Freddie Hubbard - Sky Dive (1972) {CTI–CBS Records ZK44171 rel 1988}
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© 1972, 1988 CTI / CBS Records | ZK 44171
Jazz / Post Bop / Jazz Funk / Soul Jazz / Groove / Trumpet

This Creed Taylor gem from the early 70's sounds even better now than it did then. Freddie Hubbard is, or at least was, a remarkable trumpet player - a genuine virtuoso with terrific tone, meldodic sense and emotional range. The songs are unusual, beautiful and in the groove. Ditto for everyone else on the album, which - I hadn't noticed this 30 years ago - includes Keith Jarrett. Ron Carter's bass is mesmerizing. Listening to his riff on the first song helped me appreciate the power of nuance and a subtle riff well placed.

A reasonably enjoyable but not essential release, this album features altoist Gary Bartz (doubling on soprano) performing some originals and older R&B tunes with a four-piece rhythm section (which includes George Cables on electric piano and guitarist Carl McDaniels); three songs have soulful vocalists. The music overall is generally danceable and funky, sounding a bit dated despite some decent solos. Not Gary Bartz's worst (from a jazz standpoint), but also far from his best.

While there can be no doubt that the late great Grover Washington, Jr. released his most commercially successful recordings for Columbia and Elektra, there is also no doubt that, critically and creatively, Washington's most visionary material, the stuff that virtually created the template for the smooth jazz generations that came after, were on the Kudu imprint and produced by Creed Taylor. Washington was a monster saxophonist on tenor as well as soprano, and a true stylist. Before coming to Motown and Kudu he had apprenticed with a number of soul-jazz masters, including Charles Earland and Johnny "Hammond" Smith. The material here focuses on the seminal eight years Washington recorded for Motown and Kudu, beginning with his early renditions of standards like "I Loves You, Porgy," from George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess…

Grant Green - Green Is Beautiful (1970) {Blue Note Japan, Paper Sleeve, TOCJ-9545 rel 2003)
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© 1970, 2003 Blue Note / Toshiba-EMI Japan | TOCJ-9545
Jazz / Jazz Funk / Soul Jazz / Guitar

The second album of Grant Green's thorough jazz-funk makeover, Green Is Beautiful finds the guitarist growing more comfortable with harder, funkier R&B than he seemed on the softer-hued Carryin' On. The switch from Fender Rhodes electric piano back to the more traditional Hammond organ certainly helps give the session a little extra grit, but it doesn't return Green to the land of soul-jazz by any means. Green Is Beautiful is still explicitly commercial and accessible to non-jazz audiences, and (purist objections notwithstanding) that's not necessarily a bad thing.

This exciting album, capturing a Brecker Brothers set at New York City’s Bottom Line on March 6, 1976, is an important document for those who feel that fusion ruled. This disc is evidence of the sonic combustion that happened in the mid-’70s when versatile musicians mixed the accessibility of rock arrangements and the deep groove of funk with the harmonic language and improvisation of jazz. The Bottom Line Archive is the only official live release of this lineup of the Brecker Brothers Band: Randy Brecker (trumpet), Michael Brecker (tenor saxophone), Don Grolnick (keyboards), Steve Khan (guitar), Will Lee (bass), Chris Parker (drums) and Sammy Figueroa (percussion). Contributing to three tracks is alto saxophonist David Sanborn, who shows off the chops that would make him a superstar in the ensuing years.

Himiko Kikuchi is a Japanese jazz pianist, keyboard player, composer and arranger. Born in Sendai. "Reverse It" is her fifth studio album.

Blow by Blow typifies Jeff Beck's wonderfully unpredictable career. Released in 1975, Beck's fifth effort as a leader and first instrumental album was a marked departure from its more rock-based predecessors…

Since making his debut as a leader with 2001's At Last, Marcus Strickland has established a reputation as a composer of remarkable depth and breadth. On Nihil Novi, his first Blue Note offering, Strickland showcases a new band – trumpeter Keyon Harrold, keyboardists Mitch Henry and Masayuki Hirano, bassist Kyle Miles, and drummer Charles Haynes. His new tunes offer an even greater array of styles, harmonic textures, and dynamics, and reveal his preoccupation with hip-hop beatmaking. (This isn't a jazz/hip-hop fusion record.) Nihil Novi was expertly and empathetically produced by Meshell Ndegeocello, who also guests on bass. Strickland also brings in some old friends and allies, including Robert Glasper, Chris Dave, Pino Palladino, and Chris Bruce.

Recorded live at the SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco on October 31 –November 3, 2019, the album celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Sly &The Family Stone’s multi-platinum classic Stand!and the Miles Davis fusion landmark In A Silent Way. Released respectively in May and July 1969 by a pair of artists connected by mutual respect, inspiration, and commitment to artistic exploration, both albums were beacons of hope and new possibilities during a turbulent time in American history.