Woody Shaw: Escape Velocity

Woody Shaw is one of the great overlooked trumpeters in jazz history. He bridged the gap between hard bop and the avant-garde, intently applying the harmonic inventions of John Coltrane to the trumpet. Shaw assembled one of the greatest post-bop groups in the late-1970s, and his men proved jazz had never died during this engagement at the famous Village Vanguard. Cerebral yet passionate, Shaw burns throughout this solo and inspires his band to follow suit. His intensity never wanes, and listeners will be awed by the complexity and density of his harmonic excursions.