Jazz Cafee: June 2021

Jaco Pastorius - Truth, Liberty & Soul : Live in NYC - The Complete 1982 NPR Jazz Alive! Recording [2 CD, 2017/FLAC]

With the release of Truth, Liberty & Soul Live in NYC: The Complete NPR Jazz Alive! Recording, the Resonance Records has truly outdone itself: not only bringing a stellar live performance of electric fretless bass phenom Jaco Pastorius’ out-of-the-park June 27, 1982 performance at Avery Fisher Hall, with his 22-piece Word of Mouth Big Band — first aired on the American public radio network’s Jazz Alive! program — into long-overdue commercial release, it does so in what has become the characteristically thorough and signature Resonance Records way.

The Complete Lennie Tristano on Keynote(1947)

The earliest of these 19 sides, dating from 1946, capture Lennie Tristano at age 27, newly arrived in New York and beginning to carve a place for himself in the embryonic bebop scene. Playing with Billy Bauer on guitar and bassist Clyde Lombardi, Tristano shows off a mix of youthful verse and pianistic elegance, coupled with effortless, seamless invention, matched by Bauer's crisp, economical, yet quietly flamboyant guitar.

Mosaic Records Presents "The Complete Hank Mobley Blue Note Sessions 1963-70" - 8 CDs with 74 tracks from the second great phase of Hank Mobley's career in state-of-the-art sound. With all the developments in recent years with analogue to digital converters and hi-res transfers that bring the CD to almost the same quality as analogue LPs, we have returned to the original analogue tapes of these Mobley master tapes in order to make them available like never before.

Hank Mobley, as a member of the original Jazz Messengers, was one of the founding fathers of the hard bop and the Blue Note sound. From 1954 to 1961, he had fruitful relationships in the bands of Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Max Roach and Miles Davis among others. He logged 13 sessions for Blue Note alone during that period which also highlighted his considerable talents as a composer. But through all his recording and touring activity, he remained a musician's musician , largely overlooked by the jazz press and fans at large. His fluid improvisations, harmonic brilliance, hypnotic lyricism and warm round tone didn't get the attention that more extroverted tenormen like Coltrane and Rollins could command.

Roots is an album by the Prestige All Stars nominally led by trumpeter Idrees Sulieman recorded in 1957 and released on the New Jazz label. More big-band bop with a stellar cast, it includes Cecil Payne, Pepper Adams, and Idrees Sulieman on saxes and Bill Evans on piano.

It features two classic 1957 jam sessions, with trumpeter Idrees Sulieman and bassist Doug Watkins the commom links. The disc leads off with the 27 minute long title track, recorded on December 6th, with all the musicians – Sulieman, Watkins, Pepper Adams, Bill Evans, Louis Hayes and little known trombonist Frank Rehak – getting tons of room to stretch out. The other two numbers, from October 25th and featuring Cecil Payne, Jimmy Cleveland, Tommy Flanagan and Elvin Jones joining Sulieman and Watkins, are more succinct timewise, but overall just as impressive. If you find this now OOP CD as inexpensively as I did, then it should definitely be time to get back to your "Roots."

Idrees Sulieman - trumpet
Jimmy Cleveland - trombone
Frank Rehak - trombone
Pepper Adams - baritone saxophone
Cecil Payne - baritone saxophone
Bill Evans - piano
Tommy Flanagan - piano
Doug Watkins - bass
Louis Hayes - drums
Elvin Jones - drums

Los Angeles based composer/arranger/band leader Onzy Matthews was in many ways a poor man's equivalent to peers like Gerald Wilson, Oliver Nelson, Manny Albam, and Bill Holman. Perhaps as obscure a jazz musician as there has been in recent memory, Matthews was no less talented, but in fact a specialist whose style was based in blues, also veering into other areas that showcased his interest in diverse music. Consisting primarily of studio sessions previously unreleased, this three-CD package sets the record straight on the ability of Matthews to assemble a top-notch West coast group and whip them into a tight unit able to play relatively uncomplicated charts, but with no modicum of interplay and precision.

The Quintet is an album by V.S.O.P. It was compiled from two concert performances: one at the Greek Theatre, University of California, Berkeley, on July 16, 1977; the other at the San Diego Civic Theatre on July 18, 1977. The musicians were Herbie Hancock on keyboards, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and flugelhorn, Tony Williams on drums, Ron Carter on bass, and Wayne Shorter on tenor and soprano saxophones. The recording was originally released in October 1977 as a 2-disc LP by Columbia Records.

Freddie Hubbard – flugelhorn, trumpet
Wayne Shorter – soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone
Herbie Hancock – piano, keyboards
Ron Carter – double bass
Tony Williams – drums

Big bands were on their way out by the late '40s, which left bandleaders and musicians who had played swing in a quandary: embrace bebop or become a nostalgia act. Certain wise musicians like Gene Krupa and Harry James, however, found a middle course by modernizing swing with new arrangements and selling it to ballroom dancers. The Complete Capitol Recordings of Gene Krupa and Harry James collects a multitude of splendid performances from both players as they transitioned from one era to the next.

Sidney Bechet - Tresors (4 CD, 2001/FLAC)

Sidney Bechet was the first important jazz soloist on records in history (beating Louis Armstrong by a few months). A brilliant soprano saxophonist and clarinetist with a wide vibrato that listeners either loved or hated, Bechet's style did not evolve much through the years but he never lost his enthusiasm or creativity. A master at both individual and collective improvisation within the genre of New Orleans jazz, Bechet was such a dominant player that trumpeters found it very difficult to play with him. Bechet wanted to play lead and it was up to the other horns to stay out of his way.

For some, Interstellar Space was the end of John Coltrane—and for others, just the beginning. As many people dislike Rashied Ali for being Trane's last drummer as like him for that same reason. Indisputable though is that Interstellar Space began the examination of new possibilities for the duet format, apart from the typical piano/bass example. Ali continued to explore this arrangement after the death of his mentor on albums like Duo Exchange with late saxophonist Frank Lowe and in his current duo with altoist Sonny Fortune (in residency at Sweet Rhythm this month). Ayler Records, continuing a spate of exciting archival live albums, has released another chapter in Ali's saxophone duet history, this time as a double disc set with, sadly, another late player, tenor Arthur Rhames.

The performance was recorded in 1981 at the Willisau Jazz Festival. Given Rhames' relative obscurity, the first disc begins with Rashied Ali narrating liner notes over a 17-minute exposition by himself and Rhames. The rest of the set consists of material by Coltrane including "Mr. PC," "Giant Steps," "Impressions" and even a brief reading of most of A Love Supreme (all interesting choices as they all predate Ali joining Coltrane's group). The Eckstine standard "I Want to Talk About You," Miles' "Tune Up" and four pieces ostensibly improvised by Rhames and Ali are thrown in for good measure.

Recorded live at Willisau Jazz Festival, Switzerland, on August 29, 1981.

Rashied Ali - dr, vo
Arthur Rhames - ts, p

Live in Japan is a four-disc box set by American saxophonist John Coltrane and his last group, a quintet featuring Coltrane, his wife/pianist Alice, saxophonist/bass clarinetist Pharoah Sanders, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Rashied Ali. The 4-CD set compiles all the music issued as three albums in the seventies by Impulse!; Concert In Japan (1973, US 2-LP), Coltrane In Japan (1973, Japan 3-LP (side six is blank), mono) and Second Night In Tokyo (1977, Japan 3-LP (side six contains an interview, mono). (Some of this material was also reissued as two 2-LP sets in 1980 by MCA under the titles Coltrane In Tokyo Vol. 1 and Coltrane In Tokyo Vol. 2) The first CD issues were by Impulse! Japan as two 2-CD sets: Live In Japan Vol. 1 (same as "Coltrane In Japan") and Live In Japan Vol. 2 (same as "Second Night In Tokyo"). The US 4-CD edition includes both of these volumes, with identical mastering from the original mono tapes. The side six interview from "Second Night In Tokyo" has never been reissued on any CD edition.

Bill Evans would have earned his place in the jazz history books if only for his role on Miles Davis’ landmark 1959 set Kind of Blue. But the pianist-composer and modal jazz innovator recorded over 50 live and studio albums as a leader before his untimely death in 1980 at the age of just 51, leaving behind a legacy of some of the most beautiful jazz ever committed to tape. In addition to Davis, he also served as a sideman to musicians including Chet Baker, Cannonball Adderley, Charles Mingus, and Lee Konitz. Now, Craft Recordings is celebrating Evans’ expansive discography with his first ever career-spanning box set. Everybody Still Digs Bill Evans: A Career Retrospective (1956-1980) is due from the label on June 25. The thematically-organized 5-CD box set premieres a previously unreleased live set from 1975 recorded at Oil Can Harry’s in Vancouver, British Columbia. That concert, titled On a Friday Evening, will be issued the same day as a standalone release in 2-LP, CD, and digital formats .

International singing superstar and songwriter Milton Nascimento may have his roots in Brazil, but his songs have touched audiences all over the world. Born in Rio, Nascimento’s adoptive parents, both white, brought him to Tres Pontas, a small town in the state of Minas Gerais, when he was two. His mother sang in a choir and at local music festivals, often accompanied by Milton. Nascimento’s father was an electronics tinkerer, math teacher, and at one point ran a local radio station where a young Milton occasionally worked as a DJ. He began singing as a teenager. When he was 19, Nascimento moved to the capital Belo Horizonte and began singing wherever and whenever he could. Finally he caught a break when the pop singer Elis Regina recorded one of his songs, “Canção do Sal,” in 1966. Regina got him a showcase on a popular Brazilian TV program, and after performing at Brazil’s International Song Festival the following year, his career was launched.

Not much has been said about Duke Ellington's Reprise Records period, and even less that's enthusiastic, mostly owing to the fact that his output there ran between two extremes: dazzlingly inventive conceptual pieces juxtaposed with re-recordings of classic big-band material, and pop-jazz efforts built around covers of current popular songs. Amid that wildly divergent body of work, it's no surprise that the live material from The Great Paris Concert and Ellington's Greatest Hits eclipsed much of his Reprise studio work. Thus, this five-CD box is the first opportunity that most listeners will have had to assess the music properly.

Very rare 1989 UK 6-CD set, digitally remastered and transfered from the original masters, featuring Gerry Mulligan, Gerry Mulligan & Chet Baker, Bud Shank, Bob Brookmeyer, Richard Twardzik/ Russ Freeman Trios and Chico Hamilton.

Documenting Stan Kenton's always controversial but never sleepy music, the seven-CD Complete Capitol Studio Recordings of Stan Kenton 1943-47 features the orchestra at a time when it was reaching its greatest popularity, evolving from using the artist's charts into the Pete Rugolo era. In addition to some unreleased tracks, there are also several rare sessions included that were recorded at the time strictly for radio airplay. Most of Kenton's biggest hits ("Artistry in Rhythm," "Eager Beaver," "And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine," "Tampico," "Southern Scandal," "Artistry Jumps," "Intermission Riff," "Across the Alley From the Alamo," and "The Peanut Vendor") are here, as are many concert works. A classic reissue.

In the first half of 1955 Miles Davis was in a much better shape than he was in a long time. After kicking his heroin habit at his father’s house in 1953, he came back to New York City a more complete musician. His tone on the trumpet improved and so his ability to lead groups of musicians at recording sessions and in clubs. The quality of his 1954 studio output for Prestige exceeded most of his early 1950s recordings and yielded some of the best records in his career thus far: Walkin’, Bag’s Groove and Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants. He was ready to move on to the next stage of his career, gain wider recognition and prestige than what his current label (Prestige, ironically) could give him and no less important – make more money. Two factors in his professional life were lacking and prevented him from reaching his goals – a bigger, nationwide record label, and a stable working band of excellent musicians. But starting in June 1955 events started unfolding at an accelerated pace for Miles.

Mel Torme has always resented his famous nickname, "The Velvet Fog," not because it's inaccurate, but because it only captures one small aspect of his music-making. He does have a velvety baritone that creates a breathy intimacy on certain romantic ballads. But he has done much, much more in a 67-year professional career that began when he was a four-year-old novelty singer for Chicago's Coon-Sanders Nighthawk Band in 1929. That career is nicely summarized in the 4 CD, 92-track box set, "The Mel Torme Collection: 1944-1985

Among the relatively small community of vibraphonists, Bobby Hutcherson is not only one of the most influential, he's clearly the most widely versed and consistent too. In a career now nearing its sixth decade, Hutcherson has played mainstream to Third Stream and soul jazz to free jazz. A mainstay of the Blue Note label in the 1960s and 1970s, he released ten discs as a leader between 1965 and 1969, and also played on albums by artists including Eric Dolphy, Andrew Hill, Jackie McLean, Joe Henderson, Tony Williams and Grachan Moncur III.

While the 1970s was a decade when most artists dabbled, to a lesser or greater extent, with the integration of electric instruments and rock rhythms, Hutcherson remained relatively unswayed. So while the five 1974 through 1977 sessions that make up Mosaic Select 26 find the vibraphonist incorporating electric piano, and giving an occasional nod to a more pop-centric approach, for the most part Hutcherson continued to do what he did best: put together strong working ensembles capable of handling a diversity of material that nevertheless remain stylistically in the center of the mainstream. The majority of this material has never been reissued domestically in the US in any format, and much of it is seeing release on CD here for the first time, outside a few tracks that have appeared on compilations.

Jaco Pastorius - Holiday For Pans : Full Complete Sessions (1980-82) [3 CD, 1999]

3CD release of the full session recordings of the "Holiday For Pans" album.

"Holiday For Pans" originally released in CD in 1993 only in Japan.

Recorded at Power Station, KCC Studio and Jingle Studio in New York City, 1980 - 1982.

CD1 Dinah '62

CD2 In Love

CD3 Drinking Again

CD4 Dinah '63

CD5 Back To The Blues

This 10 CD box set has most of the Stan Getz groups he led from 1946 -1957 mostly from the Savoy and Prestige catologues in the 40s and later on Roulette and Verve catologues in the 50s . A European import from Membran this music is a must for anyone who loves the Lester Young influenced Getz as he weaves and swings through the 10 CDs with absolute grace and style.

CD1 - Interlude In Be Bop (1946-1949)

CD2 - Crazy Chords (1949)

CD3 - For Stompers Only (1949-1950)

CD4 - Don't Be Afraid (1950-1953)

CD5 - Cool Mix (1953)

CD6 - Nobody Else But Me (1953-1954)

CD7 - I'll Remember April (1954-1955)

CD8 - Indiana (1955) {00:42:54}

CD9 - I Want To Be Happy (1955-1957)

CD10 - Tour's End (1957)

Nights at the Keystone dates from a couple of years after Dexter Gordon had returned triumphantly to America (1978-79). He took strong solos on several lengthy performances. One can fault the occasional excess of song quotes (especially "Laura," which seemed to pop up in every solo) but Gordon's authoritative sound, freshness of ideas and confident explorations easily compensated. Pianist George Cables was often in dazzling form (check out "Tangerine") and was continually inventive. Bassist Rufus Reid and drummer Eddie Gladden were perfect in support. In addition, the ambience of the late, lamented Keystone Korner, San Francisco's top jazz club and possessor of one of the most knowledgeable jazz audiences anywhere, can be felt. Mosaic has packaged all three volumes into a single box as number 14 in its limited-edition Select Series. It features gorgeously remastered sound, original sequencing, and a 16-page booklet with copious notes and full session information.

Since the 50-year limit on copyrights in Europe has led to a flurry of Andrews Sisters releases beginning in the early '90s, it's worth pointing out that the British Jasmine label is not just another fly-by-night outfit cobbling together a bunch of old 78s. The four-disc Golden Age of the Andrews Sisters, with a running time of more than four-and-three-quarters hours, contains more tracks -- 101 -- than any previously released Andrews Sisters compilation.

Along with other bebop sides Navarro did for Capitol and Blue Note, these Savoy cuts are part of the trumpeter's essential recordings. And being mindful of his early demise in 1950, it's amazing to realize that the Memorial album is one of several incredible sessions Navarro was able to produce in just over a two-year period during the late '40s. Teaming up with frequent musical partner Tadd Dameron, Navarro reels off fluid solos on both the outstanding Dameron original 'The Tadd Walk' and a second impressive swinger 'Be Bop Carroll.' The remaining sides from this date feature vocalist Kay Penton, who, while not being terribly exciting, delivers some beguilingly languid lines; the rest of the top-flight group includes altoist Ernie Henry, bassist Curly Russell, and drummer Kenny Clarke. The second Navarro session here includes classics like 'Webb City' and 'Fat Boy,' and features first-tier beboppers like trumpeter Kenny Dorham, altoist Sonny Stitt, pianist Bud Powell, and Clarke again on drums. As a sort of bonus, there are four additional tunes from this same session. Amazingly, though, Navarro is not on board, but the balance is quickly redressed with some high-quality originals and more incredible solo work by Dorham, Stitt, and Powell. A classic bebop session.

A double CD collection of Blue Note music with a Latin American flavor.

In 1936 Duke Ellington had been leading a big band for a little more than 10 years and he was an international star, possibly the highest-paid black entertainer in the United States. At this point he undertook a series of small-group sessions. Some of the standout tracks: "Tough Truckin'," "Indigo Echoes," "Love in My Heart," "Pyramid" "Chasin' Chippies" and "Delta Mood."

None of them are very famous; most are based on the templates of better-known Ellington songs. They are all marked by Ellingtonian arrangement methods, and in many places the band just flies. Most of these weren't issued as Ellington records. The most prominent of his sidemen -- Johnny Hodges, Cootie Williams, Barney Bigard -- were listed as bandleaders; on one session, the trumpeter Rex Stewart, new to the Ellington organization, was drafted as leader. (He ended up spending nine years with the band.) Why did this happen? To keep great, underpaid, underrecognized musicians with him for the long haul, Ellington needed strong diplomatic skills. And, it seems, making cheaper list-price records that could be aimed more directly at jukeboxes was also a factor. A hit kept the experiment going: "Caravan," from 1936, the first and very widely heard version of it.

Ellington's music tends to be consumed on CD these days either by canonical collections of his early music or by his later, more carefully programmed LPs; this is a giant serving of early work, with unreleased alternate takes, offering the real truth from a great period of a great band.

This seven-CD limited-edition box set from Mosaic is another mind-boggling collection. The masterful trombonist J.J. Johnson recorded steadily for Columbia during the 1956-61 period, heading groups that ranged from quartets to sextets that performed solid hard bop. Johnson is joined on various selections by tenors Bobby Jaspar (doubling on flute) and Clifford Jordan; cornetist Nat Adderley; the young trumpeter Freddie Hubbard; pianists Hank Jones, Tommy Flanagan, Cedar Walton, and Victor Feldman; bassists Percy Heath, Wilbur Little, Paul Chambers, Spanky DeBrest, Arthur Harper, and Sam Jones; and drummers Elvin Jones, Max Roach, Albert "Tootie" Heath, and Louis Hayes. The music was originally issued on nine LPs; plus, there are 21 previously unreleased selections. Johnson's high-quality and consistently inventive playing is quite impressive, making this box a true must for his greatest fans.

This four-LP set, which is now also available as a three-CD box, is easily the definitive Fletcher Henderson package. Between 1923-38, Henderson's orchestra was one of the finest swing bands in the world, and during 1923-27 (until Duke Ellington's emergence) it was the first and the best. The arrangements of Don Redman in the early days set the pace for jazz; Benny Carter and Horace Henderson also wrote some important charts before Henderson himself finally developed into a major arranger in 1932. This Columbia set is not complete, but it includes 64 selections, at least 60 of them gems. This essential box (which contains three wonderful versions of "King Porter Stomp") belongs in everyone's jazz collection.

Jerome Richardson was always a talented jazz improviser coming out of the bop tradition, displaying individuality on each of his reeds. But because he spent most of his career as a studio musician, he often maintained a low profile in the jazz world.

This four-CD set has the exact same music as an earlier Mosaic five-LP box, but is highly recommended to those listeners not already possessing the limited-edition set. Trumpeter Clifford Brown is heard on the most significant recordings from the first half of his tragically brief career. Whether co-leading a date with altoist Lou Donaldson, playing as a sideman with trombonist J.J. Johnson, interacting with an all-star group of West Coast players, or jamming with the first (although unofficial) edition of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (a two-disc live performance with a quintet that also includes the drummer/leader, Donaldson and pianist Horace Silver), Brown is the main star. Highlights are many, including versions of "Brownie Speaks," Elmo Hope's "De-Dah," "Cherokee," "Get Happy," "Daahoud" and "Joy Spring." The attractive packaging, with its 40 pages of text and many rare pictures, is an added bonus.

A double CD collection of mainly hard bop recordings from between 1954 and 1970 that are described as "Afrocentric homages to a spiritual homeland".

These recordings should establish Tal Farlow's standing as one of the best jazz guitarists of all time. Farlow (1921-1998) wasn't consistently active as a performer throughout much of his adult life. In fact, his reputation is founded mainly on his recorded and live work from the Fifties, after which he appeared on the scene only intermittently until his death.

This 7-CD collection spanning 1951-59 is more than enough to solidify his legacy. Farlow's career began slowly. As a teenager he picked up tips from his father, an amateur musician, but otherwise, was self-taught. Originally, he drew inspiration from piano titan Art Tatum, especially Tatum's harmonic conception and use of substitute chords. Then he was fascinated by Charlie Christian playing hornlike lines with an electric guitar for Benny Goodman. He built his own electric guitar and played frequently with local dance bands, influenced by Lester Young and later Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Farlow played gigs in New York as early as 1947 and was with vibist Red Norvo from 1950 to '53. He began recording with Norvo in the early Fifties, and the first tracks on this set are with Red, playing interesting arrangements of "Tenderly," "I Remember You," and "Skylark." The Norvo trio was an early chamber jazz band. Like it, Farlow relied on standards in his repertoire. Farlow sounds fine here; he'd already assimilated his influences and developed a unique style. Perhaps the easiest way to identify Farlow was by his amazing chops. He played rich lines even at very fast tempos, which most guitarists could barely make. Along the way he developed techniques of his own; he was especially good at playing harmonics and used his thumb in a manner similar to Wes Montgomery. (They came upon this technique independent of each other.) Here Farlow mostly plays in trio and quartet settings with bass, piano, and drums accompaniment. He's astounding. No matter how fast the tempos, he improvises lines loaded with fresh ideas. He brings all registers of the guitar into play stimulatingly and functions very well as an accompanist. On a few selections he performs admirably on acoustic guitar.

Bunny Berigan And His Orchestra - The Chronological Classics 1935-1942 (5 CD, 1993-1995/FLAC)

Roland Bernard "Bunny" Berigan (November 2, 1908 – June 2, 1942) was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader who rose to fame during the swing era. His career and influence were shortened by alcoholism and ended with his early demise at the age of 33 from cirrhosis. Although he composed some jazz instrumentals such as "Chicken and Waffles" and "Blues", Berigan was best known for his virtuoso jazz trumpeting. His 1937 classic recording "I Can't Get Started" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1975.

The 20 cd Djangologie box set is the place to go once you've decided to take the plunge into Django's music. It covers all 4 decades chronologically, but rather than trying to comprehensively collect all of Django's recordings (including all of the ones where he is a sideman in dance bands etc) it largely concentrates on the Quintette and other small group recordings, which is what most people want to hear. The sound quality is very good and relatively consistent throughout the collection.

Arc of the Testimony is the second and final album by American jazz fusion band Arcana. It was released on bassist Bill Laswell's Axiom label on October 14, 1997. Unlike the trio configuration on the first album, this project features a spacier, slightly less abstract form of fusion music. Bill Laswell and drummer Tony Williams composed and developed the music, and co-produced the album together.

Laswell invited a number of musicians to contribute, including legendary tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. Other contributors included alto saxophonist Byard Lancaster, and electric guitarists Nicky Skopelitis and Buckethead. Tony Williams died suddenly on February 23, 1997 while this album was still in production, and thus it represents his last recorded work.

- Bill Laswell / bass, producer

- Tony Williams / drums

With:

- Graham Haynes / coronet

- Buckethead / guitar

- Nicky Skopelitis / guitar

- Peter Apfelbaum / sax

- Byard Lancaster / sax

- Pharoah Sanders / sax

CD1 - Herbie Mann at the Village Gate (1961)

CD2 - Do the Bossa Nova with Herbie Mann (1962)

CD3 - Nirvana (with the Bill Evans Trio) (1964)

CD4 - Muscle Shoals Nitty Gritty (1970)

CD5 - Hold On, I'm Comin' (1973)

This excellent compilation documents the musical collaboration between saxophonist Harold Land and trumpeter Carmell Jones. Though perhaps best known for his appearance on Horace Silver’s classic album, “Song for My Father”, Jones recorded a handful of fine dates with Land in the early 1960s: “The Remarkable Carmell Jones”, “Hear Ye”, “Jazz Impressions of Folk Music” and “Business Meetin’”. The first three albums are reproduced in their entirety here, as well as a few selections from the last. Among the sidemen are pianist Frank Strazzeri, and bassist Red Mitchell (who received co-billing with Land on “Hear Ye”). Land and Jones work beautifully together—a strong musical synergy between them. Their partnership may not have produced a whole lot of albums, but what it did produce was hard bop of the highest calibre.

CD1 - Tito Puente and his Orchestra - Cha Cha
CD2 - Perez Prado - Kings of Mambo
CD3 - Aragon Orquesta Cubana - Cha cha cha, Maracas, Bongo y Conga
CD4 - The Rene Bloch Orchestra - Mucho rock with Rene Bloch
CD5 - Xavier Cugat - Cugat`s Favorite Rumbas
CD6 - Benny Bennett & his Latin Orchestra - Sexy Mambo
CD7 - Ben and The Tropical Rhythm Kings - El Negro Zumbon
CD8 - The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra - Tea for Two Cha Chas

This massive four-disc set of Yusef Lateef's first recordings as a leader was issued by Spain's Fresh Sound imprint and contains a total of eight different records, all but one recorded under the guidance of engineer Rudy Van Gelder for the Savoy, Verve, and Prestige/New Jazz imprints. Considering he was 37 when he began recording as a leader -- and had served tenures in New York with Hot Lips Page, Roy Eldridge, and Ernie Fields -- Lateef was fully developed as a composer and arranger. His band for these sessions is stellar. His Detroit crew was comprised of monsters even as the band mutated a bit: the original unit featured Lateef with trombonist Curtis Fuller, bassist Ernie Farrow, pianist Hugh Lawson, and drummer Louis Hayes. Changes would take place later in the year: Oliver Jackson replaced Hayes, and flugelhorn boss Wilbur Harden took over the chair vacated by Fuller. In the Lateef vision, these differences were all part of the plan: exploring his passions in uniting African and Asian folk traditions with American music.

Shelly Manne made a countless number of records from the 1940s into the '80s but is best-known as a good-humored bandleader who never hogged the spotlight. Originally a saxophonist, Manne switched to drums when he was 18 and started working almost immediately. He was with Joe Marsala's band (making his recording debut in 1941), played briefly in the big bands of Will Bradley, Raymond Scott, and Les Brown and was on drums for Coleman Hawkins's classic "The Man I Love" session of late 1943. Manne worked on and off with Stan Kenton during 1946-1952, also touring with Jazz at the Philharmonic (1948-1949), and gigging with Woody Herman (1949). After leaving Kenton, Manne moved to Los Angeles where he became the most in-demand of all jazz drummers. He began recording as a leader (his first session was cut in Chicago in 1951) on a regular basis starting in 1953 when he first put together the quintet Shelly Manne & His Men. Among the sidemen who were in his band during their long string of Contemporary recordings (1955-1962) were Stu Williamson, Conte Candoli, Joe Gordan, Bob Enevoldsen, Joe Maini, Charlie Mariano, Herb Geller, Bill Holman, Jimmy Giuffre, Richie Kamuca, Victor Feldman, Russ Freeman, Ralph Pena, Leroy Vinnegar, and Monty Budwig. Manne, who had the good fortune to be the leader of a date by the André Previn Trio that resulted in a major seller (jazz versions of tunes from My Fair Lady), always had an open musical mind and he recorded some fairly free pieces on The Three and the Two (trios with Shorty Rogers and Jimmy Giuffre that did not have a piano or bass, along with duets with Russ Freeman), and enjoyed playing on an early session with Ornette Coleman. In addition to his jazz work, Manne appeared on many film soundtracks and even acted in The Man with the Golden Arm. He ran the popular club Shelly's Manne-Hole during 1960-1974, kept his music open to freer sounds (featuring trumpeter Gary Barone and tenor saxophonist John Gross during 1969-1972), played with the L.A. Four in the mid-'70s, and was very active up until his death. Throughout his career Shelly Manne recorded as a leader for Savoy, Interlude, Contemporary, Jazz Groove, Impulse, Verve, Capitol, Atlantic, Concord, Mainstream, Flying Dutchman, Discovery, Galaxy, Pausa, Trend, and Jazziz, in addition to a few Japanese labels.

Chet Baker - Trumpet, Vocals
Richard "Dick" Twardzik - Piano
Gerard Gustin - Piano
Raymond Fol - Piano
Ren Urtreger - Piano
Francy Boland - Piano
Jimmy Bond - Bass
Benny Vasseur - Trombone
Jean Aldegon - Alto Sax
Bobby Jaspar - Tenor Sax
Jean-Louis Chautemps - Tenor Sax
Benoit Quersin - Bass
Eddie de Haas - Bass
Jean-Louis Viale - Drums
Nils-Bertil Dahlander - Drums
Peter Littman - Drums
Charles Saudrais - Drums

Lonnie Smith (born July 3, 1942), styled Dr. Lonnie Smith, is an American jazz Hammond B3 organist who was a member of the George Benson quartet in the 1960s. He recorded albums with saxophonist Lou Donaldson for Blue Note before being signed as a solo act. He owns the label Pilgrimage.

A double CD collection of Blue Note music from the first half of the 1960's that focuses on the organ based music of the time.

1981 The Man With The Horn

1983 Star People

1983 Decoy

1985 You're Under Arrest

1985 Aura

Trumpeter Carmell Jones is best known as a sideman (especially Horace Silver's Song for My Father), but he made several valuable recordings as a leader, though most have long languished out of print. To correct this oversight, Mosaic Select released this three-CD set in early 2003, including all three of his earliest Pacific Jazz albums (The Remarkable Carmell Jones, Business Meetin' , and Brass Bag), as well as a long unavailable Harold Land disc and a previously unreleased date led by pianist Frank Strazzeri. The quintet with Land and Strazzeri works wonders with Jones' jazz waltz "That's Good" and a similar treatment of "Beautiful Love," but the high point of their various sets is the 11-minute workout of Duke Ellington's "I'm Gonna Go Fishin'." Jones is accompanied by five reed players and a rhythm section on a later date; check out his marvelous playing in the richly textured chart of "Stella by Starlight." Gerald Wilson's stimulating scoring includes an unusual five trombones in a nonet; Jones' conversational muted horn makes Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo" shine. A later Wilson-arranged date with two trombones produced the snappy rendition of Dizzy Gillespie's "Ow!" Strazzeri's studio date merited release originally, but producer Dick Bock thought the pianist's playing was too reserved. Maybe his originals aren't as memorable as Hoagy Carmichael's "New Orleans," but Jones shines without trying to show up anyone else. The final session, led by Land, is a fun-filled exploration of folk tunes in a jazz setting. Most of the solos are quite enjoyable, though Land has some problems with reed squeaking at times. This smaller-sized set, a numbered limited edition of just 5,000, fills a valuable gap in Carmell Jones' discography and it is destined to become a sought-after collector's item.

Szabó Gábor István (8 March 1936 – 26 February 1982), better known as Gábor Szabó, was an influential jazz guitarist, famous for mixing jazz, pop-rock and his native Hungarian music.

Gábor Szabó was born in Budapest, Hungary and began playing guitar at the age of 14, inspired by jazz music heard on Voice of America radio broadcasts. He escaped Hungary in 1956, a year of attempted revolt against Soviet-dominated Communist rule, and moved to the United States where he attended the Berklee School of Music in Boston.

This exquisite 11-disc boxed set from Mosaic collects the complete output of Duke Ellington's orchestra on three labels - Brunswick, Columbia, and Master - for an eight-year span from 1932-1940.

After achieving youthful acclaim in Washington, and making a successful move to New York fronting (at first) small groups, Duke Ellington entered the 1930s with an expanded line-up and an increasingly creative approach to composing. Weekly radio broadcasts and swank guests in the audience spread the word; Hollywood noticed his marquee smile and musical brilliance; and the orchestra began touring extensively, including trips to Europe. His fame and popularity were on the rise.

But more importantly, Ellington entered the '30s having perfected his method of using the group to experiment with arranging and orchestrating. Ensconced at the Cotton Club in New York at the end of the previous decade, Ellington catered to a lot of musical interests and needs - he played for the dancers, and for the jazz lovers. He relied on ideas from his musicians, and wrote for them as individuals rather than as anonymous section players. With all that work and a line-up of marvelous, distinctive musical voices, Ellington began the most creative period of his life.

The Rosenberg Trio is a Dutch jazz band consisting of lead guitarist Stochelo Rosenberg, rhythm guitarist Nous'che Rosenberg and bassist Nonnie Rosenberg. The band is influenced by Django Reinhardt, the gypsy jazz guitarist of the 1930s.

In typical Fantasy Records aplomb, this four-CD set collects the eight albums which the Modern Jazz Quartet either mentored or collaborated on during their tenure at the commencement and nadir of their reign as jazz's premier chamber ensemble. Beginning with the 1952 issue of Modern Jazz Quartet/Milt Jackson Quintet recording (the earlier Milt Jackson Quartet sides are not here for obvious reasons, as the band did not commence its fully developed form on them) featuring original drummer Kenny Clarke before Connie Kay replaced him, and ending with This One's For Basie in 1985; the association the MJQ had with Prestige was a monumental one.

No other bassist lived such a controversial life or elicited such a bipolar response as Jaco Pastorius. Listeners love him or hate him, alternately calling him the greatest bass player who ever lived (as Jaco often called himself) or claiming that he was not really a jazz player at all. Regardless of how he is categorized, one fact is indisputable -- Jaco changed the way fretless electric bass is performed. He brought the instrument to the forefront, setting new standards for technique and range of tone on the instrument. As a sideman, Pastorius displayed a deft sense of melody and taste, recording classic albums with a range of artists including Joni Mitchell, Pat Metheny and Herbie Hancock. He also served as an integral member of bands including Weather Report and Word of Mouth. His self-titled debut (1976) sent many aspiring bassists home to regroup; the album starts with a blistering version of Charlie Parker's "Donna Lee" and never lets up. Unfortunately, Jaco's partying ways and trash-talking proved to be his demise -- he was beaten to death after trying to force his way into a nightclub in 1987.

Jaco Pastorius - Bass
Bireli Lagrene - Guitar
Serge Bringolf - Drums