Jimmy Giuffre - The Complete Remastered Recordings On Black Saint & Soul Note (4 CD, 2012/FLAC)

 The closely affiliated Black Saint and Soul Note labels were established in the 1970s by Italian jazz lover Giacomo Pellicciotti, and together they released some of the most forward-thinking jazz recordings on the market during their four decades of independent existence (both labels were acquired by another company in 2008). In 2011, the labels' new owner began releasing a series of budget-priced box sets documenting the complete output of particular artists, each individual disc housed in an LP-style cardboard sleeve. This one features four albums by reedman and noted avant-cool composer Jimmy Giuffre. 

The box offers three albums (Dragonfly, Quasar, and Liquid Dancers) by the Jimmy Giuffre 4, which included keyboardist Pete Levin, bassist Bob Nieske, and drummer Randy Kaye. The fourth disc (Conversations with a Goose) is a trio date on which Giuffre is joined by pianist Paul Bley and electric bassist Steve Swallow. On the three quartet albums, all of them released between 1981 and 1991, Giuffre's style is clearly influenced by the electric fusion sounds of the 1970s and 1980s: Levin's keyboards range over a huge spectrum of electronic timbres and effects, and while the rhythms always gravitate back to an easy swing, they wander off into some interesting areas from time to time as well. Conversations with a Goose is a very different album: here Giuffre sticks to clarinet and soprano saxophone, and the pieces are quieter, more intimate, and almost contemplative. The free expressionism that has always been a hallmark of Giuffre's mature style is well in evidence, and the interplay between the three players is consistently compelling. 

Jimmy Giuffre & Jim Hall Trio - Complete Studio Recordings {1956-1959} (4 CD, 2008/FLAC)

 

Jimmy Giuffre may not have gotten his due with American audiences outside very specific kinds of jazz circles, but he was loved and respected by other musicians and the audiences of Europe and Asia. His reputation among those groups of listeners and players is well deserved for the radical, if quiet and unassuming path he walked throughout his seven-decade career. These sides, recorded between 1956 and 1959 with guitarist Jim Hall, his most symbiotic collaborator and foil, are at the heart of his reputation as a pioneer -- even more so than his killer early-'60s sides (à la Free Fall) with Paul Bley and Steve Swallow. This whopping four-disc, 74-rack set on Gambit collects all the trio sides that Hall and Giuffre shared during those years for Atlantic and Capitol. Their collaborators were a stellar lot as well, whether it was Bob Brookmeyer, Ralph Pena, Ray Brown, Red Mitchell, Jim Atlas or Wilfred Middlebrooks on bass, trombone, or trumpet, and piano in some instances (Brookmeyer). Space, harmony, and an inside-out approach to melody were the focuses of these groups at all times. In addition to the studio trio sides there are seven live selections which have never been issued on CD, including a stellar and now legendary performance of "Song of the Wind." The remastering job is wonderful, spacious, warm, and very present. There are also two unaccompanied performances by Giuffre, where he electronically overdubs four sax lines on each tune as a way of looking forward to his own career in the '70s. This is a stellar collection for the hardcore Giuffre fan: to have all this material in one place, beautifully assembled and annotated, is a real treat. 

Jimmy Giuffre - The Complete Capitol and Atlantic Recordings (6 CD, 1997/FLAC)

 There is a kind of poetic imagination at work in the early solo recordings of Jimmy Giuffre. He knew what sound he was looking for; could hear it in all its breezy complexity; but had to experiment for a number of years before hitting upon it: a varied and rich tapestry that may be overlooked by mainstream jazz fans who are still goo-goo-eyed over all the '50s had to offer; but shouldn't be. Taken in part or as a whole, The Complete Capitol and Atlantic Recordings of Jimmy Giuffre, (six CDs-worth from the Four Brothers sessions), reveal truly original statements sung by a master of dynamic, harmonic, and timbral invention and counterpoint. Giuffre (and Dave Brubeck) studied counterpoint with French composer Darius Milhaud, and it shows. The music contained here is considered, even today, with its strange lineups and odd ghostly voicings, to be sometimes quirky or iconoclastic.