All Categories — LPs  

After Ahmad spent the 60s playing mellow acoustic piano, he turned into a great jazz artist on the Fender Rhodes – and this album is one of the best he ever made in that genre. The record has some great orchestrations by Richard Evans, and Ahmad's tone is very rich and full, with a great soul sound! The album features some great jazz funk covers – like a version of the classic break track "Misdemeanor", plus "Trouble Man", "Ghetto Child", and "Don't Misunderstand".

A crucial album for Jamal – one in which he's really working in the "extensions" mode promised in the title! The tracks are all quite long – far longer than on his usual Argo sides, which is why there's only 4 in all on the whole album. The feel of the album is free and lively, a real extension from the groundbreaking mode of piano expression that Jamal had pioneered during the late 50s – and this added room allows him to spin out in more complicated lines that clearly would have a bit influence on 70s soul jazz and spiritual players. Includes a great track called "This Terrible Planet", which has shaken bells with the rhythm, plus "Extensions", "Dance To The Lady", and "Whisper Not".

This mid 60s set for Cadet finds Jamal and his trio, featuring Jamil Nasser on bass and Frank Gant on drums playing it cool despite the title – which is actually the Irving Berlin penned lead track. Other tracks include a rendition of Sonny Rollins' "St. Thomas", the latin-tinged "Misty", "April In Paris", "Allison", "Maybe September", and "The Girl Next Door".

Unlike Ahmad's other LPs for 20th Century, this one's a fairly straight set of tracks, with (mostly) acoustic piano (although he does play Fender Rhodes on one track). He's backed by a nice combo that features Calvin Keys on guitar, Frank Gant on drums, John Hurd on bass, and Selden Newton on assorted percussion. The tracks are long, with a spiritual vibe that sounds like some of the Walter Bishop records on Black Jazz. The set includes the nice electric track "Tuscon", plus "Crossfire" and "Handicapper".

A nice range of tracks from Ahmad, and one that really illustrates the diversity of styles he was using in the 70s. Some cuts feature acoustic piano, and others electric – but the best moments are those when the groove gets nice and funky, with that spacey expanded tip that was used to push Ahmad's style way past the cliches of the 60s. Titles include "Genetic Walk", "Chase", "La Costa", and "Don't Ask My Neighbors – all of which were arranged by Richard Evans, the latter two both nice covers!

Jamal could make magic out of anything – case in point is this fantastic little LP, based around Anthonly Newley and Leslie Bricusse's score to The Roar Of The Greasepaint! Jamal takes the tunes and turns them completely on their heads – using them all as platforms for lyrical improvisation, in that magical and soulful style that he virtually invented at the time. His trio includes Jamil Nasser on bass and Chuck Lampkin on drums, and titles include "Feeling Good", "This Dream", "Look At That Face", "It Isn't Enough", and "Sweet Beginning".

An obscure late 60s set of tracks that Jamal cut in his pre-Impulse years – working here with Jamil Sulieman on bass and Frank Gant on drums – and hitting more of that open-ended approach that would come into his work in the 70s. About half the tracks are still in the shorter, straighter trio mode – but the other half are hipper and longer. Titles include "Free Again", "Tranquility", "Manhattan Reflections", and "Illusions Opticas".

One of the greatest albums ever from pianist Ronnie Kole – a hip cat who played heavily on the New Orleans scene of the 60s and 70s – but who also had a soulful sound that was much more in keeping with piano work from the Windy City! This set has a nice crackle from the start – and although some of the cuts are ballads, Ronnie still brings in this gentle swing that's mighty nice – a bit in the way that Ramsey Lewis or Ahmad Jamal might have handled the cuts for Chess Records in the mid 60s – with a similarly hip approach to soul jazz. Some cuts feature a bit of added instrumentation from arranger Charlie Brent – and titles include the sweet "Great Stone Bottle", which has a nice break and some organ in the background – plus "Love Story", "Close to You", "Secret of My Soul", "My Sweet Lord", "He Ain't Heavy", and a groovy cover of "Sesame Street"!

A real finger-popper from Japanese pianist Kunihiko Sugano – a sweet 60s album that has him playing like the best American players of the soul jazz generation! There's a boldness to the left hand that echoes bits of Ray Bryant or Junior Mance – yet Sugano can also tipple the keys with a lyrical sensitivity that's got a bit of Barry Harris or maybe even Ahmad Jamal – often complex, yet still swinging beautifully – always aware of the groove, yet never totally subsumed by it! The trio features Yoshio Ikeda on bass and Hiroshi Yamazaki on drums – and the album feels like some lost treasure on Argo or Prestige Records. Titles include "For Karl", "Finger Popping", "I Can't Get Started", "Barbados", and "Blues For Jiro".

Rare early work by Johnny Pate – the great jazz bassist who later went onto great fame as an arranger at ABC, where he handled all of the classic work by the Impressions! This album features a tight Chicago piano combo, ala the Ahmad Jamal group, with Pate on bass, Wilbur Wynne on guitar, and Floyd Morris on piano. (Obviously, Floyd's a lot funkier than Jamal, but you get the idea.) Pate contributed a few originals to the set – like "All The Time", "Carmen's Chaser", and "Yvonne" – and the rest of the tracks are standards.

A classic compilation of material from the hip later years of Impulse – put together with a title that's a bit misleading, given that some of this stuff was clearly getting some play on underground FM radio! There's some key righteous classics here – like "Attica Blues" and "Money Blues" by Archie Shepp, "Astral Traveling" by Pharoah Sanders, "Galaxy In Turiya" and "Blue Nile" by Alice Coltrane, and "Worry Bout It Later" by Cliff Coulter – alongside other tracks that include "Larry Of Arabia" by Chico Hamilton, "Wave" by Ahmad Jamal, and "Crystalized Tears" by John Klemmer.

An unusual one for George Shearing – in that this Capitol session's a trio date, instead of Shearing's usual quintet mode – working in an Ahmad Jamal-like trio with drums by Vernel Fournier and bass by the late Israel Crosby! There's flowing, subtly soulful sound going on here – one that's almost an homage to Jamal, but which still has some of the more Shearing-like tones to ring out and announce George's influence on the date. The album was sadly Crosby's last recording, but his bass still sounds great – and titles include "Wonder Why", "Blues In 9/4", "Heart Of Winter", "What's New?", and "Symphony".