Corea & Clarke | Griffith Park Collection 2 – In Concert

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African American, Bass, Jazz, Piano, Saxophone, Trumpet

Chick Corea & Stanley Clarke

Corea & Clarke | Griffith Park Collection 2 – In Concert [Jazz/Elektra/Wounded Bird, 1983] Classic Jazz

A massive double-length live album from the Griffith Park project of Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke — one that expands wonderfully on the warmth and soul of their first studio album! Like that classic, this one features an all-acoustic lineup that has Corea on piano and Clarke on upright bass, both playing with a wonderful sense of imagination and creativity — in ways that are quite different than their better-known electric work of a few years before.

Wynton Marsalis | He and She

Tags

African American, Blues, Jazz, Trumpet, Wynton Marsalis

On March 24, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, trumpeter and bandleader Wynton Marsalis will release his fifth Blue Note recording, He and She. It’s an ambitious effort, combining spoken word and music, and Marsalis has given his quintet some formidable charts. The album is tempered with flashes of humor and plenty of swing. There’s ease and elegance and more than a little wisdom in these grooves

Wynton Marsalis

Wynton Marsalis | He and She [Jazz/Blue Note Records/2009]

He and She is about that eternally compelling and most elemental of subjects, the relationship between a man and a woman. Marsalis hasn’t merely crafted a love story, but a life story – a bittersweet rumination about the evanescence of life as well as the elusiveness of romance. Time is very much at the heart of He and She: the swift passage of time over the course of one’s life, the mood-altering shifts of time in the duration of a song.

McCoy Tyner with Phyllis Hyman | Looking Out

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African American, Jazz, McCoy Tyner, Phyllis Hyman, Piano

McCoy Tyner

McCoy Tyner with Phyllis Hyman | Looking Out [Jazz/Columbia/Wounded Bird/1982] Contemporary Jazz

An 80s album by McCoy Tyner, but easily one of his most soulful sessions ever — thanks to help from Phyllis Hyman and a host of great guest stars! The sound’s a bit more tightly arranged than some of Tyner’s 70s sessions, but there’s still plenty of fire here too — a bit of a Latin inspiration in the rhythms, really giving new focus to McCoy’s post-Coltrane sense of searching spirituality! Hyman sings wonderfully on the album’s classic “Love Surrounds Us Everywhere”, a brilliant blend of jazz and soul that recalls mid 70s Norman Connors — and on the beautiful ballad “I’ll Be Around”.

Other players here include Gary Bartz, Stanley Clarke, and Carlos Santana — who comes off surprisingly nicely in this setting. Tracks include “Love Surrounds Us Everywhere”, “Hannibal”, “I’ll Be Around”, “Senor Carlos”, “In Search Of My Heart”, and “Island Birdie”. ~ Source: Dusty Groove.com

Azar Lawrence Quartet | Speak The Word

Tags

African American, Jazz, Modern Jazz, Saxophone

Azar Lawrence

Azar Lawrence Quartet | Speak The Word [Modern Jazz/Azar Lawrence/2009]

Azar Lawrence’s musical history goes way back spanning all matters of the totality of sound, and the rhythms that come forth.  When it comes to the gift of music the creator endowed upon humanity, Azar’s appreciation for the celestial healing force that is music led him to play with performers of diverse genres.

Early in his career he displayed an eclectic approach to music expanding his range with notables such as Miles, the outcome being Dark Magus, Live at Carnegie Hall; and Marvin Gaye which led to Grammy winner, Hear My Dear.