Representative of the worst aspects of the modern jazz scene
923898
Ambrose Akinmusire is an incredibly talented trumpeter.  His melancholic tone ranges from bright and piercing in the upper register, to warm, full, and languid in the lower register.  His technique is on full display with his adept usage of half-valving and blistering runs over gigantic intervalic leaps.  Creatively, nothing seems to be off the table on this album; each track adds something new structurally, harmonically, or instrumentally.  And yet the album as a whole is profoundly uninteresting and unfocused.  Each track incorporates much harmonic and rhythmic complexity, while leaving the listener desperate for something to actually listen to.  A beautiful theme starts to emerge, and then fades away, never to return.  A rhythmic motif takes shape, only to be immediately discarded.

Ambrose Akinmusire is undeniably a technical monster on the trumpet, but as far as the content of his playing goes, there's more substance in one chorus of a Lee Morgan or Freddie Hubbard solo than there is on this whole album.  Ambrose's solos wander aimlessly, as he reaches into his bag of technical tricks, incorporating them one after the other, with no regard for what came before, or what is to come after.  Listen to one of his solos on any of his albums, and you've already heard everything he's played on his entire discography:  melancholy phrases in the middle register, quick flurries of notes, huge intervalic leaps, and finally some piercing licks at the top of his register.  "More difficult" playing doesn't denote "better" playing.  "More" creativity doesn't denote "better" creativity.
3633695
I read this book because: of my love for old school jazz and the big "HOOPLA" over this publication! I can't say that I gained much knowledge from this book. If you are a true collector of jazz and know Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Lee Morgan, Charlie Parker, Dizzy, Wes Montgomery, Freddie Hubbard, Billie Holiday, Coltrane and others then you already know more or as much as what is written here. You've got 512 pages to tell a story about a subject so diverse and complex that I don't know how he did it and felt that justice was done! What I would have preferred he did was to write several books on jazz EACH concentrating on a particular era. That way I think the public would get a true and comprehensive study of our most beautiful and natural resource--jazz. Sorry but I can't offer a rating higher than 2 - 2 1/2 stars.
2463618
Two stars seems a little harsh for this CD, but the 4 1/2 star rating it got from Downbeat is also way out of line.  3 1/2 would be more like it.  Although CACTUS OF KNOWLEDGE is not up to the standard of Abou-Khalil's best work, there are at least three tracks that I like well enough to include on my personal mix tapes: "Fraises Et Crme Fraiche", "Business As Usual", and "Oum Said".  As for the rest of the CD...well, the size of the group is a large part of the problem.  Abou-Khalil usually works with groups of 4-6 musicians; here he's juggling 12.  It's not surprising that some tracks are a bit over-arranged; the individuality of the players does tend to get lost in the crowd.  (How many contemporary jazz composers can write well for a group of this size, anyway?  Henry Threadgill, Andrew Hill, Ned Rothenberg, maybe Edward Vesala...and that's about it.)  Still, the high points here are as good as anything else in Abou Khalil's oeuvre: the fine trumpet solo on "Business...", the solo cello introduction to "Fraises...", the oud solos throughout.  If you've never heard Abou-Khalil before, this is probably not the place to start; any of the CDs featuring Charlie Mariano or Sonny Fortune would be a better introduction.  Better yet: the wonderful quartet recording, YARA, with Dominique Pifarely and Vincent Courtois (both on loan from Louis Sclavis' quintet) on violin and cello.
1254122
This is one of the most boring CDs I have ever listened to.  Mr Stepton has been around with some big time bands (in the old days), but he must have been a sideman, not a soloist.  While his horn work seems to be solid (miracle of the recording studio?), it is also uninspired.  If this is the best he can do, he should  leave his horn in the case and let real trombonists make music.
2530417
Not only the songs here are low key, I think the lyrics and titles reads like it's for a soft porn movie. Check it out yourself.

I am a long time jazz fan, loyal listener of jazz on radio and regular attendee at Jazz festivals. I wouldn't play this CD when my kids are at home.
3901608
Charlie Parker and Lenny Tristano! Two of the sublime geniuses of jazz! The apex of hot and the acme of cool! And playing with an all-star band! How could it not be great!

But it isn't, at least to my ears. What I don't hear is "ensemble" - supportive interaction, shared musical insights. Bird plays, then Gillespie or Navarro or someone else plays, and meanwhile Tristano is there at the keyboard, a blind 'composer' amid the wrong festivity. Perhaps it's absurd to expect 'ensemble' from a Metronome  voted-on all-star cast. Other reviewers and critics talk about the 'mutual respect' between Parker and Tristano, and I have no reason to doubt that it existed. But what I hear on this CD suggests a respect at arm's length.

I've had this recording for quite a while but seldom listen to it. That's perhaps the most telling comment I can make about it.
898986
This live performance is the worst one of Jimmy Smith !
Here, his approach to the organ is obslolete and nevrotic !
Just listen to the tracks samples and you will see soon what I want to say.

If you want to listen to the real Jimmy Smith in a stimulating, extraordinary and tremendous live performance, please buy or listen to the following live cds of Jimmy Smith trio (organ + guitar + drums):

1)Jimmy Smith Trio (ASIN: B000063E19);it is tremendous: double cds set, nice price and highest sound quality. 1 hour and 30 minutes of "organic orgasm" !!! Recorded live in France in 1965.

2)Jimmy Smith - Pleyel Nov 20 1968 & Dec 1 1969 (ASIN: B00006IJ0H); it is not in the same best sound quality of the first recording, but the material is excellent !!!!!!!!!!!!1 houe and 40 minutes, double cd set, nice price !!!!

3)Jimmy Smith - The Boss (ASIN: B0002LGWRC), with guitarist George Benson, this cd of Verve surpasses the new, poor cd of Verve.

P.S:
If you are searching for new cds about the Jazz Organ, you can visit my 5 listmanias (lists) dedicated to this genre of music, just clicking on my nickname, and afterwards clicking on the " See all 8 Listmania ! List"'s buttom or link.
4679228
I was thoroughly disappointed with this CD - I think Amazon recommended it to me through because of some dance or jazz CDs I bought.  This is not Nu Jazz, this is not techno, this is not traditional jazz.  I found the melodies uninspiring, the beats simplistic, more irritating than calming.  It is more slowed down R&B with some wanna-be beats slapped on at the end, with some crappy saxophone reminiscent of Kenny G playing in the background.  I pretty much hate this CD.
3418568
I've been a big Benson fan for years, and have enjoyed studying his playing and hearing him evolve over the years.  But Giblet Gravy is not among my favorites.  Benson sounds terrific throughout.  He's actually in fine form on this recording (but then, when isn't he?).  I have 2 main gripes with this album.  First; I didn't like the arrangements when I first heard them years ago, and to my ears they haven't aged well.  They sound dated and corny.  It's that 'boogaloo' sound of early 60's jazz arrangers and big band players trying to get on board with the new rock & roll sound, resulting in a stiff caricature.  I've never cared for that sound.  Plus it's a waste of a wonderful rhythm section.  The small group does get to stretch out on a couple tunes, which is great.  But in the small group setting, my second complaint stands out even more; the piano sounds like cr@p!  It's out of tune and sounds like a cheap little upright.  It's  very distracting, and mars an otherwise fine performance by Herbie Hancock.
1501694
I'm no musical purist, so when I say that the Turkish reviewer Serhat Erdogan is entirely correct, and that this CD sounds more like a midwesterner's fantasy of middle eastern music, my disappointment lies in how unimaginative this fantasy sounds.  Darbouka ain't all that's missing, so is soul and anything like a cohesive musical theme.  Ocal from Turkey, or the Laz artist from that region, Birol Topaloglu will raise a more righteous buzz than will tepid Zohar. Erdogan also mentions the group Arabandi, who I stumbled upon, made up of Israeli, Palestinian, Iranian, and Indian players who really take the well-developed foundations of Middle Eastern classical music and stretch it out like play-doh.  Zohar wants to be a dance or "house rave" soundtrack, and they fail there too, as Erdogan is also right to point out DJ Cheb I Sabbah has done that with more invention and flavor. He's the Middle Eastern and North African (different musical styles) partybeat mixer to beat.
"Midnight at the Bazaar" is in fact an extended musical stereotype couched in smug lounge excess well short of camp.  If all you were to learn of the variety of musical marvels to be found in Morocco were to come from Zohar's "Maroc" you would be unnecessarily impoverished. Go out and try Aisha Kandisha, Amouri Mbarq, El Houssaine Kili, Walid Mimoun, Raissa Tabaamrant, Ahlam or Argan for Moroccan Amazigh (Berber) beats and Atlas Mountain loops.
"Sketches of Egypt" hasn't got the lyricism of Miles Davis or the creative instrumental arrangement of Abdel Wahab.  As for the Astoria reviewer who was justifiably impressed with the beautiful vocal samples on this CD, to remark that "Few people if any, would pick up a CD by Oum Kalthoum" is sheer ignorance.  I worked for years at the northern California indie record store AMOEBA, in a large and busy World Music department.  Oum Kalthoum's bin in the Egypt section was the best stocked of any World Music artist precisely because for many years (at least since the Israeli tv documentary about the Egyptian diva's life that generated so much interest when it played film festivals in the U.S.) music lovers of all ages were coming in and scooping up multiple CD's by Oum Kalthoum then coming back to try more! She worked with great musical directors, sang songs with deep meaning for everyone from working class folks to the slimy ambitious nouveau riche to the simply elegant in Egyptian life, and somehow managed to speak to traditionalists and musical modernists at the same time. This album by Zohar can make no such claim.
1412523
Having been on this earth for close to 30 years, I have come to appreciate all types of music. Rock, jazz, the blues, I love them all.  But I never heard of Al Jarreau until recently and, with no disrespect to Mr. Jarreau,  wish I never have. My supervisor has this album in the CD jukebox at a  small retail store where I'm employed. The other employees have begged me  to take the album out of the jukebox on numerous occasions. While the boss  was out of town, I removed the painful piece of work, praying he would not  think twice. The album resurfaced a few weeks later. My supervisor is again  going away in a few weeks and this time, "The Best of Al Jarreau"  will be "lost" forever.  The music itself lacks any real emotion,  often relying on annoying gimmicks, irritating the listener to near  insanity. His voice is poor and the lyrics are worse. The band, however is  tight and musically gifted and should consider leaving Mr. Jarreau to  pursue more meaningful and fulfilling musical endeavors.
141612
I was quite disappointed upon playing this cd.  The second album, The Other Side Of The Moments, is particularly weak; soul vocal acts trying to do Vegas-y lounge music almost always end up producing lame records, and this is no exception.  The first album, A Moment with the Moments, has more bright spots but it still has a fair amount of filler.  What's most unfortunate is that the sound quality on this album is pretty poor while the "Other Side" album tracks sound much better.

I really ordered this hoping to get a good sounding long version of "Love On A Two Way Street" with the correct mix.  (I have the long version on another cd, but it's missing the single note, repetitive hook of the single mix.)  The good news is that this cd does, in fact, contain the slightly longer fade (about 15 seconds longer); unfortunately this longer fade is obviously "flown in" from an incredibly scratchy record while the first 3:30 of the song is taken from a master tape.  The end result sounds quite horrible at the transition point.
1295142
As somenone who owns Baby Snakes and has endured one too many times Bruce Bickford's artistry, I thought it was a crime to include it also right where Frank commence's one of his most famous solos (Inca Roads). But it was genocide to additionally include those annoying sound effects. As I'm sure is the case with felow Zappa fans, we're constantly on the lookout for releases of live performances from Zappa's greatest band (the rock n' roll equivalent to Duke Ellington's Blanton-Webster band): Duke-Underwood-Fowler-Thompson-Murphy Brock. After nearly 32 years, we're offered this gift to mankind, marred with this crap. Not fair.
3047472
This is a very disappointing recording for all the hype it, and Julian Lage, have received.  I find it very unfocused and filled with dissonant sounds.  The comparisons to Bill Frisell are way off the mark, from what I am hearing.  This recording is very far away from straight-ahead jazz so be warned.  I'd be hard pressed to identify this recording as being within the genre of jazz.  Just my two-cents worth.
4316161
OK first of all, I am a HUGE clapton fan. I have most of the records, seen him a ton of times and was excited when this CD came in the mail. After listening half way thru I was very upset.  The music is GARBAGE. I mean how can you go from the Cream Reunion and Sessions for Robert J to this Smooth Jazz pile of rubble.  Not even guest shots from Winwood and Robert Randolph can help this thing out. Clapton scatting isn't my idea of a good idea.

I will say "Revolution" is a great song, if the whole record had more of that vibe it would have been a good addition. In my opinion this is worse than Pligrim.

Thanks to simon climie for screwing up clapton's career.
1445211
Louis would have never allowed this sad recording to be released.  One of your reviewers writes about his golden trumpet.  But Louis was clearly so weak that he could not play it.  He sings and clowns but doesn't play. He had been transformed from a great musician to a shadow of his former self, more entertainer than artist. The onetime ad libs of Louis and the great Jack Teagarden are uttered word for word by Louis and Tyree Glenn on "Rockin' Chair." They are no longer amusing, just a pathetic reminder of the great first edition of the All-Stars a quarter century earlier.

No 16 page book of  recipes was enclosed in my copy as billed on the cover and shockingly no liner notes which list of the musicians who tried to hold the old man up. Armstrong is missing altogether from tracks 6 through 11 which are devoted to a mediocre set played by Tyree Glenn and a group. Again no musicians are listed.

Smithsonian Folkways should be ashamed to resurrect this sad performance of a dying man.

Tom Harris
3605918
I was hoping to hear some of the fire and brilliance from his early "Jazz Jazz" release. This recording is lame from the arrangements to the playing, sounds like a High School player(s).  Maybe it's drugs or something else he's got his head into, certainly not Jazz.

Do yourself a big favor, pass this up and buy Randy Waldman's "UnReel". A superbly arrainged and talent filled recording.<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/UnReel/dp/B00005LNFL/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">UnReel</a>