Jean-Luc Ponty's 'Imaginary Voyage' Ageless, Brings Back Magic of Youthful Listening Sessions3/18/2018
By John Crossett III
One of the few joys that come with being an older music lover/audiophile is finding LP’s in your collection that you haven’t listened to in forever, but that, at one time, contained some of the most important music of your life. When I was younger (and so much wiser than today) my thoughts on what jazz was were contained in grooves the likes of this album - “Imaginary Voyage” by Jean-Luc Ponty. Fusion. That was jazz to me. And I loved it. This album in particular was a favorite.
0 Comments
By John M. Crossett III
Lionel Hampton. — Newport Uproar
Pure Pleasure / RCA LSP-3891 Released: 2017 Music: 3.5 Sound: 3.5 I will freely admit, I’ve never been a big Lionel Hampton fan. Never cared for musicians who felt they had to pander to the crowd for appreciation (if the music isn’t enough, then playing the crowd can’t help). But I may have misjudged Lionel. “Newport Uproar,” recorded at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1967, is an album full of well played big band jazz music featuring -- besides Lionel on vibes and piano -- such well known jazz luminaries such as Snooky Young and Joe Newman on trumpet, Al Grey, Brett Woodman and Benny Powell on trombone, Jerome Richardson and Frank Foster on reeds, George Duviver on bass, and a host of others (even Illinois Jacquet makes a guest tenor sax appearance on one number). Many of those names will be familiar to jazz fans as members of other, better known, big bands. But here, joining with Lionel (who keeps his antics to a minimum), they provide the Newport crowd with some excellent big band jazz. The playing is tight, the music flows, the feel is palpable. And the live recording by RCA is excellent. Add is all up and its an album that can be enjoyed by anyone with a love of big band jazz with a modern touch.
By John M. Crossett III
When Simon & Garfunkel broke up, most of the attention was paid to Paul Simon’s career. But Art Garfunkel wasn’t about to slide quietly off the stage, and he began his own solo career.
This album, “Watermark,” was one of the highlights of said solo efforts. No, Art never got the publicity Paul got - Art wasn’t the songwriter Paul was. But what Art had, and still does is that superb voice. Yes, it works much better playing off Simon’s, but albums like this show it could stand perfectly well on its own. By Juan C. Ayllon We’ve all been there. A relative in distress. A baby on the way. We rush to the hospital in a panic. In a hurry. And, by the grace of God, we arrive, unscathed, to tend to our loved one.
Only in this story, it does not play out that way. |
|