Music » Indie Jazz Music

When alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley culled together this quartet, he grabbed three champions from seemingly disparate schools to complement his flinty solos: Miles Davis, the king of cool; Art Blakey, the thundering force of hard bop; Hank Jones, a veteran of swing; and Sam Jones, a versatile bassist adaptable to nearly any setting. The results are one of Blue Note's most beloved albums. The open-ended beauty of "Autumn Leaves," which features Davis beautifully stating the melody on muted trumpet, sounds like it could easily be an outtake from Kind of Blue (which it isn't). The midtempo title track provides the centerpiece of this classic as Adderley echoes Miles's swaggering melody before both unravel wonderful solos. A must-have Blue Note album. --John Murph

An aptly named album if ever there was one, Not for Kids Only combines the talents of two legendary performers, the late Jerry Garcia, singer-guitarist of the Grateful Dead, and David Grisman, mandolinist and father of "dawg music," a melding of bluegrass, jazz, swing, Latin, and Jewish klezmer sounds. On this 1993 recording, the two devoted friends make seemingly effortless music, adapting traditional and old-time folk into a personalized sound so "homemade" (with jew's-harp and tambourine) as to inspire any child, young or old, to pick up whatever's at hand to play along. From the jaunty rhythms of "Jenny Jenkins" to the cornball humor of "Arkansas Traveler" and the laugh-out-loud lyrics of "A Horse Named Bill" ("I had a girl and her name was Daisy / And when she sang the cat went crazy"), this album, with Garcia's delightful hand-drawn cover art, tickles from top to bottom. --Alanna Nash

John Coltrane's most important and best selling album after "A Love Supreme", Blue Train gets with Rudy Van Gelder for a 24-bit mastering treatment. This edition features the complete session with alternate takes included. JOHN COLTRANE: Tenor Saxophone LEE MORGAN: Trumpet CURTIS FULLER: Trombone KENNY DREW: Piano PAUL CHAMBERS: Bass PHILLY JOE JONES: Drums

24 bit digitally remastered Japanese reissue of classic Blue Note album in a miniaturized LP sleeve limited to the initial pressing only, and with the original artwork intact. Contains all six tracks from the original 1964 issue. 1999 release.

Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington the most important artists in the history of jazz and the two most influential American musicians of the 20th Century. Because of their centennials (1999 for Duke and 2000 for Louis), their great legacy is celebrating a worldwide rennaissnce. And this month, they are the focus and the continum in Ken Burns' JAZZ, a 20-hour documentary to be broadcast on PBS. In April, 1961, these two giants got togethr in a New York studio for their only encounter. Louis brought his trumpet, voice and the all-stars with Trummy Young and Barney Bigard. Duke brought his pianistic talents and a considerable canon of great compositions. The magic that transpired over one night and the following afternoon was an historic simgularity. This disc contains all 17 master takes that made during those magical sessions, newly remixed from the original tapes with 24-bit/96kHz mastering for maximum fidelity, far superior to the previous mid-price CD issue. PERSONNEL: Louis Armstrong (trumpet,vocals), Trummy Young (trombone), Barney Bigard (clarinet), Duke Ellington (piano), Mort Herbert (bass), Danny Barcelona (drums).

Between 1925 and 1929, Louis Armstrong created one of the first great bodies of work in jazz. While he worked regularly as a soloist with big bands, he began his career as a leader with the first all-star studio group in jazz, the Hot Five. The other four musicians were Armstrong's wife, Lil Hardin Armstrong, on piano; Johnny Dodds on clarinet; Kid Ory on trombone; and Johnny St. Cyr on banjo. The music's first great soloist, Armstrong was reshaping jazz by sheer improvisational magic, gradually diminishing the role of the traditional New Orleans ensemble with the clarion brilliance of his trumpet. Possessing an uncanny blend of exuberance and creativity, he combined virtuosic declarations with a talent for the subtlest shifts in phrasing and melodic variation, creating rich emotional statements that could hint at loss in the midst of joy or the promise of better things in the most sorrowful blues. The band expands here, to the Hot Seven and larger ensembles, and it gains soloists who applied Armstrong's lessons to their own instruments--musicians such as pianist Earl Hines and trombonist Jack Teagarden--but all come under the imprint of Armstrong's flowering genius, as both trumpeter and singer. It's almost impossible to overrate this material. It may be the most influential music in jazz history, establishing standards for originality and sustained invention that have rarely been matched. The JSP set is a superb reissue of Armstrong's essential work. The remastering is by John R.T. Davies, widely acknowledged as the dean of engineers in the field of early jazz, and the resultant sound is simply the best this work has ever enjoyed. There are alternate takes of the later material on Columbia Legacy (including Louis in New York and St. Louis Blues), so collectors will want both. But this recording is superior listening, at a price that also makes it an ideal introduction to one of the few titans of jazz. --Stuart Broomer

Soul Station is Hank Mobley's acknowledged masterpiece. Mobley's hot, brilliantly constructed solos have a smooth sound and an easy feel. With Miles Davis at the time, Mobley is joined by bandmates Wynton Kelly and Paul Chambers along with a magnificent Art Blakey. A true classic.

Once Chet Baker arrived in California from his native Oklahoma, his career exploded. After landing gigs with Charlie Parker and Gerry Mulligan, Baker soon found himself a solo star and bandleader. Not long after that, he also found himself whispering love songs into a microphone. Baker was not gifted with the most robust voice of the day. Indeed, listening to pure singers like Nat "King" Cole or Johnny Hartman can expose Baker's weaknesses, but what Baker did, he did well. By choosing wistful, so-young, so-in-love tunes, Baker was able to pour his heart into the material, sketching soft, romantic moods and painting himself as the broken-hearted innocent. The effect can be devastating, as Baker's voice clings to the melody, threatening to disintegrate at any moment. Many of his best tunes--"I Fall in Love Too Easily," "But Not for Me," "Let's Get Lost"--are collected here, and as such, there is no better place to begin an appreciation of Baker's unique singing. --S. Duda

Short-lived and with only a limited output, this five-piece bluegrass band nevertheless helped spread the gospel of this extraordinary genre via the famous coattails of its most notorious member: Jerry Garcia. However, they were no novelty act. Breakdown is the second posthumous release culled from a series of 1973 concerts in San Francisco. At a robust 70 minutes, the album flows like a complete live set, featuring scrumptious musicianship and harmonious camaraderie. Much better than the eponymous debut from 1975--and a perfect second volume companion to 1996's equally worthy That High Lonesome Sound--Breakdown features covers of greats Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs, originals by the band's guitarist Peter Rowan, fiddler Vassar Clements and banjoist Garcia. A must own for any fan of acoustic music and a great primer for bluegrass neophytes. --Greg Emmanuel

Alfred Lion considered this his favorite production and well he should have. Without piano, Burrell, Stanley Turrentine and company get a clean open sound and a deep groove on such now classic compositions as the title tune and "Chitlins Con Carne", which has become a blues band staple. This RVG Series compact disc also includes extra photographs and 2 bonus tracks.