Chet Baker: Sings

Russ Freeman | Red Mitchell | Shelly Manne | Corky Hale | Carson Smith | Peter Littman | Jimmy Bond | Chet Baker | Bud Shank | Bob Neel

Chet Baker's elevation to icon status has been as a result of the recordings that the young fella cut for...

Reviewed by Roy Carr in issue: November/2014

Oscar Peterson/Fred Astaire: The Astaire Story

An inspired Norman Granz idea from the 1950s, this was once a 4-LP box from Mercury, nicely repackaged (though one...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: July/2018

Émile Parisien Quartet: Spezial Snack

Sylvain Darrifourcq | Julien Touéry | Ivan Gélugne | Émile Parisien

This is the kind of super-smart, semi-abstracted, hyper-deconstructed music making that benefits greatly from a little interpretive contextualisation to help...

Reviewed by Robert Shore in issue: November/2014

Duke Ellington/Coleman Hawkins: Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins

Rex Stewart | Hank Jones | Shelly Manne | Roy Eldridge | Aaron Bell | Wilbur Little | Billy Bauer | Sam Woodyard | Dave Bailey | Harry Carney

Hawk had long wanted to record with Duke but it took 20 years to accomplish. Duke was supposed to have...

Reviewed by Peter Vacher in issue: November/2014

Jackie McLean Quintet: Hipnosis

Billy Higgins | Scott Holt | LaMont Johnson | Grachan Moncur III | Jackie McLean

Draconian drug laws haven't done much for the world of art, but they sure helped preserve Jackie McLean's genius for...

Reviewed by Daniel Spicer in issue: November/2014

Andreas Schaerer/Lucas Niggli: Arcanum

Recorded in the Loft club in Cologne, here's a freshly imaginative German duo of voice, electronics and percussion calling on...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: November/2014

Mihály Dresch Quartet with Archie Shepp: Hungarian Bebop

Archie Shepp | Mihály Dresch | Ferenc Kovács | Mátyás Szandal | István Baló | Kálmán Balogh

Not surprisingly, given the title, Mihály Dresch's themes, particularly with violin as a counterpoint, have a strong Hungarian accent. But...

Reviewed by Mike Hobart in issue: November/2014

Four Freshmen: Four Freshmen and Five Trombones/and Five Saxes

The Freshmen were a remarkably tight close harmony vocal group and this double album on one CD has them teamed...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: November/2014

Walter Bishop: Soul Village

Ed Soph | Steve Khan | Randy Brecker | Walter Bishop | Victoria | Geogr Young | Gerry Niewood | Mark Egan

Much loved in fusion circles, this beautiful album has been crying out for a CD rebirth for many a year...

Reviewed by Kevin Le Gendre in issue: November/2014

Elvira Nikolaisen/Mathias Eick: Concentrate on You

Elvira Nikolaisen, a star turn in her native Norway, delivers a set of standards with a eerily unique vocal approach...

Reviewed by Selwyn Harris in issue: November/2014