Jazz & Blues > R Jazz & Blues

Advantages: Great Trad Jazz
Disadvantages: None

Jean Baptiste "Django" Reinhardt was one of the first important jazz musicians to be born in Europe. He spent most of his youth in the gypsy encampments close to Paris, France, playing banjo, guitar and violin. At an early age he started playing professionally at dance halls in Paris. When he was 18, he was injured in a fire in his caravan loosing the use of his 3rd and 4th fingers on his left hand. After this he focused on the guitar and developed ...
...The man is nothing short of the original guitar god influencing everyone from the Beatles, Tony Immoni, B. B. King, Willie Nelson, and myself. I lost the use of my left forefinger due to an accident. I decided that if Django could do it with 2 fingers then I could do it with 3 fingers!!!!!! Stéphane Grappelli is quite simply the greatest fiddle (violin) player the planet has ever seen. Grappelli was born in Paris, and started his career as a silent ... Read review

Advantages: Sublime music and musicianship
Disadvantages: None

...the film and character of Alfie and how it inspired different parts of the score. He was appearing at Ronnie Scott's club when he was invited to compose for Alfie, and was intrigued. He had never scored a movie before. THE TRACKS This CD, being the soundtrack to the movie, does NOT feature Bacharach's 'What's it all About Alfie?' popularised by Cilla Black et al, nor does it contain the ballad bawled by Queenie Watts during the pub brawl. There ...
...two versions of the main Alfie theme, the first is upbeat and 'jaunty', Alfie as Jack the Lad, the second version, final track, is still upbeat but chastened, the final theme where he realises what he has missed out on. The other tracks are lovely incidentals to the plot, eg the sombre moody 'He's Younger Than You Are' as painful home truths comes home after the surprise visit to the hairdresser's fancy flat; similar but more painful 'Little Malcolm ... Read review

Advantages: Alto saxophony at it's best.
Disadvantages: Not to everyones taste.

...la Pinta 5. Besame Mucho On Amazon this album is around £6.50. iTunes lists the album as 2004 release with 17 (some missing from the Amazon listing) tracks, at £7.99, this is the version that I have and am reviewing. Also I will not review every one of the 17 tracks but will concentrate on two or three tracks that stand out, and give you a full track list at the end of the review. ~~~~Reviewed tracks~~~~ Melancholy Madeline: This track is quite ...
...a sense of fun. Besame Mucho: The title track and a jazz/Latin standard. He plays this slightly differently from any other version I have heard. For a start he plays it so high it is sometimes difficult to realise it is sax and not trumpet. Then there is the embellishment of melody, which is really very clever. Finally, there is a sense of edginess that I like about this version, it is smooth, but in places 'breaks out' into a bit of 'edge'. Great ... Read review

Advantages: Some great musicianship
Disadvantages: Never really lets go

Mind Transplant was an album by Alphonse Mouzon featuirng Tommy Bolin. The strange character that is Alphonse - a jazz fusion drummer who is of Afro-American, French and Blackfoot Indian descent oozes funkiness. I tried to get into this album but having listened to Billy Cobham's Spectrum, I just couldn't help but compare the two and this one came off worst. Whilst Tommy Bolin's guitar work is as good as ever on this album, you feel that he is somewhat ...
...or amazing solo. Mind Transplant seems rather caged for me and whilst it has undoubtedly good musicianship and some funkyness, it's not as free-flowing as some of its contemporaries. 1. Mind Transplant 2. Snow Sound 3. Carbon Dioxide 4. Ascorbic Acid 5. Happiness Is Loving You 6. Some Of The Things Pepole Do 7. Golden Rainbows 8. Nitroglycerin ... Read review

Advantages: Amazing collaboration, so funky
Disadvantages: None

...& Trumpet John Tropea - Guitar Ron Carter - Acoustic bass Ray Barretto - Congas Track List Quadrant 4 Searching For the Right Door Spectrum Anxiety Taurian Matador Stratus To the Women of My Life Le Lis Snoopy's Search Red Baron ... Read review