Still raw from 9/11? It's difficult to believe a decade has passed. So imagine this Louis Armstrong concert from 1956. For most of the audience, and for much of America, except for the "Baby Boomer" youngsters too young to remember, World War Two and the enormous human toll it took on families across the country was still a current event.

Few jazz musicians attain pop star status while retaining credibility with their "base." Louis Armstrong managed and of course so did Miles Davis. Stan Getz was another.

Few jazz musicians attain pop star status while retaining credibility with their "base." Louis Armstrong managed and of course so did Miles Davis. Stan Getz was another.

Don’t let the October 16^th 1956 mono recording date fool you: this Jean-Baptiste “Illinois” Jacquet session was recorded in Los Angeles, probably at legendary Radio Recorders, and the sound will knock you down.

Don’t let the October 16^th 1956 mono recording date fool you: this Jean-Baptiste “Illinois” Jacquet session was recorded in Los Angeles, probably at legendary Radio Recorders, and the sound will knock you down.

(Note: this review originally stated that the lacquer cut was from the 3 track master. That was incorrect. The master here was the two track original that hadn't been used since 1980. While the tape had some dropout and other issues, mastering engineer George Marino determined it still sounded superior to any of the copies used for subsequent reissues.)

Mose Alison meets Steely Dan meets Gary Wilson is the best I can do to describe this hipster member of Hollywood's famous Dragon family's recent CD. 

Dad Carmen was best known for conducting The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra during the 1950s and he also composed the music for the original "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." The kids, Dennis, Doug and Darryl grew up in a Laurel Canyon home  during the '60s and became part of that era's incredible music scene there.

Anyone who thinks exploitation/commercialization is a recent development wasn’t around in the aftermath of George Harrison’s discovery of Indian music and his use of a sitar on “Norwegian Wood.”

The Rolling Stones hopped on board with “Paint it Black” and The Byrds did too on “Eight Miles High.” But these utilized the sitar as a background instrument.

While American soul music— northern urban and southern rural—and UK-via-the-Caribbean-derived Ska course through the veins of the fourth Elvis Costello and the Attractions album,  the flesh thankfully remains white limey. 

While American soul music— northern urban and southern rural—and UK-via-the-Caribbean-derived Ska course through the veins of the fourth Elvis Costello and the Attractions album,  the flesh thankfully remains white limey. 

Alto sax bop legend Art Pepper (1925-1982) had accrued a lot of mileage but few OnePass points when he blew into London with his trio in June of 1980 to play a fortnight gig at the famous Ronnie Scott’s Club.

The group consisted of the hard charging classically trained Bulgarian émigré Milcho Leviev on piano, Tony Dumas on bass and Carl Burnett on drums. The latter two had worked in a trio with pianist George Cables and so already played in lockstep.