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

Miles Davis - 1957 [2005] "Round About Midnight"

Miles Davis ‎– 'Round About Midnight
Recording sessions took place at Columbia Studio D on October 26 1955, and at Columbia's 30th Street Studio on June 5 and September 10 1956. 'Round About Midnight' is widely recognized by jazz critics as a landmark album in hard bop and one of the greatest jazz albums of all time.

With the release of the spectral title tune, and the efforts of the Columbia marketing and publicity departments behind him, a thirty-year old Miles Davis entered into a period of extraordinary artistic maturity and growth. And Miles instinctively knew how to cultivate his star quality. Looming behind those shades, was the diffident, sensitive anti-hero--proud and defiant--who only spoke to his audience through his horn, and turned his back on them when the other soloists were blowing.

The combination of attitude and intellect was irresistible. Beginning with ROUND ABOUT MIDNIGHT and proceeding through a remarkable succession of famous recordings over the next 30 years, Miles Davis became one of the greatest soloists, arrangers and talent scouts in the history of American music. People who didn't own a single jazz record came to know his name--Miles was a jazz icon.

His famous intro on the title tune is based on mentor Dizzy Gillespie's arrangement, and Miles' tone, always a strong point, has here matured into something deeply personal and unique. His provocative use of space and silence--matched only by Lester Young, Billie Holiday and Thelonious Monk--sets up the famous release and Coltrane's agitated statement. Here and on the Prestige recordings, Coltrane found his voice as Miles' foil, while "The Rhythm Section" (pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones), became the most celebrated in jazz--capable of smooth, bouncy delicacy ("Dear Old Stockholm," "All Of You" and "Bye Bye Blackbird"), hard swing ("Tadd's Delight") and relentless complexity (Charlie Parker's contrapuntal "Ah-Leu-Ch"). A masterpiece.

At the Newport Jazz Festival in 1955, Davis performed the song "'Round Midnight" as part of an all-star jam session, with the song's composer Thelonious Monk, along with Connie Kay and Percy Heath of the Modern Jazz Quartet, Zoot Sims, and Gerry Mulligan. Davis's solo received a positive reception from many jazz fans and critics. His response to this performance was typically laconic: "What are they talking about? I just played the way I always play." George Avakian of Columbia Records was in the audience, and his brother Aram persuaded him that he ought to sign Davis to the label.

Davis signed with Columbia and formed his "first great quintet" with John Coltrane on saxophone. 'Round About Midnight was his first album for the label. He was still under contract to Prestige, but he had an agreement that he could record material for Columbia to release after the expiration of his Prestige contract. Recording took place at Columbia studios; the first session was on October 26, 1955 at Studio D, during which the track "Ah-Leu-Cha" was recorded with three numbers that did not appear on the album. This is the first studio recording of the quintet. The remainder of the album was recorded during sessions on June 5, 1956 ("Dear Old Stockholm", "Bye Bye Blackbird" and "Tadd's Delight") and September 10, 1956 ("All of You" and the titular "'Round Midnight") at Columbia's 30th Street Studio. During the same period, the Miles Davis Quintet was also recording sessions to fulfill its contract with Prestige.

These Miles Davis sessions for Columbia, from 1955 and 1956, are usually overshadowed by a quartet of albums (Relaxin', Workin', Steamin' and Cookin') Davis recorded for the Prestige label in the same period and with the same band.

Davis and a new quintet, including a then little-known saxophonist called John Coltrane, hastily cut those great discs to discharge their contractual obligations to Prestige before moving to Columbia. It turned out to be the most inspired period of work for one of the most inspired groups in jazz history. The spare and elliptical trumpet phrasing of Davis hypnotically contrasted with the striving ferocity of Coltrane's tenor sax, and a jazz rhythm section (this one included drummer Philly Joe Jones) had never before sounded so unerringly swinging and yet so effortlessly and provocatively flexible. Moreover, Davis was on his way to being unofficially elected the crown prince of cool. He had triumphantly returned to playing after a layoff to disentangle from heroin, and with his shades, sharp suits and imperious manner, he looked every inch a young man who had come back with the keys to the city for modern jazz.

What makes this Round About Midnight package different from earlier Columbia issues of the same material is that the six tracks from the original LP are now augmented, not only by bonus studio takes but by Miles Davis's famous duet with Thelonious Monk from the 1955 Newport Jazz Festival, and previously unissued concert material from the quintet's tour early the following year.

The appearance at Newport, with Davis an informal guest, was the episode that restarted the trumpeter's stalled career. Playing on Monk's composition Round About Midnight, he curls slow notes around the pianist's hammer-and-anvil chords as an intro, plays a quick, dancing figure and then a long, arching sound to bring himself within range of the theme. He keeps sidestepping the melody and simultaneously hinting at it, with soft hovering sounds and shrugging upward slides, and typically balances sighing, suspended sounds with lightly blown double time. Monk, meanwhile, keeps threatening to bring the piece to a dead halt, with grumpy, full-stop chords and preoccupied, boogieing figures. It's a classic jazz collaboration, and after that performance everybody wanted to know the 29-year-old Miles Davis all over again. Recruiting his brilliant quintet soon followed.

The studio material also kicks off with the title track, this time featuring the trumpeter's famous muted sound in slow, weaving counterpoint with Coltrane. Charlie Parker's vivacious Ah-Leu-Cha is a dialogue between the horns and drums, Bye Bye Blackbird an object lesson in tantalising behind-the-beat timing, and a nimble Two Bass Hit and Bud Powell's boppish Budo are among the studio tracks added from the same period.

But it's the live material on the second disc that is the most absorbing. Apart from the Newport performance, six tracks from a 1956 concert in Pasadena catches the freshly ignited energy of this new group, with Davis often operating in the fast, twisting bebop-rooted style that preceded his more famous free-modal and fusion approaches of the decades to follow. The empathy of the whole group on theme statements and the driving presence of Jones is clear on an account of Walkin' in which Davis brilliantly deploys only a sparing selection of notes and pauses. There's a lovely ballad account of It Never Entered My Mind and a breakneck jitter through Dizzy Gillespie's Salt Peanuts. Impresario Gene Norman's short interview with Davis inadvertently sounds hilariously like an old Lenny Bruce sketch, which all adds to the period interest.

 Track listing:

CD 1
01     'Round Midnight     5:55
02     Ah-Leu-Cha     5:53
03     All Of You     7:01
04     Bye Bye Blackbird     7:53
05     Tadd's Delight     4:26
06     Dear Old Stockholm     7:49
07     Two Bass Hit     3:45
08     Little Melonae     7:18
09     Budo     4:14
10     Sweet Sue, Just You     3:39

CD 2
1     'Round Midnight     5:54
    All Selections Below Recorded Live 2/18/56
    All Previously Unreleased
2     Introduction By Gene Norman     1:37
3     Chance It (aka Max Is Making Wax)     4:34
4     Walkin'     9:24
5     Gene Norman & Miles Davis     1:06
6     It Never Entered My Mind     5:17
7     Woody 'N You     5:46
8     Salt Peanuts     4:35
9     The Theme     0:19

Personnel

    Miles Davis – trumpet
    John Coltrane – tenor saxophone
    Red Garland – piano
    Paul Chambers – double bass
    Philly Joe Jones – drumset

Newport personnel bonus disc track one

    Miles Davis – trumpet
    Zoot Sims – tenor saxophone
    Gerry Mulligan – baritone saxophone
    Thelonious Monk – piano
    Percy Heath – double bass
    Connie Kay – drumset

Various Artists - 1996 "The Panasonic Village Jazz Festival"

Track listing / Personnel:

01     Stanley Turrentine   -  Terrible T    
02     Mingus Big Band   -  O.P. (Oscar Pettiford)    
03     Dizzy Gillespie   -  Tour de Force    
04     McCoy Tyner  -   Up Against The Wall    
05     Tito Puente  -   Nostalgia In Times Square    
06     Kenny Burrell   -  When Lights Are Low    
07     Roy Haynes   -  Like This    
08     Eddie Harris  -   The Grand Strut    
09     Steve Turre  -   Rhythm Within    
10     Benny Carter With Dianne Reeves And Joe Williams   -  We Were In Love    
11     Abdullah Ibrahim  -   Kofifi    
12     Maria Schneider Orchestra  -   Giant Steps

McCoy Tyner - 1973 [1990] "Enlightenment"

Enlightenment is a live album by jazz pianist McCoy Tyner released on the Milestone label. It was recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland on July 7, 1973 and features Tyner in performance with Azar Lawrence, Joony Booth and Alphonse Mouzon.

This is one of the great McCoy Tyner recordings. The powerful, percussive, and highly influential pianist sounds quite inspired throughout his appearance at the 1973 Montreux Jazz Festival. Azar Lawrence (on tenor and soprano) is also quite noteworthy and there is plenty of interplay with bassist Juney Booth and drummer Alphonse Mouzon. But Tyner is the main star, whether it be on his three-part "Enlightenment Suite," "Presence," "Nebula," or the 25-minute "Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit."

Richard Cook and Brian Morton, authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz, opine that Enlightenment and the 1974 live album Atlantis are "two huge, sprawling concert recordings which will drain most listeners: Tyner's piano outpourings seem unstoppable, and Lawrence comes on as an even fierier spirit than [Sonny] Fortune, even if both are in thrall to Coltrane. The Enlightenment set, cut at Montreux, is marginally superior, if only for the pile-driving 'Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit."

Few musicians are able to make their music feel as urgent or sound as epic as McCoy Tyner was able to in his prime, and nowhere does he do it more definitively than on this live set recorded at the Montreaux Jazz festival In 1973, which captures the impassioned, cerebral majesty of his studio work and transfers it to the stage with full potency, particularly during the twenty-five minute closer "Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit", which has since gone on to become Tyner's signature song. Absolutely mind-blowing in its intensity, I think it would be virtually impossible to find another live album that matches the sound and fury that these four musicians produced on this date.

By the time Enlightenment was released in 1973, McCoy Tyner had already been an integral part of the legendary John Coltrane Quartet, appeared on - as both a leader and sideman - a slew of classic Blue Note and Impulse! LPs and then in 1972 made the move to Milestone records where he remain for nearly a decade. With Milestone he would release a string of outstanding records, the earliest of which (including Enlightenment) would play an important part in cementing his status as one of the giants of jazz piano.

I've read that after leaving the Cotrane Quartet, Tyner supposedly struggled artistically for a few years, although I've never picked up on that from his Blue Note albums. Certainly he found a distinctive voice once he joined Milestone, with records like Sahara, Song For My Lady, Sama Layuca and Enlightenement standing out in the early '70s jazz landscape with their mix of modal, post bop and progressive jazz ideas blended together in fresh and exciting ways. Tyner and his bandmates are nearly fearless in their presentation during this period. The undeniable spiritual aspect to his recordings from this time only brings another level of complexity and emotion to the proceedings.

Steve Metaliz, writing for Down Beat, noted that:

    since the death of Coltrane, it's been the pianists who've been on the cutting edge of the music's development.... Enlightenment testifies to the brilliant sound of [Tyner's] endeavors. Tyner's inside the instrument, as Coltrane was with the sax, drawing from it colors, textures, and intensities unprecedented in jazz. No wonder the sidemen tend to get lost in the shuffle a bit. Tenor saxophonist Azar Lawrence in particular sometimes seems overwhelmed by the energy emanating from the keyboard; but on the whole he acquits himself well in a role in which it was understandably difficult to retain a distinctive voice. Drummer Al Mouzon deserves special note; his crisp drumming is a good foil for Tyner's shattering polyphony. Enlightenment is a celebration of the epoch of the pianists and also of a musician who has never ceased to grow.

Track listing:

1     Presenting The McCoy Tyner Quartet     1:19
2     Enlightenment Suite, Part 1: Genesis     10:02
3     Enlightenment Suite, Part 2: The Offering (Solo Piano)     4:00
4     Enlightenment Suite, Part 3: Inner Glimpse     10:04
5     Presence     10:35
6     Nebula     9:39
D     Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit     24:05

Personnel:

    Bass – Joony Booth*
    Drums – Alphonse Mouzon
    Piano, Percussion – McCoy Tyner
    Saxophone – Azar Lawrence

Gene Harris - 1999 "Alley Cats"

Alley Cats is vintage Harris. Recorded live at Jazz Alley in Seattle, the album features the leader’s quartet (guitarist Frank Potenza, bassist Luther Hughes and drummer Paul Kreibich) along with veteran saxophonists Red Holloway and Ernie Watts. Harris and the saxmen establish the energy level here, and they don't hold anything back.

Harris' goal for Alley Cats was to get funky, and his ensemble surely accomplishes that objective on tunes like the Crusaders' "Put It Where You Want It," Cannonball Adderley's "Jive Samba" and an extended version of the soulful Eddie Harris composition "Listen Here." But Alley Cats also demonstrates Gene Harris' considerable versatility on keys. On Ernie Watts' fast-paced original "Bird's Idea," the pianist delivers a furious bop solo. On "Magic Lady," he embellishes a rapid Latin-soul groove. He comps beautifully behind daughter Nikki's vocals on "You've Changed." Then he trades bluesy runs with organist Jack McDuff on "Walkin' With Zack" and "Listen Here."

Stylistically, Alley Cats covers a lot of ground: soul-jazz, mainstream, a hint of gospel, bluesy jazz, occasional Latin grooves, a bop tune and a ballad. Leader Harris' fiery piano work is as soul-drenched as ever. Normally a tenor player, Watts blows alto on four tracks here. Alley Cats is hot stuff.

Too many artists have gone their entire careers without providing any live albums, but that hasn't been a problem for Gene Harris whose live recordings from the 1980s and 1990s ranged from unaccompanied solo piano to big-band dates.

Arguably, the best live album he gave listeners in the 1990s was Alley Cats; recorded live at Jazz Alley in Seattle on December 11-12, 1998, this CD finds Harris' working quintet (Harris on piano, Frank Potenza on guitar, Luther Hughes on bass, and Paul Kreibich on drums) joined by such accomplished soloists as Red Holloway (tenor sax), Ernie Watts (alto and tenor sax), and Jack McDuff (organ). Many inspired moments occur, and a 65-year-old Harris really goes that extra mile on gems ranging from Nat Adderley's "Jive Samba" and Benny Golson's "Blues March" to Joe Sample's "Put It Where You Want It" (which, in the 1970s, was introduced by the Crusaders before being covered by the Average White Band).

A talented but underexposed singer (underexposed in the 1990s, anyway) who has recorded R&B albums but is quite capable of handling jazz, Harris' daughter Niki Harris is featured on earthy performances of "You've Changed," "Please Send Me Someone to Love," and "Guess Who." McDuff, meanwhile, brings his gritty, down-home Hammond B-3 to two songs: Eddie Harris' "Listen Here" and Gene Harris' "Walkin' With Zach." Soul-jazz enthusiasts will definitely want this excellent CD.

Pianist Gene Harris again lays down soulful, bluesy, funky grooves on his 21st album for Concord. Recorded live at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley in Seattle, the aggregation includes saxophonists Ernie Watts and Red Holloway, and organist Jack McDuff working new magic on familiar charts.

Standout tracks feature Harris’ dynamic gospel-funk form on “Put It Where You Want It,” Holloway and Watts in tenor tandem on Benny Golson’s “Blues Walk” and Brother Jack’s dazzling B-3 on Eddie Harris’ “Listen Here.” Other stellar moments: Watts’ searing alto on Nat Adderly’s “Jive Samba,” and the combination of Holloway’s tender tenor and audacious Niki Harris, the leader’s vocalist-daughter, on “Please Send Me Someone to Love.” The well-meshed rhythm section has Frank Potenza on guitar, Luther Hughes on bass and Paul Kreibich on drums. These cats have created a jazz-blues classic.

If you like your jazz tinted with gospel, blues and soul, you gotta love Gene Harris' two-fisted piano work.

Track listing:

1     Put It Where You Want It     5:34
2     Magic Lady     4:05
3     Blues March     10:56
4     Bird's Idea     4:44
5     Walkin' With Zach     6:50
6     Jive Samba     5:48
7     You've Changed     6:11
8     Guess Who     5:21
9     Listen Here     11:36
10     Please Send Me Someone To Love     4:51

Personnel:

    Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Ernie Watts
    Bass – Luther Hughes
    Drums – Paul Kreibich
    Guitar – Frank Potenza
    Organ – Jack McDuff*
    Piano – Gene Harris
    Tenor Saxophone – Red Holloway
    Vocals – Niki Harris*

Herbie Hancock - 1979 [1986] "The Best Of Herbie Hancock"

Herbie Hancock is One Of The Baddest Musicians Ever! His Sound&Groove Here is Tight.He Can Play So Many Different Musicial Styles it will Drive you Crazy.He Gets Funky Here,Jazz,Pop,Soulful So Many Elements From this Genius.Watermelon Man&Chameleon are Timeless Songs.Very Essential Collection.

In the second half of the Seventies, Herbie Hancock put most of his energy into advancing the state of jazz/funk in the world. Initially (i.e., Headhunters), Hancock’s exploration of funk led to one of the more exciting musical adventures in modern music. Over time, however, the experiment began to feel formulaic as Hancock moved his experiment from the laboratory to the dance floor.

This compilation provides a brief summary of a very fertile period that included several crossover hits, all of which are included here. You’ll find the insidiously funky “Chameleon” from Headhunters, the lovely jazz/funk hybrid of “I Thought It Was You” from Sunlight, the epic “Hang Up Your Hang Ups” from Man-Child and the indestructible “Doin’ It” from Secrets. Also included here are two tracks from Hancock’s most recent effort, Feets Don’t Fail Me Now: “Tell Everybody” (here presented in its disco mix version) and “Ready Or Not” (replaced by “You Bet Your Love” in the UK, where it was a Top 20 hit).

FDFMN found Hancock shifting toward disco music, which has not endeared it to music critics, although there’s little question that Hancock elevates the medium even if the sum result seemed like slumming to some. Although Hancock did release a few more disco albums into the new decade, their achievements are superseded by what’s here. When this compilation was released on CD in the 80s, digital technology was perceived as its own value-add, and so Columbia simply re-issued it with the same six tracks. The decision not to expand on this in the last 25 years speaks to a cooling interest in Hancock’s funk phase. The Best of Herbie Hancock remains a good, succinct entrypoint into one of Hancock’s most creative (if least understood) periods.

Track listing:

1. Doin’ It (Remix) (Melvin Ragin/Ray Parker Jr.) (6:43)
2. I Thought It Was You (Herbie Hancock/Jeffrey Cohen/Melvin Ragin) (8:55)
3. Chameleon (Paul Jackson/Harvey Mason/Bennie Maupin/Herbie Hancock) (7:38)
4. Hang Up Your Hang Ups (Herbie Hancock/Melvin Ragin/Paul Jackson) (7:27)
5. Ready Or Not (Ray Parker Jr./Jeffrey Cohen) (6:30)
6. Tell Everybody (Disco Version) (Hancock/David Rubinson/Jeffrey Cohen/Bruce Good) (7:48)

Personnel:

Herbie Hancock with Art Baldacci (background vocals), Leon “Ndugu” Chancler (drums on track 2), Michael Clark (drums on track 4), Fred Dobbs (background vocals), Coke Escovedo (timbales on track 5), Sheila Escovedo (percussion, timblaes, congas on tracks 5 & 6), James Gadson (drums, backround vocals on tracks 1 & 6), Paul Jackson (bass on tracks 3 & 4), Don Kerr (background vocals), Chris Mancini (background vocals), Harvey Mason (drums on track 3), Bennie Maupin (saxes, flute, bass clarinet on tracks 3 & 4), Byron Miller (bass on tracks 2), Kenneth Nash (percussion), Ray Obiedo (guitar on track 6), Ray Parker Jr., (guitar, drums, background vocals on tracks 1, 2 & 5), Raul Rekow (congas on track 2), Bill Summers (percussion on tracks 3 & 4), The Waters: Oren, Maxine, Julia and Luther (vocals, background vocals on tracks 5 & 6), Eddie Watkins (bass on track 6), Wah Wah Watson (guitar,  bass, voice bag vocals on tracks 1, 2 & 4). Produced by David Rubinson & Friends, Inc. and Herbie Hancock; associate producers: Wah Wah Watson (track 1), Jeffrey Cohen (tracks 5 & 6); engineered by Fred Catero, David Rubinson, Michael Fusaro (track 1), Don Miley (track 6), Tim Rivers (track 6), Jeremy Zatkin (track 3).

McCoy Tyner - 1974 [2001] "Sama Layuca"

Sama Layuca is a studio album by American jazz pianist McCoy Tyner, released in 1974 by Milestone Records. It was recorded on March 26, 27, and 28, 1974, with sidemen John Stubblefield, Gary Bartz, Azar Lawrence, Bobby Hutcherson, Buster Williams, Billy Hart, Guilherme Franco and Mtume.

Reviewing for The Village Voice in 1974, Robert Christgau said the album's best music "breathes with a lushness and lyricism that never cloys". He found the melodies, harmonies, and polyrhythms to be "sensuous without coming on about it" and felt that Tyner's minor flaws as a pianist, including "Tatumesque flourishes", are "less egregious in an ensemble setting like this one."

Pianist McCoy Tyner is heard at the height of his powers throughout this rewarding set. He contributed all five compositions and has a colorful and diverse group of major players at his disposal to interpret them: vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, altoist Gary Bartz, Azar Lawrence on tenor and soprano, John Stubblefield doubling on oboe and flute, bassist Buster Williams, drummer Billy Hart and both Mtume and Guillerme Franco on percussion. The results (which include a brief Tyner-Hutcherson duet on "Above the Rainbow") are quite rewarding and serve as a strong example of McCoy Tyner's music.

Sama Layuca dates from 1974, and sees Tyner in an octet format, teaming up with Lawrence, old duet partner vibist Bobby Hutcherson, Gary Bartz, John Stubblefield and a monster rhythm section of Buster Williams, Billy Hart and percussionists Mtume and Guilherme Franco.

The results are exhilarating; Tyner's compositions are unsurprisingly modal excursions, topped off with faintly exotic horn themes and driven by insistent,afro-latin rhythms. Lawrence (on tenor and soprano) and altoist Bartz are clearly at home; Lawrence'sfruity, robusttenor and airy soprano blends Coltrane's fiery yearning with a floating attack worthy of Wayne Shorter, while Bartz is typically wondrous, full of surprise and fire (check his questing solo on the closing "Paradox").Both players provide an abject lesson in getting the mostout of soloing over one or two chords.

Hutcherson was possibly the only vibist around who could survive in the heat generated by such a lineup. His crystalline voicings are showcased on the two lower key numbers; the impressionistic "Above the Rainbow" (a duet with the leader), and the stately "Desert Cry". Switching to marimba on the hyperspeed latin groove of "La Cubana", Hutcherson more than holds his own, firing off rhythmically twisty, harmonically probing lines before playing call and response with Franco's cowbells.

Tyner's playing walks his usual line between tough and tender, from the swelling, limpid arpeggios of "Above the Rainbow" to the percussive splash and dark intervals of his solo on "La Cubana". The expanded lineup holds the pianists's tendency to overcook his solos in check; despite the length of some of the pieces ("Paradox" clocks in at over 16 minutes) this isn't the testosterone fuelled sprawling solofest you might expect. Solos are kept short and sweet, and the frequent shifts in texture and instrumental combinations keep things interesting.

Most of all it's Tyner's rhythmic sense and his powerhouse left hand that provide the excitement when locking with the irresistible grooves that Williams, Hart, Mtume and Franco whip up. I bet there were a few sore fingers after this session, but the music here won't leave your ears sore. Recommended.

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Track listing

All songs composed by McCoy Tyner.

1.    "Sama Layuca" - 8:37
2.    "Above the Rainbow" - 3:02
3.    "La Cubaña" - 10:26
4.    "Desert Cry" - 4:57
5.    "Paradox" - 16:27

Personnel

    McCoy Tyner: piano
    John Stubblefield: oboe, flute
    Gary Bartz: alto saxophone
    Azar Lawrence: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
    Bobby Hutcherson: vibes, marimba
    Buster Williams: bass
    Billy Hart: drums
    Guilherme Franco: percussion
    James Mtume: percussion

Pat Metheny - 1992 "Secret Story"

Secret Story is an album by Pat Metheny released in 1992. that won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 1993. All of the music is composed by Metheny (shared credit on one track), and it is one of his most ambitious and successful studio ventures, integrating elements of jazz, rock, and world music. On the performing side, it includes collaborations with the Pinpeat Orchestra of the Royal ballet of Cambodia, the London Orchestra and its conductor Jeremy Lubbock, the Choir of the Cambodian Royal Palace, Toots Thielemans, and Lyle Mays.

The opening song, "Above the Treetops", is an adaptation of a Cambodian spiritual song; other pieces, such as "Antonia", take influence from Eastern Europe. Japanese pianist and singer Akiko Yano appears on "As a Flower Blossoms", earning the only co-writing credit on the album. Yano had previously collaborated with Metheny on "Good Girl", "Lots of Love", and "Love Life", from her 1991 album Love Life, and on two Metheny covers: "'It's for You'" on Welcome Back (1989) (which also featured Metheny performing on two additional songs) and "Praise" on Super Folk Song (1992). Orchestral arrangements for the album were conducted by Jeremy Lubbock.

“The New York Times called Pat Metheny’s 1992 Grammy Award-winning Secret Story the most sweepingly ambitious album that the jazz guitarist has yet recorded...a nearly 80-minute world-music suite with symphonic underpinnings. If the album functioned then, in the words of critic Stephen Holden, as part travelogue and part soundtrack for a nonexistent film, then this expanded and re-mastered edition can best be described as the director’s cut. Composer and guitarist Metheny revisited and restored five previously unreleased tracks in the studio over the last year, and he’s collected them on a bonus disc. More pastoral in tone than most of the original material on Secret Story and with a decidedly cinematic, orchestral feel these tracks are like the deleted scenes from a deeply evocative yet wordless narrative feature. Back in ’92, Metheny declared that Secret Story was unlike anything I’ve ever done. It’s the largest in scope – 80 people were involved in the record – but it’s also the most intimate record I’ve done.”

Metheny took Secret Story on a concert tour, and a video recording of a live performance at New Brunswick, New Jersey, was issued. This film, also called Secret Story, was re-released on DVD in 2001.

The album was certified gold by the RIAA on December 1, 1995

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Track listing

All tracks are written by Pat Metheny except where noted.

01.    "Above the Treetops"    2:43
02.    "Facing West"    6:05
03.    "Cathedral in a Suitcase"    4:52
04.    "Finding and Believing"    10:00
05.    "The Longest Summer"    6:34
06.    "Sunlight"    3:53
07.    "Rain River"    7:09
08.    "Always and Forever"    5:26
09.    "See the World"    4:48
10.    "As a Flower Blossoms (I Am Running to You)" (Pat Metheny/Akiko Yano)    1:53
11.    "Antonia"    6:11
12.    "The Truth Will Always Be"    9:15
13.    "Tell Her You Saw Me"    5:11
14.    "Not to Be Forgotten (Our Final Hour)"    2:22

Personnel

    Pat Metheny – guitar, bass guitar, keyboards
    Ryan Kisor – trumpet, flugelhorn (track 9)
    Mike Metheny – trumpet, flugelhorn (track 9)
    Michael Mossman – trumpet, flugelhorn (track 9)
    Dave Bargeron – trombone, tuba (track 9)
    Tom Malone – trombone (track 9)
    Dave Taylor – bass trombone (track 9)
    John Clark – French horn (track 9)
    Andy Findon – flute (track 7)
    Toots Thielemans – harmonica (tracks 8 and 11)
    Lyle Mays – piano, keyboard (tracks 2 and 6)
    Gil Goldstein – accordion (tracks 4, 7, and 9)
    Skaila Kanga – harp (track 13)
    Charlie Haden – double bass (tracks 1 and 8)
    Steve Rodby – double bass, bass guitar (tracks 4-7, 9, and 11)
    Will Lee – bass guitar (tracks 4, 6, and 12)
    Anthony Jackson – contrabass guitar (track 9)
    Steve Ferrone – drums (tracks 3–5 and 12)
    Sammy Merendino – drums (track 6)
    Paul Wertico – drums (tracks 4–5, 7–9, and 11)
    Danny Gottlieb – cymbal roll, percussion (tracks 3 and 11)
    Armando Marçal – percussion (tracks 1–7, 9, and 12)
    Naná Vasconcelos – percussion (tracks 1, 4–5, and 10–12)
    Mark Ledford – vocals (tracks 3 and 4)
    Akiko Yano – vocals (track 10)

Dave Holland - 1999 "Prime Directive"

Prime Directive is an album by jazz bassist Dave Holland's Quintet released on the ECM label in 1999. A player's 'prime directive', Dave Holland has decided, should be to spread joy while making creative music. His role model in this regard remains Duke Ellington, whose melodies were the lure to draw listeners deeper into the world of jazz interaction; so it is with the Holland Quintet. Prime Directive, the album, picks where the Grammy-nominated Points of View left off, and is the stronger for the addition of Chris Potter, widely regarded as one of the most exciting young saxophonists in North America.

You may have to wait a while between Dave Holland-led releases, but it's always worth it. Tremendous taste prevents Holland from making unsatisfying music. He is a great leader in the truest senses of the word -- he gives his team space, trusts their abilities and judgment, yet all the while remains firmly in command and infuses the results with his own style and personality. Prime Directive is a wonderful jazz album. These 77 minutes and nine tracks do not cheat or disappoint.

The straight-ahead tunes -- composed by double-bassist Holland and his talented band mates (one each) -- all bear Holland's distinctive rhythmic patterns and harmonics. A fine example is the title track, on which Robin Eubanks on trombone and Chris Potter on saxophones hold a stimulating musical conversation over the rhythm section's driving groove. For listeners who prefer a more deliberate pace, there's the searching, contemplative "Make Believe," with Steve Nelson's lovely vibraphone work appointing the mood. On the hopeful, "A Seeking Spirit," fans will be tapping along to the rhythmic feast offered up by the leader and his pace-setting partner Billy Kilson on drums. The melancholy "Candlelight Vigil" presents Holland at his bowed best. Finally, "Wonders Never Cease" finds the entire band at the height of their collective, improvisational prowess. Prime Directive is recommended; a great leader is, indeed, hard to find.

This band is hands down in my top 5. When i was in my early 20's i began my study of jazz. I was managing a strip bar and a guest would bring me in jazz cd's. They were selections that demanded a study. For example i received 1. Charles Loyd-Live Monterrey 1967 2. 3 different Coltrane albums spanning his major changes. 3. Dave Holland - Big Band-- The What Goes Around album--
Some of the selections i sat on for awhile. Unfortunately i did not give the Holland recording a chance for like a year.
After putting it in i immediately regretted the time it took for me to realize this band was something special.
This is his regular Quintet- not the big band - but same dynamic is there- the same type of compositions- with a strong emphasis on energy. This band seems like they are playing at top caliber as in it does not get any better than this for the type of jazz they are playing.
I love Hollands as a composer . I love the way he structures his compositions-they are usually very complex and require a mental workout with the end result being a feeling of experiencing something great.
This is a top caliber recording from some of the best musicians out there with great direction by Holland.

Holland's group is BY FAR the most refined, sophisticated, soulful, progressive jazz unit working today. "Prime Directive" is even better than the previous record, "Points of View," which was FANTASTIC.
The overall sound on "Prime Directive" is a combination of upbeat energy and Miles Davis style "cool" jazz. What makes the tunes special and COMPLETELY ALTERS their character is the fact that they're mostly in odd-meters. Yet the way these guys groove through those odd-meters almost reminds me of Brubeck's classic quartet. With the addition of supremely inventive saxophonist Chris Potter soloing in polyrhytmic unison with trombonist Robin Eubanks against the translucent vibes of the AMAZING Steve Nelson, Holland's band just takes off into a HIGHER PLANE that leaves everyone else behind. Only a great drummer can hold all this together without sounding trite or merely technical, and Holland, who had the legendary Marvin "Smitty" Smith in his band on the classic "Extensions" record, has found himself another one in Billy Kilson. Kilson navigates those odd-meters like he was born playing them, and his refreshingly "UN-LOOSE" style is what provides the polyrhythms growing on top the perfect point of reference and keeps them interesting.
Overall, "Prime Directive" features over 60 minutes of the best jazz I've ever heard in my life, and, needless to say, it hasn't left my CD player since the day I bought it some 4 months ago.

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Track listing

    All compositions by Dave Holland except as indicated

    "Prime Directive" - 7:46
    "Looking Up" - 13:32
    "Make Believe" - 6:25
    "A Seeking Spirit" (Robin Eubanks) - 11:21
    "High Wire" (Chris Potter) - 6:49
    "Jugglers Parade" - 8:14
    "Candelight Vigil" (Steve Nelson) - 4:51
    "Wonders Never Cease" (Billy Kilson) - 13:55
    "Down Time" - 3:48

        Recorded at Avatar Studios in New York City on December 10–12, 1998

Personnel

    Dave Holland - double bass
    Chris Potter - soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
    Robin Eubanks - trombone
    Steve Nelson - vibraphone, marimba
    Billy Kilson - drums

Charles Mingus - 1959 [1998] "Mingus Ah Um"

Mingus Ah Um is a studio album by American jazz musician Charles Mingus, released in October 1959 by Columbia Records. It was his first album recorded for Columbia. The cover features a painting by S. Neil Fujita. The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013.

The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD calls this album "an extended tribute to ancestors" (and awards it one of their rare crowns), and Mingus's musical forebears figure largely throughout. "Better Git It In Your Soul" is inspired by gospel singing and preaching of the sort that Mingus would have heard as a child growing up in Watts, Los Angeles, California, while "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" is a reference (by way of his favored headgear) to saxophonist Lester Young (who had died shortly before the album was recorded). The origin and nature of "Boogie Stop Shuffle" is self-explanatory: a twelve-bar blues with four themes and a boogie bass backing that passes from stop time to shuffle and back.

"Self-Portrait in Three Colors" was originally written for John Cassavetes' first film as director, Shadows, but was never used (for budgetary reasons). "Open Letter to Duke" is a tribute to Duke Ellington, and draws on three of Mingus's earlier pieces ("Nouroog", "Duke's Choice", and "Slippers"). "Jelly Roll" is a reference to jazz pioneer and pianist Jelly Roll Morton and features a quote of Sonny Rollins' "Sonnymoon for Two" during Horace Parlan's piano solo. "Bird Calls", in Mingus's own words, was not a reference to bebop saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker: "It wasn't supposed to sound like Charlie Parker. It was supposed to sound like birds – the first part."

"Fables of Faubus" is named after Orval E. Faubus (1910–1994), the Governor of Arkansas infamous for his 1957 stand against integration of Little Rock, Arkansas schools in defiance of U.S. Supreme Court rulings (forcing President Eisenhower to send in the National Guard). It is sometimes claimed that Columbia refused to allow the lyrics to be included on this album, though the liner notes to the 1998 reissue of the album state that the piece started life as an instrumental, and only gained the lyrics later (as can be heard on the 1960 release Presents Charles Mingus).

Charles Mingus' debut for Columbia, Mingus Ah Um is a stunning summation of the bassist's talents and probably the best reference point for beginners. While there's also a strong case for The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady as his best work overall, it lacks Ah Um's immediate accessibility and brilliantly sculpted individual tunes. Mingus' compositions and arrangements were always extremely focused, assimilating individual spontaneity into a firm consistency of mood, and that approach reaches an ultra-tight zenith on Mingus Ah Um.

The band includes longtime Mingus stalwarts already well versed in his music, like saxophonists John Handy, Shafi Hadi, and Booker Ervin; trombonists Jimmy Knepper and Willie Dennis; pianist Horace Parlan; and drummer Dannie Richmond. Their razor-sharp performances tie together what may well be Mingus' greatest, most emotionally varied set of compositions. At least three became instant classics, starting with the irrepressible spiritual exuberance of signature tune "Better Get It in Your Soul," taken in a hard-charging 6/8 and punctuated by joyous gospel shouts. "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" is a slow, graceful elegy for Lester Young, who died not long before the sessions.

The sharply contrasting "Fables of Faubus" is a savage mockery of segregationist Arkansas governor Orval Faubus, portrayed musically as a bumbling vaudeville clown (the scathing lyrics, censored by skittish executives, can be heard on Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus). The underrated "Boogie Stop Shuffle" is bursting with aggressive swing, and elsewhere there are tributes to Mingus' most revered influences: "Open Letter to Duke" is inspired by Duke Ellington and "Jelly Roll" is an idiosyncratic yet affectionate nod to jazz's first great composer, Jelly Roll Morton. It simply isn't possible to single out one Mingus album as definitive, but Mingus Ah Um comes the closest.

Poor big-bellied, cigar-loving, temperamental, insecure, misogynistic Charles Mingus. While routinely placed on best-of-genre lists and talked about as one of the preeminent bassists and bandleaders in jazz, his best albums never clump comfortably with anyone else's, or with any particular subset of casual jazz listeners. They're too spirited for cocktail hour, too rough and moody for listeners who revel in crafstmanship, and not radical enough for daredevils.

Then again, Mingus' music never seemed comfortable outside its own world, either. At the dawn of both modal and free jazz, he kept solos short and music composed (even if, as with 1959's Atlantic recording Blues and Roots, the players didn't see the charts before the studio date). In an era where big bands were left behind for small combos or reimagined entirely (as with, say, John Coltrane's late albums), Mingus was a Duke Ellington acolyte who approached his pieces with the formality of an orchestral composer.

Mingus Ah Um was one of fifty recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry in 2003.

Track listing:

All songs composed by Charles Mingus, except 12, composed by Sunny Clapp. Original LP song lengths are given within parentheses.

    "Better Git It in Your Soul" – 7:23
    "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" – 5:44 (4:46)
    "Boogie Stop Shuffle" – 5:02 (3:41)
    "Self-Portrait in Three Colors" – 3:10
    "Open Letter to Duke" – 5:51 (4:56)
    "Bird Calls" – 6:17 (3:12)
    "Fables of Faubus" – 8:13
    "Pussy Cat Dues" – 9:14 (6:27)
    "Jelly Roll" – 6:17 (4:01)

Bonus tracks on later reissues

    "Pedal Point Blues" – 6:30
    "GG Train" – 4:39
    "Girl of My Dreams" – 4:08

Personnel:

    John Handy – alto sax (1, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12), clarinet (8), tenor sax (2)[13]
    Booker Ervin – tenor sax
    Shafi Hadi – tenor sax (2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10), alto sax (1, 5, 6, 9, 12)
    Willie Dennis – trombone (3, 4, 5, 12)
    Jimmy Knepper – trombone (1, 7, 8, 9, 10)
    Horace Parlan – piano
    Charles Mingus – bass, piano (with Parlan on track 10)
    Dannie Richmond – drums