Jazz Listening

Want some contemporary jazz? Check out Hidden Land from Béla Fleck & the Flecktones. The music is way out there. Lead by a virtuosic banjoist, the group brings an unusual easthetic to the world of jazz with the fuse of bluegrass, rock, and world music. Hidden Land may not speak to jazz purist, but it is a damn fine work from the playful interactions to colorful intonations to skillful improvisations.

Sonny Rollins’ The Complete Prestige Recordings is the 7-CD set showcasing Rollins’ street, hard-bop style. He has a big, bold, and beautiful tone on the tenor saxophone, and his thematic improvisation is both imaginative and elaborative.

I am still working my way into Bill Evans’ 12-disc The Complete Riverside Recordings. I have a thing for jazz piano, and Evans is one of my favorites. So far, the trio is amazing. Evans has an exceptional sense of jazz harmony as well as a sensational lyrical individuality.