Free Jazz Music

Repeatedly unexpected. Spare, care-ful arrangements, each specifically formulated for each song, each matching her rich, dark alto. First and foremost, serious jazz, but also something entirely different, reflecting an eclectic song choice (e.g., Robert Johnson, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Ann Peebles, herself). Sometimes a primal awareness, but mainly a remarkable artistic sensibility. She DEMANDS attention, completely remaking even old favorites into something totally new. S: tr 2-Come on in my kitchen; tr 4-Children of the night, tr 5-Hellhound on my trail; tr 7-Sankofa; tr 10-Tupelo honey.

Ms. Wilson has a wonderful voice that reminds me somewhat of that of Cleo Laine. The problem for great voices--now I'm also thinking of Whitney Houston--is that they don't always make great albums.

This one is what I would describe as late night music, the kind of thing that you put on when you have arrived home having drunk rather too much, and want to hear something clear and pure to clear your head.

My favorite track on this is the Robert Johnson number Hellhound On My Trail, which is beautifully done with solo guitar accompaniment. I would like to have heard more of Ms. Wilson in this mode, but this album is a bit of a sampler--eclectic if you like--mixing blues, jazz and country, with violins creeping in every now and again.

Not a bad album at all, but I suspect that Ms. Wilson is capable of an even better one, so I reserve judgement a bit. I also have a feeling, and this is just a hunch, that this album may appeal more to female listeners than to the guys.

My star rating system goes like this:

5 stars--an absolute classic
4 stars--the artist is on top form here, a good buy
3 stars--fans of this artist should enjoy this album
2 stars--some good stuff, but inconsistent
1 star--just not good enough

So Cassandra's "New Moon Daughter" is a gem too, but this album is less known and, while it didn't make an immediate impression on me, I now listen to it a lot more. There's basically more variety in song style and arrangement and, if you like Cassandra, then just the sound of her voice is heaven. (If you haven't heard her, her voice is about as distinct as Nina Simone's.) The key point with Cassandra is: nobody sounds like her so if she isn't in your collection then nothing like her is in your collection. Her voice is deep and sultry, her music spacious, unrushed -- there's something distinctly southern about it. She is one of Nora Jones' inspirations, but where Nora's voice is a gentle breeze, Cassandra's is a gathering cloud, and there is no lounge sound to Cassandra's music -- the instruments bleed raw notes.

Hands down one of the best covers of Tupelo Honey I've heard. For some reason this stands out as one Cassandra's best recordings to me. Great range of voice and songs in this outing.

Of all of the vocal jazz albums released in the 1990's, this remains one of the best. Ms. Wilson shows tremendous range and diversity here: from a cover of "Tupelo Honey" that outdoes Van Morrison (if that's even possible), to a wonderfully evocative "Hellhound on My Trail", to "You Don't Know What Love Is". to the African-based trio in the middle of the set, it doesn't get much more eclectic than this. Yet, it's all interesting, with always interesting instrumentation. I think Cassandra Wilson falls in the mold of Billie Holiday--one with a relatively limited voice who just brings it all to the table--but with wider diversity. Very highly recommended.

Repeatedly unexpected. Spare, care-ful arrangements, each specifically formulated for each song, each matching her rich, dark alto. First and foremost, serious jazz, but also something entirely different, reflecting an eclectic song choice (e.g., Robert Johnson, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Ann Peebles, herself). Sometimes a primal awareness, but mainly a remarkable artistic sensibility. She DEMANDS attention, completely remaking even old favorites into something totally new. S: tr 2-Come on in my kitchen; tr 4-Children of the night, tr 5-Hellhound on my trail; tr 7-Sankofa; tr 10-Tupelo honey.

Ms. Wilson has a wonderful voice that reminds me somewhat of that of Cleo Laine. The problem for great voices--now I'm also thinking of Whitney Houston--is that they don't always make great albums.

This one is what I would describe as late night music, the kind of thing that you put on when you have arrived home having drunk rather too much, and want to hear something clear and pure to clear your head.

My favorite track on this is the Robert Johnson number Hellhound On My Trail, which is beautifully done with solo guitar accompaniment. I would like to have heard more of Ms. Wilson in this mode, but this album is a bit of a sampler--eclectic if you like--mixing blues, jazz and country, with violins creeping in every now and again.

Not a bad album at all, but I suspect that Ms. Wilson is capable of an even better one, so I reserve judgement a bit. I also have a feeling, and this is just a hunch, that this album may appeal more to female listeners than to the guys.

My star rating system goes like this:

5 stars--an absolute classic
4 stars--the artist is on top form here, a good buy
3 stars--fans of this artist should enjoy this album
2 stars--some good stuff, but inconsistent
1 star--just not good enough

So Cassandra's "New Moon Daughter" is a gem too, but this album is less known and, while it didn't make an immediate impression on me, I now listen to it a lot more. There's basically more variety in song style and arrangement and, if you like Cassandra, then just the sound of her voice is heaven. (If you haven't heard her, her voice is about as distinct as Nina Simone's.) The key point with Cassandra is: nobody sounds like her so if she isn't in your collection then nothing like her is in your collection. Her voice is deep and sultry, her music spacious, unrushed -- there's something distinctly southern about it. She is one of Nora Jones' inspirations, but where Nora's voice is a gentle breeze, Cassandra's is a gathering cloud, and there is no lounge sound to Cassandra's music -- the instruments bleed raw notes.

Hands down one of the best covers of Tupelo Honey I've heard. For some reason this stands out as one Cassandra's best recordings to me. Great range of voice and songs in this outing.

Of all of the vocal jazz albums released in the 1990's, this remains one of the best. Ms. Wilson shows tremendous range and diversity here: from a cover of "Tupelo Honey" that outdoes Van Morrison (if that's even possible), to a wonderfully evocative "Hellhound on My Trail", to "You Don't Know What Love Is". to the African-based trio in the middle of the set, it doesn't get much more eclectic than this. Yet, it's all interesting, with always interesting instrumentation. I think Cassandra Wilson falls in the mold of Billie Holiday--one with a relatively limited voice who just brings it all to the table--but with wider diversity. Very highly recommended.

Following up on the spectacular critical and commercial success of Malicool, a unique encounter between West African traditional kora-based string music and North American jazz, Roswell Rudd goes even farther out, melding Western improvisation with traditional Mongolian throat-singing and folk stylings.

And the results yield a unique amalgam, even more wonderfully strange than his previous effort.

For me, this intersection of various world folk musics with jazz sensibilities produces some of the most exciting music on the scene today. It started with Egberto Gismonti, continued with Andy Narell, and goes forward with Jan Garbarek, Omar Sosa, Safa, Peter Epstein, Miguel Zenon, Yusef Lateef, Lingua Franca, The Intercontinentals, Jenny Scheinman, Dhafer Youssef, Nguyen Le, Roberto Rodreguez, Jean-Pierre Mas, Rita Marcotulli, Vijay Iyer, Guillermo Klein, Pago Libre, Michael Wolff, Will Calhoun, Ben Allison, Fraser Fifield, and a host of others too numerous to name.

The key consists in retaining the authentic aspects of each music, even as both are decoded and put together in new and unforeseen ways.

Case in point: "Buryat Boogie," a fiftyish-sounding boogie-woogie seamlessly grafted onto the Mongolian steppes that comes out sounding both bizarre and completely familiar. The title cut clinches the deal. Here a traditional blues is placed in such an unlikely setting as to nearly deconstruct it, yet it all comes out as almost inevitable. Perhaps even more astounding and weirdly glorious is "American Round," an amalgam of "Swing Low Sweet Chariot," "Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer," and "Amazing Grace." Do you know of more evocative music? I don't. And I doubt I'll ever encounter it. And don't forget "Honey on the Moon," a Rudd composition that sounds so authentically eastern that one could hardly be blamed to think of it as a lost oriental folk classic.

Bottom line: Full monty mysterioso ur-folk magically melded with American jazz--something no person with minimal aesthetic sensibilities should miss. More advanced aesthetes will drop everything and purchase same post-haste.

With an all-star cast of players, some of T-Monk's most famous compositions are rendered with creativity and energy. The new arrangements are exceptional and the musicians are top notch. This is also not available through the Blue Note site so grab a copy of this where ever you can find it.

This CD captures what is, while not the best tracks from the artists involved, still some pretty good stuff...if you're into jazz already. The connectins between the 2 genres is made clearly apparent here in the grooving beats and punchy horn sections, and no small part of the blues in its inflections. However, if you're looking for something to see if you're even into jazz, you may want to try something a little less hardcore. Parts of it even come off like a pretty hip lounge party, but really old-school-like.

Some pretty good stuff, but only for heads or rare groove collectors. The stuff is so hard to find, most people who are into jazz probably haven't heard the tracks before now.

Can't say enuff 'bout this. I kinda heard alot of songs being samples off this compilations incl. "Riding High" by Faze-O (once sampled by my fav. rap group EPMD), "Mister Magic" by Grover Washington Jr. (R.I.P.) (sampled by the group Soul 4 Real for a rmx of "Candy Rain") Playing Your Game, Baby by Barry White (R.I.P.) (sampled by that hip-hop group Black Moon for "Got Cha Open"), etc. I mean alot of artists sample those songs together everybody from Mary J., Aaries, Common, Will Smith, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, D'Angelo, among others. I wish they had available anywhere by goin to gemm.com, djangos.com, spun.com or any other used music store to see if this available or not. They pull it up one day on this website. But good compiliation and definitely a must to include along w/ sum ol' school R&B and jazz.

I love this CD. I never knew how much I had missed this music until I held these butter smooth grooves all togther on the same CD. With the exception of that track from the Ohio Players, All you need to do, is play this CD and drive, relax, meditate or do whatever and this well put together gelled together tracks will keep you floating forward. I have these songs on other CD's but it's the culmination of these master pieces back to back that makes this CD a true work of art

This is one of the best compilation albums I ever heard, and I heard a lot. This is real old school R&B jazzy-funk.

If you love R&B and recent hip-hop samples make you long for the original versions, this CD is for you. It has a very mellow groove, undisturbed except for the more raucous Ohio Players track (Fopp). The 15-song collection contains certain classics that can never be overplayed: Sweet Thing by Chaka Khan & Rufus, Cruisin by Smokey Robinson, and For the Love of You by the Isley Brothers; but also the rarer Riding High by Faze-O and Be Thankful for What You've Got by William DeVaughn. The CD is great to listen to on a sunny afternoon at home or behind the wheel. The Al Green track's intricate opening beat was sampled by Notorious BIG. Other songs have been sampled and re-made, but these are the ORIGINALS. You won't be disappointed!

Back in 1939 when Alfred Lion started Blue Note he had a vision of producing some of the finest jazz ever recorded and thanks to studio engineer Rudy Van Gelder this vision came true. Blue Note was jazz and then some. I contributed my little bit by buying a whole load of B/N LPs during the fifties and sixties, now of course I've had to buy them all over again on CD!

I bought this latest three-disc offering partly on the strength of the title, 'Blue Note: A story of Jazz' but really it should be 'Blue Note: A story of jazz and other related sounds' that will attract as wide a spectrum of buyers as possible. Judging by what is on two of these CDs Blue Note is just another contemporary label with bad packaging.

My preference is clearly for disc one, Classic Notes, offering the original Blue Note sound, despite a tedious 'My Funny Valentine' from Chet Baker it has 'Blue Train' by John Coltrane and 'September Second' with Michel Petrucciani, both cooking tracks. The fifteen on disc two, Contemporary Notes, mostly recorded since 2000 is passable, even though it has the novelty number, 'Don't Worry Be Happy' by Bobby McFerrin. 'Earthlings' by Pat Martino is my favorite. Disc three, Modern Notes, is where it all goes downhill with some extremely tedious offerings, eight minutes from Erik Truffaz with his 'Bending New Comers', Jason Moran manages to stretch 'Planet Rock' to nine minutes. Both these tracks sound just like musicians tinkering with their instruments for minutes on end in a very uncreative way. Amos Lee does a pleasant enough rendering of 'Colors' but can it even remotely be called jazz? The same question could equally apply to the dull 'Don't Explain' by Angela McCluskey. Unfortunately disc three is a million miles from the excitement and exuberance of real Blue Note jazz.

Part of my two star rating is because of the dreadful packaging. On the UK edition the track listings on the back of the box are unreadable. The artist's names are blue type on a blue background, the tracks are not numbered and the text is centred. Needless to say it is all in tiny type. The twenty page booklet (with eight great Francis Wolf photos) is equally amateurishly produced, again the track information, partly printed in blue, is in a light typeface which, in a domestic lighting environment, becomes virtually unreadable. The marketing folk at the label clearly couldn't care less about the buyer. Why should consumers have to put up with this amateur looking nonsense from so-called professionals?

Back in 1939 when Alfred Lion started Blue Note he had a vision of producing some of the finest jazz ever recorded and thanks to studio engineer Rudy Van Gelder this vision came true. Blue Note was jazz and then some. I contributed my little bit by buying a whole load of B/N LPs during the fifties and sixties, now of course I've had to buy them all over again on CD!

I bought this latest three-disc offering partly on the strength of the title, 'Blue Note: A story of Jazz' but really it should be 'Blue Note: A story of jazz and other related sounds' that will attract as wide a spectrum of buyers as possible. Judging by what is on two of these CDs Blue Note is just another contemporary label with bad packaging.

My preference is clearly for disc one, Classic Notes, offering the original Blue Note sound, despite a tedious 'My Funny Valentine' from Chet Baker it has 'Blue Train' by John Coltrane and 'September Second' with Michel Petrucciani, both cooking tracks. The fifteen on disc two, Contemporary Notes, mostly recorded since 2000 is passable, even though it has the novelty number, 'Don't Worry Be Happy' by Bobby McFerrin. 'Earthlings' by Pat Martino is my favorite. Disc three, Modern Notes, is where it all goes downhill with some extremely tedious offerings, eight minutes from Erik Truffaz with his 'Bending New Comers', Jason Moran manages to stretch 'Planet Rock' to nine minutes. Both these tracks sound just like musicians tinkering with their instruments for minutes on end in a very uncreative way. Amos Lee does a pleasant enough rendering of 'Colors' but can it even remotely be called jazz? The same question could equally apply to the dull 'Don't Explain' by Angela McCluskey. Unfortunately disc three is a million miles from the excitement and exuberance of real Blue Note jazz.

Part of my two star rating is because of the dreadful packaging. On the UK edition the track listings on the back of the box are unreadable. The artist's names are blue type on a blue background, the tracks are not numbered and the text is centred. Needless to say it is all in tiny type. The twenty page booklet (with eight great Francis Wolf photos) is equally amateurishly produced, again the track information, partly printed in blue, is in a light typeface which, in a domestic lighting environment, becomes virtually unreadable. The marketing folk at the label clearly couldn't care less about the buyer. Why should consumers have to put up with this amateur looking nonsense from so-called professionals?

HAVING GROWN UP DURING THEFORTIES & FIFTIES THIS IS THE MUSIC OF MY YOUTH. THEQUALITY AND REPRODUCTION OFRECORDINGS WERE OUTSTANDINGFOR THAT PERIOD OF TIME.BEING RETIRED AND ON A FIXED INCOME I WILL BEBUYING THIS CD IN THE FUTURE.

"Blue Note" is an excellent introduction to the post-Big Band sound of jazz. The major movements--bop, hard bop, post-bop, acid and jazz fusion--and most of the major players are covered here. I would also recommend watching the documentary to learn more about not just the recording label, but about the music if one wants to become an educated jazz fan. I gave it four out of five stars because there are a few tracks I personally didn't care for, but that is because I don't care for that style of jazz. But, on the whole, it's an excellent antidote to the soulless beast known as smooth jazz. An essential collection for the beginner or aficiando.