Grand Slam: Live at the Regattabar, Cambridge Massachusetts album cover
Grand Slam: Live at the Regattabar, Cambridge Massachusetts

Joe Lovano , Lewis Nash , George Mraz , Jim Hall

2000
Telarc

This quartet line-up, led by guitarist Jim Hall, is basically a jazz supergroup: Hall, saxophonist Joe Lovano, bassist George Mraz, and drummer Lewis Nash. The set opens with a tour de force: a twelve-and-a-half-minute composition titled “Slam” that finds the group exploring melodic themes in a freer style than one would normally expect, and that tendency continues throughout the remainder of the program; the knottily complex head on “Border Crossing” gives way to some harmonically wild solos (check out Hall’s parallel-interval extravaganza), and on the aptly titled “Feel Free” things get really quite wild. This is an all-originals set featuring pieces composed by Hall and Lovano.

Rick Anderson

Who also suggested

If you select your preferred streamer here, we will save your preference and link to that platform if possible. This can always be changed in the Settings menu.

Apple Music

If you’d like to prioritize Bandcamp if available, tap the Bandcamp logo.

Since some albums are only available on one service, you’ll still see logos for other services if the album is only available on that service.

Next