The Blues and the Abstract Truth
Artist: Oliver Nelson
Community Score: 10.00

This was Oliver Nelson's finest recording and one of the top jazz albums of 1961, a true classic. The lineup is an inspired one: Nelson on tenor and alto, Eric Dolphy doubling on alto and flute, a young trumpeter named Freddie Hubbard, baritonist George Barrow for section parts, pianist Bill Evans, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Roy Haynes.... Read More

How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying/Gloomy Sunday and Other Bright Moments
Artist: Gary McFarland

Two unrelated big-band albums (which have overlapping personnel) from the same time period are combined on this single-CD: Gary McFarland's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Bob Brookmeyer's Gloomy Sunday and Other Bright Moments. McFarland's eight arrangements of tunes from the show of the same name is better than expected.... Read More

Monterey Jazz Festival '63
Artist: Thelonious Monk

This double-CD contains pianist/composer Thelonious Monk's two sets at the 1963 Monterey Jazz Festival, music that was unreleased until 1994. Monk, tenor-saxophonist Charlie Rouse, bassist John Ore, and drummer Frank Dunlop perform lengthy versions of two standards: "I'm Getting Sentimental over You" and a nearly 19-minute "Sweet and Lovely,"... Read More

Takin' Care of Business
Artist: Oliver Nelson

Oliver Nelson would gain his greatest fame later in his short life as an arranger/composer but this superior session puts the emphasis on his distinctive tenor and alto playing. In a slightly unusual group (with vibraphonist Lem Winchester, organist Johnny "Hammond" Smith, bassist George Tucker and drummer Roy Haynes), Nelson improvises a... Read More

At the Blackhawk
Artist: Thelonious Monk Quartet

Thelonious Monk's 1960 quartet (which also includes tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse, bassist John Ore and (for a brief period) drummer Billy Higgins is augmented on this live session by two guests: trumpeter Joe Gordon and the tenor of Harold Land. The extra horns uplift the date and add some surprising moments to what otherwise might have been... Read More

Always Know
Artist: Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Monk fans in particular are advised to search for this valuable two-LP set for it contains a variety of unissued material from the pianist/composer's six-year period with Columbia. Monk is heard on three piano solos, with his regular working quartet, heading a trio on "Easy Street" and at his renowned Lincoln Center concert with a... Read More

Illumination!
Artist: Elvin Jones

Until it was reissued in 1998, this was one of the more elusive Impulse sets of the 1960s. Recorded in 1963 and co-led by John Coltrane's drummer and bassist (Elvin Jones and Jimmy Garrison), the music is most significant for introducing Sonny Simmons (alto and English horn) and Prince Lasha (flute and clarinet), who are joined in the sextet by... Read More

Groovin' High
Artist: Booker Ervin

This CD reissue has four selections from the same sessions (but not released on the original sets) that resulted in The Freedom Book, The Blues Book and The Space Book. "Groovin' High" features the intense tenor of Booker Ervin playing comparatively lighthearted bebop in a quintet with trumpeter Carmell Jones, pianist Gildo Mahones, bassist... Read More

Back from the Gig
Artist: Booker Ervin

This two-LP set consists of a pair of classic Blue Note sets that were not originally released until 1976. The great tenor Booker Ervin (whose hard passionate sound was always immediately recognizable) is well-showcased with the Horace Parlan Sextet in 1963 (a group also featuring pianist Parlan, trumpeter Johnny Coles and guitarist Grant Green)... Read More

The Complete Blue Note Sixties Sessions
Artist: Herbie Hancock