Ever since the invention of the 33-1/3 rpm disk, the 3 minute limitation of a standard pop tune recording was permanently breached. "Albums" took on new meaning as a collection of formerly discrete shellac sides now comprised a 10" and later 12" pressed vinyl puck. However, with jazz and other classical music, it was now possible to record the explorations of the artist without artificially limiting his/her output. While in some cases this resulted in self indulgence blowing sessions that musically could have stood the edit of time, for the most part the freedom given the artist to determine start and finish without significant constraint has resulted in many musical masterpieces. In this hour, we'll stretch out and hear the complete thoughts of our guest artists. 

By the early 1980s Eddie Harris was returning to his hard bop roots. He kept his ideas fresh with his electronic attachments but presented them within the context of the more traditional acoustic jazz quartet. Today we hear his reinterpretation of his classic Freedom Jazz Dance.

Herbie Hancock was another acoustic turned electronic, returned acoustic player. In this 1976 setting we hear Herbie and band mates rediscover one of his most successful recordings from a decade earlier. Next, Kurt Elling brings a new interpretation to Body and Soul and takes his time in sharing his vision of this timeless melody.

Louie Bellson reviews a set of standards for our listening pleasure from a live recording at the Concord Summer Festival in the mid 1970s. Closing out our hour is a live session with all the soulful swinging grooves delivered courtesy of Gene Harris and crew. Gene was yet another electronic focused player in the 1970s but as witnessed here in 1996, he still knew how to swing,

In today's fast paced world, the thought of 10 or minutes dedicated to a song might be viewed as commercial sacrilege, but in art, time in so many different ways, is a critical ingredient for success. Take the time to enjoy an longer exploration, you may just find it rewarding.