Retro Reviews

The music of Charles Mingus was always ahead of its time, and on his album Pre-Bird he presents compositions that he wrote before hearing Charlie Parker. In this Retro Review, Ellen Johnson discusses all of the music and how it related to Mingus’ life.

Recorded in June 1976, Carmen McRae’s live album …At the Great American Music Hall is one of the singer’s least-heralded masterpieces. Featuring the outstanding rhythm section of Marshall Otwell, Ed Bennett and Joey Baron, plus four tracks with guest artist Dizzy Gillespie, the album finds McRae creating one memorable performance after another. In this Retro Review, Thomas Cunniffe writes that McRae benefits from the enthusiastic response of the young San Francisco audience.

In the mid-1970s, Eddie Jefferson finally received the popular and critical acclaim that was long overdue. His 1977 Inner City LP The Main Man has long been considered his finest work, with Jefferson singing definitive versions of his greatest vocalese pieces, backed by a remarkable all-star band. Thomas Cunniffe takes another listen in this month’s Retro Review.

During seven recording sessions in August 1956 and January 1957, Billie Holiday recorded three albums which represented some of the best singing of her later years. Several years ago, these three albums, All or Nothing at All, Body and Soul and Songs for Distingué Lovers were combined on a 2-CD set. To commemorate Holiday’s centennial, Thomas Cunniffe listens again to these superb albums, finding Holiday’s voice and interpretive powers at their peak.

Mosaic’s Classic Coleman Hawkins Sessions 1922-1947 includes many of the pioneer tenor saxophonist’s best recordings from the first half of his career. In this Retro Review, Thomas Cunniffe details the highlights of the set and praises the outstanding remastering by Andreas Meyer.

Historic recordings by Bill Evans are legion, but not all of the recordings have optimum music or sound. George Klabin and Resonance Records’ new release Live at the Top of the Gate offers the Evans Trio at an important time in their development, and in spectacular sound. Thomas Cunniffe reviews the album.

Don Ellis was best known for his late 1960s band that experimented with odd time signatures and electronic instruments. Through his exploration of ethnomusicology and film music, his concepts deepened through the early 1970s. Michael Verity discusses Ellis’ late masterpiece, Soaring in this Retro Review.

The early 50s were not a great time for big bands, but Duke Ellington continued to tour and record with his orchestra, despite several roadblocks. Ellington Uptown, an album released in several versions shows Ellington triumphing over adversity in a profound way. Thomas Cunniffe discusses the original LPs and their compilation on Compact Disc in this Retro Review.

The Double Six of Paris was unique among vocal jazz groups for their clever vocalese lyrics (sung in French!) and their uncanny way of capturing the nuances of the original instrumental recordings. Amy Duncan discusses the group’s second LP Singin’, Swingin’ in this Retro Review.

In March 1963, John Coltrane made a temporary change in his quartet’s style for a recorded collaboration with ballad singer Johnny Hartman. In this Retro Review, Thomas Cunniffe discusses the beauty and legacy of John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman.

Sonny Clark never made a better album than Cool Struttin’. This 1958 Blue Note date may have been conceived as just another blowing date, but the high quality of the music made it an instant classic. As Thomas Cunniffe notes in this Retro Review, the magic starts with the iconic album cover but peaks with the music created by Clark, Art Farmer, Jackie McLean, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones.

No one could write for saxophone sections like Benny Carter, and his 1961 Impulse LP, Further Definitions is a genuine masterpiece. Thomas Cunniffe reviews the CD reissue, which also includes Carter’s superb 1966 follow-up, Additions to Further Definitions.

Jazz at Oberlin is one of the classic Dave Brubeck albums. It was his first recorded college concert, and it featured Paul Desmond at his most uninhibited. In this Retro Review, Thomas Cunniffe tells of the first he heard this jazz masterpiece.

In 1954, Max Roach and Clifford Brown teamed up in LA to form one of jazz’s finest bop groups. The group only stayed in California for a few months, but it helped revitalize LA’s bop scene. In this Retro Review, Thomas Cunniffe examines two early concerts by the Brown/Roach Quintet, originally issued on the GNP label, and now available in a superior reissue by Fresh Sounds.