Ambitious, atonal, challenging — all are accurate descriptions of Dimensions and Extensions, Sam Rivers’ fourth album for Blue Note. Rivers remains grounded in hard bop structure, working with a sextet featuring Donald Byrd (trumpet), James Spaulding (alto saxophone, flute), Julian Priester (trombone), Cecil McBee (bass), and Steve Ellington (drums),…

On Contours, his second Blue Note album, tenor saxophonist Sam Rivers fully embraced the avant-garde, but presented his music in a way that wouldn’t be upsetting or confusing to hard bop loyalists. Rivers leads a quintet featuring trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Joe…

After several incredible dates for Prestige, Rollins moved over to Blue Note to cut a series of studio and live recordings; while not as groundbreaking as his earlier work, the albums still stand out among the many hard bop releases of the day. Upon listening to this, his fine…

In his early prime and well-respected, tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins cut this fine hard bop date as one of several late-’50s sessions for Blue Note. The record is part classic date, part blowing session, sporting a mix of engaging head statements and lengthy solos. Rollins takes to the spacious…

This CD is often magical. Sonny Rollins, one of jazz’s great tenors, is heard at his peak with a pair of piano-less trios (either Wilbur Ware or Donald Bailey on bass and Elvin Jones or Pete La Roca on drums) stretching out on particularly creative versions of “Old Devil…

Compared to his Prestige, Riverside, and Contemporary recordings of the 1950s, some of Rollins’ appearances on Blue Note seemed anticlimactic, but none should be overlooked. This unusual album mostly has Rollins in an all-star quintet with trombonist J.J. Johnson, pianist Horace Silver, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Art Blakey,…

Two and a half years after his last recording as a leader for Impulse, pianist McCoy Tyner emerged to start a period on Blue Note that would result in seven albums. Having left John Coltrane’s Quartet in late 1965, Tyner was entering a period of struggle, although artistically his…

The final McCoy Tyner Blue Note album found the innovative pianist during a low point in his career. His records were not selling that well, his mentor John Coltrane had passed away three years earlier, and it was not obvious that Tyner would be able to continue struggling successfully to make a living out of…

This CD has an interesting combination of players. It may be the only recording to include both pianist McCoy Tyner and his successor with the John Coltrane Quartet, Alice Coltrane (who adds atmosphere with her harp). This set also matches the young altoist Gary Bartz with Wayne Shorter (doubling…

This is a particularly well-rounded McCoy Tyner solo set. The masterful pianist performs four Coltrane tunes (including “After The Rain” and two versions of “Crescent”), five of his own originals (highlighted by “Tribute To Lady Day” and “Effendi”), Bud Powell’s classic “Bouncin’ With Bud,” Dexter Gordon’s “Tivoli” and three…