Search - Various Artists :: Hip Jazz Bop: Chaos out of Order

"Isn't that what jazz does ... create chaos out of order?" Hip Jazz-Bop tries to answer this pithy question with a batch of swinging numbers from jazz's classic period. The Black Lion label's 1950s and '60s vaults have been raided to the benefit of all. Sonny Stitt's version of "Loverman" and Bud Powell's "Blues in the Closet" epitomize bebop's cool complexity. Pianists Duke Pearson and Hampton Hawes add their dexterity to the predominantly bebop-flavored CD with "Bags Groove" and "Black Forest," respectively. Tunes from Ben Webster ("Blues for Herluf") and Earl Hines ("Swingin' Away"), however, hark back to the prewar period, when swing was mutating into bop. Full-fledged ordered chaos abounds in Thelonious Monk's marvelous "Something in Blue" and Kenny Dorham's labyrinthine "Avars." For new listeners, this is an excellent introduction to jazz's golden years, but it can also be recommended to the initiated for its fine balance of styles and for uncovering this treasure trove of expatriate jazz recorded in Europe. --Wally Shoup