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This blogger, Richard Gehr, is not an employee of AARP. The opinions expressed in the blog are not necessarily the opinions of AARP and AARP assumes no liability for the content posted by Mr. Gehr or any other participant

Richard Gehr | August 22, 2007

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Louis Armstrong, Live at the 1958 Monterey Jazz Festival; Miles Davis Quintet, Live at the 1963 Monterey Jazz Festival; Dizzy Gillespie, Live at the 1965 Monterey Jazz Festival; Thelonious Monk, Live at the 1964 Monterey Jazz Festival; Sarah Vaughan, Live at the 1971 Monterey Jazz Festival (MJF)
The first batch of releases from the Monterey Jazz Festival's promising new label captures an era when jazz flourished as both art and as popular entertainment. "Pops" Armstrong was more a pop singer than revolutionary jazz trumpeter by 1958, and delivers a solid set of hits. Sarah Vaughan's and Dizzy Gillespie's respective shows, on the other hand, are brilliant examples of impeccable music that reaches for the stars while keeping audiences firmly in their pocket with involving banter and, well, love. Davis and Monk, meanwhile, performed shows as deep, cerebral, and uncompromising as you'd expect. A sweet West Coast vibe, suggesting something wonderful just over the horizon, imbues all these releases, and I imagine plenty of other treasures will be forthcoming.

Greg Brown, Yellow Dog (Earthwork)
The cause—metal-sulfide mining's threat to the natural beauty of Michigan's upper peninsula—is dire, and singer-songwriter Greg Brown's music echoes with appropriate urgency on this benefit CD. Brown's set of new and rough-cut "notebook" songs paints a dark weather report of life in these United States through keenly observed lyrics and serious-business voice.

Red Meat, We Never Close (Ranchero)
California country meets Texas swing on the latest set of twangcore tunesmanship from this quintet of displaced Midwesterners who've become San Francisco honky-tonk heroes. Impeccable picking is the main appeal in their songs about thrift-store cowgirls, high-maintenance girlfriends, and hicks seeking kicks in the city.

Super Guitar Trio, Live at Montreux 1989 (Eagle Eye Media DVD)
The spirits of swinging Charlie Christian and "gypsy jazz" legend Django Reinhardt, among others, hover benignly over this sweet and dazzling display of fleet-fingered guitar artistry featuring guitarists Larry Coryell, Al Di Meola, and Biréli Lagrène. The camera dotes lovingly on the fretboards of the threesome, whose technical virtuosity makes this DVD a terrific bargain if only in terms of notes per dollar.

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