Archie Shepp Quartet feat. Annette Lowman - Lover Man (1988/FLAC)

 Shepp has been criticized for his more commercial ventures such as this, but many will enjoy its accessibly light charm. Most of the numbers are standards, including "My Funny Valentine," "Lover Man," and "Lush Life," and are performed by the saxophonist backed by a solid rhythm section. Dave Burrell is wonderfully deft on piano, and he is given ample opportunity to interact with Shepp. Annette Lowman sings on several numbers, and she adds just the right touch and phrasing. Shepp is in somewhat less than perfect form, but he is clearly enjoying himself. There is a touch of a blues and R&B feel that adds to the ambiance. Unlike some of Shepp's other ventures, there are no attempted serious statements made -- only relaxing, good, swinging jazz that lifts the spirits or touches the soul, if only just a bit. 

• Archie Shepp - saxophone
• Annette Lowman - vocals
• Dave Burrell - piano
• Herman Wright - bass
• Steve McCraven - drums

Blue Mitchell collection [1958-1998]

Richard Allen "Blue" Mitchell (March 13, 1930 – May 21, 1979) was an American jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, rock, and funk trumpeter, known for many albums recorded as leader and sideman for Riverside, Blue Note and then Mainstream Records.

Count Basie - The Chronological Classics [1936-1954] (15 CD/FLAC)

 

Count Basie (born August 21, 1904, Red Bank, New Jersey, U.S.—died April 26, 1984, Hollywood, Florida), American jazz musician noted for his spare, economical piano style and for his leadership of influential and widely heralded big bands.

VA - Interpretations of Monk (w/ Muhal Richard Abrams, Barry Harris, Anthony Davis, Mal Waldron, Don Cherry, Steve Lacy) - 1981 (4 CD, 1994/FLAC)

 Three and a half months before Thelonious Monk died, two memorable tribute concerts took place at Columbia University. The lineup of musicians was perfect: soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy (long an expert on Monk's music), Thelonious' longtime tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse, trombonist Roswell Rudd, trumpeter Don Cherry, bassist Richard Davis, either Ben Riley or Ed Blackwell on drums, and four different pianists. This legendary event was fortunately recorded, and the afternoon concert has been released in full on this 1997 double-CD set. 

Thelonious Monk - Original Album Classics (5 CD, 2007/FLAC)

 

CD1 - Straight, No Chaser (1967)

CD2 - Underground (1968)

CD3 - Criss-Cross (1963)

CD4 - Monk's Dream (1962)

CD5 - Solo Monk (1965)

Shorty Rogers And His Orchestra - West Coast Sound: featuring The Giants 1950-1956 (2 CD, 2006/FLAC)

 Contains 5 albums and 1 EP on 2 CDs:

• "Modern Sounds" (Capitol)
• "Shorty Rogers and his Giants" (RCA)
• "Cool and Crazy" (RCA)
• "Hot Blood EP" (RCA)
• "Shorty Rogers Courts the Count" (RCA)
• "The Big Shorty Rogers Express" (RCA)

Don Byas - Complete American Small Group Recordings (4 CD, 2001/FLAC)

 Oklahoma born tenor saxophonist Don Byas moved easily between swing and bebop with an earthy, blues sound that brings to mind Coleman Hawkins but with a lightness of touch and rhythmic agility reminiscent of Lester Young. He successfully synthesized these two influences, in many ways updating them into the bebop era. Byas mastered the breathtaking tempos associated with Parker and Gillespie but avoided the angular, sharp phrasing- with the result that his up-tempo approach had a more rounded, swing solo sound. Byas reminds us that bebop arose out of the world of swing, and that many of the most significant jazz musicians of the forties were at home in both worlds.

Brad Mehldau - 10 Years Solo Live (4 CD, 2015)

 

10 Years Solo Live is a recording by jazz pianist Brad Mehldau. It contains solo piano tracks from 19 concerts in Europe during the period 2004–2014. 

The Gellers (Herb Geller & Lorraine Geller) - Two of a Kind: Complete Recordings 1954-1955 (2 CD, 2006/FLAC)

Alto saxophonist Herb Geller and his wife Lorraine Geller were married for only seven years prior to her sudden death from an undiagnosed heart ailment in 1958, but they were fortunate that they were able to work regularly together and also make several records with each other (three albums for Emarcy and an extended-play 45 rpm disc for Imperial), all of which are gathered in this two-CD compilation. Herb has been an underrated saxophonist because he has spent most of his working life in Europe following Lorraine's death, but he was among the top echelon of West Coast players during the 1950s, while Lorraine was just as capable, whether soloing or backing her husband. In addition to the standards, there are several originals by each of the Gellers, including Lorraine's laconic ballad "Domestic Harmony" and Herb's tongue-in-cheek "Love Is Like a Turtle" (a rather uptempo cooker). A variety of different rhythm sections are utilized and the source material varies in quality, some of it presumably being dubbed from rare LPs instead of master tapes.

Freddie Hubbard - Anthology: The Soul-Jazz And Fusion Years 66-82 (2 CD, 2002/FLAC)

 This collection on the U.K.'s Soul Brother imprint is a very compelling look at a big slice of Freddie Hubbard's long career as a leader, and one that gets ignored for the most part. Hubbard recorded over 20 records between Backlash, his Atlantic debut in 1966, and Ride Like the Wind for Elektra in 1982, with lengthy stops at Columbia and CTI (as well some straight hard bop and post-bop outings for labels Fantasy and Pablo). In many cases, some of these original recordings were not only disregarded by more traditional jazzheads, they were regarded with outright hostility. It didn't matter to Hubbard, however, because at the time, these were among his best-selling albums and connected with the public deeply.

This 18-cut set leaves out the straighter jazz albums and his dates as a sideman – there were dozens – in favor of Hubbard's long sojourn into soul-jazz, fusion, and jazz-funk. The early soul-jazz sides on Atlantic are represented by a pair of cuts from Backlash and one each from High Blues Pressure and A Soul Experiment, before moving into his years with Creed Taylor. These years contain classics such as the title jams from Red Clay and First Light, but they go deeper and get stranger – as well as more cosmic – with the inclusion of tracks like "Povo," a wild reading of "People Make the World Go Around," and "Spirits of Trane" from Polar AC and Keep Your Soul Together. Disc two also includes far funkier jams such as "Baraka Sasa" and "Kuntu" from High Energy and Liquid Love, respectively. There are certainly albums left out from this period, even those that followed the grooved-out dictums of the tracks included, but it hardly matters since what is presented here is the best of the best, even following Hubbard's trail all the way down to albums like Splash and Born to Be Blue. In other words, this is a great introduction to the music of Hubbard after his initial Blue Note period and before he returned to his hard bop roots in the middle of the 1980s.