Showing posts with label boxset. Show all posts
Showing posts with label boxset. Show all posts
Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Complete Mercury Recordings of Roland Kirk [10 CD, 1991/FLAC]
Rahsaan Roland Kirk's nearly one-dozen long-players on the
Mercury Records family of labels -- including the Smash and Limelight
subsidiaries -- are gathered on this massive ten-disc compilation.
Actually, it is 11 discs if you count the surprise bonus CD.
Additionally, Rahsaan: The Complete Mercury Recordings of Roland Kirk lives
up to its name by augmenting those albums with more than two-dozen
previously unissued sides. Kirk's thoroughly innovative
multi-instrumental reed work caught the attention of legendary producer
Quincy Jones, then the vice-president of Mercury Records, who signed
Kirk and would later arrange and conduct orchestrations for several of
his memorable sessions. Perhaps the most recognizable among them is
"Soul Bossa Nova" which is heavily featured in the Austin Powers
franchise. Kirk's ability to perform several reed instruments --
including the tenor, flute, clarinet, manzello, and stritch --
simultaneously allowed him a musical autonomy few instrumentalists are
afforded. His youthful embrace of the R&B, soul, pop, and eventually
rock genres produced swinging interpretations of "And I Love Her" and
"Walk on By," among others. Regardless of the genre, however, Kirk's
ability to Swing -- with a capitol "S" -- is imprinted upon every piece
he performed. Although Kirk continued his prolific output on Atlantic
records in the late '60s and '70s, arguably his most profound sides are
included here. We Free Kings, Domino, Reeds and Deeds, Gifts and
Messages, I Talk with the Spirits and Rip, Rig & Panic are offered
in their entirety. Undoubtedly the centerpiece of Kirk's work for the
label is the live Kirk in Copenhagen, which features some wicked harp
blowing from blues legend "Sonny Boy" Williamson, aka Big Skol. It is
only fitting that this album benefits so greatly from inclusion on this
set. The original six sides have been supplemented with an additional
ten to present the entire October '63 performance, now complete at an
hour and 45 minutes. Rahsaan: The Complete Mercury Recordings if Roland
Kirk is complimented visually with a 56-page information packed booklet
that includes: complete discographical and recording session logs, as
well individual essays for each disc. Although not for the light of
funds, this is truly the best way to become immersed in these early
works of Rahsaan Roland Kirk.
Hank Mobley - Complete Blue Note Fifties Sessions (6 CD, 1998) [FLAC]
Ella Fitzgerald - Twelve Nights In Hollywood (4 CD, 2009) [FLAC]
Ella Fitzgerald's Twelve Nights In Hollywood is 4-CD box set of 73 completely unreleased live recordings from Ella in her relaxed, absolute prime. For Twelve Nights In Hollywood Verve Select dug into the vault to collect the best of her performances across her extended 10-night 1961 engagement at Los Angeles' Crescendo Club - which originally resulted in the hit LP Ella In Hollywood - and her two-night return engagement the following year, presenting an unforgettable experience that puts you right in the front seat at the club, without repeating any performances from the original album. It includes several tracks never before heard by Ella live, tracks she had just recorded or had yet to record in the studio, and old chestnuts she revisited in a fresh way. Standouts among many across the four discs include "But Not For Me," "Nice Work If You Can Get It," "Perdido," "How High the Moon" and "When Your Lover Has Gone."
The Vandermark 5 - Alchemia [12 CD, 2005] (FLAC + 320)
People always asked why Grateful Dead fans used to tour with the band; the answer was that they never played the same show twice. This box-set recording of the Vandermark 5's five-night stand at the Alchemia Club in Krakow, Poland last March does not quite live up to that high standard, but it does offer a rare glimpse at a working band, well, working.These 12 full-length CDs document the Vandermark 5 playing at Alchemia, a major nightclub in Kraków, Poland, for a period of five evenings in March 2005. Over the course of well more than 12 hours of music, the quintet solidifies its reputation as one of the most innovative and exciting jazz groups of its time, as magic fills the air every night. It is difficult to imagine a more compelling set of modern jazz.
Sidney Bechet - Complete Edition Vol. 1-13 [13 CD, 1991/FLAC]
Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important soloists in jazz, and was perhaps the first notable jazz saxophonist.
Forceful delivery, well-constructed improvisations, and a distinctive, wide vibrato characterized Bechet's playing. Bechet's erratic temperament hampered his career, however, and not until the late 1940s did he earn wide acclaim.
Milt Jackson - La Ronde Suite (4 CD, 2005/FLAC)
Milt Jackson (born January 1, 1923, Detroit, Michigan, USA - died October 9, 1999, New York City, New York, USA) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, composer and bandleader.
He played with numerous artists, including Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Howard McGhee, Woody Herman, John Coltrane, The Modern Jazz Quartet and many others as well as in his own bands.
Fats Waller - Early, Middle & Last Years (1934-1943) (15 CD) [FLAC]
Not only was Fats Waller one of the greatest pianists jazz has ever known, he was also one of its most exuberantly funny entertainers -- and as so often happens, one facet tends to obscure the other. His extraordinarily light and flexible touch belied his ample physical girth; he could swing as hard as any pianist alive or dead in his classic James P. Johnson-derived stride manner, with a powerful left hand delivering the octaves and tenths in a tireless, rapid, seamless stream. Waller also pioneered the use of the pipe organ and Hammond organ in jazz -- he called the pipe organ the "God box" -- adapting his irresistible sense of swing to the pedals and a staccato right hand while making imaginative changes of the registration. As a composer and improviser, his melodic invention rarely flagged, and he contributed fistfuls of joyous yet paradoxically winsome songs like "Honeysuckle Rose," "Ain't Misbehavin,'" "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now," "Blue Turning Grey Over You" and the extraordinary "Jitterbug Waltz" to the jazz repertoire.
The Modern Jazz Quartet - The Complete Atlantic Studio Recordings 1956-64 [7 CD, 2011] [FLAC]
Even now, nearly sixty years later, it seems improbable that a group which came together as the rhythm section for one of the hottest players in bebop's genesis era, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, could morph into a standalone group that was the epitome of grace, elegance and cool dignity. But that's exactly what happened when Gillespie recruited pianist John Lewis (1920-2001), vibraphonist Milt Jackson (1923-1999), bassist Ray Brown (1926-2002) and drummer Kenny Clarke (1914-1985), giving the quartet an opportunity to shine as a discrete unit when it came time, during his sextet's exhausting sets, to give the horns a break, calling, "OK, band off!"
Roy Eldridge - The Complete Verve Roy Eldridge Studio Sessions [7 CD, 2003/FLAC]
7-disc CD box set from legendary trumpeter Roy Eldridge and the Verve Label. Includes his complete recordings 24-bit digitally remastered and booklet with rare photos.Born in Pittsburgh in 1911, he began playing professionally in carnival bands and such before making a name for himself in a few Midwest regional bands. He arrived in New York in 1931, where Elmer Snowden, McKinney’s Cotton Pickers and Teddy Hill all employed him. He also backed Billie Holiday and featured with Fletcher Henderson. In the late 1930s, he was leading his own octet in Chicago with brother Joe on alto saxophone..
Roy was a trailblazer socially as well as musically; in the 1940s, he joined Gene Krupa’s band, making him the first black musician to tour with Krupa. His classic version of “Rockin’ Chair” and the always enjoyable feature “Let Me Off Uptown” with Anita O’Day are from this period. He continued to perform and record as a leader, and worked for a stint with Artie Shaw (1944-45). Later in the 1940s, he hooked up with Benny Goodman, and also with Norman Granz for a tour in Europe with Jazz at the Philharmonic. But fearing that the modernists in jazz were getting all the attention Stateside, he stayed in Europe, believing his career in America was over.
What happened next is why these Verve recordings exist.
Billie Holiday - Lady Sings the Blues (10 CD, 2009/FLAC)
This 10-CD set covers many of Billie's studio and live performances
CD1 - I Cried for You
CD2 - Strange Fruit
CD3 - Do Your Duty
CD4 - Blue Turning Grey Over You
CD5 - If the Moon Turns Green
CD6 - God Bless the Child
CD7 - Willow Weep for Me
CD8 - I Get a Kick Out of You
CD9 - No Good Man
CD10 - A Foggy Day
Miles Davis- In Stockholm 1960 [4 CD, 1992] [FLAC]
Henry Threadgill - Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (8 CD, 2010/FLAC)
Only three jazz artists have won a Pulitzer Prize. In spring 2016, Henry Threadgill joined Ornette Coleman and Wynton Marsalis as Pulitzer laureates, when he was honored for In For A Penny, In For A Pound (Pi, 2015), the latest album by Zooid, his unconventional quintet (reeds, acoustic guitar, cello, tuba, drums).
“Unconventional” describes not just Henry Threadgill’s music, but his life.
Glenn Miller - The Complete Glenn Miller and his Orchestra (1938-1942) [13 CD, 1991/FLAC]
Every single Bluebird recording by the great bandleader, Glenn Miller,
all in one convenient compact set. Thirteen CD's in all, and everyone
packed to the max with music every bit as alive today as it was over 60
years ago. This is the sound that defined a generation and an era, all
from one man who knew what the record buying and jukebox playing
public wanted to hear.Just so you know, every charted song Mr. Miller released is here - all 127 charted hits - except two: Solo Hop on the Columbia label, and Every Day's A Holiday which was on the Brunswick label (hence the reason for these two numbers not being included - they are not Bluebird or Victor releases!). Plus so many more songs that are, to me, every bit as good as the hits. Along with that there are some very good alternate takes on disc 13.
Glenn Miller - The Missing Chapters Volume 1-9 (1995-1998/FLAC)
Glenn Miller's reign as the most popular bandleader in the U.S. came relatively late in his career and was relatively brief, lasting only about three and a half years, from the spring of 1939 to the fall of 1942. But during that period he utterly dominated popular music, and over time he has proven the most enduring figure of the swing era, with reissues of his recordings achieving gold record status 40 years after his death. Miller developed a distinctive sound in which a high-pitched clarinet carried the melody, doubled by a saxophone section playing an octave lower, and he used that sound to produce a series of hits that remain definitive examples of swing music. Miller's approach is not much appreciated by jazz fans, who prefer bands that allow for greater improvisation than was found in his highly disciplined, rigorously rehearsed unit. But he brought the swing style of popular music to a level of sophistication and commercial acceptance it had not previously achieved and would not see again after his untimely passing.
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
Albert Ayler - Holy Ghost Rare & unissued recordings (1962-1970) [10 CD, 2004/FLAC]
Holy Ghost: Rare & Unissued Recordings (1962–70) is a compilation album by avant-garde saxophonist Albert Ayler released by Revenant Records in 2004.
The 10-CD Box Set, housed in a reproduction "Spirit Box" contains live performances recorded by Ayler in Helsinki, Copenhagen, New York City, Cleveland, Berlin, Rotterdam, Newport and Saint-Paul-de-Vence over an eight-year period and features a variety of line-ups which include Cecil Taylor, Sunny Murray, Jimmy Lyons, Gary Peacock, Don Cherry, Rashied Ali, Donald Ayler, Ronald Shannon Jackson, Michael Samson, Frank Wright, Beaver Harris, Pharoah Sanders, Richard Davis, Sam Rivers, and Muhammad Ali.
The set includes two discs of interviews, reproductions of memorabilia, a Forget-me-not, and a bonus disc featuring Ayler's recordings with the 76th A.G. Army Band.
George Duke - My Soul: The Complete MPS Fusion Recordings [4 CD, 2008/FLAC]
An amazing package of work from George Duke - 6 of his legendary fusion albums for MPS Records, including the never-reissued double-length set Solus / The Inner Source!
That incredible album is worth the price of the package alone - as it
begins with some sublime trio work from Duke, rooted in jazz but
already stretching out in amazing ways - then moves into some even
hipper Latin-styled grooves, with Jerome Richardson on reeds and Luis Gasca on a bit of trumpet!Other albums in the set are equally great - and trace Duke's evolution from straighter jazz into funky freer fusion and soul - an incredible musical shift that's presented on the albums Faces In Reflection, Feel, I Love The Blues She Heard My Cry, The Aura Will Prevail, and Liberated Fantasies - each of them classics in their own right, presented together wonderfully here in this complete MPS package! The set is amazing - with a whopping 64 titles in all, and complete notes on all the music - including some recollections from Duke himself.
Thelonious Monk - The Riverside Tenor Sessions (7 CD, 1998/FLAC)
Despite various reissue formats over several decades, the seven original LPs contained in Thelonious Monk -- The Riverside Tenor Sessions stood perfectly well on their own at the time of initial release and remain among the highest achievements of a truly golden age. Recorded and released between 1956 and 1961, these seven Monk combo albums were critical in Monk's emergence from a decade of ridicule and neglect to his status at the pinnacle of the jazz pantheon. In addition to some of his best recorded piano performances and more than two dozen of his profoundly personal compositions, these albums provide an overview of the era's major tenor saxophonists, with contributions by Sonny Rollins, Coleman Hawkins, John Coltrane, Johnny Griffin, Charlie Rouse and Harold Land. Max Roach, Art Blakely, Roy Haynes and Thad Jones are among the other jazz immortals featured on the essential Brilliant Corners, Monk's Music, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane, Thelonious in Action, Misterioso, 5 by Monk by 5 and Quartet Plus Two at the Blackhawk. Like the Miles Davis quintet records contained in Analogue Productions' Miles Davis Quintet: The Prestige Recordings, these Monk albums are among the pinnacle of the LP art -- and they have never sounded better.
Ken Burns Jazz: The Story of American Music [22 CD, 2000] [FLAC]
Jazz
was a 2000 documentary miniseries, directed by Ken Burns. It was
broadcast on PBS in 2001, and was released on DVD later that year by the
same company.On November 7, 2000, 22 companion single-artist compilation albums, all titled Ken Burns Jazz, were released by the Verve and Columbia/Legacy labels.
The following albums were released by Verve:
- Count Basie - Allmusic link
- Art Blakey - Allmusic link
- John Coltrane - Allmusic link
- Ella Fitzgerald - Allmusic link
- Dizzy Gillespie - Allmusic link
- Coleman Hawkins - Allmusic link
- Billie Holiday - Allmusic link
- Charlie Parker - Allmusic link
- Sonny Rollins - Allmusic link
- Sarah Vaughan - Allmusic link
- Lester Young - Allmusic link
- Louis Armstrong - Allmusic link
- Sidney Bechet - Allmusic link
- Dave Brubeck - Allmusic link
- Ornette Coleman - Allmusic link
- Miles Davis - Allmusic link
- Duke Ellington - Allmusic link
- Benny Goodman - Allmusic link
- Herbie Hancock - Allmusic link
- Fletcher Henderson - Allmusic link
- Charles Mingus - Allmusic link
- Thelonious Monk - Allmusic link
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