by Imre Szeman Share Email Del.icio.us Digg Reddit Newsvine StumbleUpon Google Yahoo Facebook Print Write to the editor Feeds PopMatters Listen Amazon Yet another gem from John Corbett’s “Unheard Music Series” on Atavistic. The brilliant and iconoclastic tenor saxophonist Fred Anderson has been a stalwart on the Chicago scene for four decades. Bridging the gap from the experimental genius of the AACM movement in the mid-’60s to the innovative work of Ken Vandermark and Tortoise today, Anderson is a key figure in the evolution of jazz in Chicago. Up until now, anyone interested in tracing the shifts and transformations that “the lone prophet of the prairie” has undergone over his long career are likely to have defeated by the enormous, gaping holes in Anderson’s recording career (including an almost 15 year pause right in the middle of it.) Recorded in 1980, The Milwaukee Tapes not only allows us to get a glimpse of Anderson in the midst of one of the most exciting periods in his career, but also gives us a chance to hear this Olympian jazz man play live in all his glory. While the other releases in Corbett’s series have focused on re-releasing influential, out-of-print recordings of some of the innovators of free jazz, The Milwaukee Tapes, Vol. I is on the whole more lyrical and melodic than (say) Joe McPhee’s Nation Time. It is also the first of the Atavistic series not to have been previously issued in any format. Culled from an 8-track recording made of Anderson’s quartet in a now forgotten jazz club in Milwaukee (even the date is unclear: the credits read “January or February 1980"), this is the very first time that these recordings have been made available to the general public. With a talented group of players who have been constants in Anderson’s life providing the backdrop to Anderson’s inventive playing (the amazing Billy Brimfield on trumpet, Larry Hayrod on bass and Hamid Drake on drums), it’s hard to believe that these recordings didn’t see the light of day earlier. The album opens with Anderson’s mournful sax working its way thoughtfully and expressively through 17-plus minutes of low-key rumbling from the band. “A Ballad from Rita” is followed by the equally Herculean “The Bull”—19 minutes of alternately fiery and introspective solos framed by Mingus-like opening and closing compositional bookends. “Black Women” reminded me of Mingus as well-the Mingus of The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady—though Anderson keeps things looser and more fluid. Hamid Drake’s work on the tablas infuses “Bombay (Children of Cambodia)” with an urgency matched by Anderson and Brimfield’s horns. The final track, “Planet E”, ends the album with a flurry of splayed notes that are, nevertheless, in Anderson’s trademark way, controlled and deployed with precise effect—free jazz less as the spotches of action painting than the pin-point dabs characteristic of pointillism. Amazing stuff: I hope that there’s a Vol. 2 in the offing.

秋吉敏子一九二九年生于中国东北辽阳的富裕家庭从小就学芭蕾、日本传统舞与钢琴。 五十年代的东京受西洋文化的影响，有不少爵士乐演出，秋吉敏子也深受影响，并开始热衷于JAZZ，一九五二年时已经小有名气。美国JAZZ钢琴家Oscar Peterson 在偶然听过秋吉敏子的演奏后深受感动，为其赴美学习做了很多铺垫。一九五九年，与高音萨克斯风手 Charlie Mariano 结婚并合作专辑。六十年代后期，秋吉敏子与第二任丈夫Lew Tabackin 成立大乐团，开始受到世界瞩目。其风格被评价为“将东方传统美的意识融合入爵士乐中形成了自己的风格，其原创音乐构成鲜明、音色美妙”。 这张场片由Hanssler Classic 于2007年发行，曲目均由秋吉敏子创作，其风格被评价为“将东方传统美的意识融合入爵士乐中形成了自己的风格，其原创音乐构成鲜明、音色美妙……”。

Clifford Jordan — tenor saxophone Don Cherry - cornet (tracks 1 & 2) Kenny Dorham - trumpet (tracks 3 & 4) Julian Priester - trombone Wynton Kelly - piano Richard Davis - cello, bass Wilbur Ware - bass (tracks 1 & 3) Ed Blackwell (tracks 3 & 4), Roy Haynes (tracks 3 & 4), Albert Heath (tracks 1 & 2) - drums

[WE REMEMBER POO - 菊地雅章 追悼再発] さる7月7日に亡くなったピアニスト、菊地雅章が70年代にフィリップス・レーベルに残した8枚のアルバムを追悼再発。菊地の渡米前夜に行われた公開レコーディング。「驟雨」や「銀界」などの名曲を堪能できる貴重なセッション。1973年3月、東京、ビクター・スタジオにて録音。 ＜パーソネル＞ 菊地雅章 (p)、峰厚介 (ss)、宮田英夫 (ts, fl)、鈴木良雄 (b)、村上寛 (ds)

The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is a studio album by American jazz musician Charles Mingus, released on Impulse! Records in 1963. The album consists of a single continuous composition—partially written as a ballet—divided into four tracks and six movements

Stan Getz was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young.

One of two classic records (the other being Waltz for Debby) culled from perfectionist pianist Bill Evans' stand at the Village Vanguard in 1961. The album cover features the by-line "featuring Scott LaFaro", the bass player whose accidental death soon after highlighted his immense contributions to jazz. Absolutely timeless.

This is the one jazz record owned by people who don't listen to jazz, and with good reason. The band itself is extraordinary (proof of Miles Davis's masterful casting skills, if not of God's existence), listing John Coltrane and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley on saxophones, Bill Evans (or, on "Freddie Freeloader," Wynton Kelly) on piano, and the crack rhythm unit of Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums. Coltrane's astringency on tenor is counterpoised to Adderley's funky self on alto, with Davis moderating between them as Bill Evans conjures up a still lake of sound on which they walk. Meanwhile, the rhythm partnership of Cobb and Chambers is prepared to click off time until eternity. It was the key recording of what became modal jazz, a music free of the fixed harmonies and forms of pop songs. In Davis's men's hands it was a weightless music, but one that refused to fade into the background. In retrospect every note seems perfect, and each piece moves inexorably towards its destiny. 《The birth of the Cool(酷的诞生)》，酷派爵士(Cool Jazz)的正名之作。

Remastered reissue in a digipak. Originally released in 1959. Contains the songs 'Am I Blue', 'Tell Me You'll Wait For Me', 'Indeed I Do' & 'Come Rain Or Come Shine'. Warner. 2005.

莎拉·露意絲·沃恩，是美國爵士歌手，被Scott Yanow形容為具有「20世紀最美妙的聲音」。 沃恩是一個3次葛萊美獎得主。國家藝術基金會於1989年賦予她爵士樂的最高榮譽，爵士樂大師獎 。 沃恩被公認為20世紀最重要的爵士樂歌手之一，與艾拉·費茲潔拉和比莉·哈樂黛齊名。

Lady in Satin is an album by jazz singer Billie Holiday released in 1958 on Columbia Records, catalogue CL 1157 in mono and CS 8048 in stereo. It is the next to final album completed by the singer and released in her lifetime (Her final album, "Billie Holiday" being recorded in March 1959 and released just after her death). The original album was produced by Irving Townsend, and engineered by Fred Plaut. The song material for Lady in Satin derived from the usual sources for Holiday in her three decade career, that of the Great American Songbook of classic pop. Unlike the bulk of Holiday's recordings, rather than in the setting of a jazz combo Holiday returns to the backdrop of full orchestral arrangements as done during her Decca years, this time in the contemporary vein of Frank Sinatra or Ella Fitzgerald on her Songbooks series. The album consists of songs Holiday had never recorded before. The arrangements were by bandleader Ray Ellis, Holiday familiar with his Ellis in Wonderland album. Soloists on the album included Mel Davis, Urbie Green, and bebop trombone pioneer J.J. Johnson. The song "The End of a Love Affair" did not appear on the stereo release, CS 8048, the final track of side two being "I'll Be Around."

So dubbed because these three sessions -- two from early 1949, one from March 1950 -- are where the sound known as cool jazz essentially formed, The Birth of the Cool remains one of the defining, pivotal moments in jazz. This is where the elasticity of bop was married with skillful, big-band arrangements and a relaxed, subdued mood that made it all seem easy, even at its most intricate. After all, there's a reason why this music was called cool; it has a hip, detached elegance, never getting too hot, even as the rhythms skip and jump. Indeed, the most remarkable thing about these sessions -- arranged by Gil Evansand featuring such heavy-hitters as Kai Winding, Gerry Mulligan, Lee Konitz, and Max Roach-- is that they sound intimate, as the nonet never pushes too hard, never sounds like the work of nine musicians. Furthermore, the group keeps things short and concise (probably the result of the running time of singles, but the results are the same), which keeps the focus on the tones and tunes. The virtuosity led to relaxing, stylish mood music as the end result -- the very thing that came to define West Coast or "cool" jazz -- but this music is so inventive, it remains alluring even after its influence has been thoroughly absorbed into the mainstream