VA - Blue Note Explosion: African Rhythms (2 CD, 2008/FLAC)

 

A double CD collection of mainly hard bop recordings from between 1954 and 1970 that are described as "Afrocentric homages to a spiritual homeland".

Tal Farlow - The Complete Verve Sessions [7 CD, 2004/FLAC]

  

These recordings should establish Tal Farlow's standing as one of the best jazz guitarists of all time. Farlow (1921-1998) wasn't consistently active as a performer throughout much of his adult life. In fact, his reputation is founded mainly on his recorded and live work from the Fifties, after which he appeared on the scene only intermittently until his death.

This 7-CD collection spanning 1951-59 is more than enough to solidify his legacy. Farlow's career began slowly. As a teenager he picked up tips from his father, an amateur musician, but otherwise, was self-taught. Originally, he drew inspiration from piano titan Art Tatum, especially Tatum's harmonic conception and use of substitute chords. Then he was fascinated by Charlie Christian playing hornlike lines with an electric guitar for Benny Goodman. He built his own electric guitar and played frequently with local dance bands, influenced by Lester Young and later Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Farlow played gigs in New York as early as 1947 and was with vibist Red Norvo from 1950 to '53. He began recording with Norvo in the early Fifties, and the first tracks on this set are with Red, playing interesting arrangements of "Tenderly," "I Remember You," and "Skylark." The Norvo trio was an early chamber jazz band. Like it, Farlow relied on standards in his repertoire. Farlow sounds fine here; he'd already assimilated his influences and developed a unique style. Perhaps the easiest way to identify Farlow was by his amazing chops. He played rich lines even at very fast tempos, which most guitarists could barely make. Along the way he developed techniques of his own; he was especially good at playing harmonics and used his thumb in a manner similar to Wes Montgomery. (They came upon this technique independent of each other.) Here Farlow mostly plays in trio and quartet settings with bass, piano, and drums accompaniment. He's astounding. No matter how fast the tempos, he improvises lines loaded with fresh ideas. He brings all registers of the guitar into play stimulatingly and functions very well as an accompanist. On a few selections he performs admirably on acoustic guitar.

Bunny Berigan And His Orchestra - The Chronological Classics 1935-1942 (5 CD, 1993-1995/FLAC)

 

Roland Bernard "Bunny" Berigan (November 2, 1908 – June 2, 1942) was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader who rose to fame during the swing era. His career and influence were shortened by alcoholism and ended with his early demise at the age of 33 from cirrhosis. Although he composed some jazz instrumentals such as "Chicken and Waffles" and "Blues", Berigan was best known for his virtuoso jazz trumpeting. His 1937 classic recording "I Can't Get Started" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1975.

Django Reinhardt - Djangologie 1928-1950 [20 CD, 2009]

 

The 20 cd Djangologie box set is the place to go once you've decided to take the plunge into Django's music. It covers all 4 decades chronologically, but rather than trying to comprehensively collect all of Django's recordings (including all of the ones where he is a sideman in dance bands etc) it largely concentrates on the Quintette and other small group recordings, which is what most people want to hear. The sound quality is very good and relatively consistent throughout the collection.

Arcana - Arc of the Testimony (1997/2021 remaster/FLAC)

 Arc of the Testimony is the second and final album by American jazz fusion band Arcana. It was released on bassist Bill Laswell's Axiom label on October 14, 1997. Unlike the trio configuration on the first album, this project features a spacier, slightly less abstract form of fusion music. Bill Laswell and drummer Tony Williams composed and developed the music, and co-produced the album together.

Laswell invited a number of musicians to contribute, including legendary tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. Other contributors included alto saxophonist Byard Lancaster, and electric guitarists Nicky Skopelitis and Buckethead. Tony Williams died suddenly on February 23, 1997 while this album was still in production, and thus it represents his last recorded work. 

- Bill Laswell / bass, producer

- Tony Williams / drums

With:

- Graham Haynes / coronet

- Buckethead / guitar

- Nicky Skopelitis / guitar

- Peter Apfelbaum / sax

- Byard Lancaster / sax

- Pharoah Sanders / sax

Herbie Mann - Original Album Series (5 CD, 2011/FLAC)

 

CD1 - Herbie Mann at the Village Gate (1961) 

CD2 - Do the Bossa Nova with Herbie Mann (1962) 

CD3 - Nirvana (with the Bill Evans Trio) (1964) 

CD4 - Muscle Shoals Nitty Gritty (1970) 

CD5 - Hold On, I'm Comin' (1973) 

The Harold Land - Carmell Jones Quintets - Complete Studio Recordings (2 CD, 2007/FLAC)

This excellent compilation documents the musical collaboration between saxophonist Harold Land and trumpeter Carmell Jones. Though perhaps best known for his appearance on Horace Silver’s classic album, “Song for My Father”, Jones recorded a handful of fine dates with Land in the early 1960s: “The Remarkable Carmell Jones”, “Hear Ye”, “Jazz Impressions of Folk Music” and “Business Meetin’”. The first three albums are reproduced in their entirety here, as well as a few selections from the last. Among the sidemen are pianist Frank Strazzeri, and bassist Red Mitchell (who received co-billing with Land on “Hear Ye”). Land and Jones work beautifully together—a strong musical synergy between them. Their partnership may not have produced a whole lot of albums, but what it did produce was hard bop of the highest calibre.

VA - Latin Rhythms Collection (8 CD, 2011/FLAC)

 

• CD1 - Tito Puente and his Orchestra - Cha Cha 
• CD2 - Perez Prado - Kings of Mambo 
• CD3 - Aragon Orquesta Cubana - Cha cha cha, Maracas, Bongo y Conga 
• CD4 - The Rene Bloch Orchestra - Mucho rock with Rene Bloch 
• CD5 - Xavier Cugat - Cugat`s Favorite Rumbas
• CD6 - Benny Bennett & his Latin Orchestra - Sexy Mambo 
• CD7 - Ben and The Tropical Rhythm Kings - El Negro Zumbon 
• CD8 - The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra - Tea for Two Cha Chas 

Yusef Lateef - Yusef's Mood : Complete 1957 Sessions with Hugh Lawson (4 CD, 2008/FLAC)

 

This massive four-disc set of Yusef Lateef's first recordings as a leader was issued by Spain's Fresh Sound imprint and contains a total of eight different records, all but one recorded under the guidance of engineer Rudy Van Gelder for the Savoy, Verve, and Prestige/New Jazz imprints. Considering he was 37 when he began recording as a leader -- and had served tenures in New York with Hot Lips Page, Roy Eldridge, and Ernie Fields -- Lateef was fully developed as a composer and arranger. His band for these sessions is stellar. His Detroit crew was comprised of monsters even as the band mutated a bit: the original unit featured Lateef with trombonist Curtis Fuller, bassist Ernie Farrow, pianist Hugh Lawson, and drummer Louis Hayes. Changes would take place later in the year: Oliver Jackson replaced Hayes, and flugelhorn boss Wilbur Harden took over the chair vacated by Fuller. In the Lateef vision, these differences were all part of the plan: exploring his passions in uniting African and Asian folk traditions with American music. 

Shelly Manne - Here That's Manne - Shelly Manne & His Men, Septet And Quintet Sessions 1951-1958 (3 CD, 2009/FLAC)

 

Shelly Manne made a countless number of records from the 1940s into the '80s but is best-known as a good-humored bandleader who never hogged the spotlight. Originally a saxophonist, Manne switched to drums when he was 18 and started working almost immediately. He was with Joe Marsala's band (making his recording debut in 1941), played briefly in the big bands of Will Bradley, Raymond Scott, and Les Brown and was on drums for Coleman Hawkins's classic "The Man I Love" session of late 1943. Manne worked on and off with Stan Kenton during 1946-1952, also touring with Jazz at the Philharmonic (1948-1949), and gigging with Woody Herman (1949). After leaving Kenton, Manne moved to Los Angeles where he became the most in-demand of all jazz drummers. He began recording as a leader (his first session was cut in Chicago in 1951) on a regular basis starting in 1953 when he first put together the quintet Shelly Manne & His Men. Among the sidemen who were in his band during their long string of Contemporary recordings (1955-1962) were Stu Williamson, Conte Candoli, Joe Gordan, Bob Enevoldsen, Joe Maini, Charlie Mariano, Herb Geller, Bill Holman, Jimmy Giuffre, Richie Kamuca, Victor Feldman, Russ Freeman, Ralph Pena, Leroy Vinnegar, and Monty Budwig. Manne, who had the good fortune to be the leader of a date by the André Previn Trio that resulted in a major seller (jazz versions of tunes from My Fair Lady), always had an open musical mind and he recorded some fairly free pieces on The Three and the Two (trios with Shorty Rogers and Jimmy Giuffre that did not have a piano or bass, along with duets with Russ Freeman), and enjoyed playing on an early session with Ornette Coleman. In addition to his jazz work, Manne appeared on many film soundtracks and even acted in The Man with the Golden Arm. He ran the popular club Shelly's Manne-Hole during 1960-1974, kept his music open to freer sounds (featuring trumpeter Gary Barone and tenor saxophonist John Gross during 1969-1972), played with the L.A. Four in the mid-'70s, and was very active up until his death. Throughout his career Shelly Manne recorded as a leader for Savoy, Interlude, Contemporary, Jazz Groove, Impulse, Verve, Capitol, Atlantic, Concord, Mainstream, Flying Dutchman, Discovery, Galaxy, Pausa, Trend, and Jazziz, in addition to a few Japanese labels.