{"id":31327,"date":"2026-08-20T05:30:06","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T09:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=31327"},"modified":"2026-04-09T10:31:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T14:31:31","slug":"hundred-word-reviews-august-2026-3-jazz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/20\/hundred-word-reviews-august-2026-3-jazz\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundred-word Reviews, August 2026 #3: Jazz"},"content":{"rendered":"

For this installment of my Hundred-word Reviews, I take a quick look at five archival jazz releases. Four of them are sourced from newly-discovered private tapes documenting performances at Chicago\u2019s Jazz Showcase. The venue\u2019s tag line is \u201cWhere Jazz Lives in Chicago,\u201d and since 1947 this intimate club has been a go-to choice for esteemed musicians and listeners alike. All come to us through the ongoing indefatigable work of \u201cjazz detective\u201d (and friend of Musoscribe) Zev Feldman. The remaining set is a collection of previous-unheard tracks from the personal archives of acclaimed multi-instrumentalist (and collaborator to the stars) Gary Husband.<\/p>\n

\"\"Ahmad Jamal \u2013 <\/b>At the Jazz Showcase: Live in Chicago<\/b><\/i>
\nThis two-disc set showcases esteemed pianist Jamal in performance with his trio (John Heard on bass with drummer Frank Gant). Drawn from two consecutive nights in 1976 (March 20 and 21) the crystalline recording captures the iridescent beauty of Jamal\u2019s playing; his technique on the piano is so deeply textured that it often feels like two musicians on the ivories. An isolated recording of his left-hand work alone would be a fine listen; combined with his right hand and his musical associates, it\u2019s nothing short of glorious. Lots of well-known tunes her including his inimitable take on \u201cTheme from M*A*S*H<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Yusef Lateef \u2013 Alight Upon the Lake: Live at the Jazz Showcase<\/i><\/b>
\nThis thrilling set documents assorted performances from June 1975 by multi-instrumentalist Lateef (on tenor sax, flute and oboe(!)) with drummer Kenny Barron, bassist Bob Cunningham and drummer Albert \u201cTootie\u201d Heath. The first disc opens with a nearly 30-minute work, \u201cThe Untitled,\u201d featuring Lateef opening by wailing superbly on sax; the piece journeys through an Eastern-flavored midsection. It goes a lot of places, in fact, and sets the tone for the rest of the collection. The shortest number here runs just under nine minutes; the quartet is exploratory yet tightly focused, and not a moment is wasted or given to overindulgence.<\/p>\n

\"\"Joe Henderson \u2013 Consonance: Live at the Jazz Showcase<\/i><\/b>
\nTenor saxophonist Henderson leads a hard bop quartet of Joanne Bracken (piano), basist Steve Rodby and drummer Danny Spencer on this two-disc set drawn from February \u201878 tapes at the Jazz Showcase. Twenty-three minutes of Coltrane\u2019s \u201cMr. P.C.\u201d opens the set with instrumental fury., and things never let up. Henderson originals are presented alongside works by Charlie Parker (\u201cRelaxin\u2019 at Camarillo\u201d) and Monk\u2019s immortal \u201c\u2019Round Midnight.\u201d Wildly kinetic performances are the order of the day. It would have been to see these cats blow, but having this superb you-are-there quality recording is the next best thing to having been there.<\/p>\n

\"\"Mal Waldron \u2013 Stardust & Starlight: At the Jazz Showcase<\/i><\/b>
\nWaldron is well-known among jazz aficionados; as a relative novitiate, this set represents my introduction to the pianist and his work. A single-disc set, Stardust & Starlight<\/i> is a recording from August 1979. Waldron is joined here by bassist Steve Rodby (see above), drummer Wilbur Campbell and \u2013 on two tracks \u2013 also saxophonist legend Sonny Stitt. The program opens with a nearly-solo piece, the aptly-titled \u201cAll Alone.\u201d It highlights Waldron\u2019s subtle and sublime piano work. The material ranges from contemplative to bouncy (\u201cAll God\u2019s Chillun Got Rhythm\u201d) to lyrical (\u201cFire Waltz\u201d) to romantic (\u201cI Thought About You\u201d), and it\u2019s all lovely.<\/p>\n

\"\"Gary Husband \u2013 Postcards from the Past<\/i><\/b>
\nHusband is an artist of immense creativity, and his music explores many different textures. This set is a sonic travelogue through his world. \u201cReykjavik Dream\u201d starts out sounding like an orchestra, but it\u2019s all Husband on keys and samples. The music here is based in fusion but not limited by that style. Fans of any of the work Husband has done on his own or with others (Allan Holdsworth, John McLaughlin et. al.) can\u2019t go wrong digging into this lush, expansive set. None of the tracks here sound like any of the others, and that\u2019s a testament to Husband\u2019s versatility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For this installment of my Hundred-word Reviews, I take a quick look at five archival jazz releases. Four of them are sourced from newly-discovered private tapes documenting performances at Chicago\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31330,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,42,49,65],"tags":[5933,5932,1165,5931,5934,3183],"class_list":["post-31327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-instrumental","category-jazz","category-new-release","category-review","tag-ahmad-jamal","tag-gary-husband","tag-joe-henderson","tag-mal-waldron","tag-yusef-lateef","tag-zev-feldman","cat-40-id","cat-42-id","cat-49-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31327"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31334,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31327\/revisions\/31334"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}