Eric Alexander / Peter Bernstein Group, live at the Ballard Jazz Festival

Sorry, not on YouTube, so you'll have to click-through to see the great guitarist, Peter Bernstein. This video may get pushed down on the Origin Records page, as they add newer topics to the top of the page, so you'll have to scroll down to find it.

My Favorite Things

My Favorite Things

Comblain-La-Tour, Belgium, August 1st 1965

John Coltrane - Soprano Sax
McCoy Tyner - Piano
Jimmy Garrison - Bass
Elvin Jones - Drums

Coltrane died two years later, at the age of 40. If you're interested in learning more about him, click here.

Everybody Digs Brad Mehldau

Brad Mehldau Trio
"House on Hill"
(Nonesuch)


Released yesterday.



I love this pianist's music. He may be the Bill Evans of his generation. Or the Keith Jarrett, sans the humming and moaning.

The New York Times (subscription needed) writes:

Last year the pianist Brad Mehldau replaced the longtime drummer in his trio, Jorge Rossy, with a much more loamy percussionist, Jeff Ballard. The results, as heard in performance by the new trio and on Mr. Mehldau's last Nonesuch album, were salutary, like drawing the curtains to let the daylight in. Still, Mr. Mehldau's original trio, with Mr. Rossy and the bassist Larry Grenadier, was a joy throughout its 10-year run. And it bowed out on a high note, with the exceptional standards album "Anything Goes," in 2004.

Mr. Mehldau had recorded a partner album of original material, but his label, Warner Brothers, imploded its jazz division before it could be released. That phantom material has now materialized in the form of "House on Hill" on Nonesuch, a Warner Music Group company. The album is a marvel of collective self-assurance, worth hearing not only for Mr. Rossy's weightless time feel but also for Mr. Mehldau's thoughtful compositions.

"loamy percussionist"? .....

The Jazz Guitar Fakebook Project

Josh Sager writes:

The Jazz Guitar Fakebook Project

In early 2006, several members of the rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz Usenet group decided to create a fakebook project in an effort to bring more exposure to the many talented jazz guitar players out there who aren't necessarily signed to the "major" labels.

We are currently accepting submissions for the project, which has been titled From Jazz Guitarists Only — an International Anthology of Compositions by Jazz Guitarists. If you are interested in submitting songs to this fakebook project, please read the terms, fill out the form, and submit the form.

Bireli Lagrene and John McLaughlin Improvising

Joshua Breakstone

A guitarist that I've really enjoyed listening to recently is Joshua Breakstone. Here is an exensive and interesting interview with him in Jazz Guitar Life.

Lenny Breau

Visions, a Personal Tribute to Jazz Guitarist Lenny Breau, by Stephen D. Anderson