Oliver Nelson: Swiss Suite

C.J. Shibly | Danny Moore | Harry Beckett | Michal Urbaniak | Pretty Purdie | Ozren Depolo | Bosko Petrovic | Bob Sydor | Bertil Strandberg | Eddie Cleanhead Vinson

A less recognised Nelson album, this was done live at Montreux under the auspices of Bob Thiele's Flying Dutchman label,...

Reviewed by Brian Priestley in issue: August/2014

Miles Davis: Live In Paris

Miles Davis | Wynton Kelly | Jimmy Cobb | Stan Getz | Paul Chambers | Sonny Stitt | John Coltrane

It's lately been open season on tapes from Miles' first European tours, featuring Coltrane and then Stitt. You'll recall The...

Reviewed by Brian Priestley in issue: August/2014

Marty Paich: I Get A Boot Out of You

Hard-swinging 1959 West Coast jazz by a smallish big band, this album is the perfect marriage between Paich's economical arrangements...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: August/2014

Bill Laurance: Flint

Chris Bullock | Henry Flory | Maria Jeffers | Michael League | Magda Ginnikou | Maria Im | Scott Flynn | Bill Laurance | Robert ‘Sput’ Searight | Curtis Stewart

Cracking the nut that is creating organically hewn, as opposed to factory processed, jazz dance music is something that countless...

Reviewed by Mike Flynn in issue: August/2014

Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic II: Norwegian Woods

Roger Arntzen | Morten Qvenild | Knut Reiersrud | Solveig Slettahjell | Bugge Wesseltoft | Pål Hausken

Producer Siggi Loch's imaginatively curated Jazz at the Berlin Philharmonic series have been a deserved and recurring success, attested by...

Reviewed by Stuart Nicholson in issue: August/2014

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers: Complete Studio Recordings

Wayne Shorter | Lee Morgan | Jymie Merritt | Bobby Timmons | Art Blakey

Nothing quite epitomises prime cut hard bop as Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and this welcome Jazz Dynamics five disc package...

Reviewed by Roy Carr in issue: August/2014

Mary Lou Williams: The First Lady in Jazz 1927-1957

If you want to get to grips with the complex pianist, arranger and composer that was MLW, then this 70-track,...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: August/2014

Norwegian Wind Brass Ensemble: Brass From Utopia: A Frank Zappa Tribute

André Fjortoft | Helen Overlie | Frank Brodahl | Tarjei Grimsby | Knut Aalefjaer | Espen Olsen | Roger Fjeldet

Here's some kicking fun with absolutely no commercial value whatsoever, so hurrah to that. Launching with a sprightly ‘Peaches En...

Reviewed by Andy Robson in issue: August/2014

Jim Dvorak/Paul Dunmall/Mark Sanders/Chris Mapp: Cherry Pickin'

Mark Sanders | Chris Mapp | Jim Dvorak | Paul Dunmall

Founded almost by accident by baritone saxophonist George Haslam, SLAM has now been going a quarter of a century –...

Reviewed by Marcus O'Dair in issue: August/2014

Various Artists: European Cool Jazz 1951-1959

Don Rendell | Hans Koller | Johnny Dankworth | Sacha Distel | Lars Gullin | Johnny Keating | Bobby Jaspar

What an eye-opening treasure trove this double CD set is. The first thing that is so striking is that across...

Reviewed by Stuart Nicholson in issue: August/2014