CD-Charts Position 191
Average Rating:

Children of Forever

CD-Charts > Music > Soul-Jazz and Boogaloo
by: Stan Clarke

Release Date October 09, 2007
Mr. Clarke world-wide is known by his attachment amused and commercial music funky. However, in his ample discography he registers some musical landmarks that emphasize by their good taste (often a virtue other people's to him). A bear who is customary to his exageraciones and pyrotechnics on his alembic and fuzz electric bass. This disc is one of those landmarks, to grief that many we got to think that his first production like lider was his album homónimus in 1974. In this polydor production emphasizes the similarity with the great album "Light As A Feather" of Return To Forever, which was recorded in the same year and with three of the musicians of this one, the own Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea and Lenny White, adding Arthur Webb on flute ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 192
Average Rating:

Uptown Groove

CD-Charts > Music > Soul-Jazz and Boogaloo
by: Zachary Breaux

Release Date January 28, 1997
I first heard of Zachary in the late 90's when I heard Cafe Reggio on KCCK in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Cafe Regio had long been a favorite of mine from Isaac Hayes' Shaft album and to hear somebody do a jazz guitar version really caught my attention. It reminded me of George Benson at the time. I bought the cd shortly after and was impressed by the many styles he played, all effortlessly. It was only months later that I found out that he had died. All 3 of his cd's are very good but Uptown Groove is my favorite.

CD-Charts Position 193
Average Rating:

Things Are Getting Better

CD-Charts > Music > Soul-Jazz and Boogaloo
by: Cannonball Adderley With Milt Jackson

Release Date July 01, 1991
This is a very nice blow session, recorded almost 9 months after the extremely popular Somethin' Else. Unlike the earlier album, this one is definitely a Cannonball album in style. Unlike many later albums, this is a blowing session rather than a studio appearance by a live, working band.

I'll admit to being lukewarm on Milt Jackson and my judgment of this album is probably affected downward as a result. Milt's playing is nice here, just not anything that sets me on edge.

Like a lot of Cannonball albums from this period, there is a healthy mix of ballads ("Serves Me Right"), bebop ("Groovin' High"), interesting originals ("Blues Oriental" by Milt Jackson) and extremely funky material ("Sounds for Sid"). Not a spectacular ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 194
Average Rating:

Friday Afternoon in the Universe

CD-Charts > Music > Soul-Jazz and Boogaloo
by: Medeski Martin & Wood

Release Date January 24, 1995
Simply stated -- this is their album that best balances depth and accessibility. Incredible grooves (as always) and a great variety of sounds make it the album I most often turn to when I'm in the mood for some MMW. You just gotta love when the drums come in on "House Mop"....

CD-Charts Position 195
Average Rating:

Jazz for the Quiet Times

CD-Charts > Music > Soul-Jazz and Boogaloo
by: Various Artists

Release Date February 25, 2003
I listen to this album for any number of 'quiet times'--rain or shine, alone or with others, busy or not. It's just a nice backdrop. Mellow is the operative word here with a nice variety of lead instruments and not too much of any one thing. I'm a big fan of the "Jazz for the..." series and this one is my 2nd favorite.

CD-Charts Position 196
Average Rating:

Still Grazing

CD-Charts > Music > Soul-Jazz and Boogaloo
by: Hugh Masekela

Release Date May 11, 2004
I bought this CD mainly because I knew the hit "Grazing in the Grass". What I discovered was some fascinating music. Masekela could not only play trumpet but had some great singing pipes as well namely on "Child of the Earth". I always disliked the well-known version of "Up, Up and Away" by The Fifth Dimension, but Hugh's instrumental version is just fabulous. I especially love the piano accompaniement on these songs. Yeah, some songs are sung in his native tongue but so what. The music is still great such as on the 2nd track. Some political stuff but so what. Buy and enjoy.

CD-Charts Position 197
Average Rating:

The Complete Johnny Mercer Songbook

CD-Charts > Music > Soul-Jazz and Boogaloo
by: Various Artists

Release Date November 03, 1998
All three discs are great, but the third (instrumental and jazzy)is outstanding. Old enough to be exposed to the popular Mercer tunes and understandingly biased regarding the commercialization of his stuff, I was thrilled to hear these renditions by the great artists selected for this disc. Worth the price for just the last disc-so consider the other two as bonuses.

CD-Charts Position 198
Average Rating:

20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Roy Ayers

CD-Charts > Music > Soul-Jazz and Boogaloo
by: Roy Ayers

Release Date February 13, 2006
This CD is short and to the point at only ten songs long. But overall I'd say it's worth the cheaper price. This is all you really need if you're just a casual Roy Ayers fan or want a good overview of his best stuff for a good price.

The CD has lots of funky, jazzy, R&B from the 70s. This is defining music for that time period in terms of where jazz had headed by then. Jazz had "souled" out - or sold out depending on how you look at it.

Also Roy's music has been sampled to death by hip-hop acts, most notably by A Tribe Called Quest.

Overall, it's good grooving stuff most of the time, with a hint of 70's cheesiness thrown in every once in a while. A good cd for what it is.

CD-Charts Position 199
Average Rating:

Live at the Bijou

CD-Charts > Music > Soul-Jazz and Boogaloo
by: Jr. Grover Washington

Release Date October 19, 1999
I have heard so many imitations of Grover - they sound fake. Listen artists - stop trying to sound like Grover Washington Jr. He has a unique sound unlike any other. He is in this class all by himself.

CD-Charts Position 200
Average Rating:

Best of Young-Holt Unlimited: Ten Best Series

CD-Charts > Music > Soul-Jazz and Boogaloo
by: Young-Holt Unlimited

Release Date March 12, 2002
This series from EMI-Capitol constantly surprises with their judicial selection of tracks, and when the artist in question had less than 10 hits to begin with they more often than not give you all of them.

This is, unfortunately, not one of those occasions. The instrumental group Young-Holt Unlimited only had five charted hits (R&B, Billboard Pop Hot 100, and Adult Contemporary (AC)) and just three are here. In addition, they do not include one of the flipsides nor are there any liner notes.

Drummer Isaac "Redd" Holt and bassist Eidee Young were original members of the Ramsey Lewis Trio [and before that the 1950s group The Clefs, along with Ramsey] with whom they had but one minor hit, 1964's Something You Got [# 63]. After they left to form ... Read More: