this is the epitome of jazz guitar (or any instrument come to that)
596234
I can't say just how good this is....obviously back in the 70's producers had to decide what to leave out. I can see that this was a heck of a task given the fact that there is not a weak track in this whole box set (and what is more there are no duplications of the original album - which always feels like a rip off).
4230500
Sittin' in is fun, the CD demands repeat plays.
The title track is a stand out, yes, it gets played on the Smooth Jazz station, but when it comes on, your ears immediately perk up.
Like nothing else on there.
Mr. Smith puts so much into his tracks, the attention to detail is astonishing and the sound still remains real and intimate. Not overly glossed in production so you hear his playing.
Did I mention that he's a natural phenomenon on the keys?
I enjoyed this so much, I went back and started gathering his previous CD releases. I think you will, too.
1420628
After over 45 years of playing, I have a collection of several hundred picks, spanning 5 decades.
Hey, why not; picks are relatively cheap, come in all shapes, thickness colors and sizes, make great giveaways to students and fans, and some hold special places in memory.
Always on the look out for a new ideal practice and training pick, and having someone abscond with my last "Min'd" quartz pick left over from the 80's, I saw these and immediately decided to give them a try.
Wonderful, excellent, and very pleasantly surprised. The size is exactly same as the beloved, faithful, always reliable Jazz III. The thickness is about 3mm, (2 stacked 1.3 Jazz III) which puts it in the same cat as stone and hard wood picks. The tone is very fat, warm, and jazzy. It makes the neck pickup on my old Tele with the tone rolled off sound like a full size Jazz box, and my Thinline Ovation sound like a Manuche Gypsy Jazz Selmer (or a damn good approximation at least).
You get superior control, grip, articulation, and this is the best part...very little dreaded, annoying and infuriating "Pick Click"; the surface just rolls of the strings in both alternate and sweep/economy picking modes, and I could not be happier. The material feels almost like charred, or baked wood and to my ears that is highly preferable, (and quieter) than both Nylon and Tortex.
This has now become my #1 daily practice/workout pick, and at this price, I am about to order another set, cause I know some other poor lost soul will abscond with one of mine sooner or later.
If you are on the search for the almost perfect fast, thick, heavy, articulate and quiet Jazzy pick, then these are worth checking out.
Thanks Clayton for this; you have a customer for life.
Cheers Y'all...
4037347
Guitarist Eric McFadden is a mad genius.  He belongs in that rarest of categories-- jaw-dropping virtuosos who can play any style but always sound like themselves.  Sometimes he plays funk.  Sometimes punk.  Sometimes country.  Sometimes blues.  Sometimes flamenco.  Sometimes twisted, Tom Waits carnival weirdness (frequently while singing about creepy clowns).  On this album, he plays gypsy jazz in the tradition of Django Reinhardt.  Of course, this is Eric McFadden so it won't sound like a re-creation.  The most obvious difference is that instead of combining guitar with a violin, the other lead instrument here is a clarinet.  I don't like clarinet.  Most of the time, anyway.  It works here.  Then, there is tonal weirdness.  It sounds like Eric is flat-picking a nylon-string guitar.  Really aggressively.  Most importantly, though, everyone here is having fun putting their own spin on Hot Club-style jazz.  It isn't generally my favorite style of jazz.  Most of my jazz collection dates from somewhere between '55 and '70.  However, I'll follow Eric McFadden anywhere, and Holy Smokes deserves a place in the collection of anyone looking for an adventurous take on gypsy jazz.  Between David Grisman's melding of gypsy jazz with bluegrass and modern musicians like Robin Nolan and Marc Atkinson taking the form in newer directions, there seems to be some openness to non-traditional gypsy jazz.  So much the better.  Unfortunately, most fans of that stuff probably don't know about this album.  Show 'em up by getting a copy for yourself.
207280
If I was to introduce someone to jazz, this would be the recording of choice.  I would choose the same album to someone who had never heard music before.  This is music that makes me smile more than any other.  Garner's playing and personality was infectious: happy, playful, whimsical, always melodic, rhythmically complex, never boring, upbeat at any tempo, and he essentially incorporated everything he heard (including classical themes/harmonies) into his playing.  Out of this arose a style that has been greatly emulated and admired for decades; but more important is the fact that he was someone who expressed himself in a truly authentic and original way (he played what he felt), a feat that cannot be easily duplicated, and this is what comes through in his recordings not the least of which is this unique album.
4119046
Sun Ra, that unreconstructed jazz iconoclast, had had a stroke before this session was recorded.  If one compares his pre-stroke to post-stroke playing, there is an undoubted drop off from a technique standpoint.
But you know what?  It's a trade off.  What he lost in technique, he more than made up in depth of feeling.
Listen.  This disc has a vibe unlike any other jazz outing in the 100-year history of this music.  A kind of off-kilter, profound meloncholic joy: that's what I hear here.  Yes, it lacks precision and sheer pyrotechnics, but oh, the ravishing emotional content!  Amazingly, John Ore on bass and Andrew Cyrille completely tune into the sensibility and deliver amazingly sensitive and beautiful playing.
Ra displays a spare, Monkish pianism that speaks volumes.  Pick any tune at random--my favorite Ellington song, "Satin Doll," will do.  This performance strikes me as one of the finest, most revelatory I've ever heard.  Or again, take "Deep Purple."  Not only does it seem to evoke a simpler, more elegant bygone era, there's an entirely remarkable thing happening here--I don't know how to describe it other than a frisky sadness--that totally nails this piece of music.
Billy Bang's playing also deserves some comment.  First off, I don't usually like jazz violin.  Most practitioners seem to opt for the vitruoso route--understandable with an instrument featuring a somewhat annoying timbre: if you play it fast enough, perhaps no one will notice.  Bang just lets its inherent timbral strangeness hang out there, opting instead for hidden tonal richness that he patiently reveals by a combination of quirky double-stopping, low-register sawing, and daring intervalic swoops.
All in all, I'm entirely taken by this odd session, hearing as I do unusual emotional depth and swing in its glorious sonorities.  Perhaps you will hear something similar . . .
3807296
I will not name this or declare this the greatest jazz album ever, because quite frankly, I haven't listened to all that's out there, and it would be unfair to label this album as such.  However, after being introduced to this album by a close friend, I can honestly say that it has changed my outlook on music forever.  You simply couldn't ask for a better lineup of performers on this record, with Coltrane, Evans, Adderley, Kelly, Chambers, Cobb, and of course Davis all playing like there's no tomorrow.  Every song on this album catches you from the moment it begins and expands itself more and more with each listen.  It's a very free album, with modal jazz tunes unrestricted by chord changes and strict writing arrangements.  It's as if the band got together in the studio, said "light swing in the key of B major" and just took it from there.  Although Coltrane's tone leaves a little to be desired (Getz and Parker had much better tones, in my opinion), his playing is fantastic, and rivals that of his masterpiece, "Giant Steps".  Adderley really shines on this record because his bright, resonant tone contrasts with that of Coltrane, offering different flavors to each song.  Kelly and Evans both tear it apart on the piano (duh, we're talking about two of the most influential jazz pianists of all time), as do Paul Chambers and Billy Cobb on the drums.  This album proves that it's not what a rhythm section plays, but HOW they play it.  Cobb takes relatively simple drum patterns and makes beautiful music with them, ala Elvin Jones and Max Roach, unlike the amazing yet abrasive, often distasteful stylings of virtuoso Buddy Rich.  But of course, the ultimate reason this album has received the acclaim that it has is the unmistakable lyrical tone of Miles.  No other person has ever captured moods and feelings like him on the trumpet.  The notes bleed off the record from the incredible amount of emotion in his playing.  He captures the playful (So What, Freddie Freeloader) melancholy (Blue in Green) and the romantic (Flamenco Sketches) moods with the greatest of ease, and it seems as if you ARE Miles Davis while listening to the album.  Every song here is perfect.  Most of the songs have a light, relaxed swing feel to them, but they never tire, and the album uncovers more and more joyful secrets to the listener with repeated listenings.  This version is great, including in it the alternate take of Flamenco Sketches, which is probably my favorite song on the record.  The alternate is a much more emotionally concise version, putting the still amazing final take to shame.  Adderley's soloing on this tune is especially fine.  Simply put, because I'm running out of time here, this album will change your perspective on jazz and music in general.  It works on so many levels, and can be listened to while doing practically anything.  I can both mow the yard and sleep to this album.  It never gets old; in fact, I find that with each sitting, I have enjoyed it more and more.  Some may not think it to be the greatest, but there is no way around the fact that it is the most influential jazz album of all time, and has shaped everything to come after it.
1831417
When we jazz guitar fans go looking for more modern players to listen to and enjoy, we often find ourselves in a divided camp.  One, headed by Joe Pass and maybe Jimmy Bruno, among others, satisfies the technical itch, and the other camp features more melody and restraint.  I have a "best of" Joe Pass CD and in all honesty, and all due respect, his work at least by himself as he is on that CD is guitar overkill in the extreme.  Endless soloing with a minimum of chord comping just doesn't connect with me.  There is the legend that Larry Coryell once decided he was better than Hendrix and the two appeared on stage trading licks.  As the story goes, Jimi, who was equally brilliant as a rhythm guitarist and understood how important the overall approach was to making great music, easily burned Coryell, who was trying to outdo Hendrix with a blizzard of jazzy overkill leads.  The other problem was that he couldn't play convincing rock and roll, meaning possessing a truly bluesy feel and the exuberance that went with rock and roll.  It wasn't much of a contest.  I recommend the book "Crosstown Traffic", a dynamite essay/book by Charles Shaar Murray, which is not a straight biography, but rather a comprehensive look into the seeds sown that made Hendrix possible.  If my recollections are correct, it is this book where the anecdotal story of the Coryell/Hendrix duel was mentioned.
  What does this have to do with Russell Malone?  A lot, actually.  While possessing the chops to easily put him a master class of guitarists, Malone has a beautiful sense of melody, a gorgeous warm tone and can connect with anybody.  "Love Looks Good On You" is just one more gem from this great man, the songs all fitting together in a bop style that recalls the greats of yesteryear like Burrell and Montgomery, yet is entirely his own making.  He reminds me of the late Jim Hall, another great jazz player who had an equally warm touch.
  Serious fans of jazz guitar or jazz period not familiar with Russell Malone need to be.  His subtle yet nimble approach reminds us that guitars not only can twang, cut, or roar, they can be wonderful instruments of delicacy and emotion.  Perhaps no player has that touch like Russell Malone.
2488993
The album title alone erupts emotion and certainly this collection of jazz inspired tracks is nothing but a delight.  I am reminded of the Prego commercial about the spaghetti sauce..."its all in there".  There is nothing but absolute flavor here, ACID JAZZ, CLASSICAL JAZZ, HIP-HOP JAZZ, HOUSE JAZZ, ISLAND JAZZ, LATIN JAZZ, SMOOTH JAZZ AND LYRICAL JAZZ, it's ALL in there...nahmeen.  One of my favs,"BATIDA", a classic, featuring hip-hop artist, KEV BROWN, may just make you a Hip-Hop fan, if you're not already.  This is certainly a piece of jazz fusion that needs to be a part of your music collective.  I played this for a close friend, who is partial to the genre of jazz and the person lost their mind listening to this.  Now, every time I give the person a ride in the car, the first thing they say is where is "my" jazz CD : ).  Now if that isn't a kick in the butt to go out and get this timeless work, just step to the side and let the ride go by while we keep tooting the horn...feel me.
1676537
As a disciple of the Wes/Grant Green/George Benson school of jazz guitar I have been dying to check out the new generation of guys playing in this school of hard bop/soul jazz. I bought this recording two days ago and I can't stop listening to it! Sure the sound quality is rough in some spots but in other spots it actually enhances the vibe and harkens back to some of the older mono-recorded jazz classics.

Broom proves a fantastic interpreter of the tunes on this album, the rhythmic interplay between and the drummer is fantastic and very post-modern without losing any of the old-school bebop vibe. This may be my new favorite jazz guitar recording!
1864676
Exceptional Smooth Jazz Guitar from start to finish. I have purchased tracks from other CD's but I particularly like the uptempo, silky-smooth, snappy guitar on this disc. One can easily see and hear the confident, bold skillful playing that sets Jim apart from many other artists. There are a number of smooth jazz guitarists who are not as "polished" if you will, in creating a project that simply demonstrates what a masterful player Jim is. I also love the instrument pictured on the cover.
4777849
Pretty seriously hyped on an internet discussion group, and not being given in much to hype, I came to this album with fairly low expectations but a high degree of interest.  Internet'ers tend to overblow what they like.  However, this album lives up to the hype, and then some!

If you're into jazz composition by the likes of Oliver Nelson and Gerald Wilson and Charles Mingus, you're going to love this.  Wald gives us his own version of the Jazz Workshop with a batch of killer charts and a group of sidemen that sound so tight together, they sound like they just got off a 3 month tour.  Bassists should beware; Chip Jackson will make you want to either woodshed or woodchipper your bass - either way, your life will never be the same.  The guy wails like I've never heard him before, outside of Elvin Jones' band.  Trumpeters Valery Ponomarev and John Eckart contribute awesome solos as does trombonist Artie Baron, and as I am more than a little embarrassed to admit, I'd lost track of reedman Lou Marini since the Blues Brothers days.  Here he takes 3 solos, each on a different instrument - alto, soprano and flute.  The leader steps out just once on alto, preferring to lead the fray with his charts.

Rick Wald reminds us that jazz doesn't have to be head-solos-head, and that composition and arrangement can make riveting and everlasting jazz.  This guy sounds like all the great jazz composers you've ever heard, and like none of them.  He deserves to be heard and you owe it to yourself to hear him.
1276060
Once upon a time jazz SWUNG and it was FUN. Well this father and son duo has brung back that time. The music on this CD swings, and is the best modern example of what Duke meant when he wrote, "It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't got that swing."
Bucky has always been noted for his great chording, and John takes some really great solos. The samples are there for you to see and hear. That alone should make you want to go out and beg, borrow or steal this album. All I can say as a pro jazz guitarist myself is that as much as I love the freedom of bebop, I can't help but love this stuff, and if more jazz musicians would try harder to actually ENTERTAIN their audiences, jazz would not be in the terrible state it's in, in the U.S. today. Most of us have to play in European, Scandinavian, Japanese etc. venues to keep food on the table. Buy this CD. You'll be glad you did.
3084973
This is one of those rare occasions when you hope an instrument is a good choice, and it turns out to be an outstanding choice. Do not confuse this guitar with being an entry level Parker as I did, when in fact, it is a bonified Parker Fly. While it may have been manufactured in Indonesia, the quality control is first rate. This guitar is incredibly light, but the sound is quite simply amazing. The locking tuners make changing strings a breeze, and the action is terrific. Not only does it look great, more importantly, it plays great. I ran it through my Bose L1 system and it was sonic joy. I have purchased many guitars and none have left me with that "Yes" feeling like the Parker Maxx Fly PDF80. I would put it up against any guitar 3 times the cost. I had yet to find a guitar that I just didn't want to put down, until now. The more I play it, the more I want to play it. If you want to get a guitar that you will find truly inspiring, look no further. Thanks Amazon for such a satisfying experience.
491778
You can be assured that any time a Flim and the BB's CD enters your digital stereo domain - you are in for a treat. NEW PANTS is no stranger to this idea. It is jazz and improvisation at its finest. Dick Oatts and Billy Barber continue to remain innovative and creative in their approach to Jazz improv. Bill Berg is as masterful a drummer as you could ever "wish upon a star" for and Flim (JImmy ) Johnson has proven over and over again to be one of THE bassists that the world of jazz must stand up for. Add this CD to your collection byut don't stop there, you must also add BIG NOTES, TUNNEL, NEON, THIS IS A RECORDING, TRICYCLE, and THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF FLIM AND THE BB'S to your collection as well. Lift them all onto your MP3 player and enjoy hours of pure Jazz GENIUS.

Scooby dow ah wah wah,

Heavy T
3350506
I couldn't believe it when I heard this album. There is not a tune on this CD that I don't love. The only thing better than the arrangement of the music is how masterfully it is played. Three thumbs up for this one. If you don't own this album, you can't possibly think of yourself as a jazz afficionado. I hope they come to my town to play soon.
409464
bud powell is an amazing genius. he is one of the best jazz artists to play anything resembling the tradition of charlie parker and thelonious monk. these four cds contain eight albums of jazz performed at his highest level, by one of its top performers. These are mostly standards an originals in a trio setting, you really get to hear bud stretching out and injecting each chord change with a staggering sense of personalization. I have been a far of jazz for many years and somehow always meant to get a bud powell album, but never did. this was really the crash corse i needed to tap into the imagination of one of the true masters and reinvigorate my own creativity.