Jimmy Witherspoon: Roots

Not the greatest rhythm section ever, but 'Spoon's empathy with Ben Webster and trumpeter Gerald Wilson make up for that...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: July/2014

Stanley Turrentine: Betcha

Compared to Turrentine's Blue Note work, this 1979 set with orchestra and singers is saccharine and cloying ’ definitely not...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: July/2014

Kid Ory: Storyville Nights/Plays W C Handy/Dixieland Marching Songs

A welcome CD issue for Ory's late 1950s and early 60s albums that mark his final studio work, leading a...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: July/2014

Horace Silver Quartet: Live In New York 1953

Lloyd Turner | Horace Silver | Jimmy Schenck | Lou Donaldson

Young Horace may well take top billing for this previously unissued live performance (probably from Birdland), but five will get...

Reviewed by Roy Carr in issue: July/2014

Shorty Rogers and His Giants: Jazz Waltz

The 1963 edition of the Rogers' big band and smaller Giants was as outstanding as ever, and this set catches...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: July/2014

Frank Lacy & The Smalls Legacy Band: Live at Smalls

Stacy Dillard | Kush Abadey | Josh Evans | Frank Lacy | Rashaan Carter | Theo Hill

In his own way, Ku-umba Frank Lacy is something of a living legend. The one-time Jazz Messengers' musical director has...

Reviewed by Tony Hall in issue: July/2014

Olegario Diaz: Basquiat By Night/Day

Olegario Diaz | Alex Sipiagin | Scott Colley | Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts | Seamus Blake

Diaz is an excellent Venezuelan modern pianist who divides his time between his birth country and New York, leading different...

Reviewed by Tony Hall in issue: July/2014

Nils Petter Molvær: Switch

Geir Sundstøl | Nils Petter Molvær | Morten Qvenild | Nils Petter Molvaer | Erland Dahlen

Even from the time of Molvær's Khmer and Solid Ether from 1997 and 2000 respectively, when he burst onto the...

Reviewed by Stuart Nicholson in issue: July/2014

Jacob Young: Forever Young

Trygve Seim | Marcin Wasilewski | Slawomir Kurkiewicz | Jacob Young | Michal Miskiewicz

On this, his third album for ECM, the Norwegian guitarist Jacob Young is joined by saxophonist Trygve Seim, whom he...

Reviewed by Stuart Nicholson in issue: July/2014

Benny Goodman: B.G. In Hi-fi

The big band recorded live in NYC in 1954 relives the old arrangements in style, while the highlight is a...

Reviewed by Alyn Shipton in issue: July/2014