Woody Shaw Legacy Market Share Analysis for August 2026

Get the New CD, Woody Shaw / Louis Hayes: The Tour (Vol. 2). ORDER NOW   In this installment of what was originally billed as the “Louis Hayes-Junior Cook Quintet featuring Woody Shaw,” we get a glimpse into the band’s effective treatment of the standard repertoire — with the full scope of what the group brought to the table in terms of stylistic nuance and its unique adaptation of the traditional jazz canon.  This set is a compilation of performances recorded in different European cities during The Tour, which took place between 1976 and 1977. Following Volume 1, it offers a welcome shift in the narrative arc and trajectory of the band’s development — as well as a kind of a portrait or snapshot into the historical development of jazz at this particular time.  Much is to be gleaned from the masterful treatment and sense of ownership over these compositions exhibited by Woody, Junior, Louis, Ronnie, and Stafford. The seasoned, almost seamless manner with which these pieces are covered speaks masterfully to a level of reverence and unrelenting commitment to tradition that belies all claims (by omission) of deceleration concerning jazz’s momentum during the 1970s. As Woody put it in an interview referencing this very group — “by no means is jazz dead.” Clearly, this CD proves him right. The set begins with Jerome Kern’s All The Things You Are. Woody Shaw takes the lead on the melody while Junior Cook ad-libs freely behind him in full fledged conversation that solidifies the authenticity of this cut - and the ongoing musical conversation shared between these men off the bandstand.  The one element that never fails to qualify the distinction with which Woody Shaw so boldly declares his presence on the first note of virtually every opening melody — is his tone! So much history can be heard in Woody Shaw’s tone even at this ripe age of 32 years old, still two to three years from what might be considered his prime emergence as the Woody Shaw of the late 70s and early 80s