Giants of Cool: Shorty Rogers - "Martians Come Back!"

Giants of Cool: Shorty Rogers - "Martians Come Back!"

A wacky space-age cover hides a fantastic album of cool jazz within, with Rogers leading a group of talented and legendary players from the 1950s through an array of settings and sounds that results in an extremely satisfying LP that rewards repeated listening. 

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Some Swing, Some Cool: Barney Kessel - "Music To Listen To Barney Kessel By"

Some Swing, Some Cool: Barney Kessel - "Music To Listen To Barney Kessel By"

Barney Kessel will always be best known in the jazz world for his run of albums on Contemporary from 1955 to 1960, all of which are excellent examples of modern jazz at it's finest. Music To Listen To Barney Kessel By finds the guitarist as part of a larger ensemble, playing shorter tracks that fall somewhere between a cool jazz and swing jazz sound. And, man, can Kessel swing with the best of them. He doesn't waste any notes, and is clearly just as comfortable in this group setting as he is playing with a trio.

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