21 December 2007 JAZZ CD REVIEW Notable releases By Don Albert

The Blue Note Group (EMI) has just issued some major new releases and a few re-issues. First up, the new CDs. I am not a great fan of tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano, but Kids, recorded live at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola in New York, with pianist Hank Jones, is quite brilliant. The two fit together like a glove. They bounce ideas off each other and in doing so, sculpt little masterpieces. I would love to have been there for these 70 minutes. I also wish I'd been around for Kenny Burrell's birthday, but the CD will do fine: 75th Birthday Bash Live! has the master guitarist doing six tracks with the Gerald Wilson Orchestra and five with flautist Hubert Laws and organist Joey DeFrancesco, plus others. My favourite tracks are the Latinish "Romance" and the thoughtful "Footsteps". Mirror is pianist Jacky Terrasson's solo outing. Both "Caravan" and "Cherokee" feature some long lines à la Lennie Tristano, while on "Just a gigolo" he pays tribute to Thelonious Monk. I particularly enjoyed his playing on "Little red ribbon" and "Tragic mulatto blues". All 11 tracks will please his fans, old and new alike. I have always liked Stacey Kent, so I'm biased, but maybe her fans will be disappointed that she's abandoned her standards repertoire for original material, some of which, I must admit, has strong story lines. A couple of French songs are included on Breakfast on the Morning Train, plus a nice version of "So many stars" and a heartfelt "What a wonderful world". Big band fans, get out your wallets for the following three CDs: Maynard Ferguson's A Message from Birdland, recorded live at Birdland in 1959. It has 12 tracks played by an exciting big band with good arrangements, top soloists, a driving rhythm section and the leader's terrific trombone and trumpet playing. The 1961 Count Basie Orchestra was a fine outfit, which included such names as Thad Jones, Frank Foster, Frank Wess, Freddie Green and, to my mind the greatest drummer Basie ever had, Sonny Payne. It's 17 tracks of familiar Basie music ranging from "Little pony" and "Corner pocket" to "One o'clock jump" and "Whirly-bird". There are two versions of the last, one with a scat vocal from Jon Hendricks, the other instrumental. This is Basie live and swinging. Stan Kenton enthusiasts haven't had much of late, so The Jazz Compositions of Dee Barton, recorded in 1967, should fit the bill. Barton, originally a trombonist with Kenton for two years, later switched to drums. Here he does a good job kicking the powerful band through his interesting compositions.