Even at a transitional stage, Miles Davis managed to pull off the beautiful classic Seven Steps to Heaven. “Basin Street Blues” starts off with Davis’s startled, muted tone. Then he opens up on the title track and upgrooves you all the way up to heaven. The tune remains fresh and invigorating every time I come back to it.
The live session in New York City, Birdland Club February 21, 1954 showcased the masters of hard bop at work. “Wee-Dot” is a perfect illustration. Art Blakey kicks off a series of heavy bombs on the trapset. The quintet joins in briefly before Lou Donaldson blazes his notes on the saxophone solo. Clifford Brown takes over the second solo with speed and efficiency. Then Horace Silver lays out some of the most intoxicating hard-blues phrases on the keyboard while Blakey and bassist Curley Russell anchoring the aggressive, driving rhythm. This is a must-experience album from start to finish and many savory repeats are necessary. Even the slow-burning “If I Had You” is achingly beautiful.
By leaving out the trumpet, Ron Carter’s Dear Miles, a tribute to his former boss, gives no clue of Miles Davis’s original classics. Although the rhythm quartet (bass, piano, percussion and drums) is uplifting, it lacks the artistic direction from the Prince of Darkness. The album reminds of us of how brilliant Davis was as a leader.
A romantic masterpiece with an ineffable grace, John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman is the result of a gigged up between a lyrical saxophone player and a long-note ballad singer. Coltrane’s rich, aching tone is a perfect foil to Hartman’s deep, lush baritone. Every track hits a sensual spot, and their sumptuous phrasings make Billy Strayhorn’s “Lush Life” such mesmerizing lustful pleasures.
One of Charles Mingus’s major albums in the late 1950s, Blues & Roots swings off with a gospel-laced “Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting” and never cops out. From the slow, soaring “Cryin’ Blues” to the swift, rousing “E’s Flat Ah’s Flat Too,” the nine-piece band plays like a wild beast with lots of soul.
The sounds Miles Davis and his men Brew up in this double Bitches are not easy to articulate. From the funk-rock rhythm to the haunting horn to the shapeless melody to the weightless harmony to the serene chaos, you will have to experience them yourself. The organic groove, which made up of four drummers, three electric keyboardists and two bassists, will travel up and down your vein, but never to your nerve, not even near.
Two extended improvisational pieces recorded in 1975 demonstrate Keith Jarrett’s deep lyricism, expressive technique and mastery of solo piano. Furthermore, his total physical participation with the music is enticing. He once explained the noises he made were his thoughts that can’t get out onto the keyboard.
Michel Camilo is a piano prodigy who could maneuver amazingly between jazz and classical. Piano Concerto, Suite & Caribe welcomes listeners into his classical world. From his opening notes on the full-orchestrated piece to his solo ending, Camilo’s spontaneous energy and exemplary execution will leave you breathless. This is a classical album that I could actually get through and still want to hear again.
The combined energy from trumpeter Clifford Brown, drummer Max Roach and tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins was like the mix of Grand Marnier, Red Bull and Hennessy. At Basin Street rushes off with “What is This Thing Called Love” and never lets up. Brown and Rollins blow like men on fire over Roach’s charging power. Five months after the recordings, Brown’s unfortunate death in a car accident terminated their collaboration. Brown was only twenty-five.
With drummer Max Roach, pianist Tommy Flanagan and bassist Doug Watkins hold down the rhythm section, Sonny Rollins lays out some of his finest solos on Saxophone Colossus. From the catchy opening of “St. Thomas” to the thematic improvisation on “Blue 7,” this album is a jazz masterpiece. The cover is an artwork itself.