高校、大学と結構本気でラグビーをしていたので、この季節になるとワクワクしてしまう。普段テレビなんて一秒も観ないのだが、週末に大学ラグビーの放送なんてあると、テレビの前でビール片手にかじりつくようにラグビー観戦をしてしまう。試合中の選手の表…

Art Farmer-Donald Byrd／Two Trumpets（Prestige, 1956） www.youtube.com The lineup is a little strange, with Donald Byrd and Art Farmer on two trumpets and Jackie McLean on alto sax, but the sound that comes out is typical hard bop. The int…

Charlie Parker／Bird Is Free（Charlie Parker, 1952） www.youtube.com Listening to this live performance, you can understand how outlandish Parker's daily life was. Anyone who listens to a performance like this would not care what happens a…

Dizzy Gillepie／The New Continent（Limelight, 1962） www.youtube.com Gillespie may conjure images of festive music, but this work is quite different. The reason is that the Gliiespie Band plays music written for Gillespie by Lalo Schifrin,…

Joni Mitchell／Shadows And Light（Asylum, 1979） www.youtube.com Joni Mitchell is a rock singer, but she often uses jazz musicians as her sidemen, and many jazz fans also like her. That's why she is a singer who strikes a chord with jazz f…

Ella Fitzgerald／Ella In Berlin（Verve, 1960） www.youtube.com This live album by Ella fully displays the charm of her swinging jazz vocals, and the flow from the subtitle "Mack the Knife" to "How High the Moon" is particularly pleasant. T…

The Jazz Composer's Orchestra（JCOA, 1968） www.youtube.com This in an overwhelming performance that records the best moments of 60's free jazz. The track where Cecil Taylor takes a solo is particularly impressive, backed by the thick soun…

Dollar Brand／Africa Tears And Laughter（Enja, 1979） www.youtube.com South African Darah Brand has created a unique piece themed on the African climate for piano and soprano saxophone. The hidhlight is "Ishmael," in which the two sopranos…

Archie Shepp／A Sea Of Faces（Black Saint, 1975） www.youtube.com Grecian Moncur's strange piece "Hypnosis," which filled the entire 26 minutes and 10 seconds of the A-side of the analog era, is amazing. Shepp plays his tenor passionately …

【JAZZ】Richie Beirach／EON（ECM, 1974） www.youtube.com The album begins with a surprising arrangement of Bill Evan's signature song "Nardis" led by Frank Tusa's bass. With this one song, Richie Beirach's talent as a new pianist in the Ev…

Lee Konitz／Inside Hi-Fi（Atlantic, 1956） www.youtube.com Konitz's alto, with its subdued, lyrical sound, spins out minor melody accompanied by Billy Bauer's guitar. The track is a Konitz original, "Kelly's Trace," which any enthusiast wo…

Michel Petrucciani（Owl, 1981） www.youtube.com This is Michel Petrucciani's memorable debut album. When I first listened to the new album, I was surprised to hear such an amazing pianist, and in fact, he is a truly outstanding jazz musici…

Wynton Kelly／Kelly At Midnight（Vee Jay, 1960） www.youtube.com This is Kelly's greatest work, performed with his colleagues from Miles Davis Combo. Kelly's masterpiece "Tenperance" with its lively swing and hint of sadness, is a masterpi…

Joe Henderson／Mode For Joe（Blue Note, 1966） www.youtube.com This is Joe Henderson's masterpiece, featuring a gorgeous trio of horns with Lee Morgan and Curtis Fuller, and even Bobby Hutcherson, the image maker of the new mainstream of t…

Art Taylor／A.T.'s Delight（Blue Note, 1960） www.youtube.com This is a great album that features the great drumming of Art Taylor, a great supporting actor in hard bop. Even if you don't have a clear image of his drumming, this is recomme…

Art Farmer／Art（Argo, 1960） www.youtube.com This is jazz for connoisseurs. However, true jazz connoisseurs do not praise music just because it is minor or difficult. A connoisseur is able to thoroughly enjoy the richness contained in the…

Kenny Burrell／Midnight Blue（Blue Note, 1963） www.youtube.com Let's start by listening to "Wavy Gravy". The charm of black music is condensed in this song. Stanley's tenor saxophone bares its fangs over the well-tuned bass. Of course, Ba…

Thelinious Monk／Brilliant Corners（Riverside, 1956） www.youtube.com This is the basic form of hard bop, where a team works together to create music. The manager of this team is Monk. He is not a big talker, but when he gets them to play …

Wayne Shorter／Night Dreamer（Blue Note, 1964） www.youtube.com Wayne Shorter's music, with its mysterious and indescribable melody, seeps into our hearts. Of course, that's Shorter's goal. He is showing off his songwriting talents and att…

Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago（Mercury, 1959） www.youtube.com Cannonball Adderley's alto saxophone plays exquisite jazz, guided by Wynton Kelly's light piano. These are all songs that are super exciting without ligic. John Coltra…

Art Tatum-Ben Webster-Red Callender-Bill Douglass（Verve, 1956） www.youtube.com This album features a session by two big names: the god of piano and the number one tenor of the Ellington band. It has long been considered a masterpiece, an…

Charlie Haden／The Ballad Of The Fallen（ECM, 1982） www.youtube.com This is a re-recording of the controversial 1960s work "Liberation Music Orchestra", but the content of this version is better. Like its predecessor, it is based on the S…

Brigitte Fontaine／Comme a La Radio（Saravah, 1969-70） www.youtube.com This is an album that chanson singer Brigitte Fontaine made with the Art Ensemble of Chicago. This album was met with enthusiastic support from some fans. Strictly spe…

Chris Connor／This Is Chris（Bethlehem, 1955） www.youtube.com This is a masterpiece by Chris Connor, a white female vocalist who debuted as a band singer with Stan Kenton's band. The highlight is the song "I Concentrate on You" sung with …

Cecil Taylor／Conquistador !（Blue Note, 1966） www.youtube.com Cecil Taylor is a pianist who has been active at the forefront of free jazz piano for a long time. His performances are full of great performances, but this album stands out a…

Bojan Zulfikarpasic／Koreni（Label Bleu, 1998） www.youtube.com Bojan Zulfikarpasic is a pianist from the Balkans, so he creates a sound that smells of civilization. He plays using a special double-reed instrument, Nei. It's thrilling to s…

Pat Metheny Group／Travels（ECM, 1982） www.youtube.com This album is full of cool songs that are not jazzy. The voices of the live audience add to the sense of realism. No other melody expresses the sadness of our times so romantically. T…

The Modern Jazz／Fontessa（Atlantic, 1956） www.youtube.com This is a cool album created by the beautiful tones of the vibraphone and the piano. It's classical music, but if you listen carefully, you'll notice that the whole sound is tight…

Dave Brubeck／Time Out（Columbia, 1959） www.youtube.com This is an album that includes "Take Five" which everyone has heard before. This album is always introduced as an introductory album to jazz, but it is also a must-see album for jazz…

Keith Jarrett／Standards, Vol.1 www.youtube.com It's shocking that such a deep performance can be created from such a well-done standard song. This is an album where you can feel Keith's will power. He also has a sense of pride that they a…