Richard Hallebeek - 2012 RHP II - "Pain In The Jazz"

RHPII – A superb jazz rock cd with 8 of the hottest players you can find in fusion, rock and blues today: Andy Timmons, Eric Gales, Guthrie Govan, Alex Machacek, Kiko Loureiro, Jose de Castro, Randy Brecker and Greg Howe. The Richard Hallebeek Project II, or RHPII, is the follow-up to the critically acclaimed 2004 release ‘RHP’ that was released on Liquid Note Records. While RHP featured the late legendary Shawn Lane and virtuoso Brett Garsed as special guests, RHPII goes even further by adding a total of 8 guests, who are all household names in fusion and rock, to the already impressive lineup with Lalle Larsson-keys, Sebastiaan Cornelissen-drums and Frans Vollink-Bass. Amsterdam-based Richard Hallebeek is well know for his legato fusion guitar playing, by many described as floating somewhere between the best of early Scott Henderson, the fluidity of Allan Holdsworth and the pentatonic and chromatic craziness of Shawn Lane, but all melted together with his own unique twist.

RHPII is a rock/fusion album with 10 ‘real’ compositions (no bandjams) coming from all 4 bandmembers. All songs were written with the special guest who features on that song in mind, sometimes putting the guest in their comfort zone, sometimes a bit outside on purpose, but all done with respect for the player. This leads to some intriguing and already classic moments on RHPII. The opening track ‘’Wristkiller that starts with a syncopated theme has Richard open the first solo to display some of his blazing trademark lines through a set of quick changes, and his solo is seamlessly taken over by Alex Machacek (who recently subbed for Allan Holdsworth for the UK reunion) who takes those lines even further. The heavy prog-rock riffing on ‘Bring It On’ has Richard trading solos with Guthrie Govan and both end together in a diminished flurry where the notes from both players melt together. The blues waltz ‘Think Of Someting’, that is drenched in Lalle’s tasty organ playing, has ‘the tone master from Texas’ Andy Timmons play one of his most lyrical solo to date. RHPII features memorable songs and besides that, has more then enough tasty and over the top guitar playing to undoubtly satisfy the biggest guitarfans and jazz-rock music lovers out there.

One of the best Jazz Fusion albums to come out in recent years...Richard Hallebeek is an amazing musician,composer and a very accomplished guitar player.

 Track listing:

01     Wristkiller (with Alex Machacek)    5:19
02     Third Phase (with Jose de Castro)    10:08
03     Bring It On (with Guthrie Govan)    7:02
04     Pain In The Jazz (with Eric Gales)    5:44
05     People     9:14
06     Speed City Blues (with Kiko Loureiro)    7:56
07     Amelia (with Randy Brecker)    5:06
08     Think Of Something (with Andy Timmons)    5:28
09     East Side Bridge (with Greg Howe)    9:17
10     New World     1:46

Personnel:

Richard Hallebeek, Alex Machacek, Guthrie Govan, Eric Gales, Andy Timmons, Greg Howe, Jose de Castro, Kiko Loureiro – Guitars
Randy Brecker - Trumpet
Lalle Larsson – Keys
Frans Vollink – Bass
Sebastiaan Cornelissen – Drums

Sebastiaan Cornelissen / Frans Vollink - 2005 "One Spirit"

Great playing from our friends in the Netherlands!

Track listing:

1) Me And Freddie
2) Straight
3) Official Noisemaker
4) Bramcote Road
5) Face To Face
6) What’s In Store
7) Wrong Format
8) One Spirit
9) Dirty Gilly
10) Wise Man From The East
11) Suse’s Song

Personnel:   

Randy Brecker, Gerard Presencer – Trumpet
Rob van Bavel - Fender Rhodes
Susan Weinert - Guitars
Richard hallebeek - Guitars
Sebastiaan Cornelissen - Drums
Frans Vollink - Bass
Lale larson - Keyboards
Martin Verdonk - Percussion

Vinnie Colaiuta - 1994 "Vinnie Colaiuta"

Long-revered session drummer Vinnie Colaiuta jets to fusion's version of The Twilight Zone on his Stretch Records debut, a multi-influential, hardcore player's fiesta rife with moody effects, monster expressions by all his high-powered pals, and decadent experimentation. So, is that good or bad? Depends on your perspective. From a purely artistic point of view, if your listening palette can handle rambling but iron-fisted nuclear power and intrusive samples, then it's a fantastic look into another realm. If organization and focused craft is an issue, if melody is king, it will drive you insane while still provoking you. To focus on the positive aspects: Colaiuta's amazing as an all-around percussionist, serving up a hip-hop, blues atmospheres, even a wailing dance cut ("Momoska"). The guest list, from John Patitucci to Herbie Hancock to Sting, contributes ear-popping extravagance. Michael Landau strokes his strings like an alien comet from Krypton. And the leader even shows a softer side ("Darlene's Song"). Overall, intriguing, though more fun for the musicians involved than for the listener.

One of the best drummers of all time, Vinnie's compositions and playing on this CD are outstanding. It's a drummer led CD, but all the players here shine. I would have enjoyed this CD more if there was a long Vinnie solo, but he does no dominate the performances.

Vinnie has always been an inspiration to me, so I decided to buy his album. It was great! He has some really wacked out fusion! Buy this!! Especially if you're a fan of Vinnie or just Jazz Fusion!!

I bought this CD waaay back when it was released and studied it intently as a drummer/musician. What I came away with was a new sense of how time can be applied to music. Vinnie, is the only cat that I have heard that can play behind, ahead or right on top of the beat with metronomic precision while still making the groove *feel* good. This is a monumental achievement and I think one of the most important things to consider while listening. There are alot of very subtle things going on within this album. As a drummer, I will say that you may not be able to fully grasp some of them unless you have put in some serious hours with a metronome. But you'll feel it and be bobbing your head or tapping your foot just the same. Achieving machine like alignment with a metronome is only the 1st step. You gotta then figure out how to make it feel good and that ain't easy...Vinnie has done it.

Of course, Vinnie has incredible chops and an inhuman command of odd time signatures and you can hear just how comfortable and relaxed he is with these. The word "finesse" comes to mind.

I admire that Vinnie created an album of excellent music with some amazing drumming instead of another Super Chops-Volume 3. It shows his maturity as a composer and overall musician. The *music* on the this record is really good and enjoyable to listen to. Those reviews that say was is holding back are correct. And thank the heavens he did.

P.S.The recording and production/mixing/mastering are also very high quality and still hold up over 15 years later. The CD is a good reference point if you are an audio engineer-

Vinnie Colaiuta's self-titled album was recommended to me by a friend who was a mutual Frank Zappa zealot - of course, that's where I heard Colaiuta's work originally. Upon first listen, I was quite apathetic to the majority of the album; however, my disinterest quickly subsided after subsequent listens. It's one of those albums that grows on you, like many of the late Frank Zappa's - whose influence is apparent on this album. Additionally, this album features an array of guest performers, including some of whom Vinnie Colaitua has played with before, including: Sting, Chick Corea, John Patitucci, Herbie Hancock et al. A well-constructed and highly recommended album!

Track listing

1     I'm Tweeked / Attack Of The 20lb Pizza     6:22
2     Private Earthquake : Error 7     7:23
3     Chauncey     9:39
4     John's Blues     5:25
5     Slink     5:57
6     Darlene's Song     5:41
7     Momoska (Dub Mix)     8:04
8     Bruce Lee     6:01
9     If One Was One     3:26

Personnel:

    Drums, Keyboards, Percussion, Programmed By, Liner Notes – Vinnie Colaiuta
    Acoustic Bass – John Patitucci (tracks: 6)
    Bass – Neil Stubenhaus (tracks: 1, 8, 9), Pino Palladino (tracks: 2), Sal Monilla (tracks: 7), Sting (tracks: 3), Tim Landers (tracks: 5)
    Guitar – Dominic Miller (tracks: 3, 4, 6), Michael Landau (tracks: 1, 8, 9), Mike Miller (7) (tracks: 4-6)
    Organ – David Sancious (tracks: 2)
    Percussion – Bert Karl (tracks: 7)
    Piano – Chick Corea (tracks: 6)
    Piano, Soloist – Herbie Hancock (tracks: 7)
    Synthesizer, Electric Piano – David Goldblatt (tracks: 4, 5)
    Tenor Saxophone – Steve Tavaglione (tracks: 2 to 7)
    Trombone – Ron Moss (tracks: 8)
    Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Jeff Beal (tracks: 4, 6)

Jaco Pastorius - 2017 "Truth, Liberty & Soul" - Live In NYC 1982

In the summer of 1982, Jaco Pastorius had just left Weather Report, and he was widely known as the best electric bassist in the world. He had a new large ensemble, the Word of Mouth Big Band (named after the 1981 Pastorius album that provided much of its repertoire). Collecting some of the best young figures in jazz and fusion, the group was a startling reminder of how broad Pastorius’ talents were: He was able to arrange his bubbling jazz-funk on a grand scale, using a rather traditional jazz band format (well, plus steel pan). “Truth, Liberty and Soul” comes from the band’s performance at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, during the Kool Jazz Festival that year. Some highlights don’t involve the full 22-piece band at all: Pastorius’s long, Hendrix-quoting solo on “Bass and Drum Improvisation”; and his duet with the harmonica player Toots Thielemans on Duke Ellington’s “Sophisticated Lady.”

In his short life, Jaco Pastorius revolutionised the bass guitar, and lifted the music of key jazz-fusioneers Pat Metheny and Weather Report in the 1970s – but his ambition was to form a big band. This previously unreleased live set captures a blistering two-hour gig from Pastorius’s soulful, swinging and very full-on Word of Mouth orchestra in 1982, with saxophonist Bob Mintzer, trumpeter Randy Brecker and harmonica maestro Toots Thielemans in the ranks. The riff-shouting, soul-jazzy Pastorius standby The Chicken is constantly stung by the leader’s springy, ever-changing basslines, the fast Charlie Parker bebop classic Donna Lee is implausibly and audaciously unfolded as a unison bass and tuba theme, Three Views of a Secret sets a lyrical Thielemans free over floating Gil Evans-like harmonies, the world-music of the slithery, simmering Reza turns into Coltrane’s Giant Steps, and three drummers including Peter Erskine and Don Alias are explosive and remarkably melodic by turns. This exhilarating set is a real find, for Jaco fans and left-field big-band followers alike.

Sonically, Truth, Liberty & Soul is also, hands down, the best-sounding Word of Mouth recording ever...and that includes the original (and not at all shabby-sounding) live albums Invitation (Warner Bros., 1983), the expanded two-volume, Japanese-only release of the full concert from which Invitation was culled (1999's Twins I & II: Live in Japan, from Warners Japan), and the posthumous 1995 release of The Birthday Concert (Warner Bros.), the first live performance of a series of big band charts that would go on to become the core repertoire of the Word of Mouth Big Band, recorded at the bassist's 30th birthday party in Fort Lauderdale, FL. This is music that literally leaps out of the speakers to fill the room, whether it's funkified soul; swinging, bop-informed improvisational forays; free improvisation passages of remarkable group synchronicity; beautiful, elegantly composed ballads; or contrastingly refined and thrilling looks at not just jazz chestnuts, but one reggae tune and, during Pastorius' shared "Bass and Drums Improvisation" with Erskine, references to Jimi Hendrix, the American National Anthem.

It’s curious that we don’t more directly associate electric jazz bass playing with Latin rhythms, given that the greatest practitioner on the instrument featured them so centrally in his sound. This newly unearthed document is a key sonic case in point. Here we have Jaco Pastorius with his Word of Mouth Big Band, live at NYC’s Avery Fisher Hall in the summer of 1982 for George Wein’s Kool Jazz Festival, regaling listeners with 130 minutes of music in which his ever-virtuosic bass work is neatly folded into a larger group dynamic. (The set is available as a three-LP box, two-CD package and digital download, including a 100-page book with contributions by Metallica’s Robert Trujillo, biographer Bill Milkowski and others.)

That this was an NPR recording means the sound is impeccable, no small detail in appreciating the full tonal display of Pastorius’ lines. On the opening “Invitation”—which functions as a musical epistle/beckoning to a damn good time—his notes are tightly clustered, like buzzy, motivic spirals that serve as fillips for the piece. Bob Mintzer’s tenor saxophone provides a lot of the solo-based forward motion, but it’s the Latin inflection—courtesy of Othello Molineaux’s steel drums—that makes this feel like work born of tropical climes and the jazz of New Orleans in all its wonderfully bonhomous hoodoo.

Pastorius never dominates, instead serving as facilitator for an ensemble of expert personnel like the bassist’s fellow Weather Report alumni Peter Erskine on drums and Don Alias on percussion, saxophonists Mintzer, Frank Wess and Howard Johnson and trumpeters Randy Brecker, Lew Soloff and Jon Faddis. Even when the leader solos and his bass becomes guitar-like, with a hint of trumpet and piano, he’s always in control, always economical. If his notes were drops of water they’d never overfill the bowl.

“Donna Lee” is a first-half highlight, the kettledrums contrasting with a Sun Ra-esque futuristic vibe in the refrains. “Soul Intro/The Chicken” features a fanfare straight from a 1980s late-night talk show as its intro, before the titular bird leaps into the fray to jitterbug. This is one brassy strut, a proper comfort-food piece, with a high feel-good quotient. Brecker plays his hindquarters off, ascending to Freddie Hubbard heights of hard-bop glory, but with the underpinning of a samba. Toots Thielemans turns up on harmonica on several numbers, but his contributions have mixed results. He’s more effective when he accompanies rather than spars, for this is Ellingtonian music—and a showcase for Pastorius the bandleader, the shaper of a series of jazz tone poems with symphonic qualities.

“Reza/Giants Steps” is akin to an electric bass concerto, something like those moments in Miles Davis’ Second Great Quintet when Tony Williams would simmer at his kit, keeping the music below a boil, his mates exploring the space around him. So it goes with Pastorius here, his fingers moving so fast you wonder if anyone could possibly transcribe this. It’s a bit like wondering how to take the temperature of a star. Better to just luxuriate in the light.

Newly-released live recording which documents a June 27, 1982 concert at Avery Fisher Hall (complete with a 100-page book). The performance was part of George Wein’s Kool Jazz Festival and a large portion was broadcast on National Public Radio’s Jazz Alive!, a program produced by Tim Owens and hosted by Dr. Billy Taylor that ran from 1977 to 1983. Owens and Zev Feldman of Resonance uncovered 40 minutes that weren’t played during the NPR show, and have released the entire 130-minute concert in its entirety with the help of Grammy-winning engineer Paul Blakemore, who worked the original performance at Lincoln Center.

Track listing:

CD 1
1. Invitation (13:04)
2. Soul Intro/The Chicken (9:10)
3. Donna Lee (13:18)
4. Three Views to a Secret (6:38)
5. Liberty City (10:10)
6. Sophisticated Lady (7:43)
7. Bluesette (5:31)

CD 2
1. I Shot the Sheriff (6:55)
2. Okonkolé y Trompa (15:07)
3. Reza/Giant Steps (Medley) (10:19)
4. Mr. Fonebone (10:37)
5. Bass and Drum Improvisation (14:05)
6. Twins (2:53)
7. Fannie Mae (5:55)

Personnel:

    Bass, Vocals – Jaco Pastorius
    Alto Saxophone – Bob Stein (4)
    Baritone Saxophone – Howard Johnson (3), Randy Emerick   
    Drums – Peter Erskine
    French Horn – John Clark (2), Peter Gordon (8)
    Harmonica [Special Guest] – Toots Thielemans (tracks: 1-4 to 2-1, 2-4, 2-7)
    Percussion – Don Alias
    Steel Drums – Othello Molineaux
    Tenor Saxophone – Frank Wess, Lou Marini
    Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Bass Clarinet – Bob Mintzer
    Trombone – David Taylor, Jim Pugh, Wayne Andre
    Trumpet – Alan Rubin, Jon Faddis, Kenny Faulk*, Lew Soloff, Randy Brecker, Ron Tooley
    Tuba – David Bargeron*

Karizma - 2000 [2001] "Document"

Recorded live on tour in Europe, this CD captures the fiery creativity of a truly great band and demonstrates why each of these musicians holds a place among the most in-demand players in the world. Every song features soloing and ensemble playing of the very highest order and includes come of Vinnie's most explosive performances.

L.A. session great David Garfield formed Karizma as a creative outlet in 1979. The group released four studio recordings that were mostly popular in fusion hotbeds, such as Europe and Japan, and very difficult to find in the States. This live recording reunites Garfield with original guitarist Michael Landau, former member Vinnie Colaiuta (drums), and fusion veteran Neil Stubenhaus (bass). The energetic selections are a balance of original material and cover tunes, including Weather Report's "Palladium" and Don Grolnick's "Nothing Personal," and all are played with their trademark fervor. Guitarist Landau's sonic explorations are a nice counterpoint to Colaiuta's acrobatic drumming, while Garfield shifts from style to style with ease. While not intended to be a drum-centric recording, Colaiuta dominates the performances and proves why he has such a legendary reputation. Fusion fans and drummers are encouraged to indulge in the not-so-guilty pleasures offered by Karizma.

The first thing I need to clarify about this disc is that if you're not a musician, you probably won't care for this recording. If you are, however, reams of unparallelled chops and gobs of searing solos await your ears upon hearing these cats BURN. For the record, Karizma consists of drumming legend Vinnie Colaiuta, keys whiz David Garfield, bass monster Neil Stubenhaus, and guitarist extrordonairre Michael Landau. This disc was recorded live in Germany and Denmark.

As a guitarist, I've always held L.A. session ace Mike Landau in that inner circle of deity-status guitarists along with Larry Carlton, Steve Lukather, Steve Morse, etc. The problem has always been that I could never find a live recording on which he didn't always play reserved and "for the song" ; I wanted to hear him let loose! Well, fear not, fellow axemeisters, for it is a great day in the history of guitar. Not only is this a great collection of fusionesque rock tunes, but Landau solos with absolutely no holds barred for about a third of each song! I'd write more, but if you're into Landau's (or Colaiuta's, or Stubenhaus's, or Garfield's) playing like I am, you're already ordering this phenomenal disc. An absolute must for musicians or just thinking adults who can appreciate some of the best players in the world coming together and playing as one. Crank it up.

The grooves Vinnie. A great album and a blast from the past - but, this album has it all. It covers a wide range of tracks and musical styles - its layering and complexity are second to none. A great listen. Since purchasing Ive listened to it about 10 times in 3 days. Awesome work. Landau on guitars also provides a lot of oomph - especially in the2nd half of the album when he 'Hendrix's up'. A great rock fushion masterpiece for its time,

"Many will consider this to be his best live fusion recording to date. Vinnie takes each style to new heights." -- Modern Drummer Magazine, June 2001

Track listing:

1     Heavy Resin     11:30
2     Aliens (Ripped My Face Off)     14:03
3     Palladium     7:32
4     Johnny Swing     9:41
5     Nothing Personal     8:44
6     E Minor Shuffle     12:15

Personnel:

    Bass – Neil Stubenhaus
    Drums – Vinnie Colaiuta
    Guitar – Michael Landau
    Keyboards – David Garfield

Larry Coryell - 2013 "The Lift"

Larry Coryell's name isn t bandied around much now, but in the 1970s he was almost as big a guitar star as John McLaughlin, and an equivalent influence on the development of early electric jazz-rock fusion ... Coryell s crackling uptempo bursts and engagingly rough-hewn energy give this familiar music a vividness and infectious enthusiasm. THE GUARDIAN/p> You don t even have to be a fan of his or a guitar aficionado to dig this disc; anyone who likes that old school funky rock-jazz with a few delectable diversions will find a lot to like about it. The old Larry Coryell, the Father of Fusion Guitar, is back. --Something Else!

Though he’s since built up equally impressive credentials as a post-bop guitarist, Coryell’s been in a fusion state of mind lately. He’s going to turn 70 next month but shows not even a trace of slowing down. If anything, he’s been revitalized on his Wide Hive records and his third one for the label is as raw and energetic as anything he’s done in a studio for decades. The Lift, as this latest one is called, scales back from the large, horn-laden backing band he used on 2011’s righteous Larry Coryell With The Wide Hive Players down to mostly just a tidy electric guitar/electric bass/drums unit. Matt Montgomery (bass) and Lumpy (drums) are the only other musicians present on the album, save for Chester Smith and his organ on three cuts.

The performances here are raw, a natural outcome from these being single take recordings, and the warm, vintage analog sound captured by record label founder Gregory Howe. Even more credit for that rough-and-ready sound goes to Coryell himself, whose delightfully dirty tone and broken notes are his trademark, and it’s even more ragged on The Lift.

These dozen tracks are essentially concise jams but each brings some kind of unique twist. “Going Up” utilizes an odd time signature (at one point, Lumpy slips in a 4/4 beat while Coryell continues to play the odd meter and somehow it still fits). The 9/8 strut of “Rough Cut” frames Coryell’s circular riff, as Smith improvises over that. The groove on “The Lift” is a lighter, jazzier one while the one on “Lafayette” is rubbery, “Wild Rye” is a straight rocker and “Stadium Wave” boasts a Latin flavor. Coryell plays the blues in his own way, too: “Arena Blues” is heavily psychedelic, his fuzzy notes bouncing off the walls of the studio, while “Broken Blues” rocks hard against a jazz swing beat.

Liberally alternating between fully chorded attacks and single-line barrages, Coryell is lick machine on The Lift, sounding much closer to that twenty-four year old spring chicken than a guy about to enter his eighth decade on earth. The Lift could have been a time capsule from forty years plus ago opened up to demonstrate how Coryell used to sound like. But it isn’t; the original fusion guitarist remains as sharp and energetic today as he ever did. And you best believe this ol’ guy can still rock his ass off.

The Wide Hive player recordings are, in my opinion, fantastically fun Coryell. This one is no exception. This isn't Eleventh House or Village Gate, but it's great Coryell. Another Coryell you won't regret picking up. I think Jean was confused thinking this was Barry Coryell, the famous Swiss yodeler.

Coryell's "The Lift", release is his best work in a long time. Finally putting out a fusion album that sounds fresh and exciting, that gets better with each listen. Unlike the other two Hive releases that were straight jazz, that can get tedious at times, this is a welcomed release.

Coryell plugging in and getting nasty... it reminds me of his Vanguard recordings like Live at the Village Gate. Highly recommended!

This guy is over 70 now and still blows away most guitarists playing today. Jazz/rock fusion at it's most rocking! Great songs and amazing playing by the whole group Larry has put together.

Fantastic jazz fusion album. I just wish it was a little longer. Reminds me of the approach the Ginger Baker Trio took twenty years ago. Highly recommended.

So good to hear Coryell getting back to his fusion roots. Some true power, mixed with funk, and some outstanding acoustic work.

Track listing:

01     Going Up     3:32
02     Arena Blues     6:52
03     The Lift     4:49
04     Lafayette     3:33
05     Clear Skies     3:49
06     Rough Cut     3:59
07     Alternative Recollection     4:58
08     Broken Blues     3:20
09     Counterweight     3:49
10     Stadium Wave     5:18
11     Wild Rye     4:04
12     First Day Of Autumn     3:50

Personnel:

    Guitar – Larry Coryell
    Bass – Matt Montgomery
    Drums – Lumpy   
    Organ – Chester Smith (3

Various Artists - 1999 "Milestones" - The Jazz Giants Play Miles Davis

This entry in the Jazz Giants series finds a host of the genre's biggest names interpreting a batch of Miles Davis tunes with nice results. Most everything from the song list comes from the bluesy side of the Davis catalog, kicking off with a reflective, highly swinging take on "Vierd Blues" with nice solos from Oscar Peterson and Joe Pass. Dexter Gordon brings back a tune from bop's 1940s heyday, an alternate take of "Milestones," a track that also features nice work from Freddie Hubbard doubling on trumpet and flugelhorn. Sonny Stitt and Grant Green add fireworks to "Tune Up," Bill Evans turns in a sprawling version of "So What," and Chet Baker contributes an atmospheric take on Davis' "Solar."

Keeping true to the sobriquet "jazz giants," this collection features stellar performances from Wes Montgomery, Hampton Hawes, Shelly Manne, Ray Brown, Don Ellis, Eric Dolphy, Phineas Newborn Jr., Ray Bryant, Philly Joe Jones, and Ron Affif, along with two tracks featuring Davis himself in the company of Charlie Parker (in a rare appearance on tenor sax): "Compulsion" and "The Serpent's Tooth." Like the other entries in this series, this is top-flight jazz played by the best, honoring one of the true trailblazers of the music -- a winning combination every note of the way.

 Track listing / Artists

01     –Oscar Peterson     Vierd Blues     6:42
02     –Dexter Gordon     Milestones (Alternate)     7:09
03     –Bill Evans     So What     6:47
04     –Sonny Stitt     Tune-Up     4:24
05     –Chet Baker     Solar     5:49
06     –Hampton Hawes     Blue In Green     5:25
07     –Wes Montgomery     Freddie Freeloader     5:14
08     –Don Ellis     Nardis     4:34
09     –Miles Davis     Compulsion     5:43
10     –Phineas Newborn Jr.     Four     4:53
11     –Miles Davis     The Serpent's Tooth (Take 1)     7:00
12     –Ray Bryant     All Blues     8:24
13     –Ron Affif     Seven Steps To Heaven     3:02

Miles Davis - 2013 "Live in Europe 1969 - The Bootleg Series" Vol. 2

Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2 is a 3 CD + 1 DVD live album of the Miles Davis Quintet featuring saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Chick Corea, bassist Dave Holland, and drummer Jack DeJohnette. The CDs contain recordings of two concerts in France and one in Sweden and the DVD has an additional concert recorded in Germany.

The first two discs were recorded at the Festival Mondial du Jazz d'Antibes, La Pinède in Juan-les-Pins, France, on July 25 & 26, 1969 with the first concert originally released in Japan in 1993 as 1969 Miles Festiva De Juan Pins. The third disc contains the concert from November 5, 1969 at the Folkets Hus, Stockholm. The DVD was recorded in West Germany on 7 November 1969 at the Berliner Jazztage in the Berlin Philharmonic.

The sets include songs that had been jazz standards for several decades on, material from Davis' hard bop late 1950s and early 1960s period, material from his second great quintet and Miles Runs the Voodoo Down, a fusion composition that his band did not record until four weeks later, on the Bitches Brew album. The last two disks were recorded after Bitches Brew and include that album's title track.

This new set is the first collection of Miles’s Third Great Quintet, the “Lost” Band of 1968-1970 with Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Dave Holland, and Jack DeJohnette at their peak (they were never recorded in the studio). The album captures the short-lived quintet in three separate concert settings, starting with two full-length (one hour-plus) sets at the Antibes Jazz Festival in France, in Stockholm as part of “The Newport Jazz Festival In Europe,” and completed with a stunning 46-minute performance at the Berlin Philharmonie, filmed in color.

The first volume Legacy’s Miles Davis bootleg series offered audio and video evidence of his second great quintet playing the Newport Jazz Festival in Europe in 1967. Acclaim from critics and fans was universal. This second entry, Live in Europe 1969: Bootleg Series, Vol. 2, showcases almost an entirely different band -- only saxophonist Wayne Shorter remains. Bassist Dave Holland, drummer Jack DeJohnette, and pianist Chick Corea made up Davis' road band, and other individuals participated in sessions for Filles de Kilimanjaro and In a Silent Way. But this quintet was never recorded as a lone studio group, making this the first officially released music from the monster "third quintet." Three discs and a DVD offer four concerts: two from Antibes and one from Stockholm are on audio discs, while a performance from Berlin is on video.

The set lists vary but offer something remarkable as a whole: The only period where Davis played music from his bebop, hard bop, modal, and electric eras on one tour. In Antibes, "Directions" opens at a furious tempo with freewheeling solos from Davis and Shorter. It morphs into "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down," featuring an aggressive Holland bassline and DeJohnette's machine gun drums. There is a completely re-envisioned "Milestones" that materializes from the bass solo. Shorter and Davis play with a muscular, intense, communicative freedom that reaches its creative peak here. The rhythm section, emboldened by the front line, is wildly inventive. Corea plays an exceptionally large role.

By 1969, Davis was using not only electric guitar in the studio, but often multiple keyboard players simultaneously. Corea is everywhere as a rhythmic and harmonic counterpart, and as a visionary soloist. His chord voicings on "'Round Midnight" move from skeletal to maximal as the tune is thoroughly reinvented from its spare melody into a nearly funky modal jam with him leading the way. Highlights from the second Antibes gig include a blistering "Spanish Key," driven by Holland and DeJohnette, followed by a brief, lyrical "I Fall in Love Too Easily," preceding an angular, exciting "Masqualero," with fiery interaction between Shorter and Corea. "No Blues," a band solo showcase, gives way to a nearly shimmering swing in "Nefertiti" that unmakes itself after Shorter's solo, eventually gathering steam for a galloping group exchange before shifting to more relaxed pacing, then re-energizing along different harmonic lines.

In Stockholm, the 14-minute "Bitches Brew" is revealed to be still evolving; harmonic and rhythmic ideas are thrown into the mix minute-by-minute. "Paraphernalia" is almost free jazz. Davis' solo on set-closer "This," is risky and physically strident. The DVD offers a gorgeous, color, multi-camera shoot, with terrific sound. The band's intuitive, concentrated interaction is mesmerizing to watch. Seeing and hearing them move seamlessly -- even dramatically -- through "It's About That Time"/"I Fall in Love Too Easily"/"Sanctuary" reveals Davis' in the present viewing the past as a gateway to his musical future. It's obvious here that he freely embraced the sonic, textural, and timbral possibilities that electricity offered him in creating a more open, in-the-moment, music. Live in Europe, 1969 makes obvious that on this tour, Davis' creative vision was holistic and completely assured. These fire-breathing performances offer a band at fever pitch hearing and playing what they knew even then was a new chapter in jazz history.

"It was really a bad motherfucker," Miles Davis wrote in his autobiography of the live band he led in 1969.

Track listing

Disc One: July 25, 1969 at the Jazz à Juan festival, La Pinède in Juan-les-Pins.
1.    "Introduction by André Francis"         0:27
2.    "Directions"    Joe Zawinul    6:00
3.    "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down"    Miles Davis    9:17
4.    "Milestones"    Miles Davis    13:45
5.    "Footprints"    Wayne Shorter    11:44
6.    "Round Midnight"    Thelonious Monk, Cootie Williams, Bernie Hanighen    8:51
7.    "It's About That Time"    Joe Zawinul, Miles Davis    9:30
8.    "Sanctuary"    Wayne Shorter    4:15
9.    "The Theme"    Miles Davis    0:53
Total length:    1:05:42

Disc Two: July 26, 1969 at the Jazz à Juan festival, La Pinède in Juan-les-Pins.
1.    "Introduction by André Francis"         0:26
2.    "Directions"    Joe Zawinul    6:17
3.    "Spanish Key"    Miles Davis    10:36
4.    "I Fall in Love Too Easily"    Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne    2:54
5.    "Masqualero"    Wayne Shorter    8:28
6.    "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down"    Miles Davis    8:46
7.    "No Blues"    Miles Davis    13:34
8.    "Nefertiti"    Wayne Shorter    8:50
9.    "Sanctuary"    Wayne Shorter    0:53
10.    "The Theme"    Miles Davis    0:48
Total length:    1:04:11

Disc Three: November 5, 1969 at the Folkets Hus, Stockholm.
1.    "Introduction by George Wein"         0:30
2.    "Bitches Brew"    Miles Davis    14:38
3.    "Paraphernalia"    Wayne Shorter    9:19
4.    "Nefertiti"    Wayne Shorter    10:02
5.    "Masqualero" (Incomplete)    Wayne Shorter    8:02
6.    "This"    Chick Corea    6:18
Total length:    48:49

Disc Four (DVD): November 7, 1969 at the Berliner Jazztage in the Berlin Philharmonie.
1.    "Introduction by John O'Brien-Docker"         2:07
2.    "Directions"    Joe Zawinul    6:42
3.    "Bitches Brew"    Miles Davis    13:39
4.    "It's About That Time"    Miles Davis    14:09
5.    "I Fall in Love Too Easily"    Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne    3:39
6.    "Sanctuary"    Wayne Shorter    3:55
7.    "The Theme"    Miles Davis    1:11
Total length:    45:22

Personnel

    Miles Davis – trumpet
    Wayne Shorter – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
    Chick Corea – electric piano, piano on disc three numbers 3,4 &5
    Dave Holland – bass
    Jack DeJohnette – drums

Sonny Rollins - 1964 [1995] "Sonny Rollins & Co. 1964"

This CD from the Bluebird reissue series fills a lot of gaps in Sonny Rollins' discography. The 13 selections are taken from six different sessions from 1964. The personnel changes from date to date, with either Ron Carter or Bob Cranshaw on bass and Roy McCurdy or Mickey Roker on drums, along with pianist Herbie Hancock on five songs and guitarist Jim Hall on three others. Some of the music comprises alternate takes, and in contrast to a rambling 16-minute version of "Now's the Time," a few of the briefer songs (seven are under four minutes) shut down prematurely. However, the great tenor's improvisations are consistently fascinating, as he reconciles his avant-garde flights to the standards he is performing. "Autumn Nocturne" is a high point.

It took repeated listenings, but I have fallen for this album. The energy and wit Rollins puts into these titles is addicting. Some bounce, some soar, some pop, and others just saunter down the street. Yes, on the Sonny side. There are some lengthy adventures (title 3, Nows The Time, is over 15 minutes) as well as some hopping tunes like Night And Day (3:19), which is as good as anything on Saxophone Colossus. In alternative moods, Sonny can make the wistful blues come through an open window, like the gentle My Ship and Autumn Nocturne.

It took repeated listenings, but I have fallen for this album. The energy and wit Rollins puts into these titles is addicting. Some bounce, some soar, some pop, and others just saunter down the street. Yes, on the Sonny side. There are some lengthy adventures (title 3, Nows The Time, is over 15 minutes) as well as some hopping tunes like Night And Day (3:19), which is as good as anything on Saxophone Colossus. In alternative moods, Sonny can make the wistful blues come through an open window, like the gentle My Ship and Autumn Nocturne.

It's really hard to go past the first track Django. The most sensitive, beautiful, painful, emotional playing ever by any instrumentalist alive or dead... The songs tears me each time I listen to it...

The whole album is swinging, loose and sensitive... I'd say forget everything and listen to Django again..

If you are a Sonny Rollins listener, this one is definitely worth your time, time and time again.

Track listing:

1     Django (Take 8)     5:25
2     Afternoon In Paris (Take 12)     3:02
3     Now's The Time (Take 3)     15:54
4     Four (Alternate Take)     7:53
5     Blue 'N' Boogie     5:31
6     Night And Day     3:18
7     Three Little Words     2:15
8     My Ship     4:12
9     Love Letters     3:26
10     Long Ago And Far Away     2:47
11     Winter Wonderland     5:17
12     When You Wish Upon A Star     3:16
13     Autumn Nocturne     3:01

Personnel:

Sonny Rollins - tenor saxophone
Herbie Hancock - piano
Jim Hall - guitar
Ron Carter, Bob Cranshaw - bass
Roy McCurdy, Mickey Roker - drums