Great work from that point in the 70s when pianist Joanne Brackeen was really taking off – working in bold, modern tones that really set her apart from most of her generation – further underscoring her unique role in jazz! Brackeen's freely creative on the keys – playing in ways that soar out freely at points, yet still always manage to swing – a really careful balance between avant ideas and a traditional jazz groove – possibly illustrated better on this record than any other session we can think of! But the rhythm players are possibly a big part of the album's success – because bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Billy Hart also always show that same sort of balance in their own work, and prove to be great company here for Brackeen. Titles include "Zulu", "C-Sri", "Circle", "Six Ate", "Nefertiti", and "Snooze". CD

Dreamy open-ended tracks from pianist Joanne Brackeen – with a spiritual sound that almost reminds us of Alice Coltrane's best work on Impulse – and which represents a very different side of Brackeen's music than her better-known work with Stan Getz during the same time! Of course, the hipness of the music is maybe no surprise – given that the trio features Cecil McBee on bass and Billy Hart on drums – both of whom work behind Brackeen to drive her solos into a searching post-Coltrane kind of mode that's totally wonderful! Titles include "Zulu", "Nefertiti", "Circles", and "C-Sri". LP, Vinyl record album

Dreamy open-ended tracks from pianist Joanne Brackeen – with a spiritual sound that almost reminds us of Alice Coltrane's best work on Impulse – and which represents a very different side of Brackeen's music than her better-known work with Stan Getz during the same time! Of course, the hipness of the music is maybe no surprise – given that the trio features Cecil McBee on bass and Billy Hart on drums – both of whom work behind Brackeen to drive her solos into a searching post-Coltrane kind of mode that's totally wonderful! Titles include "Zulu", "Nefertiti", "Circles Within Circles", "C-Sri" and the bonus track "I Didn't Know What Time It Was". CD

A wonderful little record from pianist Joanne Brackeen – unlike anything the artist ever recorded, as it's just a set of duets with guitarist Ryo Kawasaki, who brings in some really beautiful elements to the mix! Ryo plays an acoustic nylon string guitar, but with a dexterity that most other players would use on electric – and the balance of his instrument with Brackeen's piano is sublime – full of colors and imaginative tones, but also a fair degree of rhythmic impulses too – which guide the duo in ways that are completely refreshing throughout! And yes, Ryo could be slick on other records, but he's definitely not here – and instead finds a special space alongside those choppy blocks of sound that Joanne plays so well. Titles include a great reading of Kawasaki's "Trinkets & Things" – plus "Shadowbrook Air", "Spring Of Things", "Fair Weather", "Whim Within", and "Winnie & Woodstock". LP, Vinyl record album

A solo piano set – tracks include "Thou Swell", "Yesterdays", "Calling Carl", "It Could Happen To You", and "African Aztec". CD

Really great work from pianist Joanne Brackeen – a player who's always got plenty to offer, but who really seems to find a special space here – working in a unique trio that features Clint Houston on bass and Ryo Kawasaki on guitar! Houston's bass is wonderful – full, rich, and very well-rounded – an element that brings so much depth to the record that both Ryo and Joanne can really take off – Kawasaki on these colorful lines that have a bit more bite than his more fusiony guitar albums as a leader, and Brackeen with these incredibly deft, incredibly well-spun lines on piano. The balance of sounds is wonderful – very fresh and unique – and titles include "Aft", "Haiti B", "Dreamers", and "Winter Is Here". LP, Vinyl record album

Joanne Brackeen's at the top of her game here – working in a unique set of duets with bassist Eddie Gomez – at a level that matches the fire and fury of any of her work with a larger group! Brackeen's got this tremendous command of the keyboard right from the start – a wide sweep that has the notes cascading wonderfully – in rich melodies with a very deep sound, but still lots of sharp edges, and this sense of freedom that makes you think she's always just about to go outside – before pulling it back a bit. Gomez is sublime, as always – and his bass work adapts perfectly to each individual moment – stating itself strongly, but never in a way that's gimmicky at all – and always balanced between a sense of melody and timekeeping too. Titles include "Lost Or Found", "International Festival", "Evanescent", "If You Dare", and "Prism". LP, Vinyl record album

Pretty strong work from Joanne Brackeen – a great 70s trio set, with either Cecil McBee or Clint Houston on bass, and Billy Hart on drums – plus some guest tenor work by Michael Brecker, who's definitely at the sharper side of his spectrum! Brecker's tone here is raw and adventurous – much more so than on any of his own albums of the time – a perfect fit for Brackeen's strong work on the piano, which is very open and free flowing throughout. Titles include "New True Illusions", "Haiti B", "Echoes", "Fi Fi's Rock", and "Shadowbrook Aire". LP, Vinyl record album

Pretty strong work from Joanne Brackeen – a great 70s trio set, with either Cecil McBee or Clint Houston on bass, and Billy Hart on drums – plus some guest tenor work by Michael Brecker, who's definitely at the sharper side of his spectrum! Brecker's tone here is raw and adventurous – much more so than on any of his own albums of the time – a perfect fit for Brackeen's strong work on the piano, which is very open and free flowing throughout. Titles include "New True Illusions", "Haiti B", "Echoes", "Fi Fi's Rock", and "Shadowbrook Aire". CD also features three bonus tracks – alternate takes of "Fi Fi's Rock", "Echoes", and "New True Illusions". CD

There may be a mountain of Stan Getz records on the market – but take it from us, this is definitely one that you need in your collection! The set presents material from a never-issued live recording – Stan on sublime, soulful tenor at the Keystone Korner in 1976 – working with a quartet that includes Joanne Brackeen on piano, Clint Houston on bass, and Billy Hart on drums – all ultra-hip players who set Stan up at a level that rivals the openly creative genius of studio albums like Sweet Rain or Captain Marvel, but with that special sort of snapshot that also marks his rare live material with Gary Burton too! The tracks were cut during the same week that produced the Getz/Gilberto 76 album, but the sound here is very different – not bossa, all jazz, and with that really inspired sense of soloing that Stan hit once he discovered Coltrane and the influence of that generation. Wonderful all the way through – with titles that include "Infant Eyes", "Summer Night", "Peace", "Con Alma", "Morning Star", and "The Cry Of The Wild Goose". CD

There may be a mountain of Stan Getz records on the market – but take it from us, this is definitely one that you need in your collection! The set presents material from a never-issued live recording – Stan on sublime, soulful tenor at the Keystone Korner in 1976 – working with a quartet that includes Joanne Brackeen on piano, Clint Houston on bass, and Billy Hart on drums – all ultra-hip players who set Stan up at a level that rivals the openly creative genius of studio albums like Sweet Rain or Captain Marvel, but with that special sort of snapshot that also marks his rare live material with Gary Burton too! The tracks were cut during the same week that produced the Getz/Gilberto 76 album, but the sound here is very different – not bossa, all jazz, and with that really inspired sense of soloing that Stan hit once he discovered Coltrane and the influence of that generation. Wonderful all the way through – with titles that include "Infant Eyes", "Summer Night", "Peace", "Con Alma", "Morning Star", and "The Cry Of The Wild Goose". CD

A double slice of Stan Getz – material issued previously on two separate CDs by Steeplechase, brought together here in the price of a single set! The work here is wonderful – moody late 70s Getz, with some especially soulful moments on the mellow tracks too – that kind of spun-out blowing that we first started finding in Stan's career right around the Sweet Rain album, and which continued to show up beautifully on 70s albums like this! Joanne Brackeen plays some great piano in the quartet – including some electric keys too – and other players include Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass and Billy Hart on drums. Tracks include "Infant Eyes", "Lush Life", "Stan's Blues", "Cancao Do Sol", "Lady Sings The Blues", "Blues For Dorte", and "Con Alma". CD

Genius material from the team of tenorist Stan Getz and Brazilian bossa legend Joao Gilberto – reunited here in a brief mid 70s period, after their famous Verve recordings of the early 60s – and in a way that shows all the changes both artists had gone through over the years! Stan and Joao would go onto produce the sublime Best Of Two Worlds studio record during this same stretch – but this never-issued live date is arguably even deeper and darker than that record – as Stan blows with the stronger current of melancholy he seemed to unlock in period of his Sweet Rain record and onward – and Joao himself does all the singing here, without help from any female vocalist – with that bluer, more personal vibe he hit on his incredible record from 1973. The maturity and emotion of both musicians comes through right away – and support is from the trio of Joanne Brackeen on piano, Clint Houston on bass, and Billy Hart on drums – all wonderful musicians who also know just the right moment to step back and let the two giants dominate when needed. Titles include "Eu Vim Da Bahia", "E Preciso Perdoar", "Doralice", "Morena Boca De Ouro", "Joao Marcelo", "Aguas De Marco", "Samba De Minha Terra", and "Retrato Em Branco E Preto". CD

Genius material from the team of tenorist Stan Getz and Brazilian bossa legend Joao Gilberto – reunited here in a brief mid 70s period, after their famous Verve recordings of the early 60s – and in a way that shows all the changes both artists had gone through over the years! Stan and Joao would go onto produce the sublime Best Of Two Worlds studio record during this same stretch – but this never-issued live date is arguably even deeper and darker than that record – as Stan blows with the stronger current of melancholy he seemed to unlock in period of his Sweet Rain record and onward – and Joao himself does all the singing here, without help from any female vocalist – with that bluer, more personal vibe he hit on his incredible record from 1973. The maturity and emotion of both musicians comes through right away – and support is from the trio of Joanne Brackeen on piano, Clint Houston on bass, and Billy Hart on drums – all wonderful musicians who also know just the right moment to step back and let the two giants dominate when needed. Titles include "Eu Vim Da Bahia", "E Preciso Perdoar", "Doralice", "Morena Boca De Ouro", "Joao Marcelo", "Aguas De Marco", "Samba De Minha Terra", and "Retrato Em Branco E Preto". CD

A live set by Bob – packaged in a cover that has a picture of him in a Taxi, certainly designed to cash in on his fame doing the theme for that TV show! The record's actually quite nice, and is a good blend of the mellow Bob from later years and the darker Bob from earlier ones – performed with a set of players that include Steve Gadd, Idris Muhammad, Tom Scott, Richard Tee, Earl Klugh, Tom Browne, Joanne Brackeen, and Eddie Gomez. Includes nice versions of "Westchester Lady" and "The Golden Apple", plus "Kari", "Touchdown", "Farandole", and "Stompin At The Savoy". LP, Vinyl record album