vinyl Archive
26 Oct 2017
Reviews: 12 Jazz Reissues (Part One)
Albert Ayler Quartet – Copenhagen Live 1964 (hatOLOGY) The music of tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler (1936-1970) is assuredly not for the jazz novitiate. With an approach that makes Ornette Coleman […]
21 Oct 2017
Album Review: Joe Henderson — The Elements
Released in 1974, The Elements is the 16th album from tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson. This four-track album features four extended tracks; each is an improvisational exploration/meditation on one the elements. […]
14 Oct 2017
Album Review: Gary Bartz Ntu Troop – Harlem Bush Music: Uhuru
The 1970s were a fascinating time in jazz. Fusion was establishing its footing, and a wide variety of artists had committed themselves to exploring the outer boundaries of the jazz […]
09 Sep 2017
Album Review: Gel-Sol — Horse Head Bookends
It’s inevitable: the first thing one notices about Horse Head Bookends, the latest album from Andrew Reichel (d/b/a/ Gel-Sol), is its stunningly original album artwork and packaging. The vinyl LP […]
22 Jul 2017
Album Review: John Gary Williams
Memphis-based Stax Records had a long, impressive and tumultuous history. The label that was home to legendary artists like Booker T & the MGs, Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes produced […]
21 Jul 2017
Seven Jazz Reviews for July 2017
Here’s a look at seven recent reissue and/or archival releases of note. All are enthusiastically recommended. Bobby Darin & Johnny Mercer – Two of a Kind (Omnivore Recordings) Founded in […]
19 Jul 2017
Album Review: John Lee Hooker — Whiskey & Wimmen
John Lee Hooker was one of the most important blues artists of his – or any other – generation. With a style that managed at once to be thoroughly authentic […]
03 Jul 2017
Album Review: Paul Butterfield — Live New York 1970
A blues vocalist and harmonica player extraordinaire, Paul Butterfield is most fondly remembered for his time leading the Butterfield Blues Band, an exemplar of the successful hybridization of electric jazz […]
26 Jun 2017
Album Review: Jean Jacques Perrey — Moog Indigo
Perhaps Jean Jacques Perrey shouldn’t be thought of in the same context as Jean-Michel Jarre, Hans-Joachim Roedelius and other early pioneers of the synthesizer-as-musical-instrument. His work wasn’t as edgy and […]
08 Jun 2017
He’d Only Just Begun: Paul Williams and The Holy Mackerel (Part 2)
Continued from Part One … From a very early age, Williams had been greatly influenced by the Great American Songbook. He recalls that even as a child in Omaha, Nebraska, […]