In the early days of the CD, GRP Records (Grusin-Rosen Productions) quickly established itself as a leading audiophile label of the digital era. Founded in 1978 by Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen, GRP focused on then-contemporary jazz fusion (blend of jazz, rock, and pop). Starting naturally in vinyl and cassettes, GRP embraced digital audio and […]

This month, we consider a 1962 jazz album from the ever-popular Blue Note catalog. It is trumpeter Freddie Hubbard’s cleverly titled Hub-Tones. The album, released when Hubbard was just 24 but already well-established, is a five-track effort. Hub-Tones opens with an interpretation of the standard “You’re My Everything” and is followed up by four tracks […]

As a collector, I have obtained rare early CD pressings of my favorite albums across many genres. However, collecting also has exposed me to new music, some I had heard of and some previously unknown. In this post, we show an example of new music (new to me) in the latter category. The band is […]

With this post, we consider the person who brought the tenor saxophone to the forefront in jazz and arguably the best tenor saxophonist of all time. Coleman Hawkins. For nearly 40 years, Hawkins continued to break new ground with the tenor sax and in jazz in general. His influence is unquestioned. When reviewing Hawkins’ extensive […]

2018 is almost here, so Happy New Year!  As we usher in a new year on keithhirsch.com, let’s consider a legendary popular music group. Formed in the late 1950s, The Kingston Trio led the charge to bring folk music into the spotlight. The group was formed by Dave Guard, Nick Reynolds, and Bob Shane. Their […]

Happy Holidays! We’ve featured many classic yuletide albums here at keithhirsch.com over the years. For the 2017 holiday season, we will take a look at something a bit different. It is a 1986 album performed by Art Garfunkel and Amy Grant entitled The Animals’ Christmas by Jimmy Webb. The album has an extensive list of […]

Born in a New Orleans family of musicians, Wynton Marsalis quickly demonstrated his genius as a trumpet player. With his roots in The Big Easy, it might come as no surprise that Marsalis showed great talent as a jazz trumpeter. However, what made the young Marsalis particularly intriguing was his equal ability as a classical […]

When considering the extensive portfolio of albums by legendary jazz pianist McCoy Tyner, the efforts that are normally heralded are his classics from the 1960’s, such as the inaugural Inception (1962), Nights of Ballads & Blues (1963), and The Real McCoy (1967). While we could, and should, address such trademark Tyner albums here on keithhirsch.com, […]