Dolphy alternates between alto sax, clarinet, and flute, displaying a virtuosic fluency in the argot of each instrument while pushing the boundaries of bebop to breaking point with rabid, discursive solos that are striving to break tradition and find a new mode of expression in jazz. After two studio albums for Prestige’s New Jazz imprint, Dolphy was recorded live in July 1961 at New York’s Five Spot co-leading a quartet with trumpeter Booker Little that included pianist Mal Waldron and Ornette Coleman’s drummer Ed Blackwell. The album also singled out Brubeck as a sui generis pianist with a distinctive, clunky style.Ĭlick to load video Eric Dolphy: Live At The Five Spot (New Jazz, 1961)Ī leading light in the free jazz movement of the early 1960s, reed master Eric Dolphy’s moment in the spotlight was a tragically short one (he died in 1964 while on tour in Europe aged 36 in mysterious circumstances). This live album was a significant early manifestation of what became known as cool jazz, where the fire of bebop was doused and replaced by a sense of emotional detachment and restraint. At the time, Brubeck’s drummer, Lloyd Davis was ill, suffering with a temperature of 103 degrees, but you wouldn’t guess it listening to the assured nature of this performance. It was recorded in front of a largely student audience at Ohio’s Oberlin college with Brubeck leading a quartet that included alto saxophone sensation Paul Desmond, whose cool yet effervescent delivery (which he likened to a dry martini) came to define the Brubeck sound. Soul jazz at its finger-clicking best.Ĭlick to load video Dave Brubeck Quartet: Jazz At Oberlin (Fantasy, 1953)ĭuring his long career, this Californian pianist/composer who liked to dabble with unorthodox time signatures, recorded a plethora of live albums but this was undoubtedly one of his best. Turrentine had only made his recording debut the previous year but sounds like an assured master here his robust but tender horn pouring out rivers of melody over foot-tapping backbeats powered by the lethal combination of George Tucker’s bass and Al Harewood’s drums. Key track: “Sing Sing Sing” Stanley Turrentine: Up At Minton’s (Blue Note, 1961)įronting a quintet (including guitarist Grant Green and pianist Horace Parlan), tenor saxophonist, Turrentine, gets into an easy-swinging soulful groove on this live collection of jazz standards recorded at a famous Harlem venue in February 1961. And it also swings like crazy – just take a listen to the whirling “Sing Sing Sing” where wild solos are juxtaposed with disciplined ensemble work. It captures a momentous moment at the zenith of the swing era when jazz was finally being recognised as a serious art form. The concert was first issued on double LP in 1950 and was instantly hailed as a classic. Playing in Goodman’s band that night were vibraphonist Lionel Hampton, trumpeter Harry James, and drummer Gene Krupa and there were also cameos by Count Basie, Lester Young, and Johnny Hodges. One of America’s most hallowed classical music venues, New York’s Carnegie Hall controversially played host to swing king and virtuoso clarinetist Goodman in January 1938, thus giving jazz a newfound sense of both legitimacy and respectability. But jazz played in the setting of an intimate club is also wonderful, whether it be at The Village Vanguard, Mr Kelly’s, The Lighthouse, The Five Spot, or Birdland just to name a few.īelow, we have selected the 50 best live jazz albums, and while they are not in any particular order, we have featured what we think are some of the greatest examples of jazz played live, records that should be in everyone’s collection.Ĭlick to load video Benny Goodman: Live At Carnegie Hall (Columbia, 1950) Then there’s Gene Krupa & Buddy Rich at JATP in 1952 sharing the mother of all drum battles. The JATP concerts were regularly recorded and they are well represented here, none finer than the 1946 concerts featuring Charlie Parker and Lester Young, the old school and the new school. He loved hearing “jazz in the moment, ” and his concert series, collected on some of the world’s best live jazz albums, allowed so many to hear jazz for the first time outside of smoky clubs and in concert halls. The unbridled spontaneity of brilliant musicians at the very top of the game, improvising and spurring each other on to greater creative heights… What could be better? It was what Norman Granz, the man behind the Jazz At The Philharmonic concert series, believed. For many of us, live jazz is the best way to hear jazz.
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