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Feature
 

Chick Corea/The Ultimate Adventure
On the second part of “Three Ghouls” we are reminded of everything we ever loved about Chick’s early fusion playing—the attention to melody and to pleasing combinations of instrumental timbre. Corea’s keyboard work is at times reminiscent of some of the best Joe Zawinul work with early Weather Report or of Chick’s own first incarnation of Return to Forever, with Airto Moreira, Joe Henderson, Flora Purim, and Stanley Clarke. Airto is in place on this track, with Hubert Laws, another Corea collaborator of old, playing some gorgeous flute. Carles Benavent takes care of the bass work, while Steve Gadd plays drums and Corea doubles on electronic percussion.

The Ultimate Adventure manages to successfully fuse Corea’s work from many different periods and many different areas of interest into a whole that is truly groundbreaking for this artist. As a searching pianist and composer, Corea never really accepted the idea that he could only do one thing at a time. He moved in ever more directions at once, and now in his sixth decade, he seems determined to quicken the pace, creating more and more music in a variety of formats. Last year’s Elektric Band release To the Stars was successful to a point, but ultimately collapsed a bit under its own weight. Still, the music was fairly compelling and it was clear that Corea was finding some new inspiration in the sci-fi work of his mentor, L. Ron Hubbard. The Ultimate Adventure appealed to Corea largely because he saw the opportunity to include Spanish, Arabic, and Moorish musical themes and elements in his work. This thematic element is something Adventure shares with Corea’s most successful previous recording melding these musical elements into a grand programmatic format: My Spanish Heart.

Reissues

June Christy/Ballads for Night People
In 1958 Christy recorded the first of two exceptional albums with her husband, saxophonist Bob Cooper, who also penned the arrangements for them. The first, June’s Got Rhythm, is probably her most unabashedly upbeat recording, featuring swinging tunes arranged for a small group that allowed Christy’s jazz side to come to the fore as it never had previously. 1959’s Ballads for Night People returned to the tried and true formula of featuring Christy singing primarily sophisticated ballads with much more lyrical complexity than the average popular singer was able to manage.

Jimmy Smith/At the Organ Vol. 3

When Jimmy Smith at the Organ, V. 3 was released, it was this newcomer’s third release in four months. This outpouring of music occurred during a series of marathon sessions resulting in the CDs Jimmy Smith at the Organ, volumes 1,2, and 3. This third was recorded during consecutive days, June 17 and 18, 1956. Needless to say, Smith provided a high level of output in his initial years behind the organ, and he continued to be prodigious throughout his lengthy career.

Don Cherry/
Symphony for Improvisers

Trumpet player Don Cherry was pretty much Blue Note’s premiere find in the 60s avant-garde jazz sweepstakes. The label was a bit late to the party, and though they ended up releasing excellent recordings by formidable avant-garde names such as Eric Dolphy, Ornette Coleman, and Cecil Taylor, that was only after these musicians had already done groundbreaking work on other labels who proceeded to drop them eventually. 1964’s Complete Communion was Cherry’s first for Blue Note, and it featured tenor saxophonist Gato Barbieri, who became a part of Cherry’s regular European group. In the U.S. Cherry was playing with an ensemble that included tenor sax player Pharoah Sanders before he collaborated with John Coltrane. Symphony for Improvisers, recorded in 1966, combines the two, at least on one track.

Essential Jazz
Want to start a jazz collection but not sure where to start? Maybe you already listen to jazz, but want to check out a new artist and don't know which is the best disc to start with. Don't worry, we're here to help. Click here to visit out Essential Jazz Albums page, a list of recordings every jazz fan should have. Then check out some Classic Album Reviews to get the lowdown on some of the best jazz records ever recorded. Also visit our Box Sets area for comprehensive collections, and New Releases to see what's out and what's new and what's coming.
Top Lists

 

When it comes to a hot artist like Miles or Coltrane, or a great genre like Brazilian Jazz, what recordings are the cream of the crop? Jazzitude Top Lists let you delve a little deeper into an artist or genre catalog so that you can build your collection not only up, but out. We'll be adding new Top Lists on a regular basis. Here are a few we've done:

Check out our recommendations for Romantic Jazz, the perfect soundtrack to accompany those candlight dinners and flowers.

Check out reissues and remasters from these jazz record labels:


Blue Note


Concord Jazz


Verve Music Group (Verve, BlueThumb, GRP, Impulse!)

 
CLASSIC ALBUM

Cannonball Adderley/
Somethin' Else

Julian "Cannonball" Adderley burst upon the jazz scene in 1955, sitting in with Oscar Pettiford's group at the Bohemia in New York and almost instantly being hailed as the "new Bird". While Adderley had certainly listened to and incorporated Charlie Parker's work into his playing by this time, the foundation for his funky, graceful alto style came from careful listening to the work of Johnny Hodges and Benny Carter, as well as tenor players like Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, and, of course, Lester Young.

Adderly worked as a band director at Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from 1948 until shortly after his appearance at the Bohemia, when he and brother Nat formed a quintet and began to tour. Julian broke that group up in '57 to join Miles Davis' group, and in March of 1958 recorded the album Somethin' Else as leader with Davis, pianist Hank Jones, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Art Blakey. Adderley learned much from his involvement with Miles, not only from Davis himself, but from saxophonist John Coltrane, who was also a member of the sextet. Cannonball's playing on classic Davis sessions like Milestones reveal a new discipline in the use of space and silence as well as a more adventurous harmonic ear.

 

Other CD Reviews--Read the review, buy the album:
Mindi Abair/Life Less Ordinary
Various Artists/Gospel Music
Bennie Maupin Ensemble/Penumbra
Dr. John/Right Place, Right Time (Courtesy of All Things Looziane)
Jaco Pastorius Big Band/The Word Is Out!
Susheela Raman/Music For Crocodiles
Hiromi/Spiral
Dom Minasi/The Vampire's Revenge
Manu Katche/Neighbourhood
Christian Scott/Rewind That
Erin Boheme/What Love Is
Rachel Z/Grace
Bradley Leighton/Back to the Funk
David Axelrod/The Edge
Chick Corea/The Ultimate Adventure
Dexter Gordon/The Complete Prestige Recordings
Tineke Postma/For the Rhythm
Nina Simone/Sings the Blues
Nina Simone/Silk and Soul
Nina Simone/Forever Young, Gifted & Black
Isaac Hayes/Ultimate Isaac Hayes: Can You Dig It?
Susan Tedeschi/Hope and Desire
Ilona Knopfler/Live the Life
Marc Johnson/Shades of Jade
Cintron/Back In The Day
Geoffrey Keezer/Wildcrafted: Live at the Dakota
Liberation Music Orchestra/Not In Our Name

Sonny Rollins/Without a Song: The 9/11 Concert
Bobo Stenson/Goodbye
Jamie Cullum/Catching Tales
Various Artists/Progressions: 100 Years of Jazz Guitar
Various Artists/La Guitara: Gender Bending Strings


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