Historical Review: Jazz Greats from Every Era

Review, From the Magazine, Oscar Peterson, John McNeil, Tom Harrell, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Jaimie Branch

By Bill Milkowski I Mar. 10, 2026

Roland Kirk circa 1963 (pre-Rahsaan)
(Photo: DownBeat Archive)

In DownBeat’s February 2026 issue, we reviewed a fine selection of historical releases from multiple eras of jazz. The following recordings feature the iconic music of piano virtuoso Oscar Peterson, master trumpeters John McNeil and Tom Harrell, multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk and the taken-too-soon trumpet innovator jamie branch.

Oscar Peterson: Around The World (Two Lions/Mack Avenue; ★★★★½ 37:05) These never-before-heard live recordings from Detroit, Toronto, Basel and Auckland capture the remarkable pianist in concerts from 1969 to 1981, more than a decade before the stroke that significantly altered the quality of his playing. Peterson’s skills are undiminished here. He takes the standard “The Lamp Is Low” at a ridiculous tempo, with bassist Sam Jones and drummer Bobby Durham in tow. His rendition of Neal Hefti’s “Cute,” with bassist Michel Donato and drummer Louis Hayes, is impossibly brisk while his unaccompanied version of his own “Place St. Henri” is so fast it sounds like an A.I.-enhanced take on a human performance. Peterson flaunts jaw-dropping facility on unaccompanied versions of Milt Jackson’s “Reunion Blues” and a medley of Thad Jones’ “A Child Is Born” and Jimmy Van Heusen’s “Here’s That Rainy Day.” He engages in some cat-and-mouse exchanges with a colleague of equally daunting virtuosity, guitarist Joe Pass, on a dazzling duet rendition of “Stella By Starlight.”

Ordering info: mackavenue.com

John McNeil/Tom Harrell: Look To The Sky (Steeplechase; ★★★★ 41:09) Underrated, warm-toned trumpeter McNeil, who passed in 2024, joins fellow trumpeter Tom Harrell and the all-world rhythm section of pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Billy Hart on this 1979 recording, remastered for audiophile vinyl release. McNeil and Harrell make a compatible trumpet team, whether exchanging bop-fueled lines, as on their ripping renditions of Charlie Parker’s “Chasing The Bird” and Sam Jones’ “Unit 7,” or melding into the gorgeous harmonic fabric of Harrell’s waltz-time “Little Dancer” and the dreamy Jobim bossa nova that serves as the title track of this pleasing encounter. Their tightly navigated unison lines on Harrell’s Latin-flavored “Terrestris” shows that this is more of a mutual admiration society than old-school trumpet battle.

Ordering info: steeplechase.dk

Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Vibrations In The Village: Live At The Village Gate (Resonance; ★★★★ 69:59) These previously unheard tapes from two consecutive nights in 1963 find the iconoclast Kirk in classic form backed by a super rhythm tandem of bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Sonny Brown, along with a variety of pianists sitting in at New York’s Village Gate. They come bursting right out of the gate on the whirlwind opener, “Jump Up And Down,” which has Kirk alternating between manzello and stritch (sometimes simultaneously) while testifying on tenor sax over the course of 15 minutes. Grimes offers an extended solo on this burner while Brown fuels the kinetic proceedings with a relentlessly driving pulse. Kirk reveals a mellower side on the first half of Charles Mingus’ “Ecclusiastics” before singing a tongue-in-cheek refrain about Alabama’s segregationist governor, George Wallace, then unleashing another potent tenor solo. They wail unrestrainedly on an uptempo swinging rendition of “All The Things You Are.” “Blues Minor At The Gate” has Kirk swinging confidently on manzello and stritch simultaneously. Then for “Three For The Festival” he adds tenor for an amazing one-man, three-horn front line. As the band drops out midway through this familiar set-closer, Kirk engages in an extended duet with himself on flute and nose flute. The one sour note here is “Oboe Blues,” with Kirk struggling to find the correct intonation on his unwieldy new toy.

Ordering info: resonancerecords.org

jaimie branch: FLY or DIE II: bird dogs of paradise (International Anthem; ★★★ 44:56) Whether one appreciated Chicago-bred trumpeter jaimie branch during her brief but meteoric career, which ended with her shocking death at age 39 in August 2022, the intensity of her personal expression was undeniable. Originally released in 2019, her punk-meets-avant garde manifesto FLY or DIE II: bird dogs of paradise finds her shifting from introspective muted trumpet (“Birds Of Paradise”) to furious open horn onslaughts (the politically charged “Prayer For Amerikkka, Pt. 1–2” and “Twenty-Three N Me, Jupiter Redux”) to the uncharacteristically buoyant and vaguely calypso-flavored “Simple Silver Surfer” and darker explorations like the raucous title track. The ironic “Love Song (For Assholes And Clowns)” has her singing a gentle lament before building to a screaming, cathartic crescendo. An acquired taste, to be sure. But courageous in its own way. DB

Ordering info: intlanthem.com