golden Numbers (1977)
"The Golden Number" opens with Haden's tuneful composition (all but one song on this album are Haden's, the other one - Coleman's) on which Cherry's trumpet flies over Charlie's almost lazy bass....
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CHARLIE HADEN & QUARTET WEST - In Angel City (1988)
The second recording by Charlie Haden's Quartet West is similar to the music that the group (bassist Haden, tenor saxophonist Ernie Watts, pianist Alan Broadbent, and drummer Larance Marable) would...
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ELVIN JONES - Tribute To John Coltrane (1994)
Recorded live at a Tokyo nightclub, the "special" in special quartet is trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. Functioning as the lone horn in the ensemble and supported by two of his former sidemen, pianist...
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ANDRÉ CECCARELLI TRIO - Avenue Des Diables Blues (2005)
The French can swing hard. Let Andre Ceccarelli's 2005 release Avenue des Diables Blues be evidence of this. Frenchmen drummer Ceccarelli and guitarist Bireli Lagrene along with Joey DeFrancesco on...
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TOMASZ STANKO - From The Green Hill (1999)
Tomasz Stanko appears to be one of only a handful of trumpeters who is currently writing and recording challenging music. Like fellow brassmen Leo Smith, Kenny Wheeler and Toshinori Kondo, Stanko's...
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RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA - Mother Tongue (2004)
When Indian-American altoist Rudresh Mahanthappa was growing up outside of his family homeland, he was frequently asked "Do you speak Indian?" or "Do you speak Hindu?" The questioners were apparently...
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DAVID MURRAY - Deep River (1988)
One of several recordings to emerge from the January 1988 sessions with this quartet, Deep River doesn't quite measure up to the best of them (Spirituals), but is a good, solid date with Murray in...
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DAVID MURRAY - Lovers (1988)
eMusic, the online haven for independent music (and the second largest digital music retailer behind iTunes) is now offering saxophonist David Murray’s long out-of-print DIW catalog. Twenty-six of...
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