One of the best albums in years from altoist Jesse Davis – recorded in a relaxed, open-ended style that really unlocks some new magic in his horn! Davis' studio records are all quite nice, but this live date really takes him to places we've never heard before – a really old school exploration of alto modes that brings us back to Stitt or Criss, and shows a long-winded creativity we hardly knew that Jesse had. The rhythm section really helps the feel of the record, too – with a lot of humanity in the piano of Spike Wilner, mixed with the impeccable work of Peter Washington on bass and Billy Drummond on drums. Ryan Kisor's trumpet adds one more horn to the mix – and titles include "I'll Close My Eyes", "Piece Of The Apple", "Pray Thee/Beyond The Storm", "Journey From The Lighthouse", and "Body & Soul". CD

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Music from Omer Avital Group, Charles Owens Quartet, Jason Lindner Big Band, Zaid Nasser Quartet, Across 7th Street, and Frank Hewitt Sextet. CD

A perfect setting for the rich-voiced tenor of the great George Coleman – presented here as one of the best titles so far in the strongly-revived Live At Smalls series! Smalls is one of those players who's been on countless albums over the years, and turned out plenty of great work – but who also seems to come across with a freshness, a newness in a key live recording like this – much the same way that a player like Johnny Griffin could always show that at the core, jazz can be a spontaneous expression that's sometimes best presented in an unfettered sort of space. The core group is just right for Coleman, and often step back to give him plenty of space – Spike Wilner on piano, Peter Washington on bass, and Joe Farnsworth on drums – and titles include "Blues For Smalls", "When Sunny Gets Blue", "At Last", "Four", "Meditation", and "My Funny Valentine". CD

A trio of modern talents, working beautifully together on a set of extended live tracks! The group features guitar from Peter Bernstein, Hammond from Larry Goldings, and drums from Bill Stewart – coming together in ways that remind us of the hipper side of 60s organ combos – those moments when Grant Green and Larry Young really opened things up with a long-flowing groove! There's still a nice undercurrent of soul in the mix, but the rhythms are relatively free and unfettered too – moving forth with energy that might be called modal by some, but which is even less constricted by a simple tag like that – more just pure, beautiful waves of sound from both the organ and guitar. Titles include "The Danger Zone", "Milestones", "Just A Thought", "Molto Molto", and "Chant". CD

One of our favorite records ever from trombonist Steve Davis – a live date recorded at Smalls, and one that lets him stretch out a lot more than most of his studio albums! The setting is wonderful – an open-ended, easygoing quintet with great piano from Larry Willis – and a groove that is a nice change from some of the tighter modes that Davis often hits with his One For All compadres. As a result, Steve really takes some nice chances on the solos – and shows a range of his horn that impresses us even more than usual – and heck, we already think he's a great player! Altoist Mike DiRubbo brings a nice edge to the proceedings with some great solo work of his own – and the rest of the group features Gerald Cannon on bass and Willie Jones III on drums. Titles include "Spirit Waltz", "Nature Boy/To Wisdom The Prize", and "Daydream/Outro". CD

Bassist Dezron Douglas can be one hell of a leader – especially when he's working with a group and setting as great as this! The album's got that solid punch we love in the Smalls Live series – a way of allowing players to really open up and be themselves, yet also find a cohesiveness as a group that you don't often get in studio sessions – that brilliant magic that can make live jazz performance so wonderful, when it's captured this well – a great document of a musical moment and local expression that might have been missed otherwise. Dezron's bass is very upfront in the performance – and the quintet also features tight trumpet from Josh Evans, bold tenor from Stacy Dillard, sharp piano from David Bryant, and smoking drums from Willie Jones III. Titles include "Nita", "Let's Ride", "The Puppet", "Bish Bash Bop", and "Power Of One". CD

With Neal Miner on bass and Joe Strausser on drums. CD

An ultra-hip set from bassist Tyler Mitchell – a player who doesn't often record as a leader, but really makes his mark with this live performance from Smalls! Mitchell's group here is a great one – a really cohesive quintet with Josh Evans on trumpet, Abraham Burton on tenor, Spike Wilner on piano, and Eric McPherson on drums – all players who come together on the album's original compositions, and who have the inventiveness to keep things spontaneous and flowing on the very long tracks – all tunes that go well past a dozen or more minutes in length. Wilner's especially nice – bold, yet sensitive – and a great bridge between the leader and hornmen. Titles include "A Time Called Now", "La Tendresse", "Caton", "Taking It With Me", and "Taj's Theme". CD

Bruce Barth is a pianist who always knows how to open up and run – making him an excellent choice for the Smalls Live series – easily some of the best-recorded live jazz CDs in recent years! Barth's touch on the keys is amazing – very fluid, and a mixture of sharp tones and gentler elements – always incredibly well-conceived, and really holding up in the space of the album's extended tunes – which also are almost all original compositions as well! The trio features Vincente Archer on bass and Rudy Royston on drums – and titles include "Yama", "Almost Blues", "Oh Yes I Will", "Afternoon In Lledia", and "Wilsonian Alto". CD

The second album recorded by altoist Jesse Davis at Smalls in New York, and a set that's every bit as great as the first – like that one, a record in a setting that really seems to set Davis on fire at a level that's different than some of his studio recordings! Tracks are long, and Davis is wonderful on his solos – very expressive, almost blowing the instrument like some tenorist from years back – and getting superb accompaniment from Spike Wilner on piano, Peter Washington bass, and Joe Farnsworth on drums – all great players too. Titles include "Ceora", "Cup Bearers", "Gingerbread Boy", "Juicy Lucy", "Love For Sale", and "Rhythm N Ning". CD

Jimmy Smith live was a killer – especially in the early days, when this one was recorded! Back in the late 50s, when Jimmy was shocking the world with his fantastically creative approach to the organ, Blue Note cut some of the first strong-selling live albums by following Jimmy to the clubs – where he would really let loose with some incredible work on the Hammond B-3. The albums recorded that time shine far brighter than Jimmy's studio work – as you'll hear in this great 2CD set that brings back the rare Groovin At Smalls vols 1 & 2, plus a whole bunch of unreleased material! There's a total of 13 tracks in all – many of them very very long – and all of them featuring Jimmy on organ, Eddie McFadden on guitar, and Donald Bailey on drums. A whopping batch of nice tracks – and titles include "After Hours", "Walkin", "My Funny Valentine", "Laura", "Slightly Monkish", and "The Champ". CD

Proof that at his start, Jimmy Smith had a greatness that knew no bounds – as the album's one of a few that Blue Note recorded in the late 50s, but never issued until many years later – even though they had already released so many amazing records from this period! The set has Jimmy really cooking away – playing live at Small's Paradise, in a group that has Lou Donaldson's alto on just about every track, and tenor from Tina Brooks on most of the others too. Tunes are tighter and shorter than on the more jam session albums, which makes for a nice change – and titles include "Groovin At Smalls", "Dark Eyes", "Cool Blues", and "A Night In Tunisia" – which begins with an announcement from Babs Gonzales! CD

Proof that at his start, Jimmy Smith had a greatness that knew no bounds – as the album's one of a few that Blue Note recorded in the late 50s, but never issued until many years later – even though they had already released so many amazing records from this period! The set has Jimmy really cooking away – playing live at Small's Paradise, in a group that has Lou Donaldson's alto on just about every track, and tenor from Tina Brooks on most of the others too. Tunes are tighter and shorter than on the more jam session albums, which makes for a nice change – and titles include "Groovin At Smalls", "Dark Eyes", "Cool Blues", and "A Night In Tunisia" – which begins with an announcement from Babs Gonzales! CD

Proof that at his start, Jimmy Smith had a greatness that knew no bounds – as the album's one of a few that Blue Note recorded in the late 50s, but never issued until many years later – even though they had already released so many amazing records from this period! The set has Jimmy really cooking away – playing live at Small's Paradise, in a group that has Lou Donaldson's alto on just about every track, and tenor from Tina Brooks on most of the others too. Tunes are tighter and shorter than on the more jam session albums, which makes for a nice change – and titles include "Groovin At Smalls", "Dark Eyes", "Cool Blues", and "A Night In Tunisia" – which begins with an announcement from Babs Gonzales! 8 tracks in all – 4 more than on the 1980 album – with better sound than before as well! CD

Proof that at his start, Jimmy Smith had a greatness that knew no bounds – as the album's one of a few that Blue Note recorded in the late 50s, but never issued until many years later – even though they had already released so many amazing records from this period! The set has Jimmy really cooking away – playing live at Small's Paradise, in a group that has Lou Donaldson's alto on just about every track, and tenor from Tina Brooks on most of the others too. Tunes are tighter and shorter than on the more jam session albums, which makes for a nice change – and titles include "Groovin At Smalls", "Dark Eyes", "Cool Blues", and "A Night In Tunisia" – which begins with an announcement from Babs Gonzales! LP, Vinyl record album

That's the legendary Marshall Allen on the cover with bassist Tyler Mitchell – the latter of whom leads a very cool combo through a set of material that includes classic tunes by Sun Ra, plus tracks from other sources as well! The octet has the mixture of cohesion and individuality that Ra brought to the Arkestra back in the day – yet the presentation here is hardly slavish to their roots, even with Allen in the group – as there's plenty of personal spirit in Mitchell's arrangements, carried forth by a lineup that includes Chris Hemmingway on tenor, Nicoletta Manzini on alto, Giveton Gelin on trumpet, and Farid Barron on piano – all working here with Mitchell and Allen on a live performance recorded at Smalls. Titles include "Dancing Shadows", "New Dawn", "Love In Outer Space", "Velvet", "Cosmic Hop", "Free Ballad", "Eddie Harris", "Discipline", and "Bouncing At Smalls". CD

That's the legendary Marshall Allen on the cover with bassist Tyler Mitchell – the latter of whom leads a very cool combo through a set of material that includes classic tunes by Sun Ra, plus tracks from other sources as well! The octet has the mixture of cohesion and individuality that Ra brought to the Arkestra back in the day – yet the presentation here is hardly slavish to their roots, even with Allen in the group – as there's plenty of personal spirit in Mitchell's arrangements, carried forth by a lineup that includes Chris Hemmingway on tenor, Nicoletta Manzini on alto, Giveton Gelin on trumpet, and Farid Barron on piano – all working here with Mitchell and Allen on a live performance recorded at Smalls. Titles include "Dancing Shadows", "New Dawn", "Love In Outer Space", "Velvet", "Cosmic Hop", "Free Ballad", "Eddie Harris", "Discipline", and "Bouncing At Smalls". CD

With Chris Byars on tenor and alto saxophone. CD