Fifty years Mike Shera was mystified that a session distinguished by the 'constant swing and excellent ideas' of Tommy Whittle should have been issued late and under Phil Seamen's name

Fifty years ago, in a belated review, Mark Gardner marvelled at the swing and invention on Hubbard's 1969 date with Eddie Daniels et al, recommending it without reservation

Fifty years ago Roger Dean was pleased to find no rock on Jarrett's latest LP but nevertheless variety within a consistent stylistic setting and 'delightful use of extremely high notes in huge melodic jumps'

Fifty years ago Chris Sheridan thought rock - 'the illegitimate heir to urban blues' - a blundering intruder into jazz and that most 'Jazz-Rock' was an ephemeral ripple on the surface of the music

Sixty years ago Graham Boatfield thought that efforts in London to marry jazz and poetry were a failure and recommended instead Langston Hughes with Henry Allen and other jazz musi­cians

Sixty years ago Sinclair Traill was delighted by the pungent phrasing, ferocious beat and direct, unpretentious creativity of Dexter Gordon, Sonny Clark, Butch Warren and Billy Higgins

Sixty years ago Mark Gardner, thinking Dolphy had trapped himself in a musical blind alley, was surprised to find he enjoyed half of this 1961 collection

Sixty years ago, Steve Voce, having found Coltrane's long workouts too harrowing, wasn't surprised to see Crescent panned by US critics but was surprised to find - thanks to its focus and avoidance of blind alleys - that he liked it

Sixty years ago Peter Tanner felt short-changed by Brubeck's pretentious, jazz-free exoticism, finding the cover painting and the Japanese poetry the best part of the production

Sixty years ago the distinguished British trumpeter appraised such as Howard McGhee, Louis Armstrong and Clark Terry and preferred the 'brash' Gillespie and rocking Lee Morgan to the doomy Miles

The 51st International Jazz Pianists Festival in Kalisz, Poland came to an end on 24 November 2024. Just as for last year's jubilee edition...

Thirty years ago Mark Gilbert traced Miles Davis's journey from lumpen rock-jammer to sophisticated jazz-rocker through seven albums, 1975-1984