Although this project may not seem to have much potential at first glance, tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano’s tribute to Frank Sinatra is consistently brilliant and inventive. Since Sinatra recorded countless songs, Lovano had plenty to choose from, and he came up with 13 superior standards. Rather than just play…

Named Jazz Album of the Year by readers of Downbeat Magazine, this double CD features tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano during two appearances at the Village Vanguard recorded ten months apart. Other than the leader, the pair of quartets are completely different and they bring out two sides of Lovano….

This is one of the most exciting jazz releases of 1995. Joe Lovano is showcased on four songs backed by a string section, is accompanied by a stringless big band filled with woodwinds and brass during four other pieces, performs Ornette Coleman’s “Kathline Gray” with a chamber group, takes…

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…