Richard “Groove” Holmes was part of an early-1960s wave of jazz organists who were recorded by mainstream jazz labels. The success of organists Jimmy Smith and Shirley Scott in the late 1950s was evidence that there was interest in organ combos on a large scale. Up until then, trios of organ, guitar and drums were the staple of black after-hours clubs in major cities.

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It turns out there were two Modern Jazz Quartets. The first was the one we know well and have long loved. It was formed in 1952 and featured pianist John Lewis, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, bassist Percy Heath and drummer Kenny Clarke, who was replaced by Connie Kay in 1955. They played what became known as chamber jazz—a refined style with group interplay typically found in classical music.

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Another month has passed, with dozens of new CDs pouring in. Here are six that stand out:

Randy Ingram—Sound Within (Chill Tone). Pianist Randy Ingram has a lovely, sensitive keyboard touch, as evidenced on this moving tribute to pianist Bill Evans. Backing Randy are Rufus Reid on bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums. Both Joe and Rufus played with Evans—Joe as a member of the final Bill Evans Trio and Reid during a run at Boston’s Jazz Workshop, where I saw them play in 1978. Each track here is more touching than the previous one. Most rewarding is that Randy didn’t make the mistake of trying to mirror Evans but instead has his feel and grace but weaves the songs his way. One of the very finest Bill Evans tribute albums. The Evans tracks: Turn Out the Stars, My Foolish Heart, Ezz-thetic, Letter to Evan, For All We Know and Mother of Earl. Randy included three of his own: Aloft, Sound Within and Remembrance. To buy, go here.

Here’s Ezz-thetic…

Various—Honoring Pat Martino Vol. 2 (High Note). The late guitarist Pat Martino left a mark on all contemporary jazz guitarists. An intensive, swinging player in the late 1960s and ‘70s, he suffered a hemorrhaged arteriovenous malformation that caused a near-fatal seizure in 1980. As a result, he had to relearn the guitar and made a formidable comeback. He died in 2021 at age 77. On this 10-track album, 18 guitarists pay homage to Martino (their names are listed on the cover above) by choosing songs associated with him. If you dig Pat Martino, you’ll love this album. To buy, go here.

Here’s Howard Paul playing Lean Years…

And here’s Dave Stryker and Paul Bollenback playing A Portrait of Diana…

Ronni Ben-Hur—Abriendo Puerta (Dot Time). This is the second of Ronni’s Cuban Notes project, and it’s terrific. Ronni’s guitar is backed by Alejandro Falcón on piano, Pedro Pablo Gutiérrez on bass, Ruy López-Nussa on drums, Octavio Rodríguez Rivera on percussion with Emir Santa Cruz on tenor saxophone (tracks 1, 4, 5 and 7) and Osdalgia Lesmes on vocal (tracks 3 and 5). Recorded at DBega Studios in Havana in November, the album features powerful, authentic Cuban rhythms and music, with Ronni on top with his beautiful guitar. From boleros to son, the album is a sensual, high-energy tribute to cultural cooperation and collaboration. To buy, go here.

Here’s Mi Mejor Canción…

Fathers—Fathers (Blue Note). Fathers is a jazz groove group featuring keyboardist Kiefer Shackelford, bassist Ben Carr, drummer Nate Smith and producer Kenneth Blume. The result is a beat-forward chill album with jazz smarts and cutting-edge atmospheric instrumentals. Think of this as an updating of Pat Metheny meets Roy Ayers and Deodato. Whatever you choose to call this genre, the music sounds like Champagne. I last posted on Kiefer in June here. To buy, go here.

Here’s Pearl…

Rebecca Rafla—Fundamentally Unfinished (self-released). Rebecca Rafla’s voice has a breezy, joyous sound infused with jazz sensibility and phrasing. An Indianapolis native, Rafla also plays flute. There are six originals here centered on love along with four smartly chosen standards. She’s backed by the great Steve Allee on piano, Patrick Wright on guitar. Jesse Wittman on bass, Kenny Phelps and Richard “Sleepy” Floyd on drums, Rob Dixon on saxophone, John Raymond on trumpet, Brian Pattison on trombone and Kathryn Hershberger, Yoonhae Swanson, Anna Czerniak and Rachel Patrick on strings. To buy, go here.

Here’s Roberto Menescal’s Little Boat…

Antonio Adolfo—Balaios (AAM Music). Pianist, composer and arranger Antonio Adolfo has recorded more than 24 albums over 60 years. He grew up in a musical family in Rio de Janeiro—his mother was a violinist in the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra—and he began studying music at the age 7. By age 17, he was already playing professionally. His teachers included Eumir Deodato and, in Paris, Nadia Boulanger. On this one, he pays tribute to his early years. Translated into English, balaios means large straw or wicker baskets, which in this case carry fond memories. This album is relentlessly pretty, song after song after song. He has much in common with Joao Donato in that regard. To buy, go here.

Here’s Claudia…

And here’s Journey to the Interior…

By the time pianist Bobby Timmons recorded This Here Is Bobby Timmons in January 1960 for Riverside, his first studio album as a sole leader, he had been recording and touring as a sideman for four years.

Among his sideman-LP winners were Kenny Dorham’s ‘Round About Midnight at the Cafe Bohemia (1956), Chet Baker’s live concert at Los Angeles’s Forum Theatre (1956), Anthony Ortega’s Jazz for Young Moderns (1957), Hank Mobley’s Hank (1957), Curtis Fuller’s The Opener (1957), Maynard Ferguson’s Boy With Lots of Brass (1957, Lee Morgan’s The Cooker (1957), Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers’ Moanin’ (1958)—at which point he recorded and toured with Blakey—and The Cannonball Adderley Quintet in San Francisco (1959), when he was a member of that group, too.

Now, Craft Recordings has released This Here Is Bobby Timmons on 180-gram vinyl, with lacquers cut from the original tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, and tip-on jackets, replicating the original artwork. The album will also be released digitally in 192/24 hi-res audio. The trio featured Timmons (p), Sam Jones (b) and Jimmy Cobb (d).

In many ways, this LP is one of the first soul-jazz releases, setting the stage for an entire genre in the 1960s. It also shows off Timmons’s gospel-jazz feel that would be mirrored by many other players. Timmons was known for his energy and earthy grace on the keyboard, and his contribution remains overlooked and under-celebrated. The deterioration of his health and his early death were a tragedy.

Timmons was born in Philadelphia in 1935. His uncle, Robert, played piano and taught Timmons at age 6 in 1941 before also taking on pianist McCoy Tyner. Timmons began playing in front of an audience at the church where his grandfather was a minister.

After graduating from high school, Timmons received a scholarship to study at the Philadelphia Musical Academy. When his studies were completed in 1954, he moved to New York. His first significant showcase album was Moanin’. He had written the title track. When I interviewed Benny Golson in 2008, who had been a member of the Jazz Messengers at the same time, I asked him about Timmons and his composition. Here’s what Golson said:

JW: Bobby Timmons’s Moanin’ was on the same album. What role did you play in that song’s creation?
BG: I just pushed Bobby to take it seriously. Bobby used to have a lick he liked to play every time we finished a tune. He’d play what would become Moanin’s theme. Then he’d stop and laugh, and say, “Ah, that sure is funky.” That went on for a few weeks. By the time we got to Marty’s, a club in Columbus, Ohio, he had the first eight bars, the second eight and the last eight. All he needed was a bridge.

JW: How did the bridge come about?
BG: I called a rehearsal. Everyone wanted to know why we were rehearsing, since we had the band’s book down. I said we were going to do something new. At the club, I told Bobby we were going to put a bridge on the song he always played in between tunes. He said, “That thing? Oh that’s nothing. That’s just an old lick.” I said, “No Bobby, I hear a tune there. We’re all going to sit down here, and you’re going to go up on the bandstand and write a bridge to the tune. He didn’t want to do it. I said, “Trust me, this is the making of a great tune. Write a bridge.”

JW: What did he do?
BG: We went and sat down. After about a half hour, Bobby said, “Come see what you think of this.” I came up and he played it. I said, “No, no Bobby, it misses the point. You don’t have the same groove as the other melody.” He says, “Well you write it then.” I said, “No, this has to be you, Bobby. Come on, try again.” I sat back down, and about 15 minutes later, Bobby said, “Here it is.” I listened and said, “That’s it!” We learned the tune, played it that night and got everyone in the audience up dancing.

In addition to Moanin’, Timmons’s trio album featured two of his other best-known songs—This Here and Dat Dere, which later was given lyrics by Oscar brown Jr. and recorded on his album Sin & Soul, released in 1960. Two years later, vocalist Sheila Jordan recorded it on her debut album Portrait of Sheila.

Like a number of jazz musicians during this period, Timmons became addicted to drugs and alcohol, which greatly compromised his career by the late 1960s. In the early 1970s, touring became difficult due to unreliability. In 1974, he collapsed while on tour. He would die a month or so later of cirrhosis of the liver in New York in March 1974. He was 38.

You can read my interview with Benny Golson here.

To buy the vinyl, go here. To buy the download, go here.

Here’s Moanin’. Listen for Timmons’s brilliant locked-hands passage, and dig the tag he added of Peggy Lee’s Why Don’t You Do Right, recorded with Benny Goodman in 1942…

Here’s Peggy Lee’s hit (dig Louie Bellson’s stick twirls in the background at the opening, that’s a bass sax on the left and Dave Barbour, who would become Lee’s husband, is on guitar)…

Here’s This Here…

Here’s Dat Dere…

Here’s Oscar Brown Jr.’s cover of Dat Dere with his lyrics…

Here’s Sheila Jordan…

And here’s Brown on the Ed Sullivan Show in April 1961. Brown missed the first lyric line to be sure the child was off the slide before he recovers flawlessly on the second line…

Bonus: Here’s Timmons with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers playing Moanin’ live in Scheveningen, the Netherlands, in 1958, with Art Blakey (d), Lee Morgan (tp), Benny Golson (ts), Bobby Timmons (p) and Jymie Merritt (b). An astonishing Timmons solo…

In 1957, big-band singer David Allyn walked out of the Clinton Prison in Dannemora, N.Y., after serving two years for forging drug prescriptions. He had no job, no money and zero prospects. On the outside, time had passed him by. His last recording before his incarceration had taken place in 1949, backed by pianist Paul Smith’s quartet. Then came his drug habit to self-treat PTSD after Army service in North Africa during World War II.

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Classic American sounds include a Harley-Davidson peeling out, the top of a nickel-plated Zippo lighter opening and closing, the squeals of riders on amusement-park rides at dusk, a jukebox changing 45s, chords played on a Fender Telecaster, a college marching band, the engine of a muscle car being revved, sleigh bells in December, a lawnmower on a Saturday, a bat connecting with a hardball, the swoosh of a hoop’s net as a basketball passes through without touching the rim, and French fries sizzling in oil.

Add to the list the Oscar Peterson Trio, featuring Peterson on piano, Ray Brown on bass and Ed Thigpen on drums. The sound of these three playing together was sublime, swinging and tastefully in the pocket. This claim takes nothing away from other favorite piano trios, just that this one moved with extraordinary grace and purpose.

Now Mosaic has released The Classic Oscar Peterson Trio Studio Sessions, an eight-CD set featuring 125 tracks by Peterson, Brown and Thigpen. The material here appeared on the Verve, Limelight and Germany’s MPS labels, spanning from 1959 to 1965.

Newly remastered from original source tapes, the box corrals 14 LPs: A Jazz Portrait of Frank Sinatra, The Jazz Soul of Oscar Peterson, Porgy and Bess, Fiorello!, West Side Story, Affinity, Night Train, The Oscar Peterson Trio Plays, Canadiana Suite, We Get Requests, I/We Had a Ball, Action, The Lost Tapes and The Greatest Name in Jazz. Material pulled from three CDs are Night Train, Collectors’ Disc and Exclusively for My Friends.

This is the Oscar PetersonTrio at its peak, during the years when jazz at this level was universally respected and viewed nationally as fine art. This trio regularly sold out on tours and concerts, and Peterson became a household name as his records sold well, largely because buyers knew they were going to get accomplished playing and interpretations.

On a personal level, what’s glorious about this box is it unites all of the albums I bought as a kid and treasured and then sold off years later in the shift to CDs and then downsizing my analog gear. Best of all, the Peterson Trio on the box sounds better than ever. Why? Here’s Mosaic’s explanation:

“Due to dramatic improvements in analog-to-digital converters and our mastering process, we believe this set will be viewed as the most sonically faithful presentation of Peterson’s extraordinary musical output of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Our goal was to highlight the fine details, beauty, and unique sound inherent in his extraordinary output. This mastering process utilized hi-res 24-bit/192 kHz transfers from the original analog master tapes. The only exception is the MPS recordings, The Lost Tapes where the analog tapes were never found.”

What was left off this box were the nine American songbook composer albums recorded in the summer of 1959. Which, for me, is a sigh of relief, since those should be handled as a separate set rather than dramatically inflating the number of tracks and the price of this box. And frankly, I like this material better than the same old same old songs.

So why was the music produced by this trio special? That’s a tough call, since the Oscar Peterson Duo of 1950 and ‘51, and the trios and quartet that recorded subsequently on the Clef label in the 1950s were hardly chopped liver. The same goes for the trios of the 1970s and beyond. This trio featured Peterson with an especially sparkling dance quality thanks to his lighter touch on the keyboard and a commanding attack that didn’t go overboard.. As with most things classic, the seductions comes with knowing when the experience is just enough.

Most of all, Brown and Thigpen were one of the tightest bassist-drummer duos in the business, providing Peterson with impeccable time and a conversational backdrop. Brown was tasteful and solid straight-ahead bassist, and listening to his contrapuntal lines as Peterson plays is a joy in and of itself. Thigpen was equally juicy, keeping the tempos and execution breezy and light—but with a subtle element of intensity and drama. He played brushes so well you didn't miss the drumsticks.

For those who grew into jazz in the late 1960s and early ‘70s, listening to this Mosaic box will be like reconnecting with old friends. That was true for me of the Frank Sinatra album, West Side Story, We Get Requests and tracks like Shiny Stockings, Satin Doll, This Could Be the Start of Something Big, People, A Foggy Day, L’il Darlin, The Girl From Ipanema, Coney Island U.S.A. and so many others.

Listening over the weekend, I still remember dragging my thumb nail through the Peterson records’ taut cellophane at the opening of the album covers to liberate the LPs. My initial hope was that the record wasn’t warped, which would create a “wow” distortion in the sound. The excitement of these records was the expectation that they would be great. Every song Peterson took on was turned into gold.

What I especially love about this box is that all of the tracks are studio recordings. This trio tended to play a few ticks too fast in concert, largely a result of Peterson kicking off songs in a semi-sprint. In the studio, they were more relaxed and in a sensual zone.

I do hope Mosaic eventually gets around to releasing The Classic Oscar Peterson MPS Studio Sessions 1968-1971. I’d love to hear Girl Talk, Motions and Emotions, Tristeza on Piano, In Tune and the others remastered.

Bob Blumenthal’s liner notes are superb, and the 12-inch, 20-page booklet is loaded with exciting images.

To buy The Classic Oscar Peterson Trio Studio Sessions (Mosaic), go here.

From the box, here’s Shiny Stockings…

Here’s Satin Doll…

And here’s My One and Only Love…

Bonus: Here’s the trio in Holland in 1965 playing Maria…

The first thing you notice about the new Miles ‘56: The Prestige Recordings set from Craft Recordings is the sound. It’s warm, vivid and dimensional—as if you were sitting in the control booth on the days the 29 tracks were recorded in 1956.

Why was Davis recording for Prestige in 1956, you may ask, after he had signed a long-term Columbia contract in October 1955? The story behind this mutually beneficial arrangement was one of the shrewdest business deals in post-war jazz history.

Let’s start at the beginning. When George Avakian, Columbia’s pop and jazz chief, heard Davis perform ‘Round Midnight unannounced at the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1955, he immediately thought the trumpeter would be ideal for the label. The record business was entering the 12-inch LP era and Columbia was launching its national mail-order business. The label needed as much high-end jazz and pop product as possible to fill its pipelines. [Photo above of Miles Davis by Burt Goldblatt courtesy of CTSImages]

But Avakian faced a sizable hurdle. Davis was signed to Prestige and owed the label four albums. Avakian needed a plan that would favor both parties. He soon approached Prestige founder Bob Weinstock. Avakian said if he could sign Davis to Columbia immediately, without waiting until the four albums were recorded and released over the coming years, Weinstock would be handsomely rewarded.

Avakian said he wouldn’t release Davis’s first album for Columbia until 1957, giving Weinstock sufficient time to record all the tracks he needed for the four albums Davis owed Prestige.

Why would Weinstock agree to that? As Avakian told me during a 2010 interview, he informed Weinstock that as Davis’s popularity grew, as it surely would with Columbia’s marketing muscle, Prestige could issue one album a year and reap increasingly higher profits on album sales. Weinstock agreed to the terms.

In May and October 1956, Davis recorded all of the tracks that would wind up on Prestige’s Cookin’ (1957), Relaxin’ (1958), Workin’ (1960) and Steamin’ (1961). What’s more, each album featured “with the Miles Davis Quintet” in the cover title. Weinstock also had Davis record a bunch of tracks that were added to Prestige’s Collectors’ Items (1956) and Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants (1959).

Meanwhile, Avakian recorded Davis on October 26, 1955, June 5 and September 10, 1956 for his first Columbia album, ‘Round About Midnight, which, as he promised, wasn’t released until 1957.

Technically, what you hear on Miles ‘56 are all of the studio tracks Davis recorded for Prestige in 1956. But you actually are hearing so much more—an elated spirit by a group that had become jazz royalty. The quintet was recording for two labels, which meant a greater financial windfall. Columbia would be promoting the group the way it did the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and others. All Davis had to do was be himself, serving up track after track of heartfelt playing with his signature respect for space and texture.

So while you hear material that was recorded in a single year, you’re really hearing the rise of jazz elegance in the hands of Davis’s first great quintet: Davis (tp), John Coltrane (ts), Red Garland (p), Paul Chambers (b) and Philly Joe Jones (d).

What made the quintet great? Each member brought vitality to a conversational expression. You hear Davis’s fragile tenderness; Coltrane’s earthy bossiness; Garland’s sweet swing with single line improvisation and block chords; Chambers’s fleshy time-keeping; and Jones’s splashes of snare and cymbals.

The result was jazz grace and sophistication at a moment when all of the musicians i the group were buoyed by optimism and a bright future. Not only was the quintet recognized for its regal taste and unassailable excellence but the musicians were also filled with self-confidence that only triumph can provide. Going forward, each member would become a household name.

Miles ‘56: The Prestige Recordings comes in a limited 4-LP box, a 3-CD set and in hi-res digital. All of the audio was transferred from the original analog tapes and restored by Plangent Processes. Remastering was done by Paul Blakemore, and Kevin Gray cut the lacquers for the 180-gram vinyl LPs at Cohearent Audio. Notes are by Ashley Kahn and track notes were by the late Dan Morgenstern.

Subscribers can read my 2010 interview with George Avakian by going here,

You’ll find the LP and CD sets by going here.

Here’s Diane…

Here’s Surrey With the Fringe on Top…

Or listen to a livestream of the entire set…

Founded by Sibyl Golden and lead producer Ralph Simon in 1993, Postcards Records set new artistic standards for modern acoustic jazz in the 1990s. The label released 17 critically acclaimed recordings by artists such as Gary Peacock, Bill Frisell, Steve Kuhn, Alan Pasqua, Harold Land, Bob Stewart and Chip White.

The label also specialized in electro-acoustic recordings by avant-garde players such as Paul Bley, Julian Priester and Sam Rivers, as well as modernists Reggie Workman, Bruce Ditmas, Ralph Simon, Jorge Sylvester and John Clark. In June 1999, Arkadia Records acquired Postcards and is currently reissuing its catalog and producing new recordings.

Arkadia has just re-issued four terrific Postcards recordings. They all sound terrific, especially the bass players and pianists on each album.

Alan Pasqua’s Milagro (1993). Pasqua is a superb pianist and was joined on Milagro by Dave Holland (b) and Jack DeJohnette (d), plus Michael Brecker (ts on tracks 2, 4 and 8); John Clark (Fr. hrn on tracks 5 and 7); Willie Olenick (tp,flglhrn on tracks 2, 5 and 9); Roger Rosenberg (alto fl on tracks 2, 5, 7 and 9; Jack Schatz (tb and b-tb on tracks 2, 5 and 9); and Dave Tofani (b-clar on tracks 2 and 7. The post-bop album is beautifully soulful but also muscular. Five stars.

Reggie Workman’s Summit Conference (1993). This one is woollier but just as dynamic and exciting. Songs are in the free-jazz realm. Bassist Reggie Workman was joined by Sam Rivers (ts,ss,fl), Julian Priester (tb), Andrew Hill (p) and Pheeroan akLaff (d).

Reggie Workman’s Cerebral Caverns (1995). Workman here is more introspective and the group feels tighter and intellectually intertwined. Masterful playing behind Workman by Sam Rivers (ts on tracks 3, 4; ss on track 7; and fl on tracks 1 and 5); Julian Priester (tb on tracks 3, 4 and 5); Geri Allen (p on tracks 2, 4, 5, 7 and 8); Elizabeth Panzer (harp on tracks 1, 5, 6 and 8); Al Foster (d on tracks 3 and 5); Gerry Hemingway (d on tracks 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7; electronic drum pads on track 1); and Tapan Modak (tabla on tracks 4, 5). Rivers was a fascinating player, and it’s a revelation to hear his free-jazz saxophone become encircled by Workman’s bass notes. Geri Allen gives this album grace and energy.

Alan Pasqua’s Dedications (1995). Of the four albums, this one is perhaps most straight-ahead and solidly in the post-bop camp. The lineup is exceptional: Alan Pasqua (p), Dave Holland (b), Paul Motian (d), Gary Bartz (as on tracks 1, 5 and 8); Michael Brecker (ts on tracks 2 and 4); and Randy Brecker (tp on tracks 1, 4, 5 and 8).

Captivating music that was well thought-out, tightly arranged and skillfully played with a fine sense of community and conversational interactions.

To listen and buy, go here.

Here’s A Sleeping Child from Alan Pasqua’s Milagro…

Here’s Meteor from Reggie Workman’s Summit Conference…

Here’s Fast Forward from Reggie Workman’s Cerebral Caverns…

And here’s Dedicated to You from Alan Pasqua’s Dedications…

In September 1966, Creed Taylor produced one of his last albums for Verve before moving on to CTI, his own jazz-pop subsidiary at A&M Records. The LP was organist Walter Wanderley’s Chegança (Arrival). In Mexico, the album was known as Samba de Verano (Summer Samba), to stimulate sales.

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James Moody was special as a musician, a loving husband and a jazz ambassador. He was routinely in the hippest jazz settings throughout his career, and he recorded so much great music and had so much to say on his instruments. His sound on the alto and tenor saxophones was as smooth as silk. He was soulful on ballads and rabbit-fast on uptempo tunes. His flute playing also was gorgeous. Everyone loved him.

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To offset the blasted triple-digit heat that settled upon New York yesterday, I reached for one of my favorite chill-out albums—Henry Mancini’s Taking It Easy.

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Sixty years ago this month, Reprise (Sinatra’s own label) released Sinatra at the Sands, featuring Frank Sinatra backed by the Count Basie Orchestra, arranged and conducted by Quincy Jones.

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Cherry Red is one of my favorite pop labels. Based in England, the record company and its subsidiary imprints strive for fantastic sound, smartly edited collections and seductive packages. I typically feature a collection of my favorite Cherry Red sets twice a year—in June and just before the December holidays. So today, here’s my mid-year report:

Lulu—Independence (Dome). In 1993, long after disco had come and gone, Scottish singer Lulu recorded a superb dance album called Independence. Lulu, of course, is best known in the States as the singer of To Sir With Love, the hit song for the 1967 movie. Independence was her first album since 1982. The title track was a hit in Europe, reaching No. 11 on the UK Singles Chart, and peaked at No. 3 on Billboard’s dance chart. This five CD set features 57 audio tracks plus a DVD with promotional videos. The production and arrangements are superb. To buy (available July 24), go here.

Here’s the title track…

Various—Digging Your Scene: New Pop and All That Jazz, 1982-1987 (Cherry Red). At the tail end of disco, dance melted into a smoother, slick sound peppered with heavy beats and jazz influences. This box captures that fresh, sophisticated era in the U.K. on four discs. It’s a sequel to an earlier box—Heaven Sent: The Rise Of New Pop 1979-1983. All of the tracks are jazzy and sexy. To buy, go here…

Here’s New York Afternoon by Mondo Kane, featuring Dee Lewis, Coral Gordon and guest star Georgie Fame…

The 5th Dimension—Let the Sunshine In, the Soul City & Bell Albums (Strawberry). If sunshine pop had a royal family, it would be the 5th Dimension. Their vocal harmonies and arrangements were sterling and a plush counterbalance to the emerging hard rock movement in the late 1960s and 1970s. The songs chosen for the vocal group suited them perfectly, from Up Up and Away and Working on a Groovy Thing to Wedding Bell Blues and California Soul. This six CD box features all of their best albums plus bonus tracks. The sound is fantastic, and you quickly realize that the hits you know were just the tip of their rich catalog. I cranked up One Less Bell to Answer and was blown away by the warm, sterling fidelity. To buy, go here.

Here’s One Less Bell to Answer from the new set (turn it up)…

Really Into Something: Brit Girl Sounds and Styles, 1962-1970 (Strawberry). I adore the Brit girl sound of the 1960s and have posted about this genre for years. The female U.K. artists who made in the U.S. were limited to a handful. These include Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield, Lulu, Cilla Black, Sandie Shaw, Shirley Bassey and a few others. If you were in London back then (I was, in 1968), you’d be up to speed on Jackie Trent, Carin Kay, Debbie Lee, Cindy Cole, Sandra Gale and dozens of others who never made the leap across the Atlantic to the States with hits. This three CD set features one great pop single after the next, and brings to mind white boots, pink blush, white lipstick, heavy black lashes and colorful mod outfits. To buy, go here.

Here’s Romy Carr singing Can You Feel It, Baby…

What’s It All About? Film and TV Music of Swinging London (Strawberry). What would this roundup be without the brassy drama and high-impact sound of cinematic Brit-rock associated with Mayfair and Carnaby Street in the mid-1960s. This 3-CD set intermingles youthful vocal tracks with more adult-listening orchestration tracks (Sonny Rollins’s Alfie theme is here, too). What they all have in common is the cool, sophisticated, secret agent-y, sports-car scene of London then. Consume with a Pimm’s No. 1 Cup and cucumber. To buy, go here.

Here’s John Barry’s The Ipcress File…

The Lovin’ Spoonful—What a Day for a Daydream: The Complete Recordings 1965-1969 (Strawberry). This 7-CD, 170-track box compiles the complete 1960s recordings by the Lovin’ Spoonful. The box’s mastering is by Grammy-nominated archivist/producer Alec Palao and includes the group’s first four studio albums: Do You Believe In Magic (1965), Daydream (1966), Hums of the Lovin’ Spoonful (1966) and Everything Playing (1967) in both stereo and mono. There also are stereo mixes of their two soundtrack albums—The Lovin’ Spoonful In Woody Allen’s ‘What’s Up Tiger Lily?’ (1966) and You’re A Big Boy Now (1967). And much more. Sophisticated folk music for a simpler time that influenced California folk-rock. To buy, go here.

Here’s You Didn’t Have to Be So Nice…

Leon Russell With Mary Russell—The Paradise Years 1976-1982 (EMD). When I interviewed Leon Russell at home outside of Nashville in 2014, I told him my favorite albums of his were the ones he cut with Mary McCreary, his former wife. Looking at me with his bushy white beard and mustache, and sunglasses, he paused and said, “Thank you. They’re among my favorites, too, though the music was better than the relationship.” Strife notwithstanding, this is 4-CD set is a dream box for anyone who feels the way I do about Leon’s soul sessions for Paradise Records. To buy, go here.

Here’s Daylight…

Various—CBGB: A New York City Soundtrack 1975-1986 (Cherry Red). Starting in 1973, New York’s CBGB club became a hothouse for the development of punk and then new wave. All of the bands on this 4-CD set made a name for themselves playing live, and a handful of artists got record deals. The history of New York punk is here in one place, featuring a cross-section of the primitive music launched by social outcasts and misfits. All of them loved the grit of garage rock and rebelled against glossy arena bands by specializing in driving guitar riffs and raging vocals. To buy, go here.

Here are the Necessaries’ Back to You…

I receive a truck-full of albums each month. They come by snail-mail and email, and most are forgettable. They just don’t move me. This month, nine that stood out and are worth your undivided attention:

Lisa Rich—I Still Rise (Tritone). Jazz vocalist Lisa Rich released three excellent albums starting in 1983 before health issues brought her singing career to an abrupt halt in 1991. Then something amazing happened. She overcame her challenges and released Long As I Live in 2022. Now she’s out with a superb new recording, I Still Rise, backed by Marc Copland (p), Drew Gress (b) and Dave Ballou (tp). Her phrasing is gorgeous and her depth and sensitivity touch hearts. You can’t do much better than this trio. Marc is exceptional. To listen and buy, go here.

Here’s Two Lonely People…

Lolivone de la Rosa—Jewels (Music for Roses). Lolivone is one swinging guitarist. Whether she takes on jazz or Latin tunes, she brings exceptional taste to each and every track on her new album. She’s joined by Ned Goold (ts), Luis Perdomo (p), John Benitez (b) and Jeff “Tain” Watts (d). Special guests include David Suleiman (ts), Rogerio Boccato (perc) and Joel E. Mateo (perc). To listen and buy go here.

Here’s Beautiful Friendship…

Charles Chen—The Long Way Home (Cellar Music). Pianist Charles Chen has a superb touch. For his new album, he brought together Felix Lemerle (g), Bill Crowe (b) and Steve Little (d). It’s a joy to hear Bill up close and personal on the bass, and Charles’s piano is tasteful and impressive. In addition to the 10 tracks of music on the album, there are 26 tracks devoted to audio interviews with Steve and Bill covering lots of jazz ground. The album is joyous to hear and educational. To listen and buy, go here.

Here’s You Turned the Tables on Me…

Gafieira Rio Miami—Beleza Pura (Brazilionaire). If you can’t get down to Miami, this album will provide you with all its explosive excitement. This popular south Florida 11-piece group brings the brass and revamps the samba and hard bossa with sparkling excitement and virtuosity. To listen and buy, go here.

Here’s Só Danço Samba…

Hannah Gill—I Like the Sunrise (Turtle Bay). Hannah’s voice is perfectly suited to the Ellington songbook. It’s strong, in control and includes a dash of sass. Best of all, Hannah and the musicians swing on the up-tempo choices and dig in deep on the ballads. She’s backed by Luis Salcedo (g), Phil Ambuel (b), Adam Ray (d) and Ricky Alexander (ts). To listen and buy, go here.

Here’s So Far, So Good…

Carlos Henriquez—Monk Con Clave. Thelonious Monk tribute albums are a dime a dozen. The Carlos Henriquez big band takes on the composer-pianist with gusto and imagination. On paper, this album shouldn’t work. On your sound system, you’ll be blown away. It’s enormously inventive and injects fresh Latin excitement into Monk’s standards—further proof that great art lasts forever, provided that tributes find a new way to honor the man and his music. To listen, go to YouTube here. To buy, go here.

Here’s ‘Round Midnight…

Tyler Sabbag—Novella. On this one, Emmy-winner Tyler Sabbag created music for an imaginary film or series of films. Here’s how he puts it: “Six pieces and sixteen minutes in length, Novella plays like a half-remembered summer set against the Mediterranean coast, an enchanting dreamscape shaped more by longing than historical fact.” I guess the best way to describe the music is lounge meets general cinema. At once James Bond-y and 1960s love theme, it’s hypnotic and imaginative. For more on Tyler, go here. To listen, go here. To buy, go here.

New York Voices—Sonho Meu, Live in Irvine (Resonance). Recorded in California in 2022, the New York Voices still deliver great harmony. Here, they take on bossa nova standards with aplomb and finesse. Produced by George Klabin, the Voices add a jazzy veneer to music born in Rio de Janeiro. To listen and buy, go here.

Here’s Desafinado…

Terry Waldo—Treasury Vol. 3 (Turtle Bay). No one does early jazz better than pianist Terry Waldo. On his new album, he’s joined by the Gotham City Band. I’m astonished that musicians can play so well in this style, given its speed, complex syncopation and rigorous demands on solos and ensemble interactions. Terry is a master. To listen, go to YouTube. To buy, go here.

Here’s Canal Street Blues…

Brazil’s Milton Banana is best known in the U.S. as the drummer on Getz/Gilberto, the first major bossa nova album, released by Verve in 1964. The LP made The Girl From Ipanema a hit and vocalist Astrud Gilberto a superstar. Banana also was on João Gilberto’s groundbreaking record Chega de Saudade. On that 1958 album, Banana established the bossa’s sophisticated beat. [Photo above of Milton Banana]

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Following my post on Monday on the new Peggy Lee collection Too Marvelous for Words, I received quite a few emails from readers asking me for my favorite Lee periods. As I hinted in my post, I’m a big fan of her early 1960s Capitol recordings. But the era I enjoy most are her many recordings made with husband, guitarist Dave Barbour, in the second half of the 1940s and early ‘50s. [Photo above of Dave Barbour and Peggy Lee]

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In 2014, I flew down to New Orleans to interview Dr. John for The Wall Street Journal. Mac Rebennack (his real name) lived in a place called St. Tammany Parish. To reach that community, you have to cross Lake Pontchartrain. Unfamiliar with the lake? You take the Causeway Bridge from metro New Orleans to Mandeville on the Northshore.

The causeway consists of two parallel spans with two lanes each and runs for 24 miles. Yep, a half hour on a bridge if you drive at 55 mph. The lake is astonishingly massive. About halfway across, you feel as if you’re driving across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe, You can’t see New Orleans behind you and you can’t see Mandeville in front. Just water for 360 degrees. It’s like a Twilight Zone episode, where there’s no end and the people in the car eventually go mad.

I had the good fortune to have Mac’s publicist, Karen Dalton-Beninato, and her husband, Jeff, a musician-photographer, drive me there. Along the way there, I was warned to keep an eye on the woods around Mac’s house in case a gator wandered out.

At Mac’s place, every available shelf was filled with voodoo dolls, gris-gris, candles, and spiritual artifacts. Mac wanted to chat outside (watch for the gators!), so out we went onto his patio. He then began smoking thin, brown cigarillos. Mac knew I wrote on jazz and began talking about his days in West Coast recording studios in the early 1960s. Mac would say, “Yeah, I remember playing with this crazy trombonist.” “Frank Rosolino?,” I said. “Yeah, yeah, him. And this amazing alto saxophonist and flutist.” “Bud Shank?” “Yeah-yeah-yeah.”

This went on for about 15 minutes, with me finishing his sentences. Mac was most impressed and opened up on his life for my piece. After about 40 minutes, he asked if I had what I needed. I did. In his crackly voice, he said, “Great, let’s go inside. I want to play you something.”

Inside, he perched on a piano bench in front of his baby grand with a nice heavy sound. For the next half hour, Mac played me the history of New Orleans piano, explaining what made each style special—multiple boogie-woogie styles, including the butterfly; traditional Crescent City grooves; blues; R&B; stride and more. His sound was dazzling and the impact was like the taste of a great cup of coffee—each sip made you want another and another.

Not until a day later did I learn that Jeff—equally stunned—had the good sense to take some video of me sitting next to Mac as he performed. Here’s the clip:

Over the past seven years, six of Dr. John’s albums have been released thanks to the Estate of Malcolm John Rebennack, Jr. The estate is overseen by his daughter, Karla Rebennack Pratt, who serves as the executrix. The entity actively manages Dr. John’s posthumous album releases, merchandise and authorized usage of his legacy through its official Dr. John site here.

In celebration of Dr. John’s music, here’s a taste of the six releases:

Dr. John—Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya: The Singles 1968-1974 (Omnivore). This double-album release was originally produced for Record Store Day in 2024 on purple vinyl and features 26 tracks culled from five different Dr. John albums. To buy on CD or LP, go here.

Here’s Stack-a-Lee…

Dr. John: The Montreux Years (BMG). This double album features 14 live tracks recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival between 1986 and 2012, and released in 2023. To buy, go here.

Here’s a medley of In a Sentimental Mood, Mississippi Mud and Happy Hard Times…

Dr. John: Solo Piano, Live in New Orleans 1984 (Record Club). If you want the solo experience I encountered, your closest bet is this one, featuring seven tracks. To buy, go here for vinyl and here for digital download.

Here’s Dr. John covering Professor Longhair’s Tipitina, with original lyrics by Roy Byrd…

Dr. John: Live at the Village Gate (Omnivore). Recorded at the famed club in New York’s Greenwich Village on March 5, 1988, the 12-song double album captures Dr. John taking on a range of interesting material and the reactions by a loving audience. To buy, go here.

Here’s Georgia on My Mind…

Dr. John: Live at Rockpalast 1999 (MIG). This live performance took place on the German music TV show Rockpalast that appeared on German television station Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR). It was broadcast during a concert at the Loreley Open-Air Theatre in St. Goarshausen, Germany. The CD/DVD set can be purchased here.

Here’s the full concert…

Dr. John: Things Happen That Way (Rounder). This was the last studio album by Dr. John, recorded between 2017 and 2019, the year of his passing, and then released in 2022. To buy, go here.

Here’s Funny How Time Slips Away…

Before satellite radio of the 2000s, the proliferation of FM in the 1970s and popularity of Top 40 programming in the 1960s, radio stations licensed extended prerecorded discs of music called archival transcriptions to air as specials. [Photo above of Peggy Lee in the 1950s]

When radio first became popular in the 1920s, the music that listeners heard on local stations was provided by live musicians playing in the studio. With the rise of recorded music on phonograph records, radio stations licensed these transcriptions on 16-inch, 33 1/3 rpm vinyl discs for extended play. These discs were produced only for radio air-play, and the music wasn’t sold to the public until decades later.

Among these transcription companies was the World Broadcasting System, founded in 1929. In 1955, WBS recorded 49 masters by singer Peggy Lee backed by a range of West Coast jazz and pop musicians. This Lee material first surfaced on the Audiophile label in October 2017 as a two-CD set entitled World Broadcasting Recordings 1955. Vinyl followed in July 2021 on Org Music as a limited-edition color LP for Record Store Day.

Now, Peggy Lee Associates has released Too Marvelous for Words, a newly restored and remastered digital-only set of the singer’s World Broadcasting transcription tracks recorded in 1955. The 49 songs are a treasure trove of music, featuring Lee singing American songbook standards. Not only does the new release sound warm and clear, but also half of the songs were recorded only once by Lee, including Autumn in New York, What Is This Thing Called Love? and Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’.

More importantly, they feature Lee during a key period in her career—transitioning from eager and demure jazz-pop singer at Decca in the early and mid-1950s to laid-back superstar vocalist and sex symbol at Capitol in the LP and TV era of the late 1950s and early 1960s. You’ll find the new album at Spotify and other digital service providers.

Recorded over four sessions in February and August 1955 for the World Broadcasting System, the dates feature unidentified small groups. The musicians are thought to include Bill Pitman (g), Bob Whitlock or Don Prell (b), poss. Gene DiNovi (p), Stella Castellucci (harp), Larry Bunker or Ray Rivera (d) and Jack Constanzo (bgo). The only drawback are the arrangements, which tend to be wooden compared with her later swinging Capitol recordings.

Intimate ballads feature Lee influenced by Billie Holiday and backed by a wandering trumpet. Mid- and up-tempo songs include a Latin feel with bongos.

By 1957, Lee had re-signed with Capitol and began recording LPs with fresher arrangements. These Capitol albums include The Man I Love, Jump for Joy and Things Are Swingin’.

From the new WBS transcription album, here’s I May Be Wrong (but I Think You’re Wonderful)…

Here’s Mountain Greenery…

And here’s Speak Low…

Bonus: Here’s Lee in 1955 in the film Pete Kelly’s Blues…

Here’s Lee in 1955 recording He’s a Tramp for Lady & the Tramp…

For comparison between 1955 and 1958, here’s Lee in 1958 for Capitol singing Life Is For Livin’, from Things Are Swingin’, arranged and conducted by Jack Marshall…

Today is a national holiday in the U.S. The day has long been known in the black community as Juneteenth and commemorates the moment in 1865 when slavery officially ended.

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Two of my favorite Maynard Ferguson albums are A Message From Newport and Maynard ‘63, both on the Roulette label. The former was recorded and released in 1958 while the latter was recorded in March 1962 and issued in 1963. Today, I want to look at Maynard ‘63.

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