Verve Records have released a live album, recorded on November 26th 1961 at New York’s famous jazz club, Village Gate. On stage are Stan Getz and his new quartet comprising of pianist Steve Kuhn, double bass player John Neves and drummer Roy Haynes. Although the recordings were set aside after that night and had ended up in the record company’s archives, 58 years later, they have now re-emerged with flawless sound. Getz at the Gate understandably arouses much interest as the saxophonist’s artistic direction throughout the entirety of the 2 hours 20-minute concert is one that he did not pursue thereafter.Getz formed this new group having just returned from Europe and its more modern and aggressive sound was most likely influenced by John Coltrane’s quartet in which Kuhn played. But in 1962, his album with guitarist Charlie Byrd was a hit, sparking the trend for bossa nova-infused jazz and propelling Getz not only down other stylistic paths but also to the top of the charts with numerous albums with Luiz Bonfá, João Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Astrud Gilberto. Getz at the Gate is quite clearly light years away from this exoticism but is still far from the Getz bop, cool or West Coast jazz from his early days. Here, in a highly effective post-bop style, he revisits tracks played during the 1950s such as When The Sun Comes Out, Like Someone in Love and even Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most and Roy Haynes’ drumming ties everything together brilliantly, as always. Of course, the four men also show their admiration for Coltrane by taking on his legendary Impressions. In short - a previously unreleased and utterly thrilling concert. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Four months after winning his second Grammy Award in the R&B category for Black Radio 2, pianist Robert Glasper re-assembles the acoustic jazz trio that played on his first two Blue Note recordings. Bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Damion Reid assist the pianist in a live audience recording from Capitol's famed Studio A. Covered is far from a return to an acoustic piano trio for Glasper. Instead, it's an acoustic approach to the directions he employed on his early Blue Note dates, and the R&B and hip-hop engagements on Black Radio. With the redo of "I Don't Even Care," Black Radio 2 commences with a nearly elliptical air, but Reid's skittering snare creates a dance rhythm while Archer's bassline plays the changes and tastefully fills Glasper's ever widening melodic circle. With post-bop flourishes, he nonetheless remains close to the harmonic center, uncovering its richness in the process. The rhythm section's intro to Radiohead's "Reckoner" is lithe and almost funky before Glasper uses the melody's limited palette as a circular, restrained, yet emotionally moving exploration of its possibilities. The album's centerpiece is the 13-minute "In Case You Forgot." It begins with a knotty, angular solo piano intro (check "Silly Rabbit" from 2007's In My Element), with single-note syncopations and mid-register arpeggios cascading around a four-note bassline with classical embellishments. When the rhythm section enters, they weave jazz standards and modern pop songs together -- from Freddie Hubbard's "Up Jumped Spring" and Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" to Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me," among others -- with sharp, sudden cuts from Glasper before they all climb headlong into their own sprint. Scattered throughout the set is Glasper's sincere but wry dialogue with his audience. A considerable strength from the trio is their ability to translate the appeal of neo-soul ballads such as Musiq (Soulchild)'s "So Beautiful," Jhené Aiko's "The Worst," and Bilal's "Levels" as jazz, even equating them with standards. An example is "Stella by Starlight," whose canny arrangement simultaneously celebrates, decodes, and cracks open Bill Evans' lyricism atop triple-timed brushed snare -- think drum'n'bass -- and a bumping bassline. Harry Belafonte delivers an earnest, grainy, proud and poignant spoken word appearance on "Got Over." Set closer "I'm Dying of Thirst" offers a shadowy melody to a Latin-tinged tom-tom and bass groove as a children's chorus recites the names of African-Americans shot by police; it results in a statement of dignity and self-determination. Glasper's piano alternates between contemplative vamp and haunting elegy before it whispers to a finish. Covered may be a return to the acoustic piano trio, but cedes none of the ground gained by the Black Radio albums. This is Glasper refusing to be reined in by any format or artistic desire but his own. This set is welcoming, open, and warm: it invites fans of all of his musical pursuits along for the ride.© Thom Jurek /TiVo

Keith Jarrett's Standards Trio spread their wings during live performance in as astute and dignified a manner as any group since the similarly sized Bill Evans ensembles of three decades prior. Bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette easily match the Evans bandmates Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian in terms of their telepathy, rhythmic savvy, harmonic ideas and supportive idealism. They propel Jarrett's advanced viewpoint in making well-known American popular songs all his own. While the incessant vocal whining of the leader in accord with his playing is an issue, the way he sensitively interprets a familiar song is not. The trio warms slowly as Jarrett's introduces "Stella by Starlight" with delicate precision, also keeping a cool head on Alec Wilder's "The Wrong Blues" with tempo in check. "Falling in Love with Love" hits third gear running, as Jarrett's fleet, lithe and flowing lines dismiss reckless abandon, and settles into a groove. A slight Latin hue on "Too Young to Go Steady" from the adept DeJohnette turns this composition to pure gold, while Jarrett does not hesitate getting right to the melody of "The Way You Look Tonight" because he knows and loves it all too well. DeJohnette is not only completely supportive, but undeniably is reinventing the jazz swing rhythm through this whole concert. A nice choice for a closer, Nat Adderley's soulful and spiritual "The Old Country" is tactfully portrayed, and because it is included on a record of standards, can be happily declared as official jazz orthodoxy. The trio is fairly concise, even for concert guidelines (nothing over 11 minutes), so the indulgence factor is virtually non-existent, and listenability is very high even for those who are challenged. Such stellar collective musicianship and their teamwork deems this recording worthy of any most recommended list.© Michael G. Nastos /TiVo

Blue Note's Doubletime series combines live sessions previously issued on two single albums onto one double CD. One of the first releases was Joe Henderson's brilliant tenor sax recital recorded live at the Village Vanguard in 1985. The State of the Tenor, Vols. 1 & 2 features Henderson backed only by bass and drums in a setting that pays homage to his prime stylistic source, Sonny Rollins, while displaying his prime skills in an ideal forum. The 14 selections range from customary standards to Henderson originals, and include compositions by Sam Rivers, Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, and Horace Silver. It is not only a fine trio outing, but a series of performances in which Henderson strips songs to their essence, turning them into his own vision.© Ron Wynn /TiVo

Steve Kuhn has been recording professionally for close to five decades, most of which time he's operated stealthily, rarely achieving the level of recognition he so richly deserves for contributing his immaculate pianistry to a range of jazz greats who have included John Coltrane, Stan Getz, Ornette Coleman, Art Farmer and others, or for leading his own diverse bands. In the mid-'80s Kuhn worked briefly in a trio setting with bassist extraordinaire Ron Carter and drummer Al Foster, cutting a pair of releases, The Vanguard Date and Life's Magic. Two decades later, that trio reconvened at New York's Birdland, and this exquisite aural document of their performance serves as a reminder that, at close to 70, Kuhn is one of jazz piano's unheralded giants. He is as sharp, imaginative and dexterous as he was during his younger years, and with Carter and Foster he is at home -- the musicians reportedly didn't rehearse for these shows, yet they sound as if they'd been at one another's sides for the past 20 years. At Birdland, the trio revisited four compositions that appeared on the earlier albums: Kuhn's own "Clotilde" and "Two by Two," Carter's "Little Waltz" and the Fats Waller standard "Jitterbug Waltz," the latter deconstructed into an 11-minute tour de force that, like much of the music in the set, allows the three musicians to explore a number of tempos, moods and tones. Kuhn, Carter and Foster alternately strut individually and lock intuitively into an airtight groove that takes surprising and pleasing twists before returning to the initial theme. Whether on the opening track, Frank Loesser's "If I Were a Bell," the fusing of Debussy's "La Plus Que Lente" and Billy Strayhorn's "Passion Flower," or the closer, Charlie Parker's "Confirmation," Kuhn establishes a template with light and sensitively executed solo figures before opening things up for all to take off to places unknown. There's a fine balance of simplicity and complexity at work here, but perhaps because he no longer needs to prove anything at this stage in his career, Kuhn seems to have lightened up -- the experimentalism of his ECM period has given way to an approach that is, while still at times blindingly intense, simultaneously light and playful. It's not a bad place for a master to be.© Jeff Tamarkin /TiVo

This is one of the earliest releases to feature George Shearing exclusively as a solo pianist, and the CD reissue of the long unavailable LP adds ten previously unissued tracks. He is rather surprisingly low-key on most of these interpretations, even though they are mostly ballads, possibly because of Capitol's original marketing concept. "Stella by Starlight" is especially odd, starting off rather dreamy and evolving into more of an arrangement that sounds as if a classical pianist is making a crossover recording. Many of the other songs have long since disappeared from the jazz scene (if any of them were regularly played) since the original record came out in the 1950s; they include long forgotten songs such as "Guilty," "Friendly Persuasion," "High on a Windy Hill," and "Sigh No More." The newly added material includes a version of "My Funny Valentine," which has a rather unusual bassline and later hints at various classical composers, especially Mozart. Music by Rachmaninov is incorporated into his arrangement of "Tenderly," and a theme by Poulenc is worked into "On the Street Where You Live"; there's also an interpretation of Debussy's "Reverie." Although this isn't a very representative release from George Shearing's considerable discography (spanning over a half century), it should not be condemned because it doesn't sound like his better-known jazz recordings. As long as one isn't expecting Shearing's typical locked hands and often humor-filled style that's heard on most of his releases, this CD should please any jazz fan who is in the mood for something mellow.© Ken Dryden /TiVo

Verve Records have released a live album, recorded on November 26th 1961 at New York’s famous jazz club, Village Gate. On stage are Stan Getz and his new quartet comprising of pianist Steve Kuhn, double bass player John Neves and drummer Roy Haynes. Although the recordings were set aside after that night and had ended up in the record company’s archives, 58 years later, they have now re-emerged with flawless sound. Getz at the Gate understandably arouses much interest as the saxophonist’s artistic direction throughout the entirety of the 2 hours 20-minute concert is one that he did not pursue thereafter.Getz formed this new group having just returned from Europe and its more modern and aggressive sound was most likely influenced by John Coltrane’s quartet in which Kuhn played. But in 1962, his album with guitarist Charlie Byrd was a hit, sparking the trend for bossa nova-infused jazz and propelling Getz not only down other stylistic paths but also to the top of the charts with numerous albums with Luiz Bonfá, João Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Astrud Gilberto. Getz at the Gate is quite clearly light years away from this exoticism but is still far from the Getz bop, cool or West Coast jazz from his early days. Here, in a highly effective post-bop style, he revisits tracks played during the 1950s such as When The Sun Comes Out, Like Someone in Love and even Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most and Roy Haynes’ drumming ties everything together brilliantly, as always. Of course, the four men also show their admiration for Coltrane by taking on his legendary Impressions. In short - a previously unreleased and utterly thrilling concert. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz