George Shearing, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Louis Stewart – The MPS Trio Sessions (4 CD, 2007/FLAC)

 

For those fortunate enough to hear and own the immaculately produced Germany/Black Forest based MPS recordings, distributed as imported pristine virgin vinyl LPs that were pressed in the '70s, you already know the quality of this four-CD set of George Shearing's trio. With the peerless Dane Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and Ireland's genius guitarist Louis Stewart, they can hardly do anything wrong musically. The first three CDs have Shearing playing standards, occasionally contemporizing his repertoire on Chick Corea's "Windows" and "500 Miles High," doing NHØP's "Cowboy Santa" and "My Little Anna," and offering two of his own originals, "The Fourth Deuce" and "G & G." The final CD has the threesome accompanied by strings, arranged and conducted by the brilliant Robert Farnon, and while a bit syrupy, lend pleasant late-night contrast at the end of a long day to the proceedings. This is a welcome addition to Shearing's collections discography, and a reminder of how good, in a short time period, MPS and producer Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer were. 

VA - Blue Note Explosion - The Funk Jazz Brothers (2 CD, 2008/FLAC)

 

A compilation like this one is where Blue Note Records in the European Union has it all over us Americanskis. This 19-track double disc goes deep into the label's classics to pull out gem after gem of classic no-holds-barred quintessential soul-jazz and early jazz-funk. Lou Donaldson's "Hot Dog," Gene Harris' smokin' "Put on Train," and Reuben Wilson's "Love Bug" -- which have been sampled on countless hip-hop records -- are among the slew of well-known cuts here. But for every one of these there is a hidden nugget of pure funky gold, including cuts like Bobby Hutcherson's popping reads of Sly Stone's "Family Affair" and Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues," Candido's "I'm on My Way," and Grant Green's "I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing." The sequencing is dead-on, where the groove moves from intense heat to simmering nocturnal love burn and then party-down rowdy and back again. Simply put, this is one of those comps where there isn't a weak moment in the bunch throughout its nearly two hours. Check the disc one opener, Brother Jack McDuff's "Butter for You Popcorn," with a full-blown horn section on top of nasty electric guitar and drums, and you know you've arrived in the right spot. 

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. 

Bud Shank & Bob Cooper - Mosaic Select 10 (3 CD, 2004/FLAC)

 

For hardcore West Coast jazz fans, this Mosaic Select volume will be a kind of treasure-trove, though for most it will simply be a compelling curiosity piece. The collaborations of saxophonist and flutist Bud Shank and arranger, saxophonist, and oboist Bob Cooper created some tumult in the mid-1950s, when they recorded four albums together with various-sized ensembles, and, to a lesser degree, on Shank's date with Bob Brookmeyer arranged by Cooper. All tolled, there are five albums on these three discs: Bud Shank and Bob Brookmeyer (along with the session's remaining tracks that showed up on Bud Shank and Three Trombones on Pacific Jazz), Jazz at Cal-Tech (Pacific Jazz), Flute and Oboe (World Pacific), Swing's to TV, as well as the cuts from Jazz Swings Broadway (World Pacific) and of course, the classic, Blowin' Country (World Pacific). The quark strangeness and charm of these recordings cannot be underestimated, and neither can their swing. With sidemen like pianist Claude Williamson, drummers Chuck Flores or Shelly Manne, bassist Don Prell and others, these dates have a kind of quaintness that dates them in that restless yet ultra-hip period in the 1950s when almost anything went as long as it swung, and that stood outside the entire hard bop scene. These sides are not for everyone, but they are priceless for the sheer sophistication and adventurousness of their arrangements and the interplay between Shank and Cooper, which was symbiotic. A very fine idea by the folks at Mosaic. 

• Bud Shank (flute, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone)
• Howard Roberts (guitar) 
• Benny Gill, Samuel Cytron, Tibor Zelig, Sam Caplan, Milton Feher, Marshall Sosson (violin, strings)
• Jack Pepper, Robert Sushel, Eudice Shapiro (violin)
• Myron Sandler, Louis Kievman (viola, strings)
• Milton Thomas (viola) 
• Paul Bergstrom, Ray Kramer (cello, strings) 
• Bob Cooper (bass clarinet, oboe, tenor saxophone) 
• Maynard Ferguson, Stu Williamson , Bob Brookmeyer, Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone)
• Claude Williamson (piano)
• Chuck Flores , Larry Bunker, Shelly Manne (drums)

Herbie Mann & Chick Corea - The Complete Latin Band Sessions (2 CD, 2007/FLAC)

 Two CD set containing the complete recordings of Herbie Mann with Chick Corea, consisting of the three complete albums Monday Night at the Village Gate, Standing Ovation at Newport and Latin Mann: Afro to Bossa to Blues (all recorded in 1965), plus all seven of the tracks from the album The Roar of the Greasepaint the Smell of the Crowd in which both musicians are present.

The Latin Jazz Band:

• Herbie Mann - Fflute
• Chick Corea - Piano
• Dave Pike - Vvibe
• Carlos “Patato” Valdes - Congas

John Coltrane & Paul Quinichette - Cattin' with Coltrane and Quinichette (1957/2016/FLAC)

 Cattin' with Coltrane and Quinichette is an album by jazz musicians John Coltrane and Paul Quinichette, released in 1959 on Prestige Records, catalogue 7158. It was recorded at the studio of Rudy Van Gelder in Hackensack, New Jersey, and issued two years after the recording sessions took place, and after Coltrane's contract had already run out with the label.

• John Coltrane – tenor saxophone (except on #3 & #6)
• Paul Quinichette – tenor saxophone
• Julian Euell – double bass
• Ed Thigpen – drums
• Mal Waldron – piano

Chet Baker - The Pacific Jazz Collection (4 CD, 2016/FLAC)

 

A master of the trumpet and a much-heralded vocalist, Chet Baker s string of classic albums and his seemingly effortless cool style have earned him a legendary reputation which still rivals that of any other jazz musician. Esteemed jazz historian Dave Gelly described the trumpeter s image as a blend of James Dean, Sinatra and Bix, rolled into one . A musical icon of the 1950s and 60s, Baker s playing, singing and style would go on to influence countless others who came along in his wake. This four disc collection, containing over five hours of music in total, brings together the finest records made by Chet Baker for Pacific Jazz. Demonstrating the creation of a true jazz icon and tracking his development from his earliest recordings to his departure from the label with whom he made his name, these albums are presented here faithfully remastered and in the best possible quality, and form not just the perfect introduction to this master musician, but equally provide an a enthralling glimpse of an essential contribution to American musical history.

Stan Getz - Kind of Getz (10 CD, 2009/FLAC)

 Stan Getz (born Feb. 2, 1927, Philadelphia, PA., U.S.—died June 6, 1991, Malibu, CA), American jazz tenor saxophonist, perhaps the best-known musician of jazz’s “cool school,” noted for his mellow, lush tone.

Getz began studying the saxophone at age 13 and made his professional debut at 15. He played with the bands of Jack Teagarden, Stan Kenton, Jimmy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman, and he made some recordings under his own name in 1946. Getz’s breakthrough came the following year, when he was hired for Woody Herman’s Second Herd orchestra. As a member of an unusual sax section—three tenors and a baritone—Getz was one of the Herman band’s “Four Brothers,” who specialized in cool-toned modern jazz. Noted Getz solos during his tenure with Herman include his turn on the song “Four Brothers” (1947) and, especially, his celebrated performance of “Early Autumn” (1948). His tone was featherlight, vibratoless, and pure and showed the influence of his idol, Lester Young. Within a few years, Getz would perfect his own somewhat detached style, the cool jazz characteristic of the West Coast jazz movement, in which overt emotionalism was held in check.

For the next few years, Getz led quartets and quintets that featured such discoveries as pianist Horace Silver, guitarist Jimmy Raney, and trombonist Bob Brookmeyer. Getz was also prominently featured on guitarist Johnny Smith’s hit recording of “Moonlight in Vermont” in 1952. He worked sporadically with Stan Kenton during this period and participated in several of Norman Granz’s Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts in Los Angeles.

Serge Chaloff - The Complete Serge Chaloff Sessions (4 CD, 1993/FLAC)

 This is the type of project the Mosaic label does best: releasing the complete output as a leader of a classic jazz musician including obscurities and a couple of fairly well-known sessions. Serge Chaloff, one of the top baritone-saxophonists in jazz history, is featured as the leader of bop-based small groups on sessions originally out on Dial, Savoy, Futurama, Motif, Storyville, and Capitol. Such sidemen as trumpeters Red Rodney and Herb Pomeroy, tenorman Al Cohn, altoist Charlie Mariano and Boots Mussuli, vibraphonist Terry Gibbs, and pianists Ralph Burns, George Wallington, Dick Twardzik, Russ Freeman, Barbara Carroll, and Sonny Clark have solo space, but it is the somewhat forgotten Chaloff who rightfully is the main focus. A definitive booklet rounds out this essential package.

Gene Ammons' All- Stars - Groove Blues / The Big Sound (2 CD/FLAC)

 Two original LPs on two CD

CD 1 Groove Blues

CD 2 The Big Sound