The Thelonious Monk Quartet - The Complete Columbia Studio Albums (6 CD, 2012/FLAC)

 The Thelonious Monk Quartet: The Complete Columbia Studio Albums brings together the most popular of Monk's recordings of the period, including Monk's Dream (1962), Criss Cross (1962), It's Monk's Time (1964), Monk (1964), Straight, No Chaser (1966) and Underground (1967); albums that found the influential and iconoclastic pianist and composer collaborating with one of the most sympathetic interpreters of his lyrical and thorny music, the tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse. While Monk had been acknowledged by fellow musicians as one of the linchpins of modern jazz, it wasn't until he signed with Columbia Records that he achieved considerable popular recognition. His albums sold widely, his quartet became a considerable live attraction and, amazingly enough, he found himself on the cover of Time Magazine in early 1964. This comprehensive six CD set also boasts a beautifully designed booklet filled with previously unseen photos capturing Monk and his musicians at the historic recording sessions. 

Fats Navarro - All That Jazz, Vol. 132: Fats Navarro – 100 Percent Bebop (2020/FLAC)

 

Theodore "Fats" Navarro (September 24, 1923 – July 6, 1950) was an American jazz trumpet player. He was a pioneer of the bebop style of jazz improvisation in the 1940s. He had a strong stylistic influence on many other players, including Clifford Brown. 

This Jube compilations is assembled from Fats Navarro albums:

1946 Fat Girl

1947 Boppin' A Riff

1958 Nostalgia

• Fats Navarro - trumpet
• Sonny Stitt - saxophone

Bud Shank - Four Classic Albums (1956-1958) (2 CD, 2012/FLAC)

 Bud Shank is typical of the jazz musicians that roamed the West Coast in the fifties in that he was able to work comfortably in a variety of settings: big bands, the studio, and clubs. Like many of the other players, Shank also played more than one instrument, which made him a valuable member of the bandstand and afforded his solo recordings a bit more variety than what was coming out of the cool school at the time. Four Classic Albums collects a handful of records from this period that display not only the range of Shank's capabilities but also serve as a good cross section of what was happening in California mid-century.

VA - Blue Bossa - Cool Cuts From The Tropics Vol. 1-3 (3 CD, 2017/FLAC)

 

Jazz legends and their relationship with Cuban and Brazilian sounds are comprehensively surveyed in this delightful three-CD retrospective set.

Herbie Mann - Live at the Whisky 1969: The Unreleased Masters (2 CD, 2016/FLAC)

 

While jazz flautist Herbie Mann is often remembered as a pop-jazz player, he was actually a pioneer in popularizing world music and even prog-rock with recordings released on his own Embryo imprint (as part of Atlantic Records). And in the late 60s, he was fronting one of the most progressive and electrifying bands in the world: guitarist Sonny Sharrock, Miroslav Vitous on electric & upright bass, saxophonist Steve Marcus, drummer Bruno Carr, and vibraphonist Roy Ayers. Together, the sextet cut the dynamic Live at the Whisky A Go Go album in 1969, drawn from a four night run at the legendary nightclub on Los Angeles Sunset Strip. Though the band s repertoire was quite varied on these dates, just two side-long tracks, Ooh Baby and Philly Dog, surfaced on the Atlantic Records release.

Chet Baker - The Hits (1952-1959) (3 CD, 2019/FLAC)

 Both as a trumpeter and as a singer, Chet Baker was one of the most romantic jazz performers of all time, able to reach climaxes of intense feeling and intimacy. This 57-track, 3-CD set compiles some of his best performances, all of them studio recordings with excellent sound quality. Among the highlights are three different readings of “My Funny Valentine” (a song Baker made into a classic), “Alone Together”, and Billy Strayhorn’s celebrated “Lush Life”. Baker is accompanied here by other jazz giants such as Bill Evans, Russ Freeman, Gerry Mulligan, Pepper Adams, Kenny Burrell, Kenny Drew, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones.

Dizzy Gillespie - Verve / Philips Small Group Sessions (7 CD, 2006/FLAC)

 

These sessions document unequivocally why Dizzy Gillespie is still considered one of the greatest improvisers in the history of jazz, for his mastery of the instrument, his command of time, his control over musical ideas, and his ability to entertain. He was blessed during this period, which spans 1954 to 1963, with stellar sidemen, unparalleled arrangements, and a surge of excitement for making music.

Lester Young - The Complete Lester Young Studio Sessions on Verve (8 CD, 1999/FLAC)

 All too often, jazz critics have promoted the myth that Lester Young's playing went way downhill after World War II -- that the seminal tenor man was so emotionally wounded by the racism he suffered in the military in 1944-1945 that he could no longer play as well as he had in the '30s and early '40s. To be sure, Young went through hell in the military, and his painful experiences took their toll in the form of alcohol abuse, severe depression, and various health problems. But despite Young's mental decline, he was still a fantastic soloist. This eight-CD set, which gathers most of the studio recordings that he made for Norman Granz's Clef, Norgran, and Verve labels from 1946-1959, underscores the fact that much of his postwar output was superb. At its worst, this collection is at least decent, but the Pres truly excels on sessions with Nat "King" Cole and Buddy Rich in 1946, Oscar Peterson and Barney Kessel in 1952, Roy Eldridge and Teddy Wilson in 1956, and Harry "Sweets" Edison in 1957. Disc 8 contains two recorded interviews with the saxman -- one conducted by Chris Albertson in 1958 for WCAU radio in Philadelphia, the other by French jazz enthusiast Francois Postif in Paris on February 6, 1959 (only five or six weeks before Young's death on March 15 of that year). The contrast between the fascinating interviews is striking; in Philly, Young is polite and soft-spoken, whereas in Paris, the effects of the alcohol are hard to miss. Sounding intoxicated and using profanity liberally, Young candidly tells Postif about everything from his experiences with racism to his associations with Billie Holiday and Count Basie. But as much as the set has going for it, The Complete Lester Young Studio Sessions on Verve isn't for novices, casual listeners, or those who are budget-minded. Collectors are the ones who will find this CD to be a musical feast. 

Eric Johnson & Mike Stern - Eclectic (2014/FLAC)

 The seed for this project was planted when Eric Johnson played on a few tracks for Mike Stern's 2009 album Big Neighborhood. The two guitarists discovered a shared affinity for jazz and blues, along with those two genres' rambunctious stepchildren, R&B and funk, and both players had always embraced a stylish fusion approach to their respective work. It seems only obvious and natural that they do a full album together. Eclectic was recorded in mostly live takes at Johnson's studio in Austin, Texas, and included a rhythm section of drummer Anton Fig and Johnson's longtime bassist Chris Maresh, along with guest spots from singers Malford Milligan, Leni Stern (Mike Stern's wife), and Christopher Cross, blues harpist Guy Forsyth, and a horn section of John Mills (saxophone), Mike Mordecai (trombone), and Andrew Johnson (trumpet). The versatility on display here from track to track is impressive, ranging from blues to Wes Montgomery-inspired guitar jazz, new age fusion shuffles, and huge-sounding, jazz-inspired big-band imaginary soundtrack themes, and there's no lack of amazing guitar playing, both guitarists blending and flowing together like the two edges of a single river. Highlights include the opener, Stern's driving, jazzy, and funky "Roll with It" (it turns out Stern has a pretty good singing voice, by the way), the lovely, haunting, and chiming "Wishing Well," Johnson's "Hullabaloo" (which sounds like the opening theme to some long-lost Hollywood-based 1960s detective show), Stern's modal "Remember" (modeled on John Coltrane's "Impressions"), and the set's closer, a reverent and vibrant take on Jimi Hendrix's "Red House," which brings everything back to the late-night jazzy approach to the blues that Johnson and Stern both hold so dear. 

Kenny Dorham - Eight Classic Albums 1953-1960 (4 CD, 2012/FLAC)

 Real Gone Jazz continues its box set catalog series with this fine Kenny Dorham volume. This four-disc collection contains eight full-length Dorham recordings cut between 1953-1960 for Debut, Blue Note, Riverside, and other labels. The set kicks off with Dorham's initial offering as a leader, The Kenny Dorham Quintet for Debut in 1953, and Afro-Cuban for Blue Note from 1955. The second disc contains 'Round About Midnight at the Cafe Bohemia (also for Blue Note) circa 1956, and 2 Horns/2 Rhythm for Riverside in 1957. The third disc contains two more Riverside dates, Jazz Contrasts from 1957 and Blue Spring from 1959. Disc four begins in 1959 with the ballad collection Quiet Kenny on New Jazz and ends with a lesser-known 1960 date for the Time imprint entitled Jazz Contemporary. These four discs contain remastered versions of the original albums and some bonus material from their individual reissues. Taken as a whole, this set offers solid proof of Dorham's many gifts as composer, arranger, and bandleader, though he was often overlooked at the time.