Record Reviews

LAMBERT, HENDRICKS & ROSS ~ SEVEN CLASSIC ALBUMS REAL GONE JAZZ 415 (Barcode: 5036408153128) ~ USA ~ Jazz Recorded: 1957 - 1962 Released: 2013 This is a reissue of all the recordings by the legendary American vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks & RossFind albums by this artist, which consisted of Dave LambertFind albums by this artist, Jon HendricksFind albums by this artist and the British born Annie RossFind albums by this artist. This set collects recordings made between 1957 and 1962, which present the trio shaping the future of Jazz vocals for generations to come. The seven albums included here are: "Sing A Song Of BasieFind albums with this title" from 1957, "Sing Along With BasieFind albums with this title", from 1958, "The SwingersFind albums with this title" from 1958, "Lambert, Hendricks & RossFind albums with this title" from 1960, "Lambert, Hendricks & Ross Sing EllingtonFind albums with this title" from 1960, "The Real AmbassadorsFind albums with this title", a soundtrack of a Jazz musical which also features Dave BrubeckFind albums by this artist and Louis ArmstrongFind albums by this artist, from 1962 and the final album they recorded "High Flying With Lambert, Hendricks & RossFind albums with this title" from 1962. The trio´s usage of vocalese (i.e. wordless singing) advanced the idiom of Jazz vocals considerably, contributing to the voice being recognized as having instrumental abilities equal to those of traditional instruments used in Jazz. Although they were undoubtedly pioneers, they were almost immediately overshadowed by the French vocal group Les Double SixFind albums by this artist, which pushed the innovative vocal concepts to the next level and beyond, later followed by The Swingle SingersFind albums by this artist and many other vocal ensembles. Overall this is a fascinating collection of great vocal Jazz music performed by the best vocalists at the time, and which has additionally also an enormous historical value. I can’t imagine any true vocal Jazz fan missing this set! Side Note The Real Gone JazzFind albums on this label label releases hundreds of album collections, which include usually between three to eight original albums in a two to four CDs sets. Most of these albums were recorded and released in the 1950s and early 1960s. These collections provide the track lists and lineups of the original albums, but no recording information, liner notes and any background information whatsoever. The label takes advantage of the copyright law in UK, which limited the length of the copyright protection of recorded works to 50 years, after which recorded works become public domain. In 2013 UK implemented a correction of the copyright law extending the protection of recorded works to 70 years (like the rest of Europe), but the correction does not apply retroactively, which means that recordings which entered the 50 years rule prior to January 1, 2013 (i.e. recorded before January 1, 1963) remain public domain. There are two great advantages to these releases: they are really inexpensive and they bring back to life many albums not reissued previously on CD, which means it would cost a collector an arm and a leg to get a copy of them. Many of these albums are absolute gems and essential pieces of Jazz history. The disadvantages are: the lack of proper information, original cover art, combining tracks of several original albums on one CD and the sound quality, which depends on where the label gets the source material. From my experience most of the releases have quite excellent sound quality but I have not listened to all of them and some people have complained about it.

Updated: 27/05/2018Posted: 29/09/2016

CD 4 Remastered Recommend To A Friend

ANNIE ROSS ~ ME AND MY BABY – AN EVENING WITH ANNIE ROSS VOCALION 8451 (Barcode: 765387845124) ~ UK ~ Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 1971 Released: 2009 British singer Annie RossFind albums by this artist has spent many years in the USA, where she came to fame as one of the most important and innovative Jazz vocalists and is mostly known for her part in the vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks & RossFind albums by this artist, which revolutionized the group vocal approach in Jazz. Upon her return to the UK, Ross continued to record, perform and even acted in the movies. This album is a document of her one-women show at the Hampstead Theatre, where she performed a vide range of Jazz, Bossa Nova and even Progressive Rock (yes! She sings a King CrimsonFind albums by this artist song as well) material, accompanied by a wonderful band, which included keyboardist Dave MacRaeFind albums by this artist (another Prog connection, as we was at the time a member of Matching MoleFind albums by this artist), guitarist Gordon EdwardsFind albums by this artist, bassist Rick LairdFind albums by this artist (Mahavishnu OrchestraFind albums by this artist) and drummer Dave MontgomeryFind albums by this artist. This was 1971 and anything was possible! Of course this recording is very different from what most Annie Ross fans would expect to hear from her, and therefore quite special in every way. I have no idea how many people are even aware of this rare album, but surely many will be interested to check it out!

CD 1 Remastered Recommend To A Friend

VARIOUS ARTISTS ~ POLISH RADIO JAZZ ARCHIVES VOL.26 POLSKIE RADIO 2058 (Barcode: 5907812247119) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 1965 Released: 2016 This is the twenty-sixth installment in the series of releases initiated by the Polish Radio, which presents archive Jazz recordings from the radio vaults. Radio recordings are always a fabulous source of remarkable material, and as far as Polish Jazz history is concerned, the Polish Radio, which was a state monopoly for 45 years, recorded over time a plethora of invaluable material, which apart from the albums released by the Polskie Nagrania record company (also a state monopoly), is the only available additional source of Polish Jazz recordings. For many years Polish Radio recorded concerts presented during Poland´s most important Jazz venues, including the annual Jazz Jamboree Festival and many other festivals as well. The tracks presented here were recorded live in December 1965 during the eighth Jazz Jamboree Festival in Warsaw and are the first volume of a collection of tracks from that event. The first five tracks present the great British vocalist Annie RossFind albums by this artist, who revolutionized the vocal Jazz idiom as a member of the legendary trio Lambert, Hendricks & RossFind albums by this artist, which she left in late 1962 to start her solo career. She is accompanied by a trio consisting of Polish pianist Wojciech KarolakFind albums by this artist, bassist Juliusz SandeckiFind albums by this artist and Swedish drummer Rune CarlssonFind albums by this artist. All the songs are Jazz standards. The next four tracks present the great Polish vocal ensemble NOVIFind albums by this artist in their earliest incarnation as a quintet, which includes in addition to their leader Bernard KawkaFind albums by this artist also Ewa WanatFind albums by this artist, Janusz MychFind albums by this artist, Waldemar ParzynskiFind albums by this artist and Aleksander GluchFind albums by this artist, who left the ensemble before they recorded their debut album Bossa NovaFind albums with this title in 1967. NOVI modeled their vocal style on earlier vocal Jazz ensembles like Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, and their tracks appearing immediately following the Ross´s tracks is symbolic. NOVI are accompanied by pianist Adam MatyszkowiczFind albums by this artist (Adam MakowiczFind albums by this artist), bassist Janusz KozlowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Czeslaw BartkowskiFind albums by this artist. All the tracks are vocal arrangements of Jazz standards. The next three tracks present a quartet led by legendary Polish Jazz pianist / trombonist / composer Andrzej KurylewiczFind albums by this artist with guitarist Janusz SidorenkoFind albums by this artist, bassist Edward DylagFind albums by this artist (older brother of Roman DylagFind albums by this artist, who is mistakenly listed here) and drummer Jerzy BartzFind albums by this artist. The rare appearance of Kurylewicz playing the trombone is one of the highlights of this album. They perform a couple of adaptations, one of a classical piece by Polish composer Stanislaw MoniuszkoFind albums by this artist and the other of a folk tune and finally one original composition by Kurylewicz. The last two tracks present a quartet led by legendary Polish Jazz saxophonist / composer Jan Ptaszyn WroblewskiFind albums by this artist with pianist Wojciech Karolak, bassist Juliusz Sandecki (here misspelled as Janusz), and drummer Andrzej DabrowskiFind albums by this artist. They perform on original composition by Wroblewski and an extended version of a Miles DavisFind albums by this artist classic. The beautifully restored sound quality is excellent and the warm ambience of the analog recording is a true joy. As usual with this series, which is very reasonably priced, I miss the presence of "in depth" liner notes / booklet, which should convey the circumstances at which this music was recorded and its importance to the development of Jazz in Poland. Nevertheless this is an absolutely essential piece of Jazz history which every Jazz fan will surely consider an absolute must.

Updated: 03/12/2016Posted: 02/12/2016

CD 1 Digipak Remastered Recommend To A Friend