1) Little Walter, “His Best”First gaining fame as a member of Muddy Waters band, Marksville, La.-native Little Walter pioneered the amplified harp sound that is often imitated but has not since been duplicated. Chess Records (now part of MCA) released a “Best” series that rank as one of the bestRead More

This time we look at albums with grooves in the pocket even if they weren’t much in the press: 1) Herbie Hancock, Mr. Hands (1980)The seventies began very creatively for HH, first with the space funk Mwandishi albums followed by the better-known Head Hunters period that firmly eastablished Herbie’s pre-eminanceRead More

by S. Victor Aaron On the Columbia re-release of Miles Davis’ “The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions” … This 3 cd set covers Miles Davis’ recoding sessions from September, 1968 to February, 1969, chronicalling the line of demarcation between “acoustic Miles” and “electric Miles”. It is an important pieceRead More

by Nick DeRiso While it doesn’t have the cohesiveness of 1992’s “Portraits of Ellington,” this makes its own kind of statement. The playlist is an evocative pairing of older, traditional big-band selections by composers like Billy Strayhorn, with more modern tunes from Miles, Monk and Coltrane. In that way, theRead More

Fans of his so-called comeback projects shouldn’t skip over ‘Connected’ as they make a bee line for Allen Toussaint’s classic-era albums.

The Beatles’ ‘Revolver’ became their best album as the group made its first genuine foray outside of already-comfortable pop-song structures.

by Nick DeRiso A line-up from jazzer nirvana is one thing. Wringing such ringing performances out of the guys is quite another. Call this cool vibes from vibrophonist Hampton, who certainly knows where to mail the invitations — a veritable who’s-who of jazz for the newbie: Pianist Hank Jones, trumpeterRead More

Another in a series of overlooked jazz classics. This time we look at diamonds in the rough by perhaps the single most influential figure in jazz since World War II: Miles Davis. A high profile artist whose work has been picked apart as much as Davis’ won’t have a lotRead More

This stark-red Paul McCartney release, issued as the Fireman, turned out to be one of the wackiest Beatles solo releases ever.

by S. Victor Aaron If someone were to ask me who was the best alto sax player ever, I couldn’t at least not heavily consider Cannonball Adderley, the Miles Davis sideman. He had both technique and soul by the sackful. Adderley churned out some fine ones even without the PrinceRead More