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viewing 1 To 25 of 76 items
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DMOO 066LP
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Bill Evans' debut album New Jazz Conceptions is easily one of the influential pianist's greatest releases. The recording features Evans as leader of a tight trio with bassist Teddy Kotick and drummer Paul Motian, the rhythm section following Evans' intricates shifts of key, scale, and timecode, and allowing Evans enough space for the unaccompanied piano solos that really show what he was capable of, especially on the version of "Waltz For Debby" included here -- a top-notch rendition of the most famous of all his compositions. The best way of understanding all that Evans would later accomplish is to start with a close listen to this sublime source.
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DMOO 073LP
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Etta James' first for Chess, 1961's At Last! was a stunning comeback album, with hits "All I Could Do Was Cry," "Trust In Me," and the title track bringing her to both the pop and R&B charts in the USA. The varied approach brought out the best in James, tackling Willie Dixon's "I Just Want To Make Love To You" as competently as her takes of "Stormy Weather" and "A Sunday Kind Of Love," and there are stirring originals co-written by Harvey Fuqua in "It's A Crying Shame," "If I Can't Have You," and "My Heart Cries." She's clearly at the top of the peak throughout this beautiful record, which is easily one of her very best.
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DMOO 075LP
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While studying at Bard College, a liberal arts facility in upstate New York, pianist Ran Blake and singer Jeanne Lee began working together as a duo, their astounding debut The Newest Sound Around edging into Third Stream territory. Unjustly overlooked at its time of issue in 1962, the album has loping hazy jazz odes like "Laura," solo ventures for Blake such as "Church On Russell Street," and one-off takes of "Summertime," "Evil Blues," and "Blue Monk." Variety is the spice of life on this intriguer, yet everything is delivered in the duo's own tenor, yielding an intriguing slice of early '60s mood jazz, ripe for rediscovery.
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DMOO 076LP
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Unearthed in 2005 by staff at the Library of Congress, At Carnegie Hall is an incredible performance delivered on 29 November 1957 by jazz giants Monk and Coltrane, together with bassist Ahmed Abdul-Malik and drummer Shadow Wilson. Far superior to that captured at the Five Spot five months earlier, At Carnegie Hall shows Coltrane finding his own sax sphere as Monk explores the limits of experimental excursions on the keyboard; Monk is in his element on "Crepuscule With Nellie" and Trane shows his adaptability of the complex "Epistrophy." This riveting set certainly qualifies as must-have material.
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DMOOK 010CS
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Though she had been performing professionally since the late 1920s, as a teenager in Harlem, during its Renaissance, the immortal Billie Holiday didn't play a single night on the European continent until 1954. It was in that year that the great journalist and musician Leonard Feather, and a Swedish promoter organized the Jazz Club U.S.A. tour, named after Feather's wildly popular radio program. Featuring Red Norvo, Sonny Clark, and more, the centerpiece of Jazz Club U.S.A. was, undoubtedly, Lady Day. Recorded at various dates across the tour, Lady Love shows Holiday still had it, despite the turmoil, and drug and alcohol abuse, her voice remained strong, a stunning document of one of America's greatest treasures on her first ever tour of Europe.
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DMOO 068LP
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His first for Riverside, In New York saw Chet Baker bring the West Coast cool jazz style to new Manhattan surroundings. With the rhythm section of Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones keeping things up-tempo and propulsive, pianist Al Haig alternating between fill-in chords and intriguing melodies and saxophonist Johnny Giffin trading lead flourishes with Baker himself, the LP is another winner right through. The swinging bop is full of zest and verve on "Hotel 49" and a one-off rendition of Miles' "Solar," while some contrasting introspective breaks are provided by "Blue Thoughts" and "Polka Dots And Moonbeams." Great stuff!
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DMOO 070LP
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Surfers' Choice is a true landmark of surf rock, being the album that established the genre more than any other release. First issued in 1962 and mostly recorded at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa Beach, midway between Los Angeles and San Diego, it has rollicking surf anthems like "Surf Beat," 'Shake 'N Stomp," "Surfing Drums," and "Take It Off," as well as Dale's adaptations of "Night Owl," "Fanny Mae," and a strangely orchestrated take of "Sloop John B." With a soaring guitar that's drenched in reverb at center stage and Dale's gritty vocals varying the action, this is the enduring start of surf rock and a blistering start at that!
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DMOO 074LP
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One of the most celebrated vocalists of the 20th Century and the best-known French singer of all time, the iconic cabaret and chanson performer Edith Piaf had an incredible life and an equally amazing career. Abandoned by her mother at birth and raised partly in a brothel by her granny, Piaf began performing in her father's acrobatic street troupe as a teen and made her name in occupied Paris. For 1958's Piaf! her torch-song deliveries are aided by the subtle strings of the Orchestra of Robert Chauvigny; if you're an Edith Piaf fan there is plenty to savor here, especially "En Pourtant," "Les Orgues De Barbarie," and "Le Gitan Et La Fille."
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DMOOK 034CS
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A pioneer of bebop, Max Roach went on to work on many other styles of music and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history having worked with such musicians as Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, and more! A seminal set, stretching out towards the directions Max would explore fully on the Candid, Impulse, and Fantasy labels in the '60s. Group members include Booker Little on trumpet, George Coleman on tenor, Ray Draper on tuba, and Art Davis on bass -- and the lack of a piano makes for a very exciting sound!
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DMOO 071LP
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The first of Miles Davis' LPs for Columbia, 'Round About Midnight is the landmark that broke a new talent-heavy backing band, with Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones as the rhythm section supporting the understated pianist Red Garland, and a then-unknown John Coltrane. An album of uncommon beauty that veers between cool jazz and hard bop, the version of the title track with Miles' muted trumpet is arguably more distinctive than Monk's original, the adaptation of Bird's "Au Leu-Cha" is equally great and there are non-standard renditions of "Basin Street Blues," "All Of You," and "Bye-Bye Blackbird." Absolutely essential Miles!
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DMOOK 060CS
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Complex, emotive, and straddling several genres, Sketches Of Spain is one of Miles Davis' masterpieces, a landmark of orchestrated jazz. The third of his collaborations with Gil Evans, Sketches was inspired by the classical "Concierto de Aranjuez," which sparked the suite that makes up the LP. Drummers Jimmy Cobb and Elvin Jones and bassist Paul Chambers reconfigured their approaches to blend with the orchestra under Evans' command and Davis uses a muted flugelhorn for the epic opener; his solo on "Saeta" is blinding and the adapted Andalusian folk song "Solea" draws on flamenco. This absolute stunner is a must-have!
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DMOOK 025CS
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The versatile singer, songwriter, pianist, musical arranger and civil rights activist Nina Simone was one of the most iconic of all jazz performers. Operating in a range of genres, from folk, blues and rhythm 'n' blues to pop, gospel and classical, Simone issued over 40 albums during a long and successful career, though bipolar disorder dramatically affected her later years. Born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in 1933, she was one of eight children in a poor black family. Coolpix's 1963 release, Nina's Choice, was titled in reference to the fact that Simone chose the entire contents, drawing from a range of pop, folk, blues and show tunes, all interpreted and delivered in her uniquely expressive style.
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DMOOK 011CS
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In 1954, during his first trip to Paris, the adventurous pianist and be-bop pioneer Thelonious Monk recorded a handful of songs for French radio, later issued as The Prophet. Unencumbered by bass, drums or other accompaniments, Monk gives listeners all they need in left-hand rhythms and right-hand melodies; "Round About Midnight" and "Reflections" play masterful command and there's a one-off take of "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes." Highlighting his capabilities in full, this is required listening for Monk fans and lovers of solo jazz piano.
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DMOOK 009CS
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Elvis Presley's self-titled debut album forever changed popular culture on release in 1956, its earthquake aftershocks still felt some 65 years later. Gritty adaptations of Carl Perkins' "Blue Suede Shoes," Ray Charles' "I Got A Woman" and Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti" helped make it the first rock and roll album to top the Billboard charts, where it remained unchallenged for a full ten weeks. The iconic cover image with its distinctive lettering, showing Presley brandishing his acoustic guitar, helped embed the instrument in rock mythology too, indelibly changing how we conceive of the genre and its axemen. Elvis Presley proved that he was already the undisputed "King of Rock 'n' Roll," just as he still is today.
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DMOOK 001CS
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Françoise Hardy became an international sensation during the early 1960s through her albums on Disques Vogue, the French jazz label that then began showcasing chanson. She signed to the label at seventeen after answering a newspaper advertisement recruiting unknown singers while she was a freshman at the Sorbonne. The B-side of her debut single, "Tous Les Garçons Et Les Filles," brought her to the forefront of the "Yé-yé" movement, mixing chanson with Anglophone rock and pop, and paving the way for this debut LP, which was lauded by the likes of Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger. This first offering is still arguably her best -- grab it now to understand why!
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DMOOK 003CS
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A modal masterpiece from 1959, Kind of Blue is a true classic that never gets old, no matter how many times you listen to it. Bill Evans' understated piano is the perfect foil for Miles' melodies, contrasted by the soaring alto sax of Cannonball Adderley; Jimmy Cobb and Paul Chambers keep the rhythm section steady but unobtrusive, allowing Miles and Cannonball to shine. "So What" and "Freddie Freeloader" are seductive, deceptive gems, imparting all the frustration, begrudging and joy as only a great jazz record can; "Blue In Green" and "All Blue" have melancholy hues and "Flamenco Sketches" is a precursor to "Sketches Of Spain." Every household should have at least one copy of Kind Of Blue, one of the greatest records ever made.
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DMOO 064LP
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At Newport 1958 has the aural dynamite that marked the performing debut of Jimmy Cobb and Bill Evans with the Miles Davis Sextet and it's a thrilling set from start to finish. Just a few months before Kind Of Blue, they hit listeners with an awesome take of Charlie Parker's "Au-Leu-Cha," with Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley in full swing, and on Thelonius Monk's "Straight No Chaser," Evans introduces unusual harmonic chords, the group moving heaven and earth for their own direction. "Fran-Dance," "Two Bass Hit," "Bye Bye Blackbird," and "The Theme" continue the hard-bop brilliance; get it now and play loud and often!
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DMOO 062LP
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The Jazz Track LP has an unusual backstory. The bulk of the album is Miles' evocative improvised score for Louis Malle's Elevator To The Gallows (1959), a proto-new wave film about a bungled crime of passion. Davis cut this on the fly with a Parisian pick-up band, the work holding dramatic tension and moody features. In the USA this soundtrack was reissued as Jazz Track with three additional songs first issued on a ten-inch the year before, the last of his work with Cannonball Adderley and John Coltrane, and the first with Bill Evans; "On Green Dolphin Street," "Fran-Dance," and "Stella By Starlight" are all stone-cold classics.
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DMOO 065LP
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Removing the obligatory piano from his group for Tomorrow Is The Question! gave an inkling of Ornette Coleman's need to break free from traditional jazz strictures. Though not nearly as wild as what was to follow, on Tomorrow Coleman and trumpeter Don Cherry make use of every opportunity to bust loose musically, as heard on "Giggin" and "Rejoicing," even as the rhythm section strives to keeps things anchored and grounded. There's a touch of blues bordering on funk on "Tears Inside" too, and "Endless" switches timeframes repeatedly. This is Ornette on the brink of major change -- an engaging, instructive listen with unexpected twists.
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DMOO 059LP
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John Cassavetes' directorial debut Shadows was a largely improvised film set in the bohemian jazz scene of 1950s New York; often referred to as the first truly independent film of American cinema, it featured a brief disjointed soundtrack improvised by Charles Mingus and his saxophonist Shafi Hadi, with various percussionists slotting in, including Phineas Newborn Jr. Gloriously messy, reportedly unfinished and referred to with scorn by Mingus, the Shadows soundtrack sketches ultimately yielded the great "Nostalgia In Times Square," "Alice's Wonderland," and "Self-Portrait In Three Colours," all included here.
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DMOO 060LP
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Complex, emotive, and straddling several genres, Sketches Of Spain is one of Miles Davis' masterpieces, a landmark of orchestrated jazz. The third of his collaborations with Gil Evans, Sketches was inspired by the classical Concierto de Aranjuez, which sparked the suite that makes up the LP. Drummers Jimmy Cobb and Elvin Jones and bassist Paul Chambers reconfigured their approaches to blend with the orchestra under Evans' command and Davis uses a muted flugelhorn for the epic opener; his solo on "Saeta" is blinding and the adapted Andalusian folk song "Solea" draws on flamenco. This absolute stunner is a must-have!
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DMOO 061LP
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First issued in 1961 on Columbia's early music venture Colpix, Forbidden Fruit is widely acknowledged as the best of Nina Simone's early releases. Producer Cal Lampley chose to cast her in varied settings, blending a rendition of Oscar Brown's "Rags And Old Iron" with a unique take of Bessie Smith's "Gin House Blues," contrasting with Billie Holiday's "No Good Man" and "I'll Look Around," which Simone shifts to her own image. Her backing trio aim for the understated, the rhythm section leaving ample room for Simone's appealing piano lines, nicely complimented by Al Shackman's guitar. An excellent set from Miss Simone -- grab it!
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DMOO 032LP
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One of the best-known rock singers of the 1960s, Janis Joplin made a lasting impact with a powerful mezzo-soprano voice and an electrifying stage presence, drawing on blues, country, and gospel. Little Girl Blue gathers some of her earliest performances, dating from just after she ditched her native Texas for the San Francisco Bay Area; recorded at the Folk Theatre in San Jose and at SF's Coffee Gallery, the awesome power of her voice is already apparent on a cover of Ma Rainey's "Leavin This Mornin" and "Daddy Daddy Daddy," the latter written with future Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen. A must for all Janis fans!
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DMOO 054LP
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An innovative and idiosyncratic pianist, Thelonious Monk has been hailed as one of Be-Bop's founding figures, with unexpected melodic shifts and dramatic hesitation hallmarks of his work. Monk By Five is one of the lesser-known sessions recorded for Riverside in the late 1950s and is one worthy of a wider audience; it features the bright swing of the new "Jackie-ing" and the more dissonant "Played Twice," alongside engaging revisits of "Straight No Chaser," "I Mean You" and "Ask Me Now," the interplay between Monk, cornetist Thad Jones and saxophonist Charlie Rouse especially noteworthy. Definitely worth investigating.
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DMOO 056LP
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Recorded in October 1959, with heroin a caustic presence, In Milan is the first of the albums Chet Baker cut in Europe, revisiting West Coast cool jazz nuggets with drummer Gene Victory and a set of local players, including bassist Franco Serri and pianist Renato Sellani, bolstered by saxophonists Glauco Masetti and Gianno Basso on select tracks. Bop favorites such as Charlie Parker & Miles Davis' "Cheryl" and Davis' "Tune Up" are handled with care, and there's a fine take of "Line For Lyons," which Baker first recorded as a member of Gerry Mulligan's Quartet, with a great solo by Serri. It's Baker at his best -- thoroughly excellent! Printed on clear vinyl.
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viewing 1 To 25 of 76 items
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