This album, Dizzy Gillespie’s first and best for Norman Granz’s Pablo imprint, reaffirms a relationship with bassist Ray Brown that goes back to the mid-1940s. It’s Joe Pass who makes the bigger impression here. You May Also Like: Dizzy Gillespie and Friends – Concert of the Century: A Tribute toRead More

Featuring some of Sarah Vaughan’s last truly transcendent moments, this pair of 1980 Pablo releases devoted to the work of Duke Ellington reminds us in reissue form what wonders her voice and this material still hold. You May Also Like: Sacred and Great Gigs in the Sky: The Vocalise TraditionRead More

I’d argue that these 1963 concerts with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and and Elvin Jones are the first thing every emerging John Coltrane fan should experience, after buying all of the tried-and-true essentials. You May Also Like: John Coltrane – Both Directions at Once, The Lost Album (2018) John ColtraneRead More

Those looking to get a groove going inside Count Basie’s sprawling, soul-deep catalogue should start with his 1970s stuff — where, more often than not, you find Basie in accessible, small-group settings. Here’s my favorite, a trio recording originally issued by Pablo that was reissued in 2006. I immediately connectedRead More

by Nick DeRiso Though not the hoped-for third-act triumph, Ella and Oscar still has its enduring charms. See, Oscar Peterson, a hard-banging piano genius as bluesy as he was inventive, should have made the perfect foil for Ella Fitzgerald on this stripped-down date, set for reissue on March 15 byRead More