VA - Membran Music's Jazz Ballads Series Vol. 11-15 (10 CD, 2004) [FLAC + 320]

 

A CD sets with the most beautiful ballads in the history of jazz.

Lyrical, imaginative, sensuous and melodic jewels from the art of music.

Precisely for those people who have maintained their taste for lasting musical values.

Jazz in its most gentle form.

Irrestible...

Jazz Ballads 11: Lionel Hampton

Jazz Ballads 12: Billie Holiday

Jazz Ballads 13: Roy Eldridge & Dizzy Gillespie

Jazz Ballads 14: Benny Carter

Jazz Ballads 15: Johnny Hodges & Friends

Lionel Hampton - The Complete Victor Sessions 1937-1941 [5 CD, 2007/FLAC]

 

Garnished with a fistful of alternate takes, the 2007 release of Mosaic's 107-track Complete Lionel Hampton Victor Sessions 1937-1941 is a welcome and long overdue CD realization of The Complete Lionel Hampton 1937-1941, a six-LP box set released during the 1970s by the Bluebird label. Only Teddy Wilson came close to achieving what Hamp did in the late 1930s and early '40s, by bringing together the greatest soloists on the scene for a staggeringly productive and inspired series of recordings that essentially defined the state of jazz during the years immediately preceding the Second World War.

Charlie Christian- Masters Of Jazz Series (9 CD/FLAC)

 

Charles Henry Christian (July 29, 1916 – March 2, 1942) was an American swing and jazz guitarist.

Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar and a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained national exposure as a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra from August 1939 to June 1941. His single-string technique, combined with amplification, helped bring the guitar out of the rhythm section and into the forefront as a solo instrument. For this, he is often credited with leading to the development of the lead guitar role in musical ensembles and bands. 

Christian's influence reached beyond jazz and swing. In 1990, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the category Early Influence.

In 2006 Oklahoma City renamed a street in its Bricktown entertainment district "Charlie Christian Avenue" (Christian was raised in Oklahoma City and was one of many musicians who jammed along the city's "Deep Deuce" section on N.E. Second Street). 

Benny Goodman - The Complete RCA Victor Small Group Recordings (3 CD, 1997/FLAC)

 The Complete RCA Victor Small Group Recordings is a 1997 compilation 3-CD set of sessions led by jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman, and recorded for the RCA Victor label between 1935 and 1939. 

The music of the Benny Goodman Trio and Quartets (with the clarinetist, pianist Teddy Wilson, drummer Gene Krupa and sometimes vibraphonist Lionel Hampton) has been put out many times through the years, including in other, earlier "complete" sets. This 1997 three-CD reissue not only has all of the regular recordings, but 20 alternate takes, two of which were previously unissued. Many of the performances (such as "After You've Gone," "Moonglow," "Dinah" and "Avalon") are quite famous, considered perfect examples of "chamber jazz," and veteran collectors will certainly enjoy hearing many of the alternates. Singers Helen Ward and Martha Tilton, trumpeter Ziggy Elman (on "Bei Mist Bist Du Schoen") and (after Krupa's departure) drummers Dave Tough and Buddy Schutz, bassist John Kirby and pianist Jess Stacy also make appearances. Classic music with many exciting moments from the King of Swing and his famous sidemen. 

    Benny Goodman – clarinet

    Teddy Wilson, Jess Stacy – piano

    Gene Krupa, Dave Tough, Buddy Schutz – drums

    Lionel Hampton – vibraphone

    John Kirby – bass

    Ziggy Elman – trumpet

    Helen Ward, Martha Tilton – vocals

Lionel Hampton - Vibe Boogie [4 CD, 2005/FLAC]

 

This wonderful Japanese import, released in 2005, is a 4 CD set consisting of 70 tracks from the Jazz great! The set includes compositions from 1937-1978 .

Lionel Hampton - The Legacy Of Bluebird (1937-1940) [3 CD, 1990/FLAC]

 

Lionel Hampton was the first jazz vibraphonist and was one of the jazz giants beginning in the mid-'30s. He has achieved the difficult feat of being musically open-minded (even recording "Giant Steps") without changing his basic swing style. Hamp started out as a drummer, playing with the Chicago Defender Newsboys' Band as a youth. His original idol was Jimmy Bertrand, a '20s drummer who occasionally played xylophone. Hampton played on the West Coast with such groups as Curtis Mosby's Blue Blowers, Reb Spikes, and Paul Howard's Quality Serenaders (with whom he made his recording debut in 1929) before joining Les Hite's band, which for a period accompanied Louis Armstrong.

The Complete Lionel Hampton Quartets & Quintets With Oscar Peterson On Verve (5 CD, 1999/FLAC)

 

When Verve producer Norman Granz brought Lionel Hampton and Oscar Peterson together for the first time in 1953, he fostered one of the great collaborations in the august history of the label. The two laid down some of the most memorable small-group recordings in all of jazz over the space of two years, and you'll find the COMPLETE sessions here, over six hours of music, most of it on CD for the first time!