Category Jazz & Jazz-Rock
1975 JAZZ | #10 — #1
#10 GEORGE DUKE — THE AURA WILL PREVAIL [MPS] This enthralling album has so many styles you run out of fingers. Jazz, of course; it’s George Duke. There is also funk and soul, some progressive rock colours (especially the synth work), a touch of latin… and every permutation implied by the preceding list. It’s a […]
1975 JAZZ | #20 — #11
It is not entirely clear whether 1975 was an exceptional year for jazz or whether Vinyl Connection was simply more into the form at this time. Either way, it was quite a struggle to reduce the contenders to twenty. Those who are unmoved by America’s gift to music may still find things to enjoy in […]
1975 COUNTDOWN | #50 — #41
#50 AC/DC — T.N.T. The Aussie rockers crank it up a notch for their second album of 1975. “It’s a long way to the top” fully deserves its iconic status, while “High voltage” offers exactly that: raw, electrifying rock. Add in a title track that boasts one of Malcolm Young’s best riffs and you have […]
1975 COUNTDOWN | #75 — #66
Welcome to the sixth annual 50 year countdown. Beginning in 2020 with 70 FROM ’70 we’ve sampled music from each year and attempted to find the ‘keepers’. This year is no exception, though the fragmentation of rock music into sub-genres makes any attempt at ranking increasingly fraught. In this initial set we have keyboard-based prog, […]
I RUN TO YOU
September 23rd is the forty-eighth anniversary of the release of Steely Dan’s Aja. ♥ From its striking cover—timeless in its enigmatic simplicity—to the fadeout of the final song, Aja resides comfortably in classic album territory. Several other ‘classics’ came out in 1977, commercial monsters including Fleetwood Mac Rumours and the Eagles Hotel California. But where […]
OUT OF TIME
If you read a straight-ahead description of Time Out by The Dave Brubeck Quartet, it all sounds terribly serious and highbrow. Recollections of Brubeck’s avant-garde compositional inclinations while a student, his work with French composer Darius Milhaud at Mills College, the unexpected pairing of Brubeck’s inventive, meticulous piano playing with the warm, glowing tones of Paul Desmond’s […]
ROOTING FOR NUCLEUS
Overnight I received a text message from good mate and lifetime record collector, Mr 1537. No greetings or preamble necessary; like any true music tragic, Joe cut straight to the chase. “Are you familiar with this platter of pure delight?” he asked. I am, Joe, to a degree at least. And I agree with the […]
JAZZ NIGHTCAP
The first thing that strikes you about this compilation from the Jazz Dispensary—a subsidiary of the famous Concord label—is the classy packaging. Devoid of any type, the front and rear covers are adorned with retro-style paintings by Liam Cobb evoking an early 60s comic aesthetic. An inky blue late night scene is lit by a […]
THE ART OF MOANIN’
The late 1950s were a fabulously fertile time for jazz and a first pinnacle in the history of the Blue Note record label. The confluence of established stars with emerging players made for a swirling outpouring of creativity that resonated down the decades. One of the major figures of the period (and both before and […]
ALBUMS COVERS | WOMEN IN MUSIC
As mentioned previously, I’ve been transitioning from IG to Bluesky. A March “Vinyl Challenge” caught my eye. Using the grammatically clunky (but instructive) hashtag #31GreatWomenMusicians, the idea is to post one artist a day for the month. It has been such fun delving into the Vinyl Connection Collection that I thought I’d share a few, […]
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