CD-Charts Position 51
Average Rating:

A Boy Named Charlie Brown: The Original Sound Track Recording Of The CBS Television Special

CD-Charts > Music > Cool Jazz
by: Vince Guaraldi

Release Date November 22, 1989
The CD is exactly as I expected. I had listened to some tunes from one like it that a friend has. Service, shipping, etc, was fine.

CD-Charts Position 52
Average Rating:

Everybody Digs Bill Evans

CD-Charts > Music > Cool Jazz
by: Bill Evans

Release Date June 05, 2007
My tastes in jazz run to the more relaxing or sometimes mid-tempo pieces. I can't listen to anything too dissonant or jumpy. Most of Bill Evans' work fits perfectly into my preferences, and I have five Evans disks and will probably buy more. He's one of the great piano talents.

This disk, however, seems out of sync with his other offerings. I think it is because he is not with the classic trio line-up of Paul Motian on drums and Scott LaFaro on bass. Motian especially seems to understand Evans' sophisticated romanticism, and meshes well with him on my favorites: "Sunday at the Village Vanguard" and "Moon Beams." The drummer on this disk is Philly Joe Jones, who is indisputably a great drummer, but is too aggressive in this line-up and ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 53
Average Rating:

The Essential Dave Brubeck

CD-Charts > Music > Cool Jazz
by: Dave Brubeck

Release Date March 25, 2003
Case was cracked when it arrived, but I know from past experience if I try to return it I will get a restocking charge. This is not my first bad experience with Amazon, gave 'em a second chance, no more.

CD-Charts Position 54
Average Rating:

Porgy and Bess

CD-Charts > Music > Cool Jazz
by: Miles Davis, Gil Evans

Release Date March 25, 1997
While the melodies are lovely, and the music is well played, there is something missing from this recording. It doesn't quite reach the level of Gershwin's dramatic musicianship. Nice to listen to, but it would not be my first choice for this opera.

CD-Charts Position 55
Average Rating:

The Complete Birth of the Cool

CD-Charts > Music > Cool Jazz
by: Miles Davis

Release Date May 19, 1998
I ordered this CD as a gift. The individual receiving it is a jazz fan and liked the album.

CD-Charts Position 56
Average Rating:

Jazz Impressions of New York

CD-Charts > Music > Cool Jazz
by: Dave Brubeck

Release Date February 01, 2008
I was perhaps 13 years old when I bought this album--Brubeck my intro to jazz. His jazz impressions of New York became mine, and when I visited NYC several times in my youth, I saw it through his music.

In the last four years I have been fortunate to see him in concert twice: NYC, Carnegie Hall just to see him. As a 'grownup' my first impressions of his music walked with me every step of the way. ...and today! He, the quartet played in my small town to cap off our town's college Bach Festival.

Such an intimate venue, a performance that surpassed the one at Carnegie Hall by leaps and bounds. Mr. Brubeck is now slow to walk, slow to speak, however, his fingers know no age...have no sense of time other than that in music. His fingers glide over the keyboard without ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 57
Average Rating:

Time Further Out

CD-Charts > Music > Cool Jazz
by: Dave Brubeck

Release Date November 05, 1996
After "Time Out," Brubeck extends his innovation with unusual (yes, that's the word!) time signatures. This album is as essential as "Time Out," as it is impeccably performed by a group obviously comfortable with each other. As a bonus, it's very well recorded (early 60s) and remastered.

My personal fave is "Unsquare Dance" in 5-time, an anti-toe-tapping rebuttal to 4/4 comfort music. (Too bad the other version of "Unsquare Dance - in 7! - isn't on this disk as well.)

CD-Charts Position 58
Average Rating:

Someday My Prince Will Come

CD-Charts > Music > Cool Jazz
by: Miles Davis

Release Date April 29, 2008
Basically, I think G.B., the previous reviewer, gets it right. This one definitely isn't as immediately satisfying (especially to a Mobley fan like me) as "Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk," but it's still a welcome recording (and 2008 reissue) that captures Miles precisely at the moment of transition (between Coltrane and Mobley). Moreover, my hunch is that this recording will increasingly be appreciated as the years accumulate, possibly even coming within striking distance of an indisputable masterpiece like "Kind of Blue," once listeners attend less to the surrounding circumstances (2 Davis alumni sitting in on 3 tracks) and listen to the nearly uniform excellence of the music.

Unfortunately, Mobley got "blind-sided" on the title tune, thanks to the curious decision of Miles to introduce ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 59
Average Rating:

The Best of James Bond 30th Anniversary

CD-Charts > Music > Cool Jazz
by: Various Artists

Release Date September 08, 1992
The CD is excellent for James Bond music fans. The music is not the original title tracks, however the orchastration is very good and the music unmiskabably BOND.

CD-Charts Position 60
Average Rating:

Miles Ahead

CD-Charts > Music > Cool Jazz
by: Miles Davis

Release Date September 23, 1997
Either as its own or as part of the elegant boxed set collecting all of the orchestral collaborations between Miles Davis and Gil Evans, "Miles Ahead" finds the ripe Davis crossing into previously unchartered lands for him - playing in front of a large-scale orchestra conducted by Gil Evans. Unlike the other orchestral collaborations, "Miles Ahead" has no specific theme or flavor to it, but it was the first of such albums, and its music stood tall because of its newness and daring approach, hence its name.

In "Miles Ahead," Evans' orchestra serves as a bed of gentle flowers for Davis to walk upon while playing his delicate and meaningful musical statements. The orchestra includes five trumpets, three trombones (and a bass trombone), three French horn players, a tuba player, three doublers between flute ... Read More: