Tip: Excellent Jazz CD's

Hi jazz lovers, I've been listening to three live recordings lately that are both sonically great and most of all musically outstanding. Two of the cd's are from Brad Mehldau recorded live at the Village Vanguard. "Art of the Trio Volume 2" and "Art of the Trio 4 back at the Vanguard". All I can say is this creative playing on the highest level I've every heard. They are not a casual listen though, you have to concentrate to keep the form of the tune in your head. This is not free style avant-garde jazz, the time and form of the standards is always there. They are all just soooo.... freaking good they sound like they could go anywhere they care to with the tune. You'll really enjoy the rhythmic modulation between them. The other cd which is sonically the best of the 3 is from Wynton Marsalis, it is also recorded live at the Village Vanguard, "Wynton Marsalis Septet" Selections from the Village Vanguard Box. The band is just swinging hard and cooking on this one and it sounds like they had a lot of fun playing on this date. The recording lays bare Wynton's great tone and command of his instrument. Check out Wynton on the end of Cherokee as he plays a non-stop line that last for a whopping 64 bars. I would like to thank you all for the suggestions above and I will try to check them out. Happy listening, Tom Colato

Trcnet, if you really enjoy Brad Mehldau, check out his work with Joshua Redman. These are two of the most exciting "new" artist out there.

Thanks Shelton, I do have 3 of Joshua Redman's cd's. I know Brad is on Mood Swing but I'm not aware of him being on any of the others. Redman's live cd is pretty good at times. There are a lot of great jazz piano players out there and we also lost a few before their time. I was fortunate enough to see Kenny Kirkland and Don Gorlnick many times in NYC back in the 80's and early 90's before they past away. Among other favorite piano players are Herbie Hancock, Joey Calderazzo, Keith Jarret, and John Taylor to name a few. I was wondering if anybody has heard Peter Erskine's new live cd entitiled " Live at Rocco's"? I hope this thread keeps going with lots of great suggestions of great "live" jazz. One that I have that I forgot to mention is Jim Hall "Panorama". Sonically it is just great but in IMHO some of the playing is not on par with the others mentioned but it has its moments. Take care, Tom

Gold Analog Productions CD. Classic!!!

Brad Mehldau also appears on Joshua Redman's "Timeless Tales". Here is a "live" trio set that you may enjoy, Dmitri Matheny's "Starlight Cafe". Dmitri does a nice job on Flugelhorn. It's soft, but not syrupy.