Old & In the Way
Artist: Old & In the Way
Community Score: 10.00

The first release from Jerry Garcia's short-lived backcountry bluegrass act was this 1973 recording that also highlighted the amazing skills of mandolin player David Grisman. The quintet actually released only this record, recorded at a series of performances in 1973, but the sound caught on with Grateful Dead fans and the record actually built... Read More

Django and His American Friends, Vol. 1 & 2
Artist: Django Reinhardt
Take Your Pick
Artist: Howard Alden

Although best-known for his work in mainstream swing settings, guitarist Howard Alden has long been interested in later periods of jazz. On this superior outing, he doubles on seven-string acoustic and electric guitars (which allow him to add basslines). Lew Tabackin is on four of the ten numbers (three on tenor, one on flute) and pianist Renee... Read More

Flamingo
Artist: Stéphane Grappelli

This CD features a logical combination of two talented Frenchmen, violinist Stéphane Grappelli and pianist Michel Petrucciani, who had never recorded together before. With the assistance of bassist George Mraz and drummer Roy Haynes, the co-leaders romp on a variety of standards. Petrucciani was 32 at the time of this June 1995 set, a mere child... Read More

Cookin'
Artist: Butch Miles

Drummer Butch Miles leads a first-class mainstream jazz group on this live set put out by the German Nagel-Heyer label. With trumpeter Randy Sandke, tenor-saxophonist Harry Allen, guitarist Howard Alden and bassist Frank Tate completing the pianoless quartet, the high-quality swing that results is not unexpected. Terrie Richards helps out with a... Read More

The Best of Early Ellington
Artist: Duke Ellington

Drawn from Duke Ellington's earliest recordings for Brunswick and Vocalion labels, The Best of Early Ellington is an excellent single-disc sampler that offers some of his most famous songs -- including "Mood Indigo" and "East St. Louis Toodle-oo," as well as "Creole Rhapsody," his first extended composition -- in their first recorded versions.... Read More

Talk to Me Baby
Artist: Warren Vaché

This Warren Vache CD is a bit unusual, for it features the trumpeter, best known for his work in the mainstream and small-group swing field, playing quite a few selections that fall stylistically into bop and hard bop. Joined by tenor saxophonist Bill Easley, trombonist Joel Helleny, guitarist Howard Alden, pianist Richard Wyands, bassist... Read More

That High Lonesome Sound
Artist: Old & In the Way

Twenty-one years after the first album Old & In the Way came the second, an amazing development for a group that existed for only nine months and about 30 gigs in 1973. That High Lonesome Sound, like its predecessor, Old & In the Way, was drawn from the group's stand at the Boarding House in San Francisco in October 1973. And like that release,... Read More

After Hours
Artist: John Pizzarelli
70th Birthday Concert
Artist: Duke Ellington

This double CD reissues a Solid State double-LP that ranks as one of Duke Ellington's finest recordings of his final decade. The live performance gives listeners a good idea as to how just how Duke's ensemble sounded in concert, and it serves as both a retrospective and a display of the strengths of Ellington's mighty band. Among the many... Read More

Verve Jazz Masters 43
Artist: Ben Webster
Continental Style
Artist: Django Reinhardt