Back in the early/mid-90s there was an excellent (yet plainly and aptly named) music store next to my local Best Buy called The Compact Disc Shop. I spent many Saturdays digging through the giant room they had in the back devoted to jazz and blues CDs….especially their ridiculously abundant cut-out bin (does anyone remember cut-out bins?! Oh how I miss cut-out bins!).
I would consult by trusty All Music Guide (book! Before the website!) during the week and go into there with names of musicians and albums floating in my head that I wanted to check out.
Jim Hall’s “Concierto” was one such album I found in the bin, but I hadn’t yet read about it (or Jim Hall for that matter). I was struck by the rest of the lineup which were big-time names in my brain at the time: Steve Gadd, Paul Desmond, Chet Baker, Ron Carter! I snatched it up pretty quickly (I doubt I paid more than $3 for it…thanks again The Compact Disc Shop’s cut-out bin!)
I’m glad I did because I still listen to it pretty regularly. A mostly great 70s guitar jazz session…with the exception of the beyond amazing 20-minute rendition of Joaquín Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez”. If you haven’t heard this one before, you’re in for a treat!