Live at the Olympia Paris 1960 Review

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(More customer reviews)In the fall of 1960 Gerry Mulligan's Concert Jazz Band, with guest
Zoot Sims, toured Europe for the first and only time. For his "On
Tour" LP (1962), Mulligan chose just four tracks from the Berlin and
Milan concerts. His liner notes include the comment that "a small but
very noisy group of youngsters" had made the Olympia concert "a dismal
evening for everybody," but this isn't remotely apparent on the 2 CD
set of the Nov 19 Paris performance. A blurb on back, "The Must Have
companion piece to the Mosaic box set" isn't hype. These CDs are a very
happy surprise: the CJB plays superbly and the sound is nearly always
excellent. (It's certainly up there with the Village Vanguard and Santa
Monica tracks included in the Mosaic package.) Even at 110 minutes, there
are no superfluous tracks or lulls in the high energy level. The test
case is a 21 and a half minute version of Mulligan's "Spring is Sprung"
which, depending on one's mood never quite manages to wear you out with
any of its solos. As a sort of extended encore, there's the bonus of an
additional 45 minutes from a performance of the Mulligan Quartet at the
Olympia in 1962, recorded shortly before the CJB went into a New York studio
one last time. This is a great pair of CDs from Gambit Records. (The liner
notes are not especially informative, but that is its only fault.) The Swiss
Radio Days release of the similar CJB Zurich concert is half as long and not
nearly as exciting or as well recorded; CJB fans will probably want to own both,
but "Live at the Olympia Paris" is the indispensable one.

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Two CD set featuring rare live performances from Paris! Gerry Mulligan’s first trip to Paris took place in 1954, when he presented his legendary piano-less quartet. His success there led him to return many times, with a sextet in 1955 and 1957, with his Concert Jazz Band (composed of fourteen musicians) in 1960, and again with his quartet in 1962, when he alternated sets with the Horace Silver group featuring Blue Mitchell. The two latter performances are included on this release, which presents the Olympia concerts from November 19, 1960 and October 6, 1962. Featuring Zoot Sims, Bob Brookmeyer, Conte Candoli, Nick Travis, Don Ferrara, Gene Quill, Buddy Clark and Mel Lewis. 21 tracks. Gambit. 2006.

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The Magic Hour Review

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(More customer reviews)Wynton's Blue Note debut album, The Magic Hour, is a sweet, simple affair full of catchy melodies and tasteful playing. None of the performers (Marsalis, Ali Jackson-drums, Carlos Henriquez-bass, Eric Lewis-piano) are bending their talents to the breaking point, but that's not really the thrust of this album I don't think. It's a groove record that invites you in with open arms and says, "when jazz feels good, it's better than any musical feeling you can find, and we want you to feel good, so let's go." Marsalis is a careful composer and his melodies here are deliberately simple, the focus being on the rhythmic interplay that can be achieved between gifted musicians like the quartet he's assembled. Ali Jackson especially stands out--check out his playing on "Free to Be" and "Big Fat Hen"--grooving and full of feeling--complex but not showy. The only weak spot is "Feeling of Jazz" sung by guest vocalist Dianne Reeves, but it's not her fault. She sings well but the song's meaning is forced and doesn't feel natural. Luckily it's the first track on the record, so you can skip to track two and away you go. The recording quality is superb and makes this one a treat to listen to.

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Wynton Marsalis has compiled a remarkable track record as a jazz trumpeter, bandleader and composer. He has become the most recognized jazz artist in the world today. He serves as Artistic Director of the prestigious Jazz at Lincoln Center and is renowned as a jazz statesman-a role officially recognized in 2001 when United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan proclaimed him an international ambassador of goodwill and appointed him a UN Messenger of Peace. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awards and is the first jazz musician ever to be honored with the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in Music (for his epic 1997 recording Blood on the Fields). Wynton Marsalis has produced 33 jazz and 11 classical records, including three certified gold records. Now Wynton Marsalis has joined the roster of legendary jazz label Blue Note Records, reuniting with Blue Note president and music industry veteran Bruce Lundvall, who signed Wynton to his very first record deal in 1980. Marsalis makes his label debut with The Magic Hour, an upbeat, lyrical eight-song outing featuring his remarkable quartet-pianist Eric Lewis, bassist Carlos Henriquez and drummer Ali Jackson -and two special guests, Blue Note label mates Dianne Reeves and Bobby McFerrin. The Magic Hour is Marsalis' first jazz ensemble studio recording since 1999's Marciac Suite. His last album was All Rise, an extended composition for big band, gospel choir and symphony orchestra. "All Rise was such a huge piece involving over two hundred people. I wanted to produce my next recording with a smaller group," says the trumpeter, who settled into Right Track Studios in New York for two days last June to record the new album. "I wanted to restate my basic love of jazz music in a quartet format," says Marsalis. Wynton Marsalis: Trumpet Eric Lewis: Piano, Carlos Henriquez: Bass, Ali Jackson: Drums Dianne Reeves vocals on Feeling of Jazz Bobby McFerrin vocals on Baby, I Love You

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Misterioso Review

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(More customer reviews)I won't review this CD as a whole since many others have already. But in all these reviews I note scant mention of Johnny Griffin. In this live session from that now defunct little hole-in-the-wall, the Five Spot, Grif shows why he is considered the 'fastest tenor alive.' He's also the most passionate. His solos on this session are consistently amazing in their dexterity, imagination, and sheer emotional charge. He often moans ecstatically as he blows flourish after flourish of blue fire, yet never takes himself too seriously. He truly GETS Thelonious: the wry twinkle of Monkish humor. The second cut, 'Blues Five Spot,' is one of the greatest tenor solos of all time (See my Listmania, "Great Tenor Sax Solos.") Astonishing speed and melodic invention with the trio are followed by an un-accompanied cadenza of clean blues logic, topped off by the theme from Popeye the Sailor Man. Sonny Rollins was more magisterial and conscious of his greatness when he played with Monk; Trane was more esoteric and, well, heavy; but no one played Monk with more understanding than Johnny Griffin: they were friends for life. Grif knew the secret of Monk. The Master wasn't avant garde and he wasn't heavy: he was funky, blue, and full of laughter. Despite the primitive quality of the recording, and the idiots at the bar who keep dropping their glasses, this sizzling July evening in 1958, in the hippest of New York bars, at the heart of a by-gone era, is captured for all time here in one of the GREAT live jazz recordings.

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