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Cat Stevens bounced back from the lackluster Numbers with an album of pop/rock songs that brought his usual rhythmic folk-rock into contemporary style with the Muscle Shoals rhythm section, a snappy Dave Kershenbaum production, and lots of synthesizers. Most of the songs were unusually lightweight, but the autobiographical "(I Never Wanted) To Be a Star" explored Stevens' ambivalence about being in the music business, an attitude that would find him dropping out and finding religion after one more album. In the meantime, Izitso produced a final Top 40 hit in "(Remember the Days of The) Old Schoolyard" and a singles-chart entry in the instrumental "Was Dog a Doughnut." As a result, Stevens returned to the Top Ten LPs list with a ninth straight gold album, his last. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

This is the one that started it: Mosaic, recorded in 1961, was the first recording of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers as a sextet, a setting he kept from 1961-1964. The band's front line was trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, trombonist Curtis Fuller, and tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter; Cedar Walton played piano and Jymie Merritt (a criminally underappreciated talent) was the bassist. Everything on this set was written by the musicians in the band. Walton wrote the burning title track; its blazing tempo and Eastern modes were uncharacteristic of the Jazz Messengers sound, but it swings like mad. Hubbard contributed two pieces to the album, the first of which is the groover "Down Under," with its blues gospel feel. The bandmembers dig their teeth into this one, carrying the blues theme to the breaking point as Hubbard fills in between. But the horn charts are so sharp, so utterly devoid of excess, that they won't let the listener go. Shorter's "Children of the Night" is a fine example of the tunes he would compose for the Miles Davis Quintet a bit later. While it's a hard bop swinger to be sure, his use of modality and counterpoint between the soloist and the front line is exemplary and his solo bites hard and fast as he tears up and down the registers of the horn. Fuller's "Arabia" is a basic blues groover, and the playing is inspired throughout. The disc closes with Hubbard's "Crisis," which opens with Merritt and Blakey ushering in the rest of the band. Walton first plays a repetitive minor-key riff. When the horns enter, Walton keeps the theme, Merritt moves over a bit to dig in between the lines, and Blakey keeps it all anchored because in this tune rhythm is everything. Hubbard was in many ways a soul-jazz composer before there was such a thing, and the motifs in this tune prove it -- as does his beautiful blowing in his solo. This is a fine recording and should be owned by any Blakey fan. The Rudy Van Gelder reissue came out in 2006 and features no bonus material. The sound, as on all the Van Gelder reissues, is painstakingly wonderful. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

MESSENGERS
Art Blakey - Drums
Freddie Hubbard    - Trumpet
Wayne Shorter - Saxophone (Tenor)
Cedar Walton - Piano
Jymie Merritt - Bass
Curtis Fuller - Trombone

On his first offering in three years, Kenny Garrett delivers the album that has been promised since his very auspicious debut Introducing Kenny Garrett back in 1984. On Beyond the Wall, the saxophonist and composer has continued his deep exploration of modal jazz. The album is dedicated to McCoy Tyner, the king and progenitor of modal pianists, and it sounds as if Garrett observed that tutelage well, though the music is unmistakably his own. The core band on the set features drummer Brian Blade, bassist Robert Hurst, and Mulgrew Miller on piano. Pharoah Sanders and Bobby Hutcherson appear on all but two of these nine cuts (Sanders appears on these, the pair on five). The beautiful introductory "Calling" that opens the set features Garrett and Sanders playing long, droning, Eastern-mode lines, threatening to explode at each moment as Miller takes a couple of pages of Tyner's book and hovers over both the front line and the rhythm section. On the title cut, Garrett's longstanding love affair with hard bop comes popping in the front door as Miller's solo goes deep into sharp arpeggios, playing in an augmented mode à la Freddie Redd, while never losing his own sense of elegance as the front-line players take him on in the head. Garrett's solo carries within it some of the circular techniques he learned from Trane's records, but keeps its bop angles sharp and tough.

And Sanders? Well, he's Pharoah, baby; what do y'all think he's gonna do? He answers tough and true, going for the one taking his cues from Miller and Hurst and playing up and around them full-force; he proves effortlessly that those few critics who claim he's lost it as an improviser are simply batshit. The interplay between Hutcherson and Miller is particularly tender and poignant on "Qing Wen," with its Eastern/Latin, melodic/rhythmic fusion. The melody and harmony between the two saxophonists is simply gorgeous. Vocalist Nedelka Echols and percussionist Rogerio Boccato help out on this one. It's circular, with the rhythm always at the center, everything points back to it, including the lyric. The sampling of Tibetan monks chanting the "Ornament for Clear Realization" would sound hokey on a lot of records, but the way Miller builds from the Eastern mode of the monks ushers in this cut with the same lineup. Garrett's alto simply rings as Sanders plays under in a more guttural -- but no less clear -- utterance. The six-strong vocal chorus on "Kiss to the Skies" melds seamlessly with Miller and Hutcherson, as Miller spins his lines out adding another singing voice (the chorus also appears on "Gwoka"). The final track, "May Peace Be Upon Them," is down to the basic quartet playing a mid-tempo ballad with skittering drum work from Blade playing all around the time, but never through it. Once again, modalism is the frame on which the melody is hung, and Hurst is the player who keeps it all focused on the beat returning no matter where Garrett goes in his flight. His playing is actually transcendent here, full of emotion and heart as it climbs around Miller's piano, leaving room for Blade to shift and shimmer on the edges. In the final moments, as Garrett bleats and shouts and chants with his horn, the intense melodic nature of his best improvising bring the blues home to visit from Africa and extends them to the protean, mystical East. This is Garrett's strongest moment in an already enduring career; it's fully realized compositionally, and in terms of its arrangements and its playing, it's virtually flawless without sacrificing emotion or creative intent or aesthetic vision. Simply put, it's his masterpiece. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

PERSONNEL
Kenny Garrett - Saxophone (Alto)
Bobby Hutcherson - Vibraphone
Brian Blade - Drums
Mulgrew Miller - Piano
Pharoah Sanders    - Saxophone (Tenor)
Jonathan Handelsman - Violin
Susan Jolles - Harp
Kevin Wheatley - Vocals

Dave Valentin is joined by such jazz illuminaries as guitarist Earl Klugh and percussionist Giovanni Hidalgo for this 1987 smooth jazz effort and they don't disappoint. The tracks "Twine And Tangle" "Passion Flower" and "Show Business" are amongs the highlights of this fine album



PERSONNEL
Dave Valentin - Flute, Piccolo, Pan Pipes
Ted Lo - Synthesizer, Keyboards
Richard Martinez - Synthesizer, Keyboards
Oscar Hernandez - Synthesizer, Piano, Keyboards
Lincoln Goines - Bass, Fretless Bass
Giovanni Hidalgo - Percussion, Conga
Earl Klugh - Guitar (Acoustic)
Bill O'Connell - Piano
Robert Ameen - Drums
Robert Gonzales - Drums


LISTEN

What this disc lacks in program time is more than compensated for in content. While the teaming of Thelonious Monk (piano) with John Coltrane (tenor sax) might "look better on paper," as the adage goes, rest assured the results are even better on the disc. These were the same bountiful sessions that produced the Monk's Music and Thelonious Himself long-players. As such, Coleman Hawkins also joins the proceedings on two tracks -- "Off Minor" and "Epistrophy." Unlike the version featured on Monk's Music, this reading of "Ruby, My Dear" features a Coltrane-led solo. He matches Hawkins' scintillating heat with his uncanny timing and syncopation, nestling Monk's chord progressions into his lines. The arithmetical "Trinkle, Tinkle" perfectly blends Coltrane's ability to swing into and out of some very precarious situations. Glimpses of his "sheets of sound" are augmented by some choice chord vamps from Monk. So in tune are Coltrane and Monk that the slightest alteration in pacing or attack is met with a response. Although the version of "Off Minor" featured here is considered a leftover or alternate take from the Monk's Music disc, in many ways its stark outbursts are best suited on this compilation. Hawkins' contributions cannot be overstated. His stately swinging offers a perfect balance to Monk's dizzy and off-kilter performance. "Functional" is a solo blues that extends well beyond the standard 12-bar structure and explores some of the various piano dialects that have become the signature of Monk's solos. The complete sessions featuring Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane and Coleman Hawkins are available in the Complete Riverside Recordings box set. ~ Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide

The by turns grizzled and vaporous-toned Webster really hit his stride on the Verve label. During a stretch from roughly 1953-1959, the Ellington alumnus showcased his supreme playing with both combos and string sections, swingers and ballads -- and lurking beneath his blustery and hulking sound were solo lines brimming with sophistication and wit. This 1957 date with the Oscar Peterson Trio is one of the highlights of that golden '50s run. After starting off with two bluesy originals -- the slow burning title track and gutsy "Late Date" -- Webster gets to the heart of things on five wistful ballads: Here, his exquisitely sly "Makin' Whoopee" is only outdone by an incredibly nuanced "Where Are You." Providing sympathetic counterpoint, Peterson forgoes his usual pyrotechnics for some leisurely compact solos; his cohorts -- guitarist Herb Ellis, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer Stan Levey -- are equally assured and splendid. And ending the set with flair, Webster takes over the piano for three somewhat middling yet still impressive stride and boogie-woogie-styled numbers (these are his only piano recordings). Newcomers shouldn't hesitate to start here. ~ Stephen Cook, All Music Guide