Cannonball Adderley Sextet
In New York
Riverside Keepnews Collection

Bill Evans Trio
Portrait In Jazz
Riverside Keepnews Collection

Milt Jackson and Wes Montgomery
Bags Meets Wes
Riverside Keepnews Collection

Blue Mitchell Sextet
Blue Soul
Riverside Keepnews Collection

Thelonious Monk
Brilliant Corners
Riverside Keepnews Collection
By George W. Harris

In keeping with the pattern established with the first set of reissues, Riverside Keepnews Collection is putting out a) essentials in any collection b) overlooked gems by tried and true stars and c) overlooked gems by undeservedly overlooked artists.

“In New York” features Adderley with what was arguably his greatest band. It’s hard to argue otherwise, when you consider that Joe Zawinul was at the piano, and Yuseff Lateef handled the reeds. This 1962 band was able to groove like no one else. The infectiousness of songs like “Gemini” transcends time and genres. The band was able to get into a pocket, and with each chorus, instead of going faster, they’d just get deeper and deeper until there seemed to be now way out. Lateef’s beefy tenor is perfectly matched by Nat Adderley’s sweet cornet on tunes like “Dizzy’s Business”. They could even go into outer space, with ethereal tunes like “Syn-Anesthesia.” Music that will cure whatever ails you.

This is the first studio recording (1961) by the first “classic” Bill Evans Trio, featuring Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian. This is the disc that featured LaFaro’s other worldly bass playing the part of Evan’s left hand, freeing up the pianist to explore sounds and visions heretofore unknown. Absolute classics like “Blue in Green” and “Peri’s Scope” are debuted here, and they have never been improved upon. If you want the definitive piano trio, look no further. Essential for anyone interested in music after Beethoven.

Guitarist Wes Montgomery got together with Modern Jazz Quartet vibist Milt Jackson for just this one 61 meeting, and though they’d never even met before, they spoke to each other in the universal language of the blues as if they’d grown up on the same street. Jackson sounds relieved to be free of the classical confines of the MJQ, and comes out swinging on his bluesy “SKJ”. Montgomery’s guitar is perfectly suited for tunes like “Delilah” and “Stairway to the Stars”, mixing his signature single note runs with gorgeous octave pluckings. This disc, while it’s been overlooked in the past, is up there with “Incredible Jazz Guitar”-loose as a goose and free as a bee.

Trumpeter Blue Mitchell, along with Kenny Dorham, suffers from having the right tone, but at the wrong time. Sweet and clean, he was a perfect fit for Horace Silver’s quintet during it’s halcyon days, but he never caught on as a solo artist. This 59 release has him leading a classic rhythm section of Wynton Kelly (p), Sam Jones (b) and Philly Joe Jones (dr) through a set of hard bop music that doesn’t change the direction of music, but sure makes the going great. Benny Golson charts like “Minor Vamp” and “Park Avenue Petite” also include some wonderful bop tinged tenor work by Jimmy Heath, but it’s Mitchell’s pure trumpet that steals the show, as on the beautiful version of “Polka Dots and Moonbeams.” Underappreciated almost 50 years ago, he deserves a second listen.

Speaking of second listens, if you can believe it, Monk’s “Brilliant Corners” was one of the very first records I ever bought. Boy, was I ever disappointed to discover that not all of jazz sounded this wildly ambitious and fun. This 56 recording, that includes heavyweights Sonny Rollins, Oscar Pettiford and Max Roach, is idiosyncratic and creative in every possible dimension. From the classic stop start of the title piece, to the childlike piano playing on “Pannonica” to the tympanic percussion of “Bemsha Swing”, this disc exudes joyful creativity, and points out everything that is right about jazz, and everything that is stale about 98% of what is being played nowadays. A desert island classic that sounds better 50+ years later.