Ray Brown is one of those underrated guys who kept on producing important work well past his so-called prime, because he remained such an in-the-pocket guy. You can’t go wrong with the old Jazz at the Philharmonic stuff, of course. But I also typically recommend his late-period work on Telarc,Read More

by S. Victor Aaron Some favorite jazz albums of mine that don’t come up at the top of anyone else’s top records list, but I thought were outstanding despite the lack of publicity about them. … You May Also Like: Jazz’s Best Last Records by John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy +Read More

They haven’t taken more than a week off since Nixon’s first term. They’ve withstood disco, fathering a rafter-shaking, swing-blues style that saw its own too-fey-by-half revival. (Did you ever notice that all those bands a few years back had names with the word Daddy in them?) So it is thatRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Here, we take a look at the mighty Hammond B-3. To make it a bit challenging, no records by the organ jazz godfather Jimmy Smith will be on the list. You May Also Like: Scary Goldings, feat. John Scofield – ‘IV’ (2021) Brian Charette – OnceRead More

Branford Marsalis’ sibling producer Delfeayo said ‘Bloomington’ was the “most important concert recorded in our generation.” Thing is, he could be right.

by Nick DeRiso Almost certainly written by Paul McCartney in an attempt to mirror some of the heavier, more intellectually raw pieces that John Lennon had begun to craft. Lennon was not outwardly impressed — famously sniffing that it was “the best song Paul ever wrote” — but there areRead More

The late Louisiana blues legend Gatemouth Brown could be a grouchy man. How grouchy? Let’s find out.

by Nick DeRiso They were the Chanteuse, the Wild Hair (in more ways than one) and the Songstress. And now Fleetwood Mac has had a hit album in every decade since the 1970s. You May Also Like: No related posts.

by S. Victor Aaron Soul-jazz was never a major genre, even in its seventies heyday, but the boys from Houston who called themselves The Crusaders were doing it better than just about anyone else then…and now. You May Also Like: Groove Legacy – Groove Legacy (2016)

by Nick DeRiso Spring time. That means sudden storms, stingingly bright flowers — and birds. Or, for me, Bird. Here are a few recommended Charlie Parker sides to while away the sunshine and showers … “The Legendary Dial Masters, Vols. 1 & 2,” from 1996 on Jazz Classics For beginningRead More