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KING OLIVER’S CREOLE JAZZ BAND: “CENTENNIAL” (Archeophone 6014)
For years, jazz history professors had to beg their students to listen to the recordings of King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band. These important sides (featuring the recording debuts of the entire band, including Louis Armstrong) were made before the advent of microphones and the sound was boxy and lacking in both dynamics and bass response.…
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TREASURES FROM THE ARCHIVES
While major record companies continue to fall by the wayside, small labels like Mosaic, Resonance and Reel-to-Real thrive with limited edition collections of classic jazz. All of the sets included in the present Retro Reviews feature previously issued music from iconic musicians, including Don Byas, Nat Cole, Art Tatum, Shelly Manne and Sonny Rollins. Thomas…
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“HOT HOUSE: THE COMPLETE MASSEY HALL RECORDINGS” (Craft 684)
Previously reissued as “The Greatest Jazz Concert Ever”, the 1953 concert at Toronto’s Massey Hall by Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell and Max Roach actually lives up to most of the hype. With a new Craft reissue of the complete concert tapes (including the bass parts Mingus overdubbed later), Thomas Cunniffe discusses the legendary…
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LIVE JAZZ FROM THE 1950s AND 1960s
The unissued live recordings discussed in this special Retro Review were released during the 2023 holiday season. Thomas Cunniffe offers his reactions to newly released concerts from Dave Brubeck, Wes Montgomery, Les McCann and Ahmad Jamal.
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DAVE HOLLAND: “CONFERENCE OF THE BIRDS” (ECM 1027)
Recorded in 1972, Dave Hollland’s “Conference of the Birds” featured six outstanding Holland originals–some left unrecorded by the maverick quartet Circle–played by three Circle alumni (Holland, Barry Altschul, and Anthony Braxton) and a new collaborator, Sam Rivers. In this special Retro Review, Dave Holland provides an elegant history of the album’s creation, and Thomas Cunniffe…
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JOHN COLTRANE/ERIC DOLPHY: “EVENINGS AT THE VILLAGE GATE” (Impulse 37784)
There is no shortage of live albums by John Coltrane, but a newly-discovered set “Evenings at the Village Gate” reveals a crucial step in the development of the iconic saxophonist’s Great Quartet. With the added presence of Eric Dolphy, the new album offers a unique look at Coltrane’s group in August 1961, just a few…
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THE BEBOP CHRONICLES
This issue’s Retro Review spotlights two collections of historic bebop recordings. Savoy’s “The Birth of Bop” was originally issued in 1952 and consists solely of commercial recordings made for Savoy, while Verve’s “Bird in LA” collects rare private recordings which document three of Parker’s visits to the City of Angels. Thomas Cunniffe evaluates each set.
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“THE COMPLETE FREDDIE HUBBARD BLUE NOTE & IMPULSE STUDIO SESSIONS” (Mosaic 274)
With the exception of Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard was the hottest jazz trumpeter during the early to mid-1960s. Prior to leading his own group, he was a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, and he appeared on many landmark albums of the time. A new Mosaic box collects the first 10 LPs Hubbard recorded under…
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DO YOU REMEMBER THE CONCERT WHEN…
Of the hundreds of concerts we may attend in our lifetimes, the ones we remember best are the ones with stories attached. Usually, the stories are exaggerated over time…unless the concert was recorded. In this month’s Retro Review, Thomas Cunniffe reviews newly issued vintage concerts by Ella Fitzgerald, Dave Brubeck, Charles Mingus, and Oscar Peterson,…
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ROY ELDRIDGE: “DALE’S WAIL” (Verve LP VE2-2531)
Roy Eldridge and Norman Granz first met in 1942. Eldridge was already a star but Granz was still living on limited means. A few years later, Granz bolstered Eldridge’s stature by featuring him in concerts and recordings. In this Retro Review, Thomas Cunniffe examines a seminal collection of 4 collaborations between Eldridge and Oscar Peterson,…