Bill Bruford's Earthworks - Footloose and Fancy Free [2002]

While the music made by Bill Bruford's earlier Earthworks band was consistently more interesting, his current lineup continues to make great strides given its more traditional stance (post-bop acoustic piano/saxophone quartet verses ultra-modern Euro-jazz fusion). On the live Footloose and Fancy Free, the group exceeds its own studio performances with room to spare. The lovely ballad "Come to Dust" is a fine showcase for pianist Steve Hamilton, and Bruford's punchy drumming moves a complex "Triplicity." Even non-Earthworks tunes from Bruford's late-'90s collaborations with Tony Levin ("Original Sin") and Ralph Towner ("If Summer Had Its Ghosts") get inspiring interpretations as well, thanks to the well-seasoned playing of both tenor/alto saxophonist Patrick Calahar and Hamilton.  

Sarah Vaughan - The Complete Sarah Vaughan on Mercury Vol. 4 (1963 1967) [6 CD, 1987]

 

The fourth of four box sets reissuing every recording Sarah Vaughan made for the Mercury and EmArcy labels (including many previously unreleased performances) starts off (after four orchestra tracks) with its strongest selections, no less than 32 songs recorded during a live four-day engagement in Copenhagen during which the singer is accompanied by the Kirk Stuart Trio. Everything else on this six-CD set is somewhat anticlimactic in comparison, for Vaughan is otherwise hindered a bit by string orchestras, a big band and/or a choir. Better to get the live sessions (released as Sassy Swings the Tivoli in addition to a Japanese set by the same name that has extra material) instead although lovers of Vaughan's voice will want to pick up this large reissue anyway.

Miles Davis - On The Crest Of The Airwaves [4 CD, 2011]

  

4 x CD in book/DVD-style tall packaging.

Containing 3 rare and previously unreleased concerts from San Francisco 1970, England 1970 and Melbourne Australia 1988. These concerts highlight the genius that was Miles Davies and are also an important piece of jazz history. All discs have been digitally remastered for superior sound quality .The iconic artwork and in dept sleeve notes make this a must have release for all true jazz fans

Thad Jones - The Complete Blue Note/UA/Roulette Recordings (3 CD, 1997)

  

The Complete Blue Note/UA/Roulette Recordings of Thad Jones is a wonderful limited-edition three-disc box set, containing everything the trumpeter recorded for the labels in the late '50s. Jones was a fantastic hard bop trumpeter, and the set captures him in all of his glory, making it of interest to serious hard bop connoisseurs.

VA - Central Avenue Sounds: Jazz In Los Angeles (1921-1956) [4 CD, 1999]

  

Throughout the history of jazz, mythical places like New Orleans's Storyville, Chicago's South Side, Kansas City's Tenderloin district, and New York's Harlem and 52nd Street were celebrated as the legendary hotspots. Thankfully, this impressive four-CD, 91-track collection featuring Nat "King" Cole, Louis Armstrong, and Benny Carter to name a few, puts Los Angeles's famous African-American enclave, Central Avenue, on the historical map and offers the listener a zoot-suited, jitterbugged jaunt through Club Alabam, The Downbeat, and other jumpin' joints where Hollywood stars rubbed shoulders with hep cats under a pulsating Pacific sky.

Sarah Vaughan - The Complete Sarah Vaughan On Mercury.Vol.3- Great Show On Stage; 1957-1959 [6 CD, 1987]

 The third of four Sarah Vaughan Mercury box sets (this one has six CDs) traces her career during the last two and a half years of the 1950s. There are several very interesting sessions (expanded greatly by the inclusion of many previously unissued performances) on this box including 21 numbers from a gig at Mister Kelly's in Chicago with her trio (led by pianist Jimmy Jones), a meeting with the Count Basie Orchestra that resulted in the album No Count Sarah, and a live set with a septet (which includes cornetist Thad Jones and the tenor of Frank Wess) at the London House in Chicago. In addition, there are quite a few commercial sides with large orchestras (including some sessions arranged by Quincy Jones), so overall this box lets one hear the many sides of Sarah Vaughan; a special highlight is her first recorded version of "Misty." The reissue (and the other three volumes) is a must for Sarah Vaughan's greatest fans although more general listeners may want to acquire one of the less expensive) single CDs instead.

Miles Davis - All Miles: The Prestige Albums [14 CD, 2009]

 

Import pressing of this 14 CD box set from the Jazz giant containing all of the albums recorded for the Prestige label. This box set features the albums Dig (with Sonny Rollins), And Horns, Collector's Items, Blue Haze, Walkin', Bag's Groove, Miles Davis & The Modern Jazz Giants, The Musings Of Miles, Quintet/Sextet, The New Miles Davis Quintet, Steamin' With The Miles Davis Quintet, Workin' With The Miles Davis Quintet, Relaxin' With The Miles Davis Quintet and Cookin' With The Miles Davis Quintet.


Albums:

CD 01 Prestige 7025 – Miles Davis and Horns (1953)
CD 02 Prestige 7012 – Dig (1951)
CD 03 Prestige 7044 – Collectors’ Items (1956)
CD 04 Prestige 7054 – Blue Haze (1954)
CD 05 Prestige 7076 – Miles Davis All Stars – Walkin’
CD 06 Prestige 7109 – Bag’s Groove (1954)
CD 07 Prestige 7150 – Miles Davis and The Modern Jazz Giants (1956)
CD 08 Prestige 7007 – Musings of Miles (1955)
CD 09 Prestige 7034 – Miles Davis and Milt Jackson Quintet Sextet (1955)
CD 10 Prestige 7014 – Miles – The New Miles Davis Quintet (1955)
CD 11 Prestige 7094 – Cookin’ With the Miles Davis Quintet (1956)
CD 12 Prestige 7129 – Relaxin’ With The Miles Davis Quintet (1956)
CD 13 Prestige 7166 – Workin’ With the Miles Davis Quintet (1956)
CD 14 Prestige 7200 – Steamin’ with The Miles Davis Quintet (1956)

Charlie Christian - The Genius of the Electric Guitar [4 CD, 2002]

First, a few myths get cleared up by the very existence of this box, which goes far beyond the original Columbia compilations with the same name. For starters, Columbia goes a long way to setting the record straight that Charlie Christian was not the first electric guitarist or the first jazz guitarist or the first electric guitarist in jazz. For another, they concentrate on only one thing here: documenting Christian's seminal tenure with Benny Goodman's various bands from 1939-1941. While in essence, that's all there really is, various dodgy compilations have been made advertising Christian playing with Lester Young or Lionel Hampton.

Sarah Vaughan - Complete Sarah Vaughan on Mercury Vol.2 - Sings Great American Songs (1956-1957) [5 CD, 1986]

 

This five-CD box set, the second of four volumes that reissue all of Sarah Vaughan's recordings for Mercury and EmArcy (plus many previously unissued performances) contains her exploration of Gershwin songs, 13 vocal duets with her close friend Billy Eckstine and just five jazz numbers with her trio; all of the other selections feature Vaughan backed by large studio orchestras, usually led by Hal Mooney. Most of the material is a bit commercial (certainly the arrangements tend to be) but Sarah Vaughan generally uplifts the songs and overcomes her surroundings. Still, listeners strictly interested in her jazz performances are advised to get some of her single CD collections instead. 

Stan Getz - The Bossa Nova Albums [5 CD, 2008]

 The Bossa Nova Albums collects five of the pinnacle recordings from the best American foray into Brazilian jazz, which began in 1962 with the Stan Getz/Charlie Byrd collaboration Jazz Samba and peaked one year later with the fourth album in the ad hoc series, Getz/Gilberto (which would have been better titled Getz/Gilberto/Jobim). Getz/Gilberto's high place in musical history would be assured even without the immense success of Astrud Gilberto's vocalizing on "The Girl from Ipanema." The album was pivotal in repositioning American musical consciousness to include the soft textures and nimble playing of João Gilberto's guitar and Antonio Carlos Jobim's piano, and it influenced the material that a wide range of singers included on their albums. Admirably, Getz only continued to use his position to introduce great Brazilian musicians to the record-buying public; he recorded Jazz Samba Encore! with Luiz Bonfá, a better guitarist than even Gilberto, and Stan Getz with Guest Artist Laurindo Almeida (the latter recorded only two days after Getz/Gilberto was finished). Beyond the uniformly excellent music, this specific set does nothing more than repackage five separately available CDs, all of which featured up-to-date mastering but not the bonus tracks of previous editions; there isn't even a booklet or a single liner note beyond what was on the original LPs. For the full story and additional material, including tracks from the piecemeal Getz/Gilberto #2, Getz's The Bossa Nova Years box set is still the one to beat.