Features Toshiko Akiyoshi on piano – with either Ray Drummond or George Mraz on bass, and Lewis Nash or Al Harewood on drums! CD

A really great record – and one that's hardly what you'd guess from the title! Sure, the Cleopatra movie was a giant hit in the 60s – but it also gave the chance for some jazzmen to explore more exotic territory – as was also the case with material from Spartacus and Lawrence Of Arabia! Tenorist Paul Gonsalves plays a nice batch of soul jazz takes on Cleopatra – and he brings his gutsy solo style into play with a set of groovy arrangements of "Egyptian" tunes, both from the score of the film and from the pen of players on the session. And speaking of players, Dick Hyman's on organ, and he gives the album a nice nice groovy sound that works very well with Gonsalves' sharp-edged tenor. Titles include "Caesar & Cleopatra Theme", "Bluz For Liz", "Cleo's Asp", "Cleopatra's Lament", and "Action In Alexandria". LP, Vinyl record album

Eric Reed on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Al Foster on drums. CD

One of the most successful albums ever from guitarist Eric Gale – a laidback understated player whose mellow sound had a tremendous influence on mainstream jazz funk in the 70s! The album takes off from the late 60s CTI and Verve sessions by Wes Montgomery – and features Gale riffing out chromatically over tightly woven arrangements by Bob James, who also plays keyboards on the set. There's no standout funky numbers on the record, but it's got a great conception overall – with lots of dreamy grooves that sound very nice! Titles include "Forecast", "Tonsue Corte", "White Moth", "Cleopatra", and "Dindi". LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing early bop session from Germany! During the 50s, pianist Jutta Hipp cut a number of straighter sides for Blue Note that were recorded in the US – but this first album has her working with German contemporaries like Joki Freund on tenor sax and Emil Mangelsdorff on alto, carving out a dark little batch of tracks with a sharper edge than you'd expect! Although Hipp's the leader, it's the amazing horn interplay that really makes the record shine – as Mangelsdorff and Freund work in unison on many of the intros to the songs, cutting back and forth like a double-edged sword, then breaking out into wonderfully compact solos. About 3 tracks feature Hipp in a trio, but the remaining 5 feature this quintet – and it's just great! Titles include "Cleopatra", "Mon Petit", "What's New", and "Variations". CD

The J Masters are Japanese Jazz Masters – a really great sextet with key members from a few different generations – all coming together here in a really wonderful performance! The group is grounded by work from Yoshio Suzuki on bass and Shingo Okudaira on drums – and features tenor from Kosuke Mine and trombone from Shigeharu Mukai – both players who gave us killer albums from the 70s – alongside pianist Soichi Noriki and trumpeter Tomonao Hara. Tracks are nicely structured, different than you might expect from the "jam session" title – and tunes include "Cleopatra's Dream", "EJ Blues", "Norwegian Wood", "Night In Tunisia", "What A Wonderful World", and "Ellen David". CD

A real cooker of a set – and one that features Wynton's piano over some great larger backings from Claus Ogerman! The style of the set is really wonderful – as Wynton plays with a core smaller group that includes Kenny Burrell on guitar, plus regulars Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums – all of whom make more than ample space for Ogerman to come into the mix and fill up the tunes with some sweetly grooving 60s backings – often using electric bass to punch up the bottom, and rollick things around in a stepping style that's a nice mainstream take on the soul jazz groove that Kelly virtually helped invent! A few tracks are more in a small combo mode, but even those manage a pretty darn smoking groove – and overall, the album's got a lot more depth than even some of Kelly's best for the Vee Jay label from previous years! Titles include the bossa groover "Cesar & Cleopatra" – plus "Quiet Village", "If That's The Way You Want It", "Comin' In The Back Door", and "Theme From Burke's Law". LP, Vinyl record album

The Manhattan Jazz Quintet play the music of Blue Note Records – but they also get some fresh tunes of their own from leader David Matthews – whose writing at this point is really at the top of his game! Core Blue Note tunes include Bud Powell's "Cleopatra's Dream", Woody Shaw's "Sweet Love Of Mine", Bobby Timmons' "Moanin", Sonny Clark's "Cool Struttin", and Dexter Gordon's "Cheese Cake" – all handled in arrangements that are way more than just a copycat of the Blue Note originals, and which instead show Matthews' arrangements really opening up the songs into vibrant new territory. In fact, David's own originals may well be the most Blue Note-like titles on the set – the songs "Wolff Pack" and "For Alfred" – played by the group that features Lew Soloff on trumpet, George Young on tenor, John Patitucci on bass, and Dave Weckl on drums. CD

The scene may be changing, but nothing can dampen the fire of the great Bud Powell – and, if anything, this fifth installment in Blue Note's "Amazing" series may well have the pianist at his mature best! The rhythm duo are wonderful – more late 50s modern hardbop than some of Bud's accompanists in years past – the great Paul Chambers on bass and Art Taylor on drums, both of whom can bring the fire when needed, yet also craft their lines with these subtle touches that really match Powell's incredible dexterity on piano. Tunes are shorter than usual for a Blue Note album of this vintage – but mostly because all three players pack a hell of a lot into a very small space – and really make timeless magic on titles that include "Down With It", "Cleopatra's Dream", "Gettin' There", "Danceland", "Borderick", and "Duid Dee". LP, Vinyl record album

The scene may be changing, but nothing can dampen the fire of the great Bud Powell – and, if anything, this fifth installment in Blue Note's "Amazing" series may well have the pianist at his mature best! The rhythm duo are wonderful – more late 50s modern hardbop than some of Bud's accompanists in years past – the great Paul Chambers on bass and Art Taylor on drums, both of whom can bring the fire when needed, yet also craft their lines with these subtle touches that really match Powell's incredible dexterity on piano. Tunes are shorter than usual for a Blue Note album of this vintage – but mostly because all three players pack a hell of a lot into a very small space – and really make timeless magic on titles that include "Down With It", "Cleopatra's Dream", "Gettin' There", "Danceland", "Borderick", and "Duid Dee". CD

The scene may be changing, but nothing can dampen the fire of the great Bud Powell – and, if anything, this fifth installment in Blue Note's "Amazing" series may well have the pianist at his mature best! The rhythm duo are wonderful – more late 50s modern hardbop than some of Bud's accompanists in years past – the great Paul Chambers on bass and Art Taylor on drums, both of whom can bring the fire when needed, yet also craft their lines with these subtle touches that really match Powell's incredible dexterity on piano. Tunes are shorter than usual for a Blue Note album of this vintage – but mostly because all three players pack a hell of a lot into a very small space – and really make timeless magic on titles that include "Down With It", "Cleopatra's Dream", "Gettin' There", "Danceland", "Borderick", and "Duid Dee". CD features a bonus alternate take of "Comin Up". CD

A richly-recorded album, one that really brings out the best of the bass of Yoshio Chin Suzuki and the piano of Tsuyoshi Yamamoto! The sound quality is a bit like some of those classic Three Blind Mice dates from the 70s – familiar jazz territory, but a bit different too – and opened up with a tremendous ear for the color and tone of the individual players, especially Suzuki – who gets to open up a number of tracks with solo bass passages that are really beautiful! Titles include "Last Tango In Paris", "Blues For Edith", "The Loving Touch", "Summertime", "Misty", "Cleopatra's Dream", and "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise". LP, Vinyl record album

Rare live work from the legendary Three Sounds trio – tracks recorded at a small jazz club in Seattle, at a time when the group were turning out their classic albums on Blue Note and Verve! There's a looser, more laidback vibe to some of these cuts than those studio records – and Gene Harris is especially amazing on his solos – blowing our mind even more than before with his deft, soulful approach to the keys – almost hitting Bobby Timmons territory on some of these tracks, given his non-stop ability to groove while still opening up on the melody! All tracks also feature the great Andy Simpkins on bass – a wonderfully warm player who really shapes the sound – and drummers include Carl Burnett, Bill Dowdy, and Kalil Madi – depending on the tunes. Material was recorded in 1964, 1966, and 1968 – and very well-recorded, too – presented here with a clarity that rivals their albums of the decade. Titles include "AM Blues", "Girl Talk", "Blue Genes", "Night Has A Thousand Eyes", "Rat Down Front", "The Boogaloo", "Caesar & Cleopatra", and "The Shadow Of Your Smile". CD