It was a brave decision by Osby to take so many well known tunes and make them his own. The success of the project owes as much to the band, as it does to Osby. Nicholas Peyton proves to be an excellent foil for Osby's eclectic style, and Harold O'Neil on piano is given acres of space to develop his own take on the programme. The rhythm section is tight, with Green on drums proving he can be both propulsive and supportive. Some of the tunes are barely recognisable as compositions that you may have heard before, whilst others are given the lightest of makeovers. My favourite tracks are two Ellington tracks, one early period "East St Louis Toodle-oo" and the much later "The Single petal of a rose". Both have wonderful contributions from both the frontmen who spur each other on to deliver greater depths of sound. However, perhaps bettering both of these is a magnificent version of Cassandra Wilson's "Whirlwind Soldier" transformed into something completely different from her version.There's not a track on this album that isn't transformed by the ensemble collected here, and it would be interesting to know what Thelonious Monk might have made of the version of "Light Blue". This album might not be what you might have expected given the track listing.It's an album that will certainly deliver more layers with repeated listening, and is highly recommended.

You can't categorise the music on this CD. It's much more than a collective ensemble, or a collection of samples, it's a real attempt to head off in a new direction.The samples are nearly all from Finnish sources, expertly linked together by D.J.Slow,with added drum loops or programming from various contributors and bass mainly from Kalle Chydenius. Over all of this floats the wonderful sound of the reeds played by Tapani Rinne. He normally adds soprano sax and bass clarinet though on "Just a phase" he plays tenor sax as well.The CD also has some rapping and added keyboards. The overall effect is magnificent. The music tends to the sonorous end of the spectrum, but that's not a criticism. It also gives up more with every listening, having layers of depth that unravel with each play.Finnish jazz may be a difficult concept, but if you're looking for something unusual and rewarding, this, the third ever Finnish Blue Note album, comes highly recommended from here.

Recorded on 29th April 1966, this is very much a John Patton album. Grant Green on Guitar plays a very subsidiary role to Patton, and Hugh Walker the drummer fills in around the sound created by the two main players. Thankfully the part played by Richard Landrum who provides the conga playing is also mixed well back on all the tracks. The sound is also heavily dependent on Patton's keyboard sound, with little evidence of the bass pedals being used, and with no extra bass player on any of the tracks. So provided you're not expecting a low down deep bass funky sound this is is a great remastering of the original album. All the tracks work well, but particular favourites are the Patton/Green track "Soul Woman" and the Sam Cooke track "The Shake". The version of the Duke Pearson track "Amanda" adds an interesting counterpoint to the tempo of most of the other tracks. It's a shame that the sleeve notes are an unadorned version of the original 1966 notes by Alan Grant, but this is an album that commends itself to your attention. Go buy, and enjoy what was going down in '66!

This album, recorded in 1962 straddles two eras, and the choice of material on the album reflects that.On the one hand there's a look back to standards like George and Ira Gershwins "Love walked in" with some lovely ensemble playing and the extended added track of Rodgers and Hammerstein's, "People will say we're in love" where all the performers get to solo, as well as playing in ensemble. However the look forward is to funk. Obviously John Patten's "Funky Mama" is the core track, and Patten get extensive solo time, propelled along by Ben Dixon ( the two of them had played together in Lloyd Price's road band- and it's the only time on the album that Dixon exerts himself to push the track along).The other really propulsive track is "Nice and Greasy" which sounds as though it might have been an edited version. The most compelling Donaldson playing is perhaps on the extended "Sow Belly Blues". Grant Green is in excellent form throughout, melding well with Patton's organ work. Tommy Turrentine plays best on the more upbeat funky tracks, but provides an excellent counterpoint to the alto sax. All in all this is a welcome re-issue that looks forward to the funky fare that was to be served up later in the decade by players from this session in various guises.Highly recommended, and of course likely to be discontinued soon, so buy it now!

Byrd's third session with Pepper Adams, their second on Blue Note, was a Down Beat 5 star album when it was released, and I think it's worn well. As much as anything this might be accounted for by the fact that all members of the quintet were used to playing together.It shows. Rouse, Jones and Taylor had been with Thelonious Monk, and Adams and Byrd had already done the album "Off to the races" for Blue Note.Apart from "Witchcraft" all the tunes are by Byrd (tracks 2,3&6) or Davis (4&6), and have diverse styles and rhythms.Outstanding for me are "Here I am", a plaintiff piece with some excellent blowing from Byrd, and "Bronze Dance" which has changes of moods and meters, as well as a mistake from Rouse, seamlessly made good by Davis. The playing throughout the album is gutsy, with some wonderfully inventive solo's and an intimate understanding of what everybody in the ensemble was doing.The remastering on this session is good ( perhaps a pity there weren't any out-takes to include). An excellent and interesting re-release, that will hopefully presage the release of more material from Byrd from this period.As usual the advice is buy it now before Blue Note delete it!

This is a resissue of the three albums that Braith cut for Blue Note. They chart a development of styles during the two years ('63 and '64) that Braith led his own sessions. Listening to the first set "Two Souls in one", immediately sent me back to the compilation "The Story of Jamaican Music" to listen again to the West Indian roots that were at a cross roads. The Jamaican based artists confined with the strictures of 45rpm records, and Braith able to stretch out and develop his own style. Listen especially to the two traditional tunes "Mary Ann" and "Mary had a little lamb" for echoes of the Caribbean. By the second session "Soul Stream" Braith and his sidesmen (three diffferent drummers on the three sessions the only variation) were moving into different areas. There's only one 'traditional' track "Billy Told" and the title track and "Boop Bop Bing Bash" (most recently on the Grant Green retrospective) are good examples of where Braith was headed. By the third session from March 1964 issued as "Extension" there's a further development, good examples of the direction he was now headed in are the title track and "Out here". The playing is everything that Eddie says it is, and I echo and endorse what he says about buying several copies. This album deserves a wider listening audience, and as is so often the case with these kinds of Blue Note releases, unlikely to be about for very long. Buy it now!

Clearly, this is not the first Joe Tex album to buy if you're starting a collection of his music! Only the first ten tracks were ever intended as a coherent album, and tracks 5 to 10 were originally released as the "A" side of the original Atlantic album. It's obvious that in the early 70's market, the label had no clear idea of where Joe Tex should be.The second part of the album title, "came the rapper" gives an indication of where they thought he might be headed.However the "rapping" takes Tex some way beyond that genre. There are two really extended tracks, "I'll never fall in love again" and "Oh me oh my, I'm a fool for you baby" where he develops extended monologues against a tight set of rhythm tracks, and loads of strings. My favourite track other than "Oh me oh my" is the ballad "Hate yourself in the morning". These ten tracks would have been great value, but the album is extended by a series of tracks recorded in 1971-72 (except for 1975's "Under your powerful love") and it's clear that Dial Records, now distributed by Mercury, were looking for a style to get Tex another hit 45.I like "Rain go away" ,but there's no coherence of direction in them. As I stated at the start, you'll either love this or loath it. It's Tex in transition.I think it stands the test of time, and recommend it to your attention.

In calling it " Retrospective 1961-66 " Blue Note have left themselves the options of picking up a different thread where this collection stops.Most Green fanatics will have a number of these tracks, but there is more than enough culled from sessions that Green appeared on both as leader and sessioneer, to make it a "must have" set.Favourites are, as always with this amount of material, difficult to pick. Currently I like "Boop Bop Bing Bash" from a George Braith session,The version of Miles Davis' " So what" from the album "Sunday Mornin'"," The other part of town" from Horace Parlan's "Up and down" and the Stanley Turrentine version of "The lamp is low" from the album "Z T Blues". What is emphasised across this number of tracks is how good Green was at fitting in to whatever the unit that he was playing with, and how fresh the takes are on so many of " the standards" (take a listen to "My favourite things" from the album "Matador" as an example).Incidentally if you like organ driven tracks Disk 1 makes this an absolutely crucial buy, with Green pitching against a plethora of B3 bashers in a range of styles. I was given this as a present, but having listened to it all, I wouldn't have any hesitation in rushing out and buying it before ( as will inevitably happen!) Blue Note delete it.

In calling it " Retrospective 1961-66 " Blue Note have left themselves the options of picking up a different thread where this collection stops.Most Green fanatics will have a number of these tracks, but there is more than enough culled from sessions that Green appeared on both as leader and sessioneer, to make it a "must have" set.Favourites are, as always with this amount of material, difficult to pick. Currently I like "Boop Bop Bing Bash" from a George Braith session,The version of Miles Davis' " So what" from the album "Sunday Mornin'"," The other part of town" from Horace Parlan's "Up and down" and the Stanley Turrentine version of "The lamp is low" from the album "Z T Blues". What is emphasised across this number of tracks is how good Green was at fitting in to whatever the unit that he was playing with, and how fresh the takes are on so many of " the standards" (take a listen to "My favourite things" from the album "Matador" as an example).Incidentally if you like organ driven tracks Disk 1 makes this an absolutely crucial buy, with Green pitching against a plethora of B3 bashers in a range of styles. I was given this as a present, but having listened to it all, I wouldn't have any hesitation in rushing out and buying it before ( as will inevitably happen!) Blue Note delete it.

The luminary musicians that have been assembled to help with the production of this album are testimony to what a talent Russell Smith is. The resulting album doesn't disappoint, with a range of songs lovingly fleshed out by (mostly) sparse productions that allows the vocals of Smith to shine through. The voice is a little deeper than it was back then, but the songwriting is, if anything, better. There are some awesomely good songs here, with satisfying twists to old themes. "Old School" is a good take on cheating songs, and "The Road" reworks views about...well, the road! My favourites are "Don't go to strangers" and especially "What I learned from loving you", which as with so many of Smith's songs resonates with experiences that I can empathise with.I also enjoyed the version of "The end is not in sight", and it bears comparison with a versions that he's recorded elsewhere. A look at the musician name checks suggests that everybody down at Muscle Shoals wanted a piece of this action, including Spooner Oldham and James Hooker.Put starkly, this is an album that whatever your musical tastes you ought to think about listening to, it's that good. Oh, and by the way, there's no mention anywhere in the packaging of the Amazing Rhythm Aces!