#1228 Martial Solal – Martial Solal Trio at Newport ’63

This reissued CD has a facsimile of the front and back of the original 1963 vinyl release, featuring the insult dressed up as a compliment from Dizzy Gillespie: “It is remarkable to discover that an artist so far removed from the roots of Jazz as Algeria and France can adapt himself so magnificently, and can …

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#34 Fiona Apple – When the Pawn…

When the pawn hits the conflicts he thinks like a king What he knows throws the blows when he goes to the fight And he'll win the whole thing 'fore he enters the ring There's nobody to batter when your mind is your might So when you go solo you hold your own hand And …

#353 Cults Percussion Ensemble

I’ve been to Cults, they’ve got a nice garden centre there. There’s a lot of nice garden centres south of Aberdeen in the Deeside area. I should know, I used to work in one, in Banchory (about 14 miles from Cults on the A93). This CD is a lovingly remastered and reissued release by Mr …

#360 Miles Davis – Kind of Blue

This is THE jazz album. As Stephen Thomas Erlewine writing for Allmusic.com so accurately puts it, it’s the “Citizen Kane of jazz”. But exactly what is it about it that makes it so special? There’s the sheer craftmanship of the musicians Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, James Cobb and Wynton …

#1139 Annie Ross with the Tony Kinsey Quintet

This is one of my grandfather’s records and a singer I’d never heard of before I owned this. It’s really something quite special however. Annie Ross is a British-born American-resident jazz singer and actor who started young – her first regular acting gig came at the age of five. Interestingly she came back to the …

#639 Woody Herman – Woody’s Winners

This is a great live jazz album, and aside from the quality of the music, it really captures the excitement and spontaneity of live performance, and the audience’s reaction and applause. This is another of my grandfather’s jazz records, another cheapo from the CBS I Love Jazz 1984 reissue. It was recorded live at Basin …

#65 Chet Baker Sextet – Chet is Back!

Giving Miles Davis a run for his money in terms of who’s ‘coolest’, this is an album of pure jazz perfection. A stunning recording, from RCA Italia in 1962, it features 8 BeBop jams from trumpeter Baker and his band. These jams are loose in terms of their wonderfully swinging rhythm, but the band are …