Exploring vintage jazz vinyl with a focus on label and pressing details, discographical information and critical musings on the music found within the grooves.
A true all-star affair, The Blues And The Abstract Truth finds Oliver Nelson leading a group of legendary jazz musicians on a record that just about sums up the essence of the hard bop sound that had been building momentum since the mid-1950s.
Read MoreOrnette Coleman's radical ideas about melody and pitch in jazz have been so thoroughly absorbed by the jazz establishment that his early musical explorations simply seem like a natural progression of where jazz was headed at the time, and where much of it is today. There is, of course, one glaring exception to this rule, an album by Coleman that even today defies categorization and eludes easy explanation: Free Jazz.
Read MoreGeorge Cables was everywhere during the 1970s, appearing alongside an abundance of legendary players on all manner of jazz albums. Cables' Vision was actually his first outing as a leader, and for the occasion Cables called upon a couple of friends he had played often with in the previous decade, who just also happened to be two legends from jazz's classic period that were still recording on a regular basis.
Read MoreA Little Night Music was recorded live in 1981 at the Keystone Korner in San Francisco, although it wouldn't see an official release until nearly two years later in 1983. The recording date is significant, as it follows a period of lackluster attempts at commercial recordings by Hubbard for Columbia, none of which can possibly be looked upon as highlights of his long and distinguised discography. Night Music marks a return to "genuine" jazz music for him, and the joy of reuniting with a couple of his former Blue Note cohorts in front of an appreciative audience is clear in his strong playing.
Read MoreThis record is a sweet little gem that came towards the end of Freddie Hubbard's time with CTI Records (it would be the second to last studio album he would cut for the label). It tends to get overlooked in the trumpeter's CTI discography, as his earlier electric jazz outings for Creed Taylor's imprint are generally the one's that get the most attention.
Read MoreSweet Honey Bee is an all-star outing that is about as good as it gets when it comes to an example of the soul jazz and hard bop music that Blue Note was putting out in the mid to late 1960's. This is the music that many folks associate with the label and why it has remained so relevant and popular to this day.
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