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Vinyl

Miroslav Vitous – Remembering Weather Report (2009)

by S. Victor Aaron As one of the seminal jazz-rock bands of the seventies, Weather Report has been plenty celebrated and covered. And yet, most of the recognition covers the 1976-1982 period in which the groundbreaking bassist Jaco Pastorious was in the band. Truth is, WR was a great bandRead More

Vinyl

Mia Vermillion – Alone Together With The Blues (2009)

by Pico This site had its beginnings, believe or not, as a blues-oriented site. These days we’re ten times more likely to cover jazz than we are the Blues, but there’s nonetheless twenty-three entries in the Blues category so far this year. We’ve covered everything from soul-blues and blues-rock newRead More

Vinyl

John Patitucci Trio – Remembrance (2009)

by Pico Greatness begets greatness. That is almost universally true in jazz, where so many of the best players of a generation got their start playing for the best players of a prior generation. Miles Davis is one the best examples of a major figure to whom many other majorRead More

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One Track Mind: Al Green, "Tired of Being Alone" (1971)

You made out to Al Green. It’s what worked. Only later, did you realize all that had gone on in those records, starting with this — Green’s first charting hit, “Tired of Being Alone.” His is a voice that whips around, like a sparrow, from flat-footed baritone — all silky-smoothRead More

Vinyl

David Berkman Quartet – Live At Smoke (2009)

by Pico Jazz is special kind of art because it’s not an art that’s put on display in a museum; rather, it’s an art that comes alive and evolves in the small clubs in cities around the world. That’s especially true, of course, in New York City, and like countlessRead More

Vinyl

John Surman – Brewster's Rooster (2009)

photo: Haakon Harriss by Pico John Surman may not be a household name on these American shores, but it’s hard to think of a sax guy out of Britain who has been more prolific over the last 40 years than this one. His own discography is a wide sweep overRead More

Vinyl

Jimmy Smith – Back at the Chicken Shack (1960); The Dynamic Duo (with Wes Montgomery, 1966)

by Nick DeRisoThough Jimmy Smith is the principal voice of the Hammond B-3 in jazz, finding an entry point in his long discography can be difficult. Some might argue for 1956’s “At the Organ,” featuring Cedar Walton, Pepper Adams and Chick Corea. For me, though, that one doesn’t pop withRead More

Vinyl

Quickies: Three Whack Jazz Nuggets from Engine Studios Records

by S. Victor Aaron Oftentimes the battle for getting the recorded music of experimental and forward-thinking musicians out to the public is largely undertaken by hundred if not thousands of tiny record labels. These labels are not founded by those with the idea of making a lot of money, butRead More

Vinyl

Michael Olatuja – Speak (2009)

Today is the day Nigerian-British bass player Michael Olatuja unfurls his very first album Speak onto the world, but this isn’t the kind of record you’d might expect from a master bassist his first time out. But Olatuja is not an orthodox musician. If he was, I’d most likely wouldRead More

Vinyl

Quickies: Three New Delights From Delmark Records

There are some lines of business where the odds are stacked heavily against you if you decide to go into it. The restaurant biz is notorious for a high failure rate, for instance. The same could be saying about starting an independent record label; they come and go in massiveRead More