Jazz goodies galore

Jazz recordings are often played in this office - from Art Blakey to Charlie Parker, Chet Baker to Miles Davis - but there never appears to be either time or space to cover it regularly, so herewith are abridged reviews of several releases from last week, or so.

A word of warning: this is not faux-jazz like Katie Melua but the real-deal.

Cassandra Wilson
‘Traveling Miles’

Cassandra Wilson‘s ‘Traveling Miles’ was originally released in 1999 but this reissue is ‘upgraded’ and requires DLS-capable playback system. Yeah, it comes at you at 5.1 Surround Music and improves on sound quality whilst the standard of songs remains - way up there.

Ms Wilson was called “America's Best Singer” by Time Magazine in 1999 and no change there: ‘Traveling Miles’ is a selection of music played by, written by or inspired by Miles Davis. Tracks made famous by Miles, songs written by the late Davis with new lyrics by Cassandra… all produced by Ms Wilson.

Cassandra Wilson's an artist with innovative concepts and impassioned vocals continue to display style, maturity and a dazzling class.

8.5/10
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Various
‘Blue Note Plays Ray Charles’

Ray Charles’s revival is mainly due to the biopic ‘Ray’ and we hope J. Foxx gets an Oscar for his onscreen portrayal of the ‘Genius Of Soul’; ‘Blue Note Plays Ray Charles’ is a timely re-presenting of his songs by artists such as Lou Rawls (‘That’s Where It’s At’ - with a little help from the man himself, ‘Hide Nor Hair’), Grant Green (‘This Little Girl Of Mine’, ‘I Can’t Stop Loving’), Bill Henderson & Jimmy Smith (‘Ain’t That Love’)…

With Mr Charles’s catalogue larger than most of his colleagues, chances are that not many of these tracks will be known to you. Grab the opportunity to discover versions [gospel/jazz/instrumental takes] before seeking out Mr Charles’s originals. We really lost a giant last year and no new contenders are emerging. Getting talent-poorer day-by-day.

8.3/10
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Various
‘Blue Note Plays Sting’

Cassandra Wilson reappears on this collection of Sting’s tunes and her version of ‘Fragile’ opens ‘Blue Note Plays Sting’ [with Freddie Hubbard‘s variation closing it]. Sting’s been considered as one of the pop’s most original and influential artists to emerge in the last quarter of the 20th century and “jazz musicians have always had a keen ear for pop tunes of lasting quality since Coleman Hawkins covered ‘Body and Soul’,” the label’s promo informs us.

Song covered here range from ‘Roxanne’ (Bob Belden & Tim Hagans) to ‘Every Breath You Take’ (BB, Mark Ledford & Kirk Whalum) to ‘Tea On The Sahara’ (Flavio Boltro)… Belden collaborates on five more tracks but the most impressive is ‘Wrapped Around Your Finger’, alongside John Scofield and the killer songstress Dianne Reeves.

8/10