Christian Scott

Album: Yesterday You Said Tomorrow
Format: CD
Label/Info: Concord CJA 31412-02.
Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's classic studio. Is that a 60s-era Westrex 3D disc cutter pictured inside? Warm and trip-hoppy with hints of Tony Williams' Lifetime.

Kenny Burrell & Jimmy Raney

Album: 2 Guitars
Format: LP
Label/Info: OJC-216. Originally Prestige 7119 (1957). I've got a number of OJC/Fantasy reissues on LP. They were cheap (still are) back in the '80s when I frequented Charlemagne and Wuxtry in Birmingham, AL, and they still sound great. I return to this 1957 session fairly often. Cool vibe, nice originals, great sidemen. But it's Jimmy Raney that brings me back. A complex and subtle player. Joining the guitar duo are Donald Byrd (t), Jackie McLean (as), Mal Waldron (p), Doug Watkins (b), and Art Taylor (d).

Julius Hemphill

Albums: 'Coon Bid'ness and Dogon A.D.
Format: LP
Label/Info: Arista Freedom AL 1012 (1975) and AL 1028 (1977)

Both albums contain material recorded February 1972 in St. Louis, Missouri, with 'Coon Bid'ness containing additional selections from January 1975 in NYC. 'Coon Bid'ness appears earlier on this blog as the Reflections CD, but since I just picked it up on vinyl along with Dogon (for five bucks each!) at Princeton Record Exchange during a recent record hunting trip, I had to revisit it. Mystical and challenging music you can get down with -- West African juju meets East Texas hambone. Check out the alto ping-pong match with fellow griot Black Arthur Blythe on "Hard Blues" ('Coon Bid'ness) And no, that's not a bass you hear, but the superbad Abdul Wadud on cello. (P.S. - Why can't anyone write liner notes like Robert Palmer anymore?)

Gabor Szabo

Album: The Sorcerer
Format: LP
Label/Info: Impulse AS-9146 (1967)

The hypnotist Hungarian. Szabo recorded some wild stuff in the '60s, bouncing from raga to psychedelia to cheeseball. This is his most satisfying set, although he still manages to throw in one pop movie song. Recorded live at the Jazz Workshop in Boston, April 14-15, 1967. Interesting interplay between Jimmy Stewart and Szabo, especially on Side 2.

Archie Shepp

Album: Blasé
Format: LP
Label/Info: BYG Actuel 529.318 - 180 Gram

18th volume in the BYG Actuel series originally recorded at Studio Davout in Paris on August 16th, 1969. Features Lester Bowie and Malachi Flavors (from the Art Ensemble of Chicago), Dave Burrell, Philly Joe Jones, and Jeanne Lee on vocals. Check out Lee on "There Is A Balm In Gilead." Sublime.

Archie Shepp

Album: The Way Ahead
Format: CD
Label/Info: Impulse IMPD-272 (1998 20-bit remastering). Tracks 1-4 originally issued as 1968 LP The Way Ahead (AS-9170). Bonus tracks 5 and 6 originally issued on the 1969 LP Kwanza (AS-9262).

Archie Shepp. There are so many contrasts in his playing. Bluesy. Intense. Concerned. Exuberant. Who else can play so far out while staying so grounded and earthy? This is Shepp's first Impulse session with piano, which provides the harmonic anchor for me. Fire Music, Four for Trane, and Mama Too Tight are very fine recordings, but they don't have the feeling this one does. Check out Walter Davis, Jr. (piano) and Ron Carter on "Damn If I Know." Personnel: Archie Shepp (tenor saxophone); Charles Davis (baritone saxophone); Jimmy Owens (trumpet); Grachan Moncur III (trombone); Walter Davis Jr., Dave Burrell (piano); Ron Carter, Walter Booker (bass); Beaver Harris, Roy Haynes (drums).

Album: Live in San Francisco
Format: LP
Label/Info: Impulse! AS-9118

A great live recording. My second favorite Shepp on Impulse. Personnel: Archie Shepp (tenor saxophone, piano); Roswell Rudd (trombone); Donald Garrett, Lewis Worrell (bass); Beaver Harris (drums). Recorded at the Both/And Club, San Francisco, California on February 19, 1966.

Alice Coltrane

Album: Ptah, the El Daoud
Format: CD
Label/Info: 1996 Impulse Remaster
(20 Bit). Vinyl copies are out there, but can be quite expensive.

Sun Ra and the Arkestra

Album: Super-Sonic Jazz
Format: LP or CD
Label/Info: 180 Gram Saturn Vinyl Reissue (left) and Evidence CD 22015 (bottom left). Also released in 1973 as Super-Sonic Sounds, Impulse AS-9271 (bottom right). Originally recorded in 1956.
Favorite cut: "Kingdom of Not"

Pete La Roca

Album: Basra
Format: LP
Label/Info: Blue Note Vinyl Reissue

Favorite cut: "Basra" - A one-chord ride up the Tigris and back down the Euphrates.

Andrew Hill

Album: Grass Roots
Format: CD
Label/Info: Blue Note Connoisseur Series

There are more critically-acclaimed Hill records, but I come back to these 1968 sessions again and again.

Tina Brooks

Album: True Blue
Format: LP
Label/Info: Blue Note Vinyl Reissue

Thelonious Monk

Album: Monk's Music
Format: CD
Label/Info: Riverside 2004 Hybrid SACD

Julius Hemphill

Album: Reflections (released on LP as 'Coon Bid'ness - Arista/Freedom 1012)
Format: CD
Label/Info: Freedom

Favorite cut: "Hard Blues"

Tony Williams

Album: Life Time
Format: CD
Label/Info: Blue Note 1999 Remaster - Rudy Van Gelder Edition

Jackie McLean

Album: Jacknife
Format: CD
Label/Info: Blue Note

Ornette Coleman Trio

Album: At the "Golden Circle" Stockholm, Volume One
Format: CD
Label/Info: Blue Note 2002 Remaster - Rudy Van Gelder Edition

Ray Bryant Trio

Album: All Blues
Format: LP
Label/Info: Pablo 2310-820

Lee Morgan

Album: Sidewinder
Format: LP
Label/Info: Blue Note Vinyl Reissue - 180 Gram Audiophile Pressing
(1999 Rudy Van Gelder Edition on CD is a fine substitution.)

Favorite cut: Totem Pole