CD-Charts Position 21
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Out to Lunch

CD-Charts > Music > Avant-garde
by: Eric Dolphy

Release Date May 03, 1999
Make sure you do some reading up on Eric Dolphy before you buy this. Don't expect to hear anything resembling the winning Blue Note hard bop formula characteristic of the fifities and sixties. As far as Jazz goes this is way ahead of it's time, those who know the contemporary Jazz scene will know that there are plenty of acts out there who try and sound exactly like what you hear on this record.
OK, it's not easy listening. For me Dolphy's compositions are no way near as compelling as some of Ornette Colman's for example. It's quirky, mysterious, it has you scratching your chin trying to figure it all out. "Gazzelloni," starts off as very accessible before disappearing into some great flute loops. Add to that William's nuerotic sounding ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 22
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Moondog Vol.1 & 2

CD-Charts > Music > Avant-garde
by: Moondog

Release Date March 19, 2001
Love moondog 1 (having heard it from the old days of around 1970). Then heard a programme on radio 4 last year (2007) dedicated to Moondog. Wish I could catch it again. Bought the CD. Moondog 1 great. Moondog 2...hmmmmm. is it drivel or is it brilliant. Which side do I come down on? Is it a case of Emperor's new clothes. ANyway, it's worth buying if only for Moondog 1.

CD-Charts Position 23
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Invisible Means

CD-Charts > Music > Avant-garde
by: John French, Fred Frith, Henry Kaiser, Richard Thompson

Release Date September 01, 2008
Invisible Means is the second, and sadly the last, product of a remarkable group of musicians who came together to record two albums in 1987 and 1990. French, Frith, Kaiser and Thompson are John French, the drummer from Captain Beefheart's Magic Band; Fred Frith, a British bass player of high renown and innovation; Henry Kaiser an experimental guitarist and collaborator in many projects; and Richard Thompson, the legendary folk-rocker, songwriter and guitarist. These four innovative, high quality musicians combine together to make a most fascinating, amusing and highly accomplished 'supergroup'.

Following on from the earlier album, Live, Love, Larf and Loaf, Invisible Means mines a rich, deep and varied seam of musical heritage and individual virtuosity. ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 24
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A Love Supreme [Deluxe Edition]

CD-Charts > Music > Avant-garde
by: John Coltrane

Release Date November 11, 2002
I bought this album on the strength of the many reviews describing it as a work of genius or a religious experience. Well maybe I have missed the point, but to me this is one of the tedious and frustrating albums I have ever heard. The piece simply repeats the same themes over and over again, with somewhat derivative improvisation. Well played but not well constructed.

CD-Charts Position 25
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Open Sesame: Remastered

CD-Charts > Music > Avant-garde
by: Freddie Hubbard

Release Date February 04, 2002
A stunning showcase of Hubbard's talents. For someone so young this serves as an excellent taste of what he was to become. His ranging, harmonic and sometimes downright belligerant style has always entranced me. For me this is his greatest record as a leader, the younster setting out to show eveyone what he has to offer. This record is littered with those characteristic barnstorming solos and his ability of more subtle playing on,"But Beautiful." There's a bit of everything on this from the skipping, jumpy, Horace Silveresque,"Gypsy Blue," to the classy sophisticated,"One mint Julep." Tina Brook's title track really swings. Brook's career disappeared into nothing beacause of his heroin addiction, this record shows what a wasted talent he was both as a great sax player and ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 26
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Giant Steps

CD-Charts > Music > Avant-garde
by: John Coltrane

Release Date September 23, 2002
That is what Coltrane is on the title track of this album. At what is already a ferocious tempo Coltrane kicks into his first solo playing a double time solo where it seems every chord change has every possible note combination played. I was absolutely astonished when I first heard this. Ira Gitler used the term 'Sheets of Sound' to describe Coltrane's playing, and I'm sure it was this title track that gave him the idea. However don't misunderstand this album. This isn't the Coltrane of the mid 1960's onwards, where I do struggle to keep up with his more avant-garde playing.

The tunes on this album are very strong. 'Naima' is a beautiful slow number that hints at the ballads record he would record a year or two later. The vastly under-rated Wynton Kelly is the only ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 27
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My Favourite Things: Expanded Edition

CD-Charts > Music > Avant-garde
by: John Coltrane

Release Date January 31, 2005
Jazz musicians, from Louis Armstrong to Miles Davis covering Michael Jackson's "Human Nature", often used standards as launch pads for explorations, and Trane does exactly that in this wonderful album. The key track is of course the title track: you will probably know it from The Sound Of Music (though I did not when I first heard it). But Trane makes it all his own: in a 3/4 waltz time, Trane takes the harmony with a soprano sax (a gift from Miles Davis) while McCoy Tyner plays some astonishing long solos on a close-miked piano and comps the rhythm while Trane solos to see the song out. What's fascinating is the way that Trane plays with the melody, bending and misshaping it, and how Tyner's solo stretches out, almost peering towards infinity, yet never becomes boring. Trane continued to use ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 28
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Another Thought

CD-Charts > Music > Avant-garde
by: Arthur Russell

Release Date August 28, 2006
Jazz musicians, from Louis Armstrong to Miles Davis covering Michael Jackson's "Human Nature", often used standards as launch pads for explorations, and Trane does exactly that in this wonderful album. The key track is of course the title track: you will probably know it from The Sound Of Music (though I did not when I first heard it). But Trane makes it all his own: in a 3/4 waltz time, Trane takes the harmony with a soprano sax (a gift from Miles Davis) while McCoy Tyner plays some astonishing long solos on a close-miked piano and comps the rhythm while Trane solos to see the song out. What's fascinating is the way that Trane plays with the melody, bending and misshaping it, and how Tyner's solo stretches out, almost peering towards infinity, yet never becomes boring. Trane continued to use ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 29
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Comicopera

CD-Charts > Music > Avant-garde
by: Robert Wyatt

Release Date October 08, 2007
Much as I like Robert Wyatt as a man for his political beliefs and struggle to overcome adversity his music oevre leaves me somewhat underwhelmed.
The lispy..or should that be lithpy weak warbling voice takes some getting used to but despite the impressive production team behind him,the whole edifice is like an allotment shed rather than the substantial house of music it should be. Rambling,discordant,fractured and forever going down blind alleys.
My downloaded album was filed in the bin after a few takes because I knew I'd never listen to it again and I couldn't think of anyone I knew who would appreciate it.
Cruel I know but appropriate in the circumstances.

CD-Charts Position 30
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Paris Concert

CD-Charts > Music > Avant-garde
by: Keith Jarrett

Release Date November 26, 1990
This solo Piano album really grows on you. My intial reaction to hearing it was, well this is nice but it certainly isn't Jazz. However after a few listens I began to appreciate the beauty in his 'Classical' improvisations. And for those who don't know, all of Keith Jarretts solo non-classical Piano concerts are improvised from scratch on the spot. This does occasionally lead to some moments where you can literally hear him hold down a vamp whilst he awaits inspiration. But remember rhythm alone can be music. On this CD the level of inspiration is kept high all the time.

The second and third track were probably originally encores and both are memorable for different reasons. 'The Wind' is a lovely tune which Jarrett plays beautifully, demonstrating his immaculate touch and phrasing. ... Read More: