Dave Pike : Jazz for the Jet Set - Pike's Groove

Two new additions to our Pike catalogue, furthering our I-Love-Dave-Pike cause. "Jazz for the Jet Set" from 1966 is a groovy affair (as the cover suggests) so in vogue at the time with Herbie Hancock on keyboards, while "Pike's Groove" from exactly twenty years later is a smokin' hard bop set with the Cedar Walton Trio.

Joe Venuti /Tony Romano - “Never Before…Never Again” (1954)

Recorded and produced by Johnny Mercer, captures a spontaneous 1954 Hollywood studio date between legendary jazz violinist Joe Venuti and journeyman guitarist Tony Romano. Venuti made his name playing with guitar innovator Eddie Lang from the 1920s until the latter’s untimely 1933 death. Mercer introduced Venuti and Romano in 1937. They hit it off immediately, and the duet played together regularly until Venuti died in 1978. The guitar heard on this recording, a booming Gibson L-5 prototype designed by Eddie Lang, was given by Lang’’s wife to Venuti, with instructions to pass it on to Romano, in whose playing she heard echoes of her deceased husband’s signature style. (Romano readily admits to having worn out many Lang platters attempting to master the innovator’s guitar approach).

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Joe Venuti - 4 Giants Of Swing / S’ Wonderful (1977)

The giants in question are violinist Joe Venuti, guitarist and former Texas Playboy Eldon Shamblin, steel guitarist Curley Chalker, and mandolinist Jethro Burns. The music is mostly George Gershwin and Duke Ellington. Despite the country music experience of Shamblin, Burns, and Chalker (and the usual country setting of steel and mandolin), the group holds to a strict jazz aesthetic, with sophisticated, polished improvisation. Recorded in 1977, this blowing session balances refined elegance with blazing ferocity. Chalker coaxes some amazing, unique sounds from his pedal steel (especially on the ballads) while Burns and Shamblin, usually lumped in the country bag, show their amazing facility with the jazz idiom. Of course, Venuti’s jazz credibility was never in question. --Marc Greilsamer, Editorial Reviews Amazon.com

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Joe Venuti - Joe In Chicago, 1978

Violinist Joe Venuti is joined by an all-star cast of musicians on this fabulous album, including his partners in the Four Giant’s of Swing: Jethro Burns, mandolin; Curley Chalker, steel guitar, and Eldon Shamblin, guitar. Also joining Venuti are Mike Dowling, guitar; Steve Goodman, acoustic guitar; Jim Tullio, bass and others.

Wiki link on this great jazz violinist, considered by many the father of jazz violin.

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Gypsy Jazz - Jazz Manouche

A great concert that took place in March 2006 at the Coursive de La Rochelle in France, beautifully filmed and directed by Richard Valverde celebrating Django Reinhardt's legacy. It aired on October of the same year on arte channel , a renown French/German satellite TV culture channel.

We see the Gypsy Guitar Masters consisting mainly of manouche legends Stochelo Rosenberg and Romane along with accordéoniste Richard Galliano accompanied by a wealth of young blood performing manouche and jazz standards with amazing poise and feel for the music, enjoy.

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Baden Powell - Tristeza On Guitar (1966)

This record was made in Brasil in 1966 and is Baden Powell’s first collaboration with famed Jazz producer and writer Joachim Berendt for the German label Saba. It immortalizes some of Baden Powell’s most adventurous, inventive, energetic playing ever.

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Hampton Hawes Quartet (with Jim Hall) - All Night Session (1956)

The amazing piano work of Hampton Hawes plus Jim Hall’’s guitar magic in an extended and uninterrupted late-night session! This 3 CD collection compiles the complete “All Night Session” which originally appeared on 3 LPs.

Recorded in just one night -from the late hours of November 12 to the early hours of November 13, 1956- this session is more like a live date than a trip to the studios, with no repeated numbers and, consequently, no alternate takes.

While Hawes was most often heard in a trio format, this release showcases the pianist in a quartet. A follower of Charlie Parker in both his music and lifestyle, Hawes waxed this recording nearly two years before being imprisoned for drug possession. Although he was supposed to serve a five-year jail term, his sentence was revoked by President John F. Kennedy. Hawes resumed his career after his release, playing and recording until suffering a fatal stroke in Los Angeles, on May 22, 1977.

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Wes Montgomery - The Complete Smokin’ At The Half Note Sessions

Recorded live at this now-defunct legendary New York nightspot on June 24, 1965.
According to Pat Metheny, the best live jazz guitar album ever made. 'Nuff said...

Wes Montgomery, g
Wynton Kelly, p
Jimmy Cobb, d
Paul Chambers, b



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Bireli Lagrene - Sylvain Luc - Duet (1999)

It’s almost too easy to tag a pair of French guitarists with the Django Reinhardt label, but in the case of Sylvain Luc and Bireli Lagrene’s beautiful new Duet, there are moments when the tag is wonderfully accurate. Throughout a swinging rendition of Reinhardt’’s “Douce Ambiance” and the classic “Stompin’’ at the Savoy,” Luc and Birelli display an affinity for the legendary French jazzman’’s subtle swing and Gypsy modalities that goes well beyond a mere copycat gesture. The pair are equally masterful in turning pop songs like Cyndi Lauper’s “Time after Time” and Stevie Wonder’’s “Isn’’t She Lovely” into gorgeous jazz balladry. Luc and Lagrene play off one another with an almost telepathic ease, and their delicate rapport lights up the pared-down instrumentation of two acoustic guitars, whether they’re getting subtly funky on Wes Montgomery’s “Road Song” or fingerpicking through the Beatles’ “Blackbird.” Jazz guitar aficionados may find some of Duet reminiscent of John McLaughlin, Al Dimeola, and Paco de Lucia’s hugely popular Friday Night in San Francisco. Duet’’s appeal comes from making masterfully rendered, stripped-down music that shines. --Ezra Gale, Editorial Reviews Amazon.com

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It’s Time For Dave Pike (1961)

Dave Pike was never an innovator, but his best albums are definitely solid. A perfect example is 1961’s It’s Time for Dave Pike, which was recorded when the vibist was only 22. By 1961 standards, this album isn’t experimental or forward-thinking—certainly not compared to some of the adventurous, challenging sounds that were coming from modal and avant-garde improvisers in the early ‘60s. But it’s easy to enjoy if you appreciate swinging, inspired bop along the lines of Milt Jackson, who is one of Pike’s primary influences. In fact, this album favors the same vibes/piano/bass/drums format that Jackson embraced during his years with the Modern Jazz Quartet—Pike is joined by pianist Barry Harris, bassist Reggie Workman, and drummer Billy Higgins. But It’s Time for Dave Pike doesn’t sound like an MJQ date and doesn’t contain any third stream experiments; it has more in common with Jackson’s work outside the MJQ. Hard bop is the name of the game on this album, which includes a few Pike originals as well as inspired versions of jazz standards like Miles Davis’ “Solar,” Charlie Parker’s “Cheryl,” and Tadd Dameron’s “Hot House.” The only time Pike doesn’t lead a quartet on this album is when he tackles Rodgers & Hart’s “Little Girl Blue” and performs an unaccompanied vibes solo. Produced by Orrin Keepnews for Riverside, It’s Time for Dave Pike was out of print for many years. But that changed in 2001, when Fantasy finally reissued this pleasing album on CD on its Original Jazz Classics imprint.

Tracklist:
1 Cheryl
2 On Green Dolphin Street
3 It’s Time
4 Hot House
5 Forward
6 Solar
7 Little Girl Blue
8 Tendin’ to Business

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