Ray Charles — Genius+Soul=Jazz / My Kind of Jazz (2 CD, 2010/FLAC)

 

Ray Charles' only all-instrumental LPs on one CD! 

1961's Genius + Soul = Jazz is a big band jazz workout featuring the Count Basie Band and arrangements from Quincy Jones. It includes the Top 10 hit "One Mint Julep." 

The proto-acid jazz of 1970's My Kind Of Jazz contains the funky hit single "Booty-Butt." Digitally remastered for best-ever sound!  

VA - Blue Note Explosion: New York is Our Home (2 CD, 2008/FLAC)

 

2008 UK two CD compilation of Blue Note recordings from 1953-58, filled with plenty of hip and hard core Bop. There are many great periods in Jazz music, and the five years covered on this collection is no exception. New York was a Jazz mecca and this collection features the best of Blue Note's roster creating music that sounded, felt and smelled like New York. 

Freddie Hubbard - The Night Of The Cookers: Live At Club La Marchal, Volume 1 & 2 (2004/FLAC)

 

The Night of the Cookers is a live album by trumpeter Freddie Hubbard recorded at Club La Marchal in April 1965 and released on the Blue Note label, originally as two volumes on LP. It features performances by Hubbard, Lee Morgan, James Spaulding, Harold Mabern, Jr., Larry Ridley, Pete LaRoca and Big Black. It has been called "one of the most compelling documents of a live band in full flight".

Illinois Jacquet - The Complete Illinois Jacquet Sessions 1945-50 (4 CD, 1996/FLAC)

 This four-CD set has all of the recordings made as a leader by tenor-saxophonist Illinois Jacquet during a period when he was at the height of his popularity. After his classic solo made "Flying Home" a major hit for Lionel Hampton in 1942, Jacquet spent time with Cab Calloway's band, was a sensation with Jazz at the Philharmonic, and was featured as a star soloist with Count Basie. In 1946, Jacquet went out on his own and his combo (ranging from six to eight pieces) was extremely popular, featuring its leader's hard-swinging solos which utilized a liberal amount of honks and screams. The first real R&B tenorman, Illinois Jacquet was always a much more well-rounded soloist than the specialists who followed him. The 17 sessions that are included on this essential box draws its material from the Aladdin, Apollo, ARA, Savoy, and Victor catalogues. Some of the music has been readily available in recent years, but this is the best way to acquire the swinging performances. Among Jacquet's most notable sidemen are trumpeters Joe Newman, Emmett Berry (who was actually the leader of one of these dates), Russell Jacquet (who also contributes some bluish vocals), and Fats Navarro (who solos on one song); trombonists Henry Coker, Trummy Young, and J.J. Johnson; baritonist Leo Parker; pianists Sir Charles Thompson, Bill Doggett, and John Lewis; bassist Charles Mingus; drummers Johnny Otis and Shadow Wilson; and (on two songs) singer Wynonie Harris.

VA - V Disc - The Songs That Went To War (WWII 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition) [4 CD, 1992/FLAC]

 During World War II a strike by the Musicians Union kept professional players off records for a long period. To fill the gap, a special "V-Disc" program was instituted to provide new music for military personnel serving overseas. This attractive four-CD box set from Time-Life contains 79 performances by a wide variety of artists from the period. Most of the music is jazz but there are some numbers from pop performers; such notables as Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, San Kenton, Lionel Hampton, Glenn Miller, the Nat King Cole Trio, Muggsy Spanier, Hoagy Carmicahel, Ella Fitzgerald, Roy Eldridge, Paul Robeson, Hot Lips Page, Marian Anderson, Jack Teagarden, Louis Armstrong, Bunk Johnson, Les Paul and even Ethel Merman make strong appearances. There is a lot of valuable music on this well-conceived reissue. 

Gerry Mulligan with Chet Baker - Complete Pacific Jazz Recordings (4 CD, 1996/FLAC)

 

Baritonist Gerry Mulligan's pianoless quartet of 1952-1953 with trumpeter Chet Baker was one of the most popular groups of the period and an influential force on West Coast Jazz. Mulligan's interplay with Baker looked back toward the collective improvisation of Dixieland but utilized up-to-date harmonies. This four-CD set overlaps with a previous (and now out-of-print) five-LP Mosaic box. In addition to all of the Pacific Jazz (as opposed to Fantasy and GNP/Crescendo) recordings of the Mulligan Quartet (including the hit version of "My Funny Valentine"), this box has a few slightly earlier titles that find Mulligan gradually forming the group (even utilizing pianist Jimmie Rowles on two songs), tunes from live sessions in which altoist Lee Konitz made the band a quintet, the 1957 Mulligan-Baker set called Reunion, and an Annie Ross date from the same period (leaving out the numbers that have Art Farmer in Baker's place). Despite both musicians remaining active for over 30 years, Mulligan and Baker only teamed up again on one occasion, for a 1970s Carnegie Hall concert released by CTI. The consistently delightful music on this box (much of which is classic) is highly recommended for all jazz collections.

Miles Davis - Live-Evil [2 CD, 1971/FLAC]

Live-Evil is one of Miles Davis' most confusing and illuminating documents. As a double album, it features very different settings of his band -- and indeed two very different bands. The double-LP CD package is an amalgam of a December 19, 1970, gig at the Cellar Door, which featured a band comprised of Miles, bassist Michael Henderson, drummer Jack DeJohnette, guitarist John McLaughlin, saxophonist Gary Bartz, Keith Jarrett on organ, and percussionist Airto. These tunes show a septet that grooved hard and fast, touching on the great funkiness that would come on later.

The Modern Jazz Quartet - Dedicated To Connie (2 CD, 1960/FLAC)

 

Dedicated to Connie Kay after his death, this concert LP, recorded in Slovenia in 1960, found the Modern Jazz Quartet (which included pianist John Lewis, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, and bassist Percy Heath) in surprisingly inspired form, playing their usual repertoire of the time. Highlights include a 23-minute medley of John Lewis compositions, "Bag's Groove," "It Don't Mean a Thing," "Django," "How High the Moon," and "Skating in Central Park." Lewis has stated that the group never played better than during this concert. Although that statement is debatable, the MJQ certainly sounds in prime form throughout the easily recommended release. 

•     Milt Jackson - vibraphone
•     John Lewis - piano
•     Percy Heath - bass
•     Connie Kay - drums

Brad Mehldau discography [1993-2020]

 

Brad Mehldau (born August 23, 1970) is an American jazz pianist. Besides leading his own group, the Brad Mehldau Trio, he has performed with many renowned artists, including Pat Metheny, Wayne Shorter, Larry Grenadier, Peter Bernstein, Jeff Ballard, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, Michael Brecker, Chris Potter, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Brian Blade, Jimmy Cobb, classical vocalists Renée Fleming and Anne Sofie von Otter, and singer-songwriters Chris Thile and John Mayer.

Don Byas Quartet - The Complete 1946-1954 Paris Recordings (3 CD, 2011/FLAC)

 

This release contains all of the quartet recordings that Don Byas made for French labels between 1946 and 1954. Byas' accompaniment on these tracks consisted of renowned local musicians like Martial Solal and Pierre Michelot, as well as other illustrious American figures likes Mary Lou Williams and Beryl Booker. All of these quartets follow the traditional jazz formation of tenor sax backed by a rhythm section of piano, bass and drums.