The Musical Box

miles davis: kind of blue (1959)

Miles Davis: Kind of Blue - A recent visit to amazon.com revealed nearly a dozen different editions of Davis’ 1959 masterpiece of cool, including several new deluxe editions full of previously unreleased audio table scraps seemingly designed to flesh out a classic that needs not to be messed with. My recommendation: stick with the $7 copy of the 1997 remastered edition. It sports an alternate take of  Kind of Blue’s most underrated triumph: Flamenco Sketches. It’s a gorgeous bit of regal jazz atmospherics with a roll call of sublime solos by Davis, Bill Evans, John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderly. You need no bigger blue in your ears than this.

lee morgan: search for the new land (1964)

Lee Morgan: Search for the New Land - Nearly 37 years after his shooting death in a New York club, Morgan remains the only trumpeter outside of Freddie Hubbard that could even approach Davis’ compositional reach. This 1964 session sports two noted Davis alumni (Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter), although guitarist Grant Green is the one who really ups the cool quotient here. For my money, these are Morgan’s sharpest compositions and, a result, his best album. A record that fully captures the brilliance of the vintage Blue Note era, from its suave swing and temperament to its exquisite sense of after hours soul.  

freddie hubbard: straight life (1971)

Freddie Hubbard: Straight Life - Hubbard’s death just after Christmas prompted renewed listening to as much of his catalogue as I could get my greedy little mittens on. His Blue Note albums of the early and mid ‘60s remain in a class by themselves. But Straight Life is a 1971 CTI album with only two lengthy funk and primitive fusion jams and a hushed recitation of Here’s That Rainy Day with a young George Benson as a foil. Hubbard’s music went soft and south real fast after this. But today, Straight Life remains a jazz portrait of exciting generational change.

david "fathead" newman: fire! (1989)

David “Fathead” Newman: Fire! - I reached for this one as soon as word of sax great Newman’s death spread on Wednesday. It was part of a brief, late ‘80s return to Atlantic Records, the label for which he cut commanding soul music recordings with Ray Charles as well as a string of solo funk and fusion albums. Fire! is largely a jazz bouquet, though, with Newman holding court at New York’s Village Vanguard just before Christmas of 1998. Stanley Turrentine and Hank Crawford provide additional sax star power, but vibist Steve Nelson best echoes the sweet soul reserve of Newman’s blissful playing.

matthew shipp quartet: cosmic suite (2008)

Matthew Shipp Quartet: Cosmic Suite - Stumbled upon this one quite by accident while looking for Shipp music online. Cosmic Suite was cut only a year ago by the pianist’s current trio  - bassist Joe Morris and drummer Walt Dickey - along with veteran New York improviser Daniel Carter on reeds. But it seems to have received only a limited import release. With two such feverish players at the helm, one might expect the music to be a tad volcanic. Actually, the ensemble interplay is often quiet and internalized. Don’t worry, though. You’ll still feel the bumps as you shoot through the cosmos.