CD-Charts Position 171
Average Rating:

Tonic

CD-Charts > Music > Live Albums
by: Medeski Martin & Wood

Release Date April 25, 2000
I had never heard anything acoustic from MMW until I picked up this album. I loved every minute of this concert. "Afrique" and "Rise Up" were by far the best tracks on the CD. The great thing about this CD is that is a different MMW experience, but you can still it's them.

CD-Charts Position 172
Average Rating:

The Paul Desmond Quartet Live

CD-Charts > Music > Live Albums
by: Paul Desmond Quartet

Release Date November 21, 2000
Paul Desmond at the peak of his powers, despite suffering from the lung cancer that would take him from us not long after this gig.

I remember reading an account of Desmond asking Jim Hall to recommend musicians to work with in Canada. Hall reportedly advised "don't use piano. Ask for a guitar player named Ed Bickert."

"He's good?" Desmond asked.

"He's the only cat that scares me when I walk into the room" Hall replied.

Bickert pulls some amazing chords out of his axe, and is clearly listening to and communicating with the other players; and they with him. Desmond's work here is riveting - among the best ever documented. Jerry Fuller is not given a great deal of opportunity to stretch out, but ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 173
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Live Wires

CD-Charts > Music > Live Albums
by: Yellowjackets

Release Date March 17, 1992
This album is an excellent summary of the Yellowjackets earlier years. The only thing missing was the Blues/fusion guitar of Robin Ford. Nevertheless, the live renditions of past classics is nothing short of breath-taking, with Bob Mintzer passionately leading the way on all-time favourites Geraldine, Wildlife and Freedomland. Indeed the true potential of the former two tracks was realized on "Live Wires", with Mintzer transforming them beyond recognition when compared to the sterile studio recorded versions of "The Spin" and "Four Corners".
This album moved me to the point that I proceeded to acquire every one of the group's previous and subsequent releases after many years of listening to their debut CD "Yellowjackets", which I still believe to ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 174
Average Rating:

Live at the North Sea Jazz Festival

CD-Charts > Music > Live Albums
by: Rosenberg Trio

Release Date August 18, 1993
This disk by the Rosenbergs as you will see in the other reviews here is one of the better of the Rosenbergs CDs, and if trying to familiarize yourself with them, and Gypsy Jazz, Caravan and this one will be your safest bet. It's hard to believe that someone can play guitar that fast and still have it make sense and enjoy a melody, but they can do both....like Chuck Berry said in Johnny Be Goode, "...doesn't like modern jazz as they play so fast it sounds just like a symphony...." but that was written well before the Rosenbergs started playing and touring and the melody and tempo are quite interesting and the point of the music. If you're not used to the genre of Gypsy Jazz this is a good place to start and a watermark for other jazz players to meet when attempting ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 175
Average Rating:

Live at the Kennedy Center

CD-Charts > Music > Live Albums
by: Mulgrew Miller

Release Date August 29, 2006
Wow. Mulgrew Miller and Bill Charlap are keeping the artistry of the trio alive. Buy this and enjoy!

CD-Charts Position 176
Average Rating:

Trio Live

CD-Charts > Music > Live Albums
by: Pat Metheny Trio

Release Date November 21, 2000
The three musicians which perform on this cd are all masters individually of their respective instruments. That they exhibit their mastery here is no surprise. What is captivating about this cd is the magnificent interplay among the three.

From the beginning of (Go) Get It to the last strains of Travels, each musician expertly contributes to the whole with unquestionable taste and exquisite flare! There is plenty of space given the characteristics of the trio, for the individuals to play overtly. Whether you're a drummer, bass player, guitarist or simply a fan of great jazz, there is an abundance of hot licks rightly placed and perfectly performed! With even only a peripheral knowledge of who these guys are, one might expect such content from a live jazz concert. ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 177
Average Rating:

Live at the It Club

CD-Charts > Music > Live Albums
by: Thelonious Monk

Release Date March 31, 1998
On Halloween of 1964, Thelonious Monk's quartet (Charlie Rouse on tenor sax, Larry Gales on bass and Ben Riley on drums) had been together a little more than six months (although Rouse had been with Monk for several years prior and Riley had been with him for about a year; additionally Riley and Gales had played together in "Lockjaw" Davis' band)-- it'd be over two years before any of the group would leave Monk. During this window, a number of superb recordings were made, but I'd assert that "Live at the It Club" is best of them.

The band was an fire-- their interaction managed during these shows to strike a great balance between tight interaction and looseness. Rouse and Monk had reached a level of near-psychic interaction, with the tenor man's almost brittle tone ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 178
Average Rating:

At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 2

CD-Charts > Music > Live Albums
by: Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers

Release Date July 31, 2001
I never realized it at the time, but the Blakey "At the Cafe Bohemia" sessions have proven to be one of those life-long companionships that simply never grow old. They become a part of you, playing themselves out in your memory every day but constantly challenging you to return to them for a reality check. Are they really that good?

Possibly even better. The albums I once thought I preferred--the "Moanin'" album, the Blakeys with Clifford or Lee Morgan at Birdland, the original Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers session--all sit proudly on my shelf, seminal sides that are practically iconic in their representation of a whole era and style of jazz. But they don't get played much.

The Bohemia sessions, on the other hand, remain eternally hip because they never ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 179
Average Rating:

Mingus at Antibes

CD-Charts > Music > Live Albums
by: Charles Mingus

Release Date October 25, 1990
Charles Mingus takes a quintet (plus Bud Powell on one song) through a top-notch set on this CD. The band is on fire pretty much throughout. The only exception is "What Love?" which I don't like as much as the others. Ted Curson plays his heart out on trumpet, Eric Dolphy is his usual off-center self, and Booker Ervin is good form. Bud Powell doesn't just sit in on "I'll Remember April", his long solo is the centerpiece of the song. "Folk Forms" ends with yells and saxes sounding like Indian war calls. I'm sure the "Better Git Hit", the closer, had the audience rolling down the aisle speaking in tongues (or at least in French).

Any Mingus fan should buy this CD. Maybe the only two better are "Mingus Ah Um" and "Blues & Roots". They were recorded in 1959, this was recorded ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 180
Average Rating:

Keith Jarrett at the Blue Note: The Complete Recordings

CD-Charts > Music > Live Albums
by: Keith Jarrett

Release Date September 12, 2000
If you appreciate keith jarrett s work then go for this .It has everything you need to understand keith s skills and work. Swing melody emotion elegance refinement beat .it is the most complete package of his work so far IMO .BY THE WAY KEITH IS A GREAT ARTIST AND ALL GREAT ARTISTS ARE ACCOMPANIED BY GREAT ARTISTS TOO .GARY PEACOCK AND JACK DEJOHNETTE CONTRIBUTE 100 % TO THIS EFFORT AS ALWAYS .