Artie Shaw - Begin The Beguine [10 CD, 2005/FLAC]

 

Arthur Jacob Arshawsky (May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004), better known as Artie Shaw, was an American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He was also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings.

Widely regarded as "one of jazz's finest clarinetists", Shaw led one of America's most popular big bands of the late 1930s and early '40s. Their signature song, a 1938 version of Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine", was a wildly successful single and one of the era's defining recordings. Musically restless, Shaw was also an early proponent of Third Stream, which blended classical and jazz, and recorded some small-group sessions that flirted with be-bop before retiring from music in 1954.

VA - Dreyfus Jazz : 20 Years [20 CD, 2012]

 

In the early 90′s, Dreyfus starts to get involved with jazz music. 20 years later, Dreyfus Jazz label has become a prestigious and unavoidable label of quality and high artistic standards universally recognized. Today, the label continues to bring together the best talent and promote quality jazz.

•  Adrien Moignard - All The Way
•  Ahmad Jamal - It's Magic
•  Aldo Romano - Just Jazz
•  Anne Ducros - Close your eyes
•  Béla Fleck-Places
•  Bireli Lagrene - Gipsy Trio
•  Didier Lockwood - Tribute To Stephane Grappelli
•  Eddy Louiss - Eddy Louiss Trio
•  Franck Avitabile - Short stories
•  Geraldine Laurent - Time Out Trio
•  Marcus Miller - The Essential Marcus Miller - Power
•  Michel Petrucciani - Solo Live
•  Philip Catherine - Philip Catherine - Guitars Two
•  Richard Galliano Septet - Piazzolla forever
•  Rosario Giuliani - Lennie's Pennies
•  Roy Haynes - Fountain of Youth
•  Steve Grossman with Michel Petrucciani - The Quartet
•  Sylvain Luc - Joko
•  Terez Montcalm - Voodoo
•  Trio Sud - 'Young And Fine'

 

Bill Evans Trio - Turn Out the Stars : The Final Village Vanguard Recordings (6 CD, 1996) [FLAC]

  

New York City's legendary jazz club the Village Vanguard was the setting for Evans's musical triumphs in the early 1960's, and it's ironic it was the scene of his last triumphs. This six-disc set was recorded there in June 1980--Evans would pass away three months hence. Accompanied by bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joe LaBarbera, Evans gives several of his classic tunes definitive readings. The interplay between these three is astonishing, the audio quality is overall superb, and Evans plays often with what can only be called quiet fire. TURN OUT THE STARS proves he left this world at the top of his game.



Recorded live at the Village Vanguard just months before Evans' sudden death in September, 1980, this material was originally earmarked for an album later that year. However, it remained unissued until 1996 when the compilers discovered Evans' handwritten notes concerning the aborted release.

Listening to these performances with bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joe LaBarbera, one is struck by how little Evans' overall style had changed in the twenty-four years since his 1956 debut: luxuriously-phrased piano lines, almost horn-like in their length and melodicism, which never lapse into mere vapid prettiness (even on tunes as slick as Paul Simon's "I Do It For Your Love") due to their cerebral, near-abstract quality. Johnson and LaBarbera are an intuitive unit, responding with ease and grace to their leader's occasional flights of fancy.

 

Jean-Luc Ponty - Original Album Series (1975-1978) [5 CD, 2012] [FLAC]

 A wide-ranging violinist who helped popularize the use of electronics among string players, and developed a varied style mixing many jazz genres.

• Upon The Wings Of Music (1975)
• Aurora (1975)
• Imaginary Voyage (1976)
• Enigmatic Ocean (1977)
• Cosmic Messenger (1978)

VA - Americans in Paris: The City of Love and All That Jazz (10 CD, 2012/FLAC)

 This 10 CD set offers an exciting overview of some of the most important recordings made by American jazz stars in Paris in the Fifties. They are milestones of Modern Jazz, Bebop and Hard Bop recorded by some of the most important players of the time, including Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, Lionel Hampton, Chet Baker, Sarah Vaughan, Mary Lou Williams, Lester Young and Donald Byrd. Treated like second class citizens at home, many American jazz stars not only got more recognition and respect in the French capital, but found much better playing conditions as well. From concert-halls like "L'Olympia" to the clubs of the "Latin Quarter" they were appreciated and celebrated, and their music met with a glowing enthusiasm.

Al Di Meola – All Your Life - Tribute to The Beatles [2013/FLAC-HD]

 

Guitar superstar Al Di Meola pays personal tribute to The Beatles - “All Your Life” puts a fresh new rhythmic slant on beloved tunes.

Recorded at the Abbey Road Studios, London

1. In My Life (4:30)
2. And I Love Her (4:07)
3. Because (5:12)
4. Michelle (2:52)
5. I Will (2:52)
6. Eleanor Rigby (2:50)
7. Penny Lane (5:41)
8. Blackbird (4:38)
9. I Am the Walrus (4:04)
10. Day in the Life (3:01)
11. Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite (3:09)
12. With a Little Help from My Friends (4:15)
13. If I Fell (2:59)
14. She’s Leaving Home (3:22)

Stan Kenton — 50th Anniversary Celebration: Back To Balboa (5 CD, 1991/FLAC)

 STAN KENTON 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION - BACK TO BALBOA is a 5-CD set recorded during a four-day concert commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Stan Kenton Orchestra's debut at the Rendezvous Ballroom on Balboa Island, California. Discs 1 and 2 feature a band of Kenton alumni led by Kenton composer-arrangers Pete Rugolo, William Russo, Shorty Rogers, Bill Holman, Hank Levy, Buddy Childers, Lennie Niehaus and Marty Paich. Discs 3 and 4 feature Kenton sidemen and arrangers leading their own bands. Disc 5 includes four panel discussions of Kenton's band.

 

John Coltrane - Blue Train (10 CD, 2007) [FLAC + 320]

 

Although never formally signed, an oral agreement between John Coltrane and Blue Note Records founder Alfred Lion was indeed honored on Blue Train -- Coltrane's only collection of sides as a principal artist for the venerable label. The disc is packed solid with sonic evidence of Coltrane's innate leadership abilities. He not only addresses the tunes at hand, but also simultaneously reinvents himself as a multifaceted interpreter of both hard bop as well as sensitive balladry -- touching upon all forms in between...

 

Oscar Peterson - The Complete Clef - Mercury Studio Recordings Of The Oscar Peterson Trio (1951-1953) (7 CD, 2008/FLAC)

This Mosaic Records collection is the first comprehensive study of Oscar Peterson's earliest trio recordings, the setting for which he was best known, throughout his reign. The collection includes 127 tunes, including five alternate masters that have never appeared on any record, in any format. The earliest recording dates from November 25, 1951 and the last is from December 7, 1953. In the interest of being complete, we amassed a collection that exceeds even the one held in the Universal Music vaults; with some original masters missing entirely, we went to collectors for vintage 78s, second generation tapes, even rare LPs and EPs, performing sonic miracles when necessary to achieve a quality that meets our Mosaic standards. 

Coming up in the era he did, he fell somewhere in between the swing players and the be-boppers, and the two strains wove together into something he never felt any reason to abandon. He and Ray Brown had developed an almost brotherly relationship thanks to the JATP tours they did together, and in Barney Kessel he found another player whose solos could wipe the floor, the walls, and the ceiling. With the JATP tours combined with these Clef and Mercury recordings the trio found the time and opportunity to hone their craft together and become a tight unit. Norman Granz' vision of the "Songbook" album, was perfected by the trio and the series of "Oscar Peterson Meets…" have long been unavailable and are finally in one package. 

 

• Oscar Peterson: piano, vocal; 
• Barney Kessel: guitar; 
• Ray Brown: bass. 

 

Ahmad Jamal - The Complete Ahmad Jamal Trio Argo Sessions 1956-62 [9 CD, 2010] [FLAC + 24-44 + 320]

 

In 2007, this set was well on its way with Ahmad Jamal’s blessing. He listened to and approved a multitude of previously unissued material, expanding the legacy of this extraordinary trio. A tape search proved problematic and we spent the next two years scouring various Ahmad Jamal Argo masters scouring Europe and Japan as well as the US.

As you can hear, this legacy has been reconstructed although almost half of it has comes from digital sources. Both analog and digital sources have minor problems here and there such as the small frying sound on disc 4, track 5. The only major problem is the “Count “Em 88” album (disc 1, tracks 1-9) which for years was available only in electronically-rechanneled stereo. The only existing source in 2010 is a Japanese CD master that seems to have been dubbed from an LP. It has wow and flutter and occasional electronic static as on track 5. Every effort has been made to bring all of this music to you in the best possible fidelity.

Peter Erskine, John Taylor, Palle Danielsson- As It Was [4 CD, 2016/FLAC]

 

This addition to ECM’s popular Old and New Masters Series is a box set reprising the four albums made by Peter Erskine’s American-British-Swedish trio with John Taylor and Palle Danielsson between 1992 and 1997: You Never Know, As It Is, Time Being and Juni. If its core concept – a piano led by a drummer – was unorthodox, the group was nonetheless influential, and the recordings provide an excellent environment for appreciating the distinctive writing and playing of John Taylor.

 

VA - The Best Jazz Is Played with Verve - Your Guide To North Sea Jazz Festival 1994 (2 CD, 1994/FLAC)

 

The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual festival held each second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. It used to be in The Hague but since 2006 it has been held in Rotterdam. This is because the Statenhal where the festival was held before was demolished in 2006. As of 3 November 2017 the festival officially will be known as the NN North Sea Jazz Festival.

The founder of the three-day festival was Paul Acket, a businessman and jazz lover who made a fortune in the 1960s with his pop magazine publishing company. When Acket sold his company in 1975, he was able to start and sponsor the North Sea Jazz Festival. Acket wanted to present American jazz and European avant-garde jazz. In 1976 the first edition of the festival took place. It was an immediate success: six stages, thirty hours of music, and 300 performances drew over 9000 visitors. Acts included Count Basie, Miles Davis, Billy Eckstine, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, James Taylor, Benny Goodman, and Sarah Vaughan among others. 

Miles Davis Quintet - The First Great Quintet 1955-56 (3 CD, 2021) [Hi-Res FLAC]

 

"In the summer of 1955, after Davis performed at the Newport Jazz Festival, he was approached by Columbia Records executive George Avakian, who offered him a contract if he could form a regular band. Davis assembled his first regular quintet to meet a commitment at the Café Bohemia in July with Sonny Rollins on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums. By the autumn, Rollins had left to deal with his heroin addiction, and later in the year joined the hard bop quintet led by Clifford Brown and Max Roach.

At the recommendation of drummer Jones, Davis replaced Rollins with John Coltrane, beginning a partnership that would last five years and finalizing the Quintet's first line-up. Expanded to a sextet with the addition of Cannonball Adderley on alto saxophone in 1958, the First Great Quintet was one of the definitive hard bop groups along with the Brown-Roach Quintet and the Jazz Messengers, recording the Columbia albums Round About Midnight, Milestones, and the marathon sessions for Prestige Records resulting in four albums collected on The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions." 

Max Neissendorfer Trio - Max Neissendorfer Trio (2023) [24-44]

The Munich jazz singer and pianist Max Neissendorfer (p,voc) is one of the most versatile jazz pianists and scat singers in Europe. Rene Harderer (b) studied double bass with Paulo Cardoso and electric bass with Patrick Scales at the Munich Music Academy. Stephan Treutter (dr) did his diploma in jazz drums at the Munich University of Music and Theater.

1 - There Is No Greater Love (08:45)

2 - Exactly Like You (07:35)

3 - Aqua De Beber (10:43)

4 - Angel Eyes (07:42)

5 - Night And Day (08:17)

6 - Relax (06:57)

7 - Doxy (07:37)

8 - Caravan (09:45)

9 - Get Me To The Church (08:00)

Dexter Gordon – The Complete Trio & Quartet Studio Recordings 1974/1975/1976 (8 CD, 2003) [FLAC]

This mammoth eight-disc box set contains all of the recordings Dexter Gordon cut for Steeplechase Records during the mid-'70s during the last years of his long sojourn in Paris. While his earlier Blue Note sides are often considered his finest, these dates, placing him in the company of brilliant musicians such as Kenny Drew, Tete Montoliu, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Albert Heath, Billy Higgins, Barry Harris, Sam Jones, and others, unquestionably rival them in quality. In addition to the great catalog Gordon amassed at Steeplechase, he left a ton of alternate takes and unreleased material on the shelf. This set brings together all of it, including 24 never-before-issued performances, making this, along with the Blue Note box set, the definitive Dexter Gordon caught at both his creative peaks. 

Michel Petrucciani - Montreux Years (2 CD, 2023) [24-96]

The brand-new release in The Montreux Years series is a collection of Michel Petrucciani’s most memorable performances at the Montreux Jazz Festival from 1990 – 1998.

Jaco Pastorius - Modern American Music... Period! The Criteria Sessions (1974/2014) [24-48]

Modern American Music... Period! The Criteria Sessions presents a series of demo recordings that bassist Jaco Pastorius made two years before his landmark debut album, 1976's Jaco Pastorius. Recorded after hours at Miami's Criteria Studios, these tracks represent some of the earliest solo cuts from Pastorius. 

Miles Davis & John Coltrane - The Best of Miles Davis and John Coltrane (2019) [24-48]

Coltrane had been a sideman with Davis on and off since 1955; they were both born in 1926, but their careers took drastically different paths. Davis was already a minor star in 1945, at the age of nineteen, when he recorded with Charlie Parker. Three years later, at twenty-two, he led a nonet, featuring intricate arrangements, that proved vastly influential. (They’re gathered under the title “Birth of the Cool.”) Davis had a huge and significant discography as a leader by the time he hired Coltrane, an unheralded musician best known as a rarely soloing sideman, who’d never yet led a record date. With Davis, Coltrane quickly found his voice, and expanded it during a stint in 1957 with Thelonious Monk. Coltrane had led dates on several labels; recorded the influential “Giant Steps,” in 1959; and was ready to go out on his own.

01 - Round Midnight 05:56

02 - Airegin 04:25

03 - My Funny Valentine 06:01

04 - Half Nelson 04:45

05 - The Maids of Cadiz 03:54

06 - Blues for Pablo 05:20

07 - Generique - Ascenseur Pour L'echafaud 02:48

08 - Au Bar Du Petit Bac - Ascenseur Pour L'echafaud 02:53

09 - Miles 05:42

10 - Summertime 03:19

11 - It Ain't Necessarily So 04:25

12 - So What 09:04

13 - All Blues 11:32

14 - Someday My Prince Will Come 09:04

15 - Giant Steps 04:44

16 - Syeeda's Song Flute 07:01

17 - Naima 04:21

18 - Like Sonny 05:52

19 - My Favorite Things 13:42

20 - Equinox 08:33

21 - Aisha 07:37

22 - Greensleeves 09:58

23 - Soul Eyes 05:24

24 - Tunji 06:33

25 - In a Sentimental Mood 04:14

Laboratorium - Anthology 1971-1988 [10 CD, 2006]

 

The end of the 60s was an important period in jazz, as well as rock music, in Poland and the rest of the world, with the development of many styles and trends in popular music. In 1970 the jazz rock fusion band, Laboratorium was formed in Kraków. Their music soon developed in jazz rock fusion, and so were pioneers in this music in Poland. In their first years, Laboratorium's music was acoustic, cleverly avoiding any limiting definitions. At the beginning of the 70's there was very limited access to Western recordings but this did not prove an obstacle for the band, because of the musicians searching and experimenting in the field. On the contrary and because of their relative isolation, Laboratorium developed an unique sound which was often noted in various critical reviews.

The Laboratorium's album debut was released in January 1973, consisting of two tracks recorded in April 1972 in a studio belonging to the PR III of the Polish Radio. The recording session was in fact, an award for taking second place on the Jazz Nad Odr¹ '72 festival. The tracks were noted for their unusual approach both towards harmony and tension-building. The first song 'Chora³' included a vocal fragment by Marek Stryszowski. Later his singing was to become an important and significant element of Laboratorium's music, often utilising electronic voice-modulation effects.

Didier Lockwood, Allan Holdsworth - The Unique Concert (1980/2020) [24-96]

Concert at the Paris Jazz Festival on November 1, 1980 at the Théâtre de la Ville.

On November 1, 1980 at the Théâtre de la Ville de Paris, an exceptional concert brought together some of the greatest French and European jazz musicians of that time. An exceptional roster that is not necessarily the assurance of a big concert, and yet, that evening, it was!

VA - The Complete Gershwin Songbooks (3 CD, 1995) [FLAC]

 

The Complete Gershwin Songbooks collects three discs also released separately: 'S Wonderful, 'S Marvelous, and 'S Paradise. The first two discs include the greatest vocalists Verve had to offer, including Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Anita O'Day, Shirley Horn, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Bing Crosby, Joe Williams, Fred Astaire, and even Antonio Carlos Jobim. Obviously, the songs are all classics and the versions presented are quite legendary themselves. The third disc in the set includes instrumental versions of Gershwin standards (by Bill Evans, Coleman Hawkins, Stan Getz, Clifford Brown, Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson) that focus on the composer's stunning gift of melody and harmonic interplay -- just as the vocalists' versions highlight his lyrical prowess. Not all the versions are definitive, but The Complete Gershwin Songbooks includes many treats for fans of classic traditional pop. 

Swing Time: The Encyclopedia Of Jazz (100 CD, 2008) [320]

Giant 100 CD boxset 

All-star swing groups with their most famous recordings

Membran Music 2008

see tracklist & info

 

Al Di Meola, Jean-Luc Ponty, Stanley Clarke / Live At Montreux 1994 (2005) [24-48]

It was at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1994 that Al Di Meola, Jean-Luc Ponty and Stanley Clarke played as a trio for the first time. Clarke and Di Meola had been part of Return to Forever and while they were comfortable in the familiarity of knowing each other, Ponty reached in and became a perfect fit. That language of understanding is seen to advantage on this portrait.

• Al DiMeola (guitar)
• Jean-Luc Ponty (violin)
• Stanley Clarke (bass)

Guest artist: Monty Alexander (piano on "Song to John")

01 - Song To John 12:57

02 - Memory Canyon 10:13

03 - La Cancion De Sofia 13:42

04 - Summer Country Song 06:41

05 - School Days 06:43

06 - Eulogy To Oscar Romero 06:19

07 - Renaissance 09:55

08 - Chillean Pipe Song 06:31

09 - Song To John 13:31

10 - Indigo 08:04

Stan Getz, Chet Baker - Stockholm Concerts 1983 [3 CD, 1999/FLAC]

  

According to this set's annotator, Mike Hennessey, and Stan Getz's biographer, Donald Maggin, the circumstances surrounding the making of these 1983 recordings was unpleasant in the extreme. For various reasons, Getz was unhappy to be concertizing with Baker and forced him out before the 35-date tour was halfway finished. Before Baker left, however, the men played a pair of concerts in Stockholm, which were fortunately recorded for posterity. Fortunately not because Getz and Baker shared any special rapport that led to a classic performance, but because the resulting album gives listeners another example of how wonderful a player Chet Baker was, even after years of drug addiction and general dissolution. Getz is his typical self -- lyrical, facile almost to the point of glibness, but musical nevertheless. Baker, on the other hand, is as he ever was -- one of the most spontaneously creative, emotionally compelling voices in jazz. The band is good if unspectacular; drummer Victor Lewis was a particularly nice choice in that he could drive a band like this without overwhelming the rather brittle lead voices. And Getz is excellent; if you're a Getz fan, he's in fine form here, so you won't be disappointed. Baker, on the other hand, is superb; it's his inimitable musicality that ultimately makes this rather pricey three-disc set a bargain.