Buddy DeFranco – Cookin’ the Books (2004)

Apr 07, 2007 by Mr. Nau In this beautiful date, Buddy DeFranco joins the John Pizzarelli Trio in a set of standards and a pair of DeFranco compositions. Pizzarelli lends his vocal talent to two of the early tracks. The group is tight and, no matter how fast the tempo is, everyone sounds relaxed and […]

Dizzy Gillespie & Charlie Parker – Town Hall, New York City, June 22, 1945 (2005)

Apr 06, 2007 by Mr. Nau A watershed moment in the history of music happened when Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker got together to perform this new musical style they’d invented, called “bebop.” This astonishing recording from 1945, lost for 60 years and only recently remastered, is a spectacular outing that warrants lots of repeated […]

Bobby McFerrin – Spontaneous Inventions (1985)

Apr 04, 2007 by Mr. Nau In terms of sheer vocal technique, it is hard to imagine how anybody could top Bobby McFerrin. This outing is no exception. His dizzying talent for vocal improvisation is on display here. Joining him in this quirky set are names like Manhattan Transfer, Wayne Shorter, and Robin Williams. Grade: […]

Buddy DeFranco – Do Nothing Till You Hear From Us (1999)

Mar 05, 2007 by Mr. Nau Buddy DeFranco, the only major jazz clarinet player to make the transition from swing to bebop, fronts a technically-superb trio (Dave McKenna, piano, and Joe Cohn, guitar). Together, they play a beautiful set of ten standards and a pair of DeFranco charts. This outing is exceptionally musical and listenable. […]

Toots Thielemans – Man Bites Harmonica (1958)

Jan 21, 2007 by Mr. Nau A delightful set of standards and original compositions from the late 50s, this eight song CD features Toots on both harmonica and guitar, accompanied by solid rhythm section and Pepper Adams on baritone sax. Every track on this record is beautiful and the musicians effortlessly play off and complement […]

Charlie Byrd – Solo Flight (2004)

Jan 04, 2007 by Mr. Nau This beautiful set of jazz standards by Charlie Byrd demonstrates a great musician’s technical fluency and easy-going style. Each song is fairly short, but very pretty and listenable. A wide variety of songs is featured, from uptempo numbers to ballads, and provides a good introduction to this great master. […]

Art Tatum – The Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 1 (1992)

Jan 04, 2007 by Mr. Nau Art Tatum is arguably the greatest piano player of all time, in any genre. This first of a series of recordings shows off his astonishing virtuosity and a style that has been emulated for 50 years. A beautiful collection of jazz standards, the set is timeless, important, and thoroughly […]

Donna Summer – Gold (2005)

Jan 01, 2007 by Mr. Nau This massive collection of remastered hits includes almost all of the chart toppers and many more obscure tracks of one of the most successful female vocalists of all time. The song-writing is unforgettable, Donna’s vocals set the bar high for other singers, and the choice of tracks is superb. […]

DJ T – Boogie Playground (2005)

Dec 19, 2006 by Mr. Nau This set features a couple of decent tracks, although nothing very adventurous, and a bunch of tedious, minimal, yawn-worthy songs that only work as background music. Most of this set seemed to consist of old school bass riffs, homages to acid jazz, simplistic synth licks, and bland drum patterns. […]

Spring Heel Jack – Live (2003)

Dec 06, 2006 by Mr. Nau This experimental live set gets miscategorized in the electronic bin, featuring over an hour of improvisational free jazz. The musical talent here is enormous, but it is certainly difficult to stay with at times. It mellows out toward the end. This is strictly for fans of extremely unconventional improvised […]

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