Customer Reviews

Dark Journey

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Woody Shaw is one of my favorite trumpeters, and this set provides an excellent selection of his work, covering a 20 year period. The selections include six 1965 recordings matching Shaw with Joe Henderson on tenor sax, along with some of Shaw's best recordings for the Muse label in the 70's and 80's.

Two discs 45,62 minutes each approximately. Digitally mastered sound,which is clean and warm sounding. Woody Shaw,who died to young,was a true master on the trumpet. He is probably known for playing with Larry Young on his Blue Note album UNITY. That album also featured three of Shaw's compositions,including THE MOONTRANE,which is featured here. Shaw has worked with many notable musicians-Mclean,Mobley,Hill,Corea,Hancock,Blakey,and many others. The first disc consists of tunes recorded mostly in the 1980's with a rotating cast of "modern" players-all top notch. There is a good mix of ballads and more up-tempo numbers,which give a good indication of what Shaw was capable of playing. Disc two is,in my estimation,the best playing on this set. All but the last two tracks were recorded in the mid sixties. This is where Woody Shaw made his reputation. Playing with the aforementioned people and others,Shaw is a standout. This is small group jazz at it's finest. Again there is a good balance of up-tempo pieces and ballads. The last two tracks were recorded in the mid-seventies and listening to them one is struck by how seamless the tracks fit together. Indeed,the entire set flows along seamlessly-the choice of tracks is that good. It's a shame that music of this caliber is now discontinued. For this is what jazz is all about-fine compositions,good arrangements,and stellar playing by all involved.