Recording of the Month

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Recording of the Month

Recording of July 2025: Shades of Sound: Gil Evans Project Live at Jazz Standard Vol.2

Thomas Conrad First Published: Jun 17, 2025
Ryan Truesdell: Shades of Sound: Gil Evans Project Live at Jazz Standard Vol.2
Truesdell, conductor; 23-piece orchestra
Outside in Music 2014/2025 (reviewed as CD). 2025. Truesdell, Dave Rivello, prods.; James Farber, Tyler McDiarmid, Geoff Countryman, engs.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½

Ryan Truesdell launched his Gil Evans Project in 2012 with Centennial. It contained 10 Evans arrangements, including two original Evans compositions, that had never been recorded. The project was made possible by the fact that Truesdell had been granted access to the Evans family archives. Evans was a towering figure who had been responsible for some of the greatest recordings in the history of jazz, like his own Out of the Cool and Miles Davis's Sketches of Spain. Evans died in 1988, and Centennial was something the jazz world never expected to have again: a brand-new Gil Evans record. Truesdell assembled a large orchestra containing many of the best jazz musicians in New York and used an eminent engineer, James Farber.

Recording of the Month

Recording of June 2025: Alison Krauss & Union Station: Arcadia

Anne E. Johnson First Published: May 14, 2025
Alison Krauss & Union Station: Arcadia
Down The Road Records (16/44.1 FLAC, Qobuz). 2025. Alison Krauss & Union Station, prod.
Performance *****
Sonics ****

When singer/fiddler Alison Krauss was a teenager with a solo album under her belt, she teamed up with some fellow musicians to form Union Station. Starting in 1989, Rounder Records released the band's albums regularly—seven of them including the soundtrack to Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?—ending with 2011's Paper Airplane. Although they continued to play together, most notably in a 2014 tour with Willie Nelson, Krauss and Union Station didn't make it back into the studio for 14 years.

Now Rounder Records' founders have a new label, Down The Road Records, and Krauss and the band have finally reteamed for another album and a major tour.

Recording of the Month

Recording of May 2025: Joe Henderson: Multiple

Robert Baird First Published: Apr 17, 2025
Joe Henderson: Multiple
Milestone/Craft CR 00845 (LP). 1973/2025. Orrin Keepnews, prod.; Elvin Campbell, Al Vanderbilt, engs.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½

The essence of jazz is supposed to be the free-flowing exploration of ideas and expressions. Yet hardcore fans of the music have the unnerving habit of supporting and denigrating the work of the same player from record to record. Artistic growth is often seen as a negative. Even devoted fans might not follow an artist who veers off into a stylistic direction they abhor. The classic example is Miles Davis, who went through several artistic reinventions during his long career. Many of those who love Kind of Blue recoil from Dark Magus, On the Corner, or You're Under Arrest. So-called fusion—adding influences from rock and/or funk—is most often the villain in these judgments.

After starting out as a hard-bop devotee in the early 1960s, with such classic Blue Note sessions as Page One, Our Thing, and Inner Urge, Joe Henderson grew curious about funk, about adding it to his jazz mix. In 1973, on Orrin Keepnews's Milestone label (now owned by the Concord Music Group), Henderson cut Multiple, one of the highlights of his discography.

Recording of the Month

Recording of April 2025: Humble Pie: Smokin'

Robert Baird First Published: Mar 19, 2025
Humble Pie: Smokin'
Analogue Productions APP 168 (LP). 1972/2024. The Pie, prods.; Alan O'Duffy, Keith Harwood, Kevin Gray, engs.
Performance ****
Sonics ****½

The ultimate indication that an audiophile reissue is worth paying for lies in its resale value on the secondary markets, especially eBay and Discogs. If there are lots of copies for sale that are open and played, it's usually a sign that folks are disappointed. On the other hand, if a reissue title—and this covers Analogue Productions' 2009 reissue of Humble Pie's Smokin'—routinely fetches upwards of $100 on the secondary market (and sealed copies above $200), it means, first, that the pressing has probably sold out (a good sign) and, second, that it's probably worth the lucre.

In October 2024, AP repressed its much-sought-after 180gm reissue of Smokin', mastered by Kevin Gray from a ½" flat-tape copy of the original master tape. As this review was being written, copies were still available. It comes packaged in a Stoughton Printing tip-on jacket. It's a high-quality product all around.

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