Justin V

I am an Ozzie Bailey fan.

Nick Moran - The Messenger: A very strong organ trio (well, guitar trio with organ) date.

Duke Ellington - The Blanton-Webster Band: I didn't pick up the Never No Lament box when it was first out and now the price has climbed. I found this earlier set for $8 on Sunday. Since I already own Solo, Duets and Trios with the Blanton duets, I could have the missing Never No Lament material by downloading just a few tracks from Amazon.

Art Blakey - Drum Suite: I just received the Blakey Columbia and RCA box yesterday, with this being one of the non-repeats for me. Holy moly, Ray Bryant! I am looking forward to the next session with Sullivan, Byrd, Drew and Ware because that has to also be great.

Jakob Dinesen - Dino: A date with Motian from 2009.

Jimmy Smith - The Boss: I am a sucker for the albums I have from this Verve series. I found a copy yesterday for $5, which is less than the download. I do most of my late-night listening through headphones and am enjoying being able to focus on Donald Bailey's drums with how he is panned to one side.

Congratulations to Mr. Shorter. I am looking forward to picking up Emanon because his quartet is one of the great working bands. I hope that his health improves.

Nice, Chuck! I caught them in Cleveland the day before and bought Broo's recent standards album afterward. After seeing them in February 2015, they didn't return for 3 years. I'm glad that they now have played here twice within the span of a year. In some ways, I feel like Atomic is kind of a spiritual successor to the ICP Orchestra. It is a group of improvisers/composers with a firm grasp of tradition and they have an irreverent, fun approach.

I've seen Benny Golson 5 times (3 quartets and 2 large groups) and it has never been the same exact show. He likes to tell the stories behind his classic tunes. How often do you get to hear a composer of Golson's caliber discuss his work? The man is a living legend and still sounds great. Seeing Golson perform his classics, newer material and standards is a must-see concert. It'd be foolish to skip it, in my opinion.

The cover looks like they Photoshopped Lovano onto a standard ECM cover. I saw Crispell in a duo with Castaldi a few years ago. I'm interested in checking this one out. I believe Castaldi was part of a live recording Lovano did for NPR after Christmas. I was a dope and procrastinated too long to get a ticket.

Cedar Walton - The Maestro

Michael Valeanu - Hard to Cook Cedar Walton - Naima

Once again. This is some killin' stuff. It sounds modern as heck, reminding me of Steve Coleman sometimes, so the album title is appropriate.

Corp Pincheira - The Sonido Moderno Project: The only album by Pincheira, a Chilean pianist/composer based in New York.

Whoa, that has to be a good one. I last saw Liebman with Phil Haynes and Drew Gress in November. I need to pull out that Mosaic Select soon. I found a used library copy a few years ago for the ridiculously low price of $24.

Today is the great Benny Golson's 90th birthday. I have been listening to him a lot since recently buying the Jazz Icons DVD of Art Blakey's '58 Jazz Messengers. I last saw him live in 2017, my fifth time seeing him, and he still sounded fantastic. Here's wishing him a very happy birthday, which he will be spending on The Jazz Cruise.

I am afraid that when I look at the list I will see people I didn't know had left us. I missed writing several remembrances when artists I admired passed away and I hope to rectify that.

Grant Green - Organ Trio and Quartet: I wish that I could track down reasonably priced CDs of Sam Lazar's other albums.

Kermit Driscoll - Reveille, with Bill Frisell, Kris Davis and Vinnie Colaiuta. I don't think that I'd listened to this one since the year it came out, which is one of the hazards of having a large collection. Having grown to appreciate Frisell more as the years have passed, I am enjoying a fresh listen to an album I remember enjoying quite a bit upon its release.

I am listening to the second concert from this DVD.

I first heard Robert Shy with Rahsaan and later on Mike Smith's Cannonball tribute, Unit 7, an excellent album which benefits greatly from Shy's tasty drumming. Thank you for the music, Mr. Shy, and rest in peace.