Count Basie - America's #1 Band! The Columbia Years (4 CD, 2003/FLAC)

 

Count Basie's Columbia years have long been debated, subject to apocryphal written data and legend because of the willy-nilly nature of his tenure with the label and its subsidiaries. Producer Orrin Keepnews has thus assembled America's #1 Band: The Columbia Years, a compilation of Basie's Columbia years that not only makes sense historically; it is a treasure trove for listening. Aesthetics played a grand part in the decision-making process here, as did sound reproduction and discographical accuracy.

John Coltrane - The Complete Mainstream 1958 Sessions (2 CD, 2004/FLAC)

 

Digitally remastered two CD set containing three albums from the Jazz great plus six bonus tracks. The albums, which appear here in their entirety along with of the all existing alternate takes from the dates, were Mainstream 1958, Tanganyika Strut and Jazz Way Out. These outstanding tracks were among Coltrane's last recordings as a sideman.

• Wilbur Harden - flugelhorn
• Curtis Fuller - trombone
• John Coltrane - tenor sax
• Tommy Flanagan, Howard Williams - piano
• Alvin Jackson, Doug Watkins - bass
• Louis Hayes, Art Taylor - drums

The Manhattan Transfer Anthology – Down In Birdland (2 CD, 1992/FLAC)

 

Anthology: Down In Birdland was a 2-CD & 2-Cassette Tape album released by The Manhattan Transfer in 1992 on the Rhino Records label. It was the first album released by the group on this label.

As the Manhattan Transfer went on, so did the legacy of the jazz vocal ensemble. In that regard, though the competition was scarce, this group did elevate the art form to a higher level without much compromise. This two-CD, 39-track compilation represents many of the high points of the group. If anything is missing, some of the vocalese influenced by Eddie Jefferson should have been included. Still most fans will recognize "Ray's Rockhouse," "Route 66," "Four Brothers," "Tuxedo Junction," "That Cat Is High," "(Sing) Joy Spring," and their immortal take of the Jon Hendricks lyric to "Birdland." Unless it is a complete collection, you'd be hard pressed to find a better grouping of the Manhattan Transfer's prime body of works. 

Grant Green — The Complete Quartets With Sonny Clark (2 CD, 1997/FLAC)

 

The Complete Quartets With Sonny Clark is a 1997 compilation album by jazz guitarist Grant Green, collecting together all the tracks from a series of albums he recorded with pianist Sonny Clark in 1961 and '62.

The original material was shelved until after Clark's death in 1963 and Grant's death in 1979, and was first issued only in Japan as the albums Nigeria, Oleo and Gooden's Corner. The collection also includes one additional tune, "Nancy (With the Laughing Face)", and alternative takes of "Airegin" and "Oleo", all recorded during the same sessions.

Henry Red Allen (feat. P.W.Russell, Eddie Condon, Fats Waller, Edmond Hall) — Quadromania (4 CD, 2005/FLAC)

 

This 4 CD set contains recording from the 1930's to 1950's. Feat. P.W. Russell, Eddie Condon, Fats Waller, Edmond Hall. 

Henry James "Red" Allen (January 7, 1906 – April 17, 1967) was a jazz trumpeter and vocalist. Red Allen's trumpet style has been described, by some critics, as the first to fully incorporate the innovations of Louis Armstrong and to develop an emphasis on phrasing. Allen's recordings received much favorable attention. His versatility is shown by his winning of Down Beat awards in both the traditional jazz and the modern jazz categories.

Mary Lou Williams - Chronogical Classics 1927-1954 (7 CD)

 Mary Lou Williams, (born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs,  May 8, 1910, Atlanta, Ga., U.S.—died May 28, 1981, Durham, N.C.), jazz pianist who performed with and composed for many of the great jazz artists of the 1940s and ’50s.

Williams received early instruction from her mother, a classically trained pianist. Picking out simple tunes at age two, Mary Lou was a prodigy with perfect pitch and a highly developed musical memory by the time she was four years old. By age 10 she was known as “the Little Piano Girl” and was performing for small audiences throughout Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her professional debut with big bands came in 1922, at age 12, when she substituted for a pianist in the Buzz and Harris Revue, a traveling show. Billed as Mary Lou Burley, she toured occasionally for the next few years and passed through New York City several times, playing for such artists as Jelly Roll Morton, Willie (“the Lion”) Smith, Fats Waller, and Duke Ellington.

Kid Ory — Mahagony Hall Stomp (Quadromania, 4 CD, 2005/FLAC)

Kid Ory was one of the great New Orleans pioneers, an early trombonist who virtually defined the "tailgate" style (using his horn to play rhythmic bass lines in the front line behind the trumpet and clarinet) and who was fortunate enough to last through the lean years so he could make a major comeback in the mid-'40s. Originally a banjoist, Ory soon switched to trombone and by 1911 was leading a popular band in New Orleans. Among his trumpeters during the next eight years were Mutt Carey, King Oliver and a young Louis Armstrong and his clarinetists included Johnny Dodds, Sidney Bechet, and Jimmie Noone. In 1919, Ory moved to California and in 1922 (possibly 1921) recorded the first two titles by a Black New Orleans jazz band ("Ory's Creole Trombone" and "Society Blues") under the band title of Spike's Seven Pods of Pepper Orchestra. In 1925 he moved to Chicago, played regularly with King Oliver, and recorded many classic sides with Oliver, Louis Armstrong (in his Hot Five and Seven), and Jelly Roll Morton, among others.

Bobby McFerrin discography [1984-2013]

 

Robert "Bobby" McFerrin, Jr. (born March 11, 1950) is a versatile American vocalist and conductor. He is best known for his 1988 hit song "Don't Worry, Be Happy". He is a ten-time Grammy Award winner. He is well known for his unique vocal techniques and singing styles.

As a vocalist, McFerrin often switches rapidly between modal and falsetto registers to create polyphonic effects, performing both the main melody and the accompanying parts of songs. He makes use of percussive effects created both with his mouth and by tapping on his chest. McFerrin is also capable of multiphonic singing.

A notable document of McFerrin's approach to singing is his 1984 album The Voice, the first solo vocal jazz album recorded with no accompaniment or overdubbing.

Oscar Peterson - Somebody Loves Me (4 CD, 2005/FLAC)

Oscar Peterson was one of the greatest piano players of all time. A pianist with phenomenal technique on the level of his idol, Art Tatum, Peterson's speed, dexterity, and ability to swing at any tempo were amazing. Very effective in small groups, jam sessions, and in accompanying singers, O.P. was at his absolute best when performing unaccompanied solos. His original style did not fall into any specific idiom. Like Erroll Garner and George Shearing, Peterson's distinctive playing formed during the mid- to late '40s and fell somewhere between swing and bop. Peterson was criticized through the years because he used so many notes, didn't evolve much since the 1950s, and recorded a remarkable number of albums. Perhaps it is because critics ran out of favorable adjectives to use early in his career; certainly it can be said that Peterson played 100 notes when other pianists might have used ten, but all 100 usually fit, and there is nothing wrong with showing off technique when it serves the music. As with Johnny Hodges and Thelonious Monk, to name two, Peterson spent his career growing within his style rather than making any major changes once his approach was set, certainly an acceptable way to handle one's career. Because he was Norman Granz's favorite pianist (along with Tatum) and the producer tended to record some of his artists excessively, Peterson made an incredible number of albums. Not all are essential, and a few are routine, but the great majority are quite excellent, and there are dozens of classics.  

Duke Ellington - Live and Rare (3 CD, 2002/FLAC)

 Many of this three-CD set's tracks are available elsewhere, excepting three previously unreleased performances from the 1968 Newport Jazz Festival announcement party, long-unavailable recordings made specifically for Reader's Digest (plus some unreleased alternate takes), as well as unissued rehearsals for the bandleader's guest appearance with Arthur Fiedler & the Boston Pops. The press party is a noisy affair and the recording quality is hardly polished, as the crowd can't seem to shut up during Ellington's rollicking "Sweet Fat and That," "Satin Doll," and "Carolina Shout" (erroneously credited to Ellington instead of James P. Johnson), which is suddenly broken off by the pianist, who seems to be a tad rusty. The Eastbourne tracks represent the band in its decline; although veterans Harry Carney and Russell Procope were still around, the lack of many other star soloists is noticeable, and although there are some excellent musicians present (Johnny Coles, Harold Ashby, and Harold Minerve, to name a few), the band is clearly running out of steam. The music from the 1965 Pittsburgh Jazz Festival, featuring Ellington in a duet with Earl Hines, a solo performance, and one song with a rhythm section, has been reissued more than once. The Reader's Digest sessions are rather conservative, trying not to overwhelm the neophyte jazz fans the magazine was likely targeting; the music is pleasant with some good solos, but rather bland compared to typical Ellington dates. The Tanglewood concert with Fiedler is enjoyable, though the decision to intersperse excerpts of Ellington's prerecorded responses to a promotional interview between songs is a bit odd, with the bandleader actually digressing into talking about his weight problem. Put it all together and you have a set that may appeal to the die-hard Ellington collector, though it is hardly essential for most jazz fans.