 Sonny Rollins: Freedom Suite - Keepnews Collection
This year has seen another significant batch of historic releases that include re-issues of remastered classics [The Keepnews Collection] some with new bonus material, newly released vintage recordings from the Monterey Jazz Festival, and pristine newly pressed vinyl LP's for analogue audiophiles. Rather than the random, haphazard re-issue frenzy that occurred early in the digital revolution, these collections represent recordings that are historically significant and in many cases represent milestones and masterpieces that no jazz collection should be without.
The fifth installment of the ‘Keepnews Collection’ features the classic album re-issues produced by jazz icon Orrin Keepnews. Keepnews was one of the founders of Riverside Records, which existed from 1953 - 1964, recording jazz greats Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans, Coleman Hawkins, Randy Weston, Cannonball and Nat Adderley, Wes Montgomery, Johnny Griffin, and Jimmy Heath. He started Milestone Records in 1966, recording McCoy Tyner, Joe Henderson, Lee Konitz, and Gary Bartz. The newly released CD's in this series include Coleman Hawkins' The Hawk Flies High, Sonny Rollins' Freedom Suite, Wes Montgomery's The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery, Nat Adderley's Work Song, and McCoy Tyner's Fly With the Wind. They all have the original cover art, insightful new liner notes by Keepnews, and the complete original liner notes, except for Fly With the Wind which had no liner notes when it was first issued.
 Nat Adderley: Work Song - Keepnews Collection
The oldest in this current offering is Coleman Hawkins' The Hawk Flies High Riverside release from 1957 which features Hawkin's soaring tenor with J.J. Johnson on trombone, Idrees Sulieman on trumpet, Hank Jones on piano, Oscar Pediford on bass and Jo Jones on drums. The most recent is McCoy Tyner's Fly With the Wind from 1976 featuring a very large ensemble, complete with strings. Hubert Laws is featured on flute and alto flute. This issue includes alternate takes of "Beyond the Sun" and "Rolem" that were previously unreleased.
Nat Adderley's Work Song is an incredibly satisfying hard bop session that was released by Rverside in 1960. Nate comes of age with this release featuring Wes Montgomery, Bobby Timmons, Percy Heath, Sam Jones, and Lewis Hayes.
After Django, Wes Mongomery was probably the most influential jazz guitarist of all time. The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Mongomery (1960) , also available in vinyl LP format from the Concord Collectors series, not only represents the pinnacle of Montgomery's recorded studio work, but stands as one of the finest jazz recordings ever made. Featuring a quartet with pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Percy Heath, and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath, this is the vehicle that gave Montgomery the fame he was due. The album debuted two of Montgomery's most well-known compositions, the hip waltz "West Coast Blues" and the hard bop classic "Four on Six."
Sonny Rollins' 1958 album Freedom Suite features Sonny in a format he pioneered, a pianoless trio with bassist Oscar Pettiford and drummer Max Roach. Sonny is in fine form stretching out on the tittle track. This issue gives us two alternate takes "'Till There Was You", one which was previously unreleased and a bonus track of "There Will Never Be Another You". All the tracks are gems.
In this video Orrin talks about working with Sonny Rollins:
Monterey Jazz Festival Records
 50 Years of Dave Brubeck: Live at the Monterey Jazz Festiva
Art Blakey and the Giants of Jazz - Live at the 1972 Monterey Jazz Festival. Art Blakey, drums; Sonny Stitt, alto and tenor saxophones; Roy Eldridge, trumpet; Clark Terry, trumpet and flugelhorn; Kai Winding, trombone; Thelonious Monk, piano; Al McKibbon, bass. They romp through bop tunes and standards "Blue 'n' Boogie," '''Round Midnight," "Perdido," "Stardust," "Lover Man," "I Can't Get Started With You," "The Man I Love," and "A Night in Tunisia".
Listen to streaming audio of " Round Midnight" - Art Blakey and the Giants of Jazz - Live at the Monterey 1972 Jazz Festival [QuickTime] [Windows Media]
Dave Brubeck - 50 Years of Dave Brubeck: Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival, 1958-2007 “…an uncommon overview of artist/venue synchronicity. Unlike other volumes in the series, it is not confined to a single performance, but rather spans the entire Monterey Jazz Festival history and captures much of Brubeck's own history in the process.” from the liner notes by Bob Blumenthal, JazzTimes. Dave Brubeck, piano; and various others, including Paul Desmond, alto saxophone; Gerry Mulligan, baritone saxophone; Bill Smith, clarinet; Eugene Wright, bass; and Joe Morello, drums. Songs include "Two Part Contention," "Someday My Prince Will Come," "Take Five," "Sermon on the Mount," "Jumping Bean," "Tritonis," "Goodbye Old Friend," "I Got Rhythm," "Sleep," "Margie"- Listen to a streaming audio of "Take Five" - Dave Brubeck - 50 Years of Dave Brubeck: Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival, 1958-2007 [QuickTime] [Windows Media]
Shirley Horn - Live at the 1994 Monterey Jazz Festival: Shirley Horn, piano, vocals; Charles Ables, bass; Steve Williams, drums. Set list: "Foolin' Myself," "The Look of Love," "How Am I to Know," "L.A. Breakdown (And Take Me In)," "Nice 'N' Easy," "A Song for You," "I've Got the World on a String," "Here's to Life," "Hard Hearted Hannah," "Blues for Big Scotia" - Listen to a streaming audio of "I've Got The World On A String" - Shirley Horn - Live at the 1994 Monterey Jazz Festival [QuickTime] [Windows Media]
 Tito Puente & His Orchestra - Live at the 1977 Monterey Jazz Festival
- Listen to a streaming audio of "Oye Como Va" - Tito Puente and his Orchestra - Live at the 1977 Monterey Jazz Festival [QuickTime] [Windows Media]
Cal Tjader - The Best of Cal Tjader: Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival, 1958-1980 Cal Tjader, vibraphone, percussion, band leader; and various others, including Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, trumpets; Buddy DeFranco, clarinet; Vince Guaraldi, John Lewis, pianos; Michael Wolff, electric piano; Al McKibbon, Richard Davis, bass; Willie Bobo, drums, timbales; Mongo Santamaria, Armando Peraza, Poncho Sanchez, congas. Set list: "Summertime," "Now's the Time," "Cubano Chant," "Tumbao," "Manteca," "Afro Blue," "If You Could See Me Now," "Speak Low"
- Listen to a streaming audio of "Cubano Chant" - Cal Tjader - The Best of Cal Tjader: Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival, 1958-1980 [QuickTime] [Windows Media]
Jimmy Witherspoon featuring Robben Ford: Live at the 1972 Monterey Jazz Festival . Jimmy Witherspoon, vocals; Robben Ford, guitar, alto saxophone; Paul Nagel, electric piano; Stan Poplin, bass; Jim Baum, drums (on bonus track, "When I Been Drinkin'," recorded in 1959: Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, tenor saxophones; Roy Eldridge, trumpet; Woody Herman, clarinet; Earl "Fatha" Hines, piano; Vernon Ashley, bass; Mel Lewis, drums) performing "I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town," "S.K. Blues," "Kansas City," "Goin' Down Slow," "Walkin' by Myself," "Ain't Nobody's Business What I Do," "I Want a Little Girl," "I Don't Know," "Early One Morning," (incomplete) "Reds and Whiskey," (bonus) "When I Been Drinkin'".
- Listen to a streaming audio of "Ain't Nobody's Business What I Do" - Jimmy Witherspoon featuring Robben Ford - Live at the 1972 Monterey Jazz Festival [QuickTime]
[Windows Media]
Three Miles of Groove  Concord Music Groups Collectors Corner
Concord Music groups Collectors series is featuring new LP phonograph record production of classic jazz LP's. Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus, Bill Evan', Waltz For Debby, Yusef Lateef's Eastern Sounds, John Coltrane's Soultrane, and Thelonious Monk With John Coltrane. The average LP has about 1,600 feet of groove on each side, or about a third of a mile. That means that these five featured LP's have about three miles of combined groove. Finally we have access to clean, affordable vinyl pressings of some of the greatest recordings in jazz. Many audiophiles believe that analog sound lacks the deleterious effects caused by the analog to digital conversion necessary to produce CDs and therefore analog music reproduction from phonograph records is superior. These and others from the Concord Music groups Collectors Corner at www.concordmusicgroup.com/collectors-corner/vinyl/ are pressed from the same master plates so they are identical to the original and have that warm analogue sound that audiophiles have treasured for years. They also have the original LP cover artwork and liner notes faithfully reproduced. From this set I must admit that Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus and Bill Evans' Waltz For Debby are among my desert island albums, and I place them in the top ten great jazz recordings. Check out these streaming samples (but note that the audio quality cannot match what the vinyl will deliver):
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Monday, 01 December 2008
