Spellbinder (1966) is Gabor Szabo’s (1936-82) “breakout” album and remains, six decades later, one of the Hungarian guitarist’s very best in a slim discography that numbers only about a dozen-and-a-half studio recordings. Recorded in May 1966 and released in October of that year, Spellbinder is the second album the guitarist Gabor recorded, but his third…
Empire Jazz (1980)
Empire Jazz was part of an extensively-targeted multi-media marketing blitz by 20th Century Fox, the distributor of the 1980 Star Wars sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, and RSO, the record label that originally released composer John Williams’s double-disc soundtrack album from the film. RSO, which stands for the Robert Stigwood Organization, it should be remembered,…
Chet Baker – “She Was Too Good to Me” at 50
Recorded over three sessions between July and November 1974, She Was Too Good to Me (CTI) was something of a welcome return to form for trumpeter Chet Baker (1929-88). And unlike several previous comeback attempts, this was one that seemed to confirm the early promise this one-time poster boy for West Coast cool originally projected.…