Pure Getz
Artist: Stan Getz Quartet
Community Score: 7.00

Stan Getz's 1982 band featured the harmonically advanced pianist Jim McNeely, bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Victor Lewis; Billy Hart fills in for Lewis on three numbers. This date sticks (with one exception) to high-quality jazz standards, some of which ("Sippin at Bell's") are not performed all that often. Getz is particularly swinging on... Read More

Letter to Evan
Artist: Bill Evans Trio

Recorded during pianist Bill Evans' last visit to England (less than two months before his death), Evans is heard with one of his finest trios on this CD, the unit with bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joe LaBarbera. The recording quality of the live set (recorded at Ronnie Scott's) is excellent, and Evans is in surprisingly enthusiastic and... Read More

Blue Skies
Artist: Stan Getz

Because Stan Getz was so consistent during his lifetime -- very rarely did he record a weak album -- one greets a posthumous release like Blue Skies with enthusiasm. Although recorded in January 1982, Blue Skies remained in the can until 1995, four years after the saxman's death from cancer. Joined by pianist Jim McNeely, bassist Marc Johnson,... Read More

Three Quartets
Artist: Chick Corea
Community Score: 10.00

This encounter between Chick Corea (sticking to acoustic piano), tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker, bassist Eddie Gomez, and drummer Steve Gadd lives up to expectations. The original program featured three lengthy "Quartet" pieces including sections dedicated to Duke Ellington and John Coltrane. The CD reissue adds four briefer pieces that were... Read More

Bop for Kerouac
Artist: Mark Murphy

This is an unusual recording. Singer Mark Murphy teams up with a fine sextet (featuring altoist Richie Cole and guitarist Bruce Forman) and alternating bop standards with readings from Jack Kerouac books. Since Kerouac was a big jazz fan in the 1950s and his interest in the music influenced the rhythms of his writing, this "poetry and jazz" set... Read More

Wynton Marsalis
Artist: Wynton Marsalis

Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis's debut on Columbia, recorded when he was only 19, made it clear from the start that he was going to be a major force in jazz. At the time Marsalis (who was originally a bit influenced by Freddie Hubbard) was starting to closely emulate Miles Davis of the mid-'60s and his slightly older brother Branford took Wayne... Read More

Standards, Vol. 2
Artist: Keith Jarrett Trio

One of three trio albums that pianist Keith Jarrett recorded with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette during the same month, this second volume of Standards gets the edge over the first due to its slightly more challenging material. Jarrett, who has often taken himself a bit too seriously, is surprisingly playful at times in this... Read More

Standards, Vol. 1
Artist: Keith Jarrett Trio

In January of 1983, Keith Jarrett returned to the trio format and his collaboration with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette resulted in three albums. The first release finds the trio digging into five standards with "God Bless the Child" being dragged out (although not unmercifully) for 15 minutes. The performances, which usually... Read More

Changes
Artist: Keith Jarrett

Unlike the other two Keith Jarrett trio recordings from January 1983, this collaboration with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette does not feature standards. The trio performs the 30-minute "Flying" and a 6-minute "Prism," both of them Jarrett originals. "Flying," which has several sections, keeps one's interest througout while the... Read More

African Dawn
Artist: Abdullah Ibrahim

On this solo piano set, Abdullah Ibrahim pays tributes to some of his musical heroes: Thelonious Monk ("'Round Midnight," "Just You, Just Me," "Blue Monk," and "For Monk"), John Coltrane ("For Coltrane"), and Billy Strayhorn ("A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing"), although surprisingly not Duke Ellington this time. But even on the direct tributes... Read More

Live in Paris
Artist: Stan Getz Quartet