Two Don Cherry classics – back to back in a single set! Where Is Brooklyn is easily one of the most powerful albums ever cut by Don Cherry – a searing set of tracks done for Blue Note in the late 60s – and featuring some tremendous tenor work by Pharoah Sanders! There's a tightness and level of energy here that surpasses even Cherry's other excellent Blue Note sessions – a rawness that recalls the style forged often on key ESP albums of the 60s, but honed here into a slightly tighter mode. Sanders' horn is especially well-placed in the set – and pushes Cherry past the spacier notes of other recordings, in a way that unlocks fire from the years with Ornette – but which opens up into a much freer groove. The rest of the group includes Henry Grimes on bass and Ed Blackwell on drums – both a perfect match for the quartet – and titles include the 17 minute "Unite", plus "There Is A Bomb", "Awake Nu", "Taste Maker", and "The Thing". Eternal Rhythm is one of Don Cherry's most hypnotic albums ever – a full album-length performance that features one of his first experiments with mixing jazz and global elements! The set was captured at the 1968 Berlin Jazz Festival – and mixes Cherry's amazing work on cornet, flute, and a myriad of world instruments with key contributions from European improvisers who include Eje Thelin on trombone, Bernt Rosengren on tenor and oboe, Karl Berger on vibes, Joachim Kuhn on piano and prepared piano, and Albert Mangelsdorf on trombone! There's even a bit of gamelon elements in some of the music, and Sonny Sharrock plays guitar too – and although free at times, the music comes together with an amazing sense of cohesion by the end – a vision that would inspire others to move into new territory in the decade to come. ~ Dusty Groove
Miles Davis, recorded in Stockholm – two different shows with only two years between them – but almost a lifetime of difference in the way the music is presented! The 1967 show has the Miles Davis group still hanging onto the greatness of its classic mid 60s lineup – with Wayne Shorter on tenor, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Anthony Williams on drums – making the special kind of quickly-creative magic that really graced Davis in a live setting at the time – as they soar over versions of "Gingerbread Boy", "Footprints", "Agitation", and "Round Midnight". The 1969 show has the more electric side of Miles starting to show – partly in the use of electric piano from Chick Corea in the group – but also in the longer form of some of the tracks, which have that more open vibe that would mark the start of the 70s for Davis. Other players include Wayne Shorter on tenor, Dave Holland on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums – and titles include "Bitches Brew", "Masqualero", "Nevertiti", and "Paraphernalia". ~ Dusty Groove
A landmark album of vocal jazz – and one of the few sessions that John Coltrane ever cut with a singer! In a way, the album's more Hartman's than it is Coltrane's – given that Johnny's warm, mellow style of singing isn't as free and open as Trane at his most adventurous – but at another level, the album's got a great approach to Coltrane's gentler side, one that wasn't showing up on a lot of his Impulse albums of the time! Overall, the album's got an extremely haunting quality, and McCoy Tyner's piano adds as much to Hartman's hip voice as Coltrane's mellow tenor. Titles include some well-chosen moody standards – including "Lush Life", "Dedicated To You", and "Autumn Serenade". (Part of the excellent Acoustic Sounds series – heavy vinyl and cover!) ~ Dusty Groove
Chet Baker in the 80s was a really wonderful thing – hardly the sound of an aging musician stumbling towards the end of his life, as so many others tend to paint this time – and instead, a continually-creative individual who was really finding ways to get around his losses and make some tremendous new sounds in the process! One of the greatest things about Chet during these years was his sense of an unusual style of group – and that's definitely the case here as he works on both recordings with a drum-less trio – the great French pianist Michel Grailler on both sets, and either Dominique LeMerle or Riccardo Del Fra on bass – the latter of whom is a player who appeared on some of the best Baker recordings of the final decade. Tracks are nice and long, filled with unusual changes, and some wonderful phrasing from Baker – very different than the early days, but equally beautiful! Titles include "Arbor Way", "Walkin", "Lament", "Just Friends", "Stella By Starlight", "Easy Living", "But Not For Me", and "Funk In Deep Freeze". (Hand-numbered limited edition – on heavyweight vinyl!) ~ Dusty Groove
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