Charlie Parker - Chasin' the Bird (4 CD, 2005)

 

What sets apart the budget compilations on the Synergy label is their sound. Each track is remastered using a trademark process. The liner notes are workmanlike but offer helpful information to the novice (though there is no personnel listed). The material here comes from the fevered pitch of bebop's birth and covers the years 1946-48. Some of the classics on this collection are "Relaxin at Camarillo," "Yardbird Suite," "Parker's Mood," "Chasin the Bird," and "Moose the Mooche." For those seeking to have just a bit of Bird in their respective CD collections, this is a nice place to start.

Chet Baker - For Lovers (3 CD, 2018/FLAC)

 In his dual role as a trumpeter and as a singer, Chet Baker was one of the undisputed masters of the jazz ballad, able to reach climaxes of intense feeling and intimacy. This set compiles some of his best performances of the genre, all of which are studio recordings with excellent sound quality.  Baker is accompanied here by other jazz giants such as Bill Evans, Pepper Adams, Kenny Burrell, Kenny Drew, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones. 

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

Duke Ellington - Happy Birthday, Duke!, Vol.1-5 [1992/FLAC]

 

The liner notes neglect to mention in what year this April 29th birthday performance was recorded, but given the orchestra's lineup and set choices, 1953 or 1954 is likely. Unlike the majority of recently-discovered live tapes, this dance at Portland's McElroy's Ballroom was professionally recorded (by the great engineer Wally Heider) and so the sound is astonishing. This five-CD series is easily the best representation we have of Ellington's early-'50s lineup in an intimate ballroom dance setting.

Art Pepper - Unreleased Art, Vol.11: Atlanta (2 CD, 2020/FLAC)

 

• Art Pepper - alto saxophone
• Milcho Leviev - piano
• Bob Magnusson - bass
• Carl Burnett - drums

Recorded in Atlanta, GA in May 1980.

Thelonious Monk - The Complete Albums Collection 1954-57 (5 CD, 2015/FLAC)

Thelonious Sphere Monk was one of the finest pianists and composers in American jazz history. His unique improvisational style made heavy use of dissonances and angular melodic twists, and were consistent with Monk's unorthodox approach to the piano, which combined a highly percussive attack with abrupt, dramatic use of silences and hesitations. Monk is the second-most recorded jazz composer of all time, second only to Duke Ellington, and is one of only five jazz musicians to feature on the front cover of Time magazine.

Cannonball Adderley - The Complete Albums Collection 1955-1958 [4 CD, 2016/FLAC]

 

Cannonball Adderley remains one of the most respected and fondly-remembered saxophonists in all of jazz. With a sound that was uniquely his own and a repertoire that saw him support - and in turn be supported by - some of the greatest musicians and groups to emerge during the period, Adderley is the stuff of legend and his catalog of work is still today among the finest of any jazz master.

George Benson - Original Album Series Vol.2 [5 CD, 2013/FLAC]

 

CD1: In Flight (1977)

CD2: Livin' Inside Your Love (1979)

CD3: In Your Eyes (1983)

CD4: 20/20 (1985)

CD5: Twice The Love (1988)

 

Terell Stafford - Brotherlee Love: Celebrating Lee Morgan [2015/FLAC]

 

Trumpeter Terell Stafford pays tribute to jazz legend Lee Morgan on 2015's Brotherlee Love: Celebrating Lee Morgan. Joining Stafford here are longtime associates saxophonist Tim Warfield, pianist Bruce Barth, bassist Peter Washington, and drummer Dana Hall. Together, Stafford and his ensemble jump headlong into a handful of songs composed and/or strongly associated with Morgan.

Donald Byrd & Gigi Gryce - Complete Jazz Lab Studio Sessions 1957 (3CD, 2006/FLAC)

 

Jazz Lab is an album by American jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd and saxophonist Gigi Gryce, released in 1957 by Columbia.

Alto saxophonist/arranger Gigi Gryce and trumpeter Donald Byrd's innovative, but unfortunately short-lived Jazz Lab Quintet recorded several sides during 1957, seven of which were released on this excellent Columbia album (a handful of other titles were collectively made for Riverside, Verve, and RCA). The nucleus band of Gryce, Byrd, pianist Tommy Flanagan (a spot also filled by Wade Legge and Hank Jones), bassist Wendell Marshall, and drummer Art Taylor are augmented on four cuts here by trombonists Benny Powell and Jimmy Cleveland, French horn player Julius Watkins, baritone saxophonist Sahib Shihab, and tuba player Don Butterfield. The expanded ensemble turn in fleetly swinging renditions of Horace Silver's "Speculation" and Gryce's "Nica's Tempo," while varying the mood a bit with a ballad reading of Benny Golson's "I Remember Clifford" and a Far East-tinged waltz take on Randy Weston's "Little Niles" (shades of Miles Davis' Birth of the Cool group are heard in the complex, yet featherweight arrangements by Gryce). The quintet tracks include Gryce's "Sans Souci" and a provocative version of "Over the Rainbow." With some of the best arrangements heard in jazz and excellent solos by Gryce, Byrd, and Flanagan, Jazz Lab makes for an excellent introduction to the hard bop catalog.