Joe Lovano welcomes Joshua Redman to his sextet set (which also features pianist Mulgrew Miller, bassist Christian McBride, drummer Lewis Nash and percussionist Don Alias) and, rather than jam on standards, Joe Lovano composed five new originals, revived three obscurities and only chose to perform two familiar pieces. By…

Universal Language is one of Joe Lovano’s most ambitious and successsful albums, an attempt to prove the cliché that music is indeed the universal language. He does this by writing a set of ten original compositions that cover a broad spectrum of sounds and styles, from hard bop to…

Bud! The Amazing Bud Powell (Vol. 3), also known as The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 3: Bud!, is a studio album by jazz pianist Bud Powell, released on Blue Note in 1957, featuring a session Powell recorded at the Rudy Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey on August 3, 1957, with Paul Chambers on bass and Art Taylor on drums, and…

The CD reissues of the two albums titled The Amazing Bud Powell put the important recordings in chronological order (which they weren’t in the LP versions) and add some alternate takes; all of the music has also been included in a definitive four-CD box set. Although the latter is…

These two CD volumes (all of the music has also been reissued on a definitive and “complete” Blue Note Bud Powell four-CD set) differ from the original two LPs in that, in addition to the inclusion of some alternate takes, they are programmed in strict chronological order. The influential…

This set from pianist Bud Powell (which has been reissued on CD in a “complete” four-CD set) is most notable for having the debut versions of seven of Powell’s compositions; most memorable are “Time Waits,” “Monopoly” and especially “John’s Abbey.” With bassist Sam Jones and drummer Philly Joe Jones…

Down With It is a fairly standard bop and soul-jazz session from Blue Mitchell. Leading a quintet that features a young Chick Corea on piano, tenor saxophonist Junior Cook, bassist Gene Taylor, and drummer Al Foster, Mitchell creates a laid-back atmosphere which makes R&B covers like “Hi-Heel Sneakers” or…

Trumpeter Blue Mitchell delivers a solid hard bop date with his 1966 Blue Note release Boss Horn. Rudy Van Gelder edition of Boss Horn features remastered sound by original producer Van Gelder that does significanly improve the overall sound quality over the original release.] ~ Matt Collar

This Blue Mitchell date is a classic, particularly the opening “Fungii Mama,” which is really catchy. The trumpeter’s quintet of the period (which includes tenor saxophonist Junior Cook, the young pianist Chick Corea, bassist Gene Taylor, and drummer Al Foster) also performs two Jimmy Heath tunes and a song…

Tex Book Tenor was recorded in 1968 as a follow-up to Booker Ervin’s debut date for Blue Note, The In Between, which was released in January of the same year. (Ervin had made two records for Pacific Jazz, which is now owned, like Blue Note, by EMI.) The album…