Berton. Digitally remastered by Steve Hoffman. With this session, recorded in the summer of 1957, John Coltrane came out from behind the harmonic safety net of a three-horn frontline to focus on his own imposing gifts as an improviser. As the only horn on TRANEING IN, the young tenor giant revels in the spotlight, demonstrating some of the hard-won lessons from his long apprenticeship with Thelonious Monk's group that very summer at New York's Five Spot club. Red Garland basks in the cruise-control cool of the Art Taylor/Paul Chambers rhythm team on the title tune, and his jaunty opening chords serve to italicize this blues' deep, deep groove. When Coltrane enters, the rhythm section ups the ante, from Basie-esque tippling to a driving testimonial. Coltrane's dense harmonic variations unwind in nervous, compulsive layers of sound. Yet for all his complexity, a fervent preacher's cry remains at the heart of his every utterance. After a stunning Chambers solo, Garland returns with intricate Bud Powell-like variations and stately, driving block chords which incite Coltrane to further melodic delirium. Typical of his other Prestige dates, Coltrane carefully contrasts edgy moments of tension with interludes of gentle restraint. Chambers' sultry opening chords to ""Slow Dance"" give this ballad an oddly spectral cast, until Trane doubles up on the changes. ""Bass Blues"" finds the limber Chambers doubling the melody with Coltrane, as Garland and Taylor intersperse witty little asides, while ""You Leave Me Breathless"" is Coltrane at his most romantic, soaring on angel wings into an expressive upper register. Finally, Coltrane and Chambers roar ahead like...well, like a runaway train, on ""Soft Lights And Sweet Music,"" as Taylor and Garland hold on for dear life.Down Beat - 4 Stars - ""...destined to be a major influence..."""  (less)

Michael Cuscuna. Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on February 25, 1964. Originally released on Blue Note (4163). Includes liner notes by A.B. Spellman and Bob Blumenthal. Digitally remastered using 24-bit technology by Rudy Van Gelder (Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey). This is part of the Blue Note Rudy Van Gelder Editions series. Remastered Japanese edition features an LP-style slipcase. CD comes in Jpn LP Sleeve. Before leaving the U.S. for Europe and his premature date with destiny, reedman/composer Eric Dolphy collaborated with Blue Note auteur Alfred Lion in early 1964 to produce his finest, most forward-looking recording. Having already stretched the bebop vocabulary beyond its breaking point as a sideman and leader, Dolphy finally zeroed in on his ideal vision of freedom and form with OUT TO LUNCH, creating a style of group interplay that remains unique more than 30 years later. That's because in vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, bassist Richard Davis and 19-year-old drummer Tony Williams, Dolphy encountered a dauntless, intuitive rhythm section that could delineate time without stating it, while providing a harmonic backdrop that was expressive and free. On the odd metric figurations of the title tune, the rhythm section constantly reacts and regroups around Dolphy's fulminating, vocalized alto lines. Occasionally they come together to swing in the traditional sense of ensemble interplay--as they do on Freddie Hubbard's bumble bee trumpet solo--but more often than not they abstract the pulse in bold cubist slivers of color and wide expanses of silence. Thelonious Monk's influence is keenly felt in Dolphy's playful writing, especially on ""Hat and Beard"" and ""Straight Up And Down."" The latter employs a bold comical theme whose wide intervallic leaps and stammering rhythm accents portray the sauntering gait of a drunk. The former is a nod to the letter and spirit of Monk, and Dolphy's bass clarinet playing is fervent, forceful and hilariously human. Finally, ""Something Sweet, Something Tender"" and ""Gazzellioni"" focus on the more ruminative side of Dolphy's art, first in tandem with Davis' expressive arco playing, then in a dancing, exhilirating flute feature--the most swinging ensemble work of the date. OUT TO LUNCH is an innovative document by one of the most emotional, resourceful reedmen in jazz history."  (less)

Includes liner notes by Joe Goldberg. Remastered Japanese edition. With his tart, slightly sharp timbre, fervent vocal cry, and Bird-like rhythmic inclinations, alto saxophonist Jackie McLean put a lot of ooomph in hard bop. Throughout the 1950s the Harlem native apprenticed with the likes of Miles Davis and Art Blakey, steadily gaining confidence in his command of harmony and balladry. But the bluesy, church-like quality which came to distinguish hard bop always seemed to come naturally to McLean. NEW SOIL finds McLean playing to his strengths with a powerhouse band of youngsters in the spring of 1959. And with its mature mix of no nonsense groove tunes and up-tempo, exploratory solo flights, NEW SOIL remains one of McLean's greatest achievements. Much credit belongs to the mightily underrated Walter Davis, Jr., a cliche-free pianist in the tradition of Monk and Bud Powell, who pens four distinctive tunes: The rocking ""Greasy"" proceeds from the kind of boogie-woogie groove that was Louis Jordan's legacy to Elvis, and ""Davis Cup"" is a hard-charging mix of big band accents and Milesian harmonic movement, while ""Sweet Cakes"" and ""Formidable"" mix freely from Latin and blues sources. And what a rhythm section. On ""Hip Strut,"" Paul Chambers and Pete LaRoca set up a deep, mentholated blues groove, with hip little stop-time accents and melodic articulations, that's earthy yet transparent. Davis' coquettish comping teases McLean and Donald Byrd into swinging, expressive refrains after each vamp, before he breaks into his own elegant brand of funk. And then there's McLean's thrilling ""Minor Apprehension,"" which showcases the rhythm section's interplay and cohesion at an ungodly tempo. McLean and Byrd hand-glide through the changes with cutting testimonies, while LaRoca's famous solo--morphing out of time in a bold abstraction of the tune--is often cited as a precursor to the free-form innovations of Tony Williams."  (less)

Michael Cuscuna. Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on February 25, 1964. Originally released on Blue Note (4163). Includes liner notes by A.B. Spellman and Bob Blumenthal. Digitally remastered using 24-bit technology by Rudy Van Gelder (Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey). This is part of the Blue Note Rudy Van Gelder Editions series. Before leaving the U.S. for Europe and his premature date with destiny, reedman/composer Eric Dolphy collaborated with Blue Note auteur Alfred Lion in early 1964 to produce his finest, most forward-looking recording. Having already stretched the bebop vocabulary beyond its breaking point as a sideman and leader, Dolphy finally zeroed in on his ideal vision of freedom and form with OUT TO LUNCH, creating a style of group interplay that remains unique more than 30 years later. That's because in vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, bassist Richard Davis and 19-year-old drummer Tony Williams, Dolphy encountered a dauntless, intuitive rhythm section that could delineate time without stating it, while providing a harmonic backdrop that was expressive and free. On the odd metric figurations of the title tune, the rhythm section constantly reacts and regroups around Dolphy's fulminating, vocalized alto lines. Occasionally they come together to swing in the traditional sense of ensemble interplay--as they do on Freddie Hubbard's bumble bee trumpet solo--but more often than not they abstract the pulse in bold cubist slivers of color and wide expanses of silence. Thelonious Monk's influence is keenly felt in Dolphy's playful writing, especially on ""Hat and Beard"" and ""Straight Up And Down."" The latter employs a bold comical theme whose wide intervallic leaps and stammering rhythm accents portray the sauntering gait of a drunk. The former is a nod to the letter and spirit of Monk, and Dolphy's bass clarinet playing is fervent, forceful and hilariously human. Finally, ""Something Sweet, Something Tender"" and ""Gazzellioni"" focus on the more ruminative side of Dolphy's art, first in tandem with Davis' expressive arco playing, then in a dancing, exhilirating flute feature--the most swinging ensemble work of the date. OUT TO LUNCH is an innovative document by one of the most emotional, resourceful reedmen in jazz history."  (less)

notes by Joe Goldberg. This is part of the Blue Note Limited Edition Connoisseur series. Remastered Japanese edition. Jazz pianist Walter Davis Jr. is one of those solid, dependable accompanists--for Art Blakey, Jackie McLean, Max Roach, and others--whose worth sometimes gets taken for granted. DAVIS CUP, Davis's debut as a leader, was originally released in 1959 and remains a hard-bop fan's delight. Davis's style is a nigh on perfect synthesis of the mercurial bebop of Bud Powell and the thoughtful cool of Thelonious Monk. With a group that's quintessentially Blue Note (Jackie McLean, pre-funk Donald Byrd, Art Taylor, and Sam Jones) and a program of earnestly swinging originals, Davis's CUP surely runneth over in the best possible way.  (less)

(7200). Includes liner notes by Joe Goldberg and Chris Albertson. Miles Davis Quintet: Miles Davis (trumpet); John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); Red Garland (piano); Paul Chambers (acoustic bass); Philly Joe Jones (drums). Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey on May 11 and October 26, 1956. Originally released on Prestige (7200). Includes liner notes by Joe Goldberg and Chris Albertson. Personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet); John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); Red Garland (piano); Paul Chambers (bass); Philly Joe Jones (drums). Recorded at Van Gelder Studios, Hackensack, New Jersey on May 11 & October 26, 1956. Originally released on Prestige (7200). Includes liner notes by Joe Goldberg and Chris Albertson. This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players. Personnel: Miles Davis (trumpet); John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); Red Garland (piano); Paul Chambers (bass); Philly Joe Jones (drums). Recorded at Van Gelder Studios, Hackensack, New Jersey on May 11 & October 26, 1956. Originally released on Prestige (7200). Includes liner notes by Jason Koransky. Remastered Japanese edition. The final in a series of legendary recordings with the classic Miles Davis Quintet, STEAMIN' is distinguished by the virtuosity of drummer Joseph Rudolph Jones. Philly Joe's soulful, stylish command of the drum set's technical demands (his remarkable coordination, touch and speed of hand) and his wily command of time demonstrate why he is venerated as an innovator. Philly Joe played right on top of the beat, sometimes spilling over ahead of it. He took more chances, and pulled off more daring polyrhythmic designs than any drummer of his generation save for Max Roach and Art Blakey. Nowhere is this better illustrated than on an abstract romp through Gillespie's ""Salt Peanuts."" Jones sets a fierce boppish pace with fragmented shards of Afro-Cuban accents, Vaudevillian rim shots and elegant counterpoint. An unbridled Coltrane is in his element, but how about the fleet-fingered Garland, or the soaring, wailing Davis? Philly Joe comes flying out of Coltrane's final chorus with richly accented rolls, and architecturally perfect rises and falls in texture and dynamics that possess an uncanny harmonic logic--a virtuoso storyteller. Elsewhere, Miles and the band enjoy a bold run through Monk's ""Well You Needn't."" They take a more supple approach to ""Diane,"" ""Something I Dreamed Last Night"" and ""Surrey With The Fringe On Top"" (from the musical ""Oklahoma""), transforming them into unlikely Davis classics. On ""Surrey...,"" the trumpeter free-falls through the tune's thematic arc over a definitive quarter-note groove. Coltrane follows with long harmonic elisions that deconstruct"  (less)

notes by Ira Gitler. Digitally remastered by Steve Hoffman. Miles Davis Quintet: Miles Davis (trumpet); John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); Red Garland (piano); Paul Chambers (bass); Philly Joe Jones (drums). Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey on October 26, 1956. Originally released on Prestige (7094). Includes liner notes by Ira Gitler. Digitally remastered by JVC using XRCD (Extended Resolution Compact Disc) technology. Miles Davis Quintet: Miles Davis (trumpet); John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); Red Garland (piano); Paul Chambers (acoustic bass); Philly Joe Jones (drums). Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey on October 26, 1956. Originally released on Prestige (7094). Includes liner notes by Ira Gitler. Digitally remastered by Kirk Felton (1987, Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California). Miles Davis Quintet: Miles Davis (trumpet); John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); Red Garland (piano); Paul Chambers (bass); Philly Joe Jones (drums). Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey on October 26, 1956. Originally released on Prestige (7094). Includes liner notes by Ira Gitler. Digitally remastered using 20-bit K2 Super Coding System technology. This is part of the Prestige Records 50th Anniversary Commemorative Special Edition series. This is a Super Audio Hybrid CD playable on Super Audio CD players and regular CD players. Miles Davis Quintet: Miles Davis (trumpet); John Coltrane (tenor saxophone); Red Garland (piano); Paul Chambers (acoustic bass); Philly Joe Jones (drums). Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey on October 26, 1956. Originally released on Prestige (7094). Includes liner notes by Ira Gitler. Japanese remaster; part of the ""Masters Of Jazz: The History Series 194901969."" COOKIN' WITH THE MILES DAVIS QUINTET documents the last half of the band's final marathon sessions for Prestige, presenting a dynamic portrait of Miles' evolving art. He emerges from the opening tumult of Sonny Rollins' ""Airegin,"" taunting The Rhythm Section (as they were already known) by slowly crafting phrases and marking off wide expanses of space, only to leap back into the maelstrom with long, expressive lines and throttled cries before John Coltrane comes tearing through. Listen to The Rhythm Section's delight in the man-eating tempo of ""Tune Up,"" the big band fills and set-ups that stoke each soloist's furnace, and Philly Joe Jones' electrifying rhythmic exchanges with Miles. Miles--like Rollins and Monk--had cultivated a vast knowledge of popular songs, with a knack for unearthing those oddballs that lent themselves to a jazz interpretation. The Rhythm Section etches a deliberate, definitive lounge tempo for ""When"  (less)