Art Pepper - Unreleased Art, Vol.7: Sankei Hall - Osaka, Japan, November 18, 1980 (2 CD, 2012/FLAC)

 Unreleased Art Pepper Vol. VII presents Pepper's November 18, 1980 show in Sankei Hall, Osaka, Japan. This show was presented at the halfway point of Pepper's Japan tour, which took place between Pepper's appearances on trumpeter Freddie Hubbard's Mistrial (Liberty, 1980) and drummer Shelly Manne's Hollywood Jam (Atlas, 1981) and shortly after the release of his strings album Winter Moon (Galaxy, 1980). The concert was recorded using a cassette recorder and remastered by Wayne Peet, providing a sound that is surprisingly good for an audience recording. For purists, this is not soundboard quality, but it turns out that it is okay.

Pepper's set lists are typical of the period. "Cherokee" and "Over the Rainbow" are present as are Pepper originals "Landscape" and a very fast "Straight Life." Pepper's clarinet piece is "Avalon" (he often reprised his take on "Anthropology" from Art Pepper + Eleven (Contemporary, 1959). The real treat is perhaps the only live performance of "Winter Moon" from Pepper's with strings recording of the same title . Pepper is in comfortable company, making this concert a very good one indeed.

Pepper was touring with two of his favorite sidemen, pianist George Cables, who Pepper called "Mr. Beautiful" and drummer Carl Burnett, who Pepper greatly admired. Bassist Tony Dumas replaced Pepper's previous bassist Bob Magnusson, who had retired from touring to be with his family. Amply talented, Tony Dumas was not Bob Magnusson, a fact that glares when comparing the performance of "Make a List (Make a Wish)" here with Magnusson's on Art Pepper: Art Pepper: Unreleased Art, Vol. III—The Croydon Concert, May 14, 1981. But no matter, Dumas still adds plenty of swing to the festivities, making Pepper's working unit a fine one.

Cable's presence here steadies the more sanguine egos on this tour. The pianist was provided a solo spot where he played his ballad "Quiet Fire." Elsewhere, "Mr. Beautiful" provides only the most appropriate support to the soaring leader as he continued to work out all of his angels and demons, a performance practice he employed to the very end. Pepper's own personal goal was to become the greatest alto saxophone player in the world. Between 1975 and 1982, that is exactly what he was. Laurie Pepper, we the listeners owe you big.

• Art Pepper - alto saxophone, clarinet
• George Cables - piano
• Tony Dumas - bass
• Carl Burnett - drums

 

CD1 

01. Landscape (Pepper) - 11:50

02. Talk, band intros - 2:11

03. Ophelia (Pepper) - 9:52

04. Cherokee (Noble) - 12:40

05. Talk, about Cherokee - 0:17

06. (Somewhere) Over the Rainbow (Arlen-Harburg) - 12:37

07. Talk, presenting George Cables - 0:11

08. Quiet Fire (piano solo) (Cables) - 6:29

09. Talk, introducing Straight Life - 0:43

10. Straight Life (Pepper) - 7:00

CD2 

01. Y.I. Blues (Pepper) - 9:30

02. Talk, about Y.I. Blues - 0:55

03. Avalon (Jolsen-Rose-DeSylva) - 7:26

04. Talk, about Avalon - 0:32

05. Make a List (Pepper) - 19:01

06. Talk, about Make a List - 0:43

07. Winter Moon (Carmichael) - 11:12

08. Talk, about Winter Moon - 0:25

09. Donna Lee (Parker) - 10:18

Bill Evans - The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961 (3 CD, 2005/FLAC)

 

The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961, a three-CD box set released in 2005, marks the first time the entire Bill Evans Trio's complete sets at the Village Vanguard on June 25, 1961 have been released in their entirety (outside of the twelve-disc set containing Evans' complete Riverside recordings). It also marks the first US release of the first take of "Gloria's Step," which is incomplete due to a power failure.

These sets, from which the classic LPs Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby were drawn, were the trio's final live recordings. Bassist Scott LaFaro would die in an automobile accident on July 6.

The album was deemed by the Library of Congress to be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important" and added to the United States National Recording Registry for the year 2009. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings included the set as part of its suggested "core collection".

• Bill Evans: piano; 
• Scott LaFaro: bass; 
• Paul Motian: drums.

 

Sara Martin - In Chronological Order (4 CD, 1996)

 

Known in her heyday as "the blues sensation of the West," the big-voiced Sara Martin was one of the best of the classic female blues singers of the '20s.

Martin began her career as a vaudeville performer, switching to blues singing in the early '20s. In 1922, she began recording for OKeh Records, cutting a number of bawdy blues like "Mean Tight Mama." She continued recording until 1928. During this time, Martin became a popular performer on the southern Theater Owners' Booking Association circuits, eventually playing theaters and clubs on the east coast as well.

In the early '30s, Sara Martin retired from blues singing and settled in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. While she was in Louisville, she ran a nursing home and occasionally sang gospel in church. Sara Martin died after suffering a stroke in 1955.

 

Don Pullen - The Complete Remastered Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note (7 CD, 2012/FLAC)

 

In 2012, pianist and organist Don Pullen's portion of the Black Saint catalog was tapped for the celebrated CAM Jazz/Black Saint/Soul Note reissue series. Pullen, who passed away during the spring of 1995, left a trail of intriguing albums, which resonate beautifully together in miniature LP jacket-styled packaging within the handsome, hand-sized box set. Prior to attaining world-wide recognition as a feisty member of the Charles Mingus band during the early to mid-'70s, Pullen made his first records as a sideman with saxophonists Giuseppi Logan and Charles Williams, as well as legendary percussionist Sunny Murray, who had worked with Albert Ayler back in 1964 when Pullen sat in with Logan and Milford Graves on an ESP Disk recording session. But it was Mingus who brought out the best in Pullen, a passionate and at times ferocious performer who literally drew blood when he attacked the ivories as a member of the first Mingus Dynasty band in 1979. A definitive example of that technique is preserved on "Boogie Stop Shuffle," the opening track on Mingus Dynasty's Elektra album Chair in the Sky. Pullen would continue to work with fellow Mingus bandsmen for years to come. In fact, George Adams and Dannie Richmond helped him record an album for the Italian Horo label in 1975. That year also marked Pullen's debut appearance on Giacomo Pellicciotti's newly established Black Saint record label. Capricorn Rising brought Pullen into the studio with master improviser Sam Rivers (who played saxes and flute), bassist Alex Blake, and drummer Bobby Battle.

 

Chet Baker - The Early Years (4 CD, 2005/FLAC)

 

The four discs in this Proper box chart the development of Chet Baker with a slew of West Coast players in his earliest days (between 1952-1954) live at the Lighthouse with Jimmy Giuffre, Russ Freeman, and others -- as produced by Les Koenig -- and in the studio, including both pianoless quartets, one with Gerry Mulligan and one with Stan Getz. In addition, there are some other live dates with his own band, including a CD full of vocal performances.

 

The Complete Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster Sessions (2 CD, 1997/FLAC)

 Although an earlier CD added five previously unissued tracks to the original LP Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster, this Verve Master Edition two-CD set adds just about everything else recorded during the two sessions that produced the original record, and also features 20-bit sound. 

Even though Gerry Mulligan was outspoken against issuing material omitted from his original recordings, it is a treat to hear how the songs evolved in the studio. Webster and Mulligan seem mutually inspired throughout the sessions, and strong performances by pianist Jimmy Rowles, bassist Leroy Vinnegar, and drummer Mel Lewis are of considerable help. The music is presented in the order in which it was recorded, with each CD devoted to a separate session. In both cases it is clear that the initial takes of music from the Ellington songbook ("In a Mellotone" and "Chelsea Bridge") are more focused than the follow-up versions. They only needed one try to nail "What Is This Thing Called Love?" (also left off the LP), in an understated setting that shows off their beautiful interplay. Their barely disguised reworking of "I Got Rhythm," called "Who's Got Rhythm," was likely an effortless performance, though Webster seems to briefly laugh in the middle of his solo. Webster's swinging "Fajista" opens the second date, followed by two takes of Mulligan's beautiful ballad "Tell Me When." Webster's "Blues in B-Flat" is another fine swinger inexplicably left off the LP, and Rowles kicks off the oldie "Sunday" with a brief stride piano introduction (something Webster played himself but rarely in a recording studio). Fans on a budget can probably make due with the earlier CD reissue but serious fans of Mulligan and/or Webster should invest in this very rewarding set instead. 

• Ben Webster - tenor saxophone
• Gerry Mulligan - baritone saxophone
• Jimmie Rowles - piano
• Leroy Vinnegar - bass
• Mel Lewis - drums

Recorded November and December, 1959

Branford Marsalis discography [1984-2019]

 

The oldest of the four musical Marsalis brothers, Branford Marsalis has had an impressive career. After studying at Southern University and Berklee, Branford toured Europe with the Art Blakey big band in the summer of 1980 (playing baritone), played three months with Clark Terry, and then spent five months playing alto with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (1981). He mostly played tenor and soprano while with Wynton Marsalis' influential group (1982-1985), at first sounding most influenced by Wayne Shorter, but leaning more toward John Coltrane at the end. The musical telepathy between the two brothers (who helped to revive the sound of the mid-'60s Miles Davis Quintet) was sometimes astounding, as on 1985's Black Codes (From the Underground). He also toured with Herbie Hancock's V.S.O.P. II. in 1983 and recorded with Miles Davis (1984's Decoy)...

Blue Note Works 1500 series Vol.1511-1520

 

Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label, owned by Universal Music Group and currently operates in conjunction with Decca Records. Established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. Originally dedicated to recording traditional jazz and small group swing, from 1947 the label began to switch its attention to modern jazz. While the original company did not itself record many of the pioneers of bebop, significant exceptions are Thelonious Monk, Fats Navarro and Bud Powell.

Many great jazz musicians recorded for Blue Note, but the man responsible for the quality of label’s recordings – their high dynamic and tonal range and lifelike presence – was sound engineer, Rudy Van Gelder. It was his recording equipment, choice and placement of microphones, the work at the mixing desk, the selection and rejection of takes, and the active supervision of the whole recording process from monitoring the dials through to cutting of the master lacquer, that created the “Blue Note sound”.

Van Gelder always sought to be at the forefront of recording technology – the Scully lathe he used for cutting lacquer masters was the first to feature variable pitch/depth control to optimise groove-width and loudness. He deployed the newest Neumann/ Telefunken U-47 condenser microphone, which he had specially modified for use very close to instruments. His recordings were made on the latest Ampex tape recorders.

Blue Note made the switch to 12" LPs late in 1955. The Modern Jazz Series continued with the following 12" LPs. Many of these were issued in both monaural versions (BLP series) and stereo versions (BST 81500 series), sometimes in electronically rechanneled stereo. In certain cases, the stereo versions of recordings from 1957 onwards only appeared many years later. Beginning in 1956 with BLP 1509, Reid Miles designed most of the Blue Note LP covers. The 1500 series has been systematically reissued by Toshiba-EMI in Japan ("Blue Note Works 1500" series, 20-bit 88.2 kHz CDs); the catalog numbers are TOCJ-1501, etc.


BN.1511- Thelonious Monk- 1952- Genius of Modern Music, Volume 2 {RVG Remaster}
BN.1512- Jimmy Smith- 1956- A New Sound, A New Star, Vol.1
BN.1513- Thad Jones- 1956- Detroit-New York Junction {RVG Remaster}
BN.1514- Jimmy Smith- 1956- A New Sound, A New Star, Vol.2
BN.15BN.15- Jutta Hipp- 1956- At the Hickory House Vol.1 {RVG Remaster}
BN.1516- Jutta Hipp- 1956- At the Hickory House Vol.2 {RVG Remaster}
BN.1517- Gil Melle- 1956- Patterns In Jazz (Mono) {RVG Remaster}
BN.1518- Horace Silver- 1955- Horace Silver And The Jazz Messengers {RVG Remaster}
BN.1519- Herbie Nichols- 1956- Herbie Nichols Trio
BN.1520- Horace Silver- 1953- Horace Silver And Spotlight On Drums Art Blakey- Sabu {RVG Remaster}

Artie Shaw nad His Orchestra- Chronogical Classics 1936 - 1954 (16 CD)

 Artie Shaw (born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky; May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004) was an American clarinetist, composer, bandleader, actor and author of both fiction and non-fiction.

Widely regarded as "one of jazz's finest clarinetists", Shaw led one of the United States' most popular big bands in the late 1930s through the early 1940s. Though he had numerous hit records, he was perhaps best known for his 1938 recording of Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine." Before the release of "Beguine," Shaw and his fledgling band had languished in relative obscurity for over two years and, after its release, he became a major pop artist within short order. The record eventually became one of the era's defining recordings. Musically restless, Shaw was also an early proponent of what became known much later as Third Stream music, which blended elements of classical and jazz forms and traditions. His music influenced other musicians, such as Monty Norman in England, with the vamp of the James Bond Theme, possibly influenced by 1938's "Nightmare".

Shaw also recorded with small jazz groups drawn from within the ranks of the big bands he led. He served in the US Navy from 1942 to 1944, during which time he led a morale-building band that toured the South Pacific. Following his discharge in 1944, he returned to lead a band through 1945. Following the breakup of that band, he began to focus on other interests and gradually withdrew from the world of being a professional musician and major celebrity, although he remained a force in popular music and jazz before retiring from music completely in 1954. 

Mike Stern discography [1983-2019]

 

Mike Stern (born Michael Philips Stern; January 10, 1953) is an American jazz guitarist. After playing for a few years with Blood, Sweat & Tears, he landed a gig with drummer Billy Cobham and then broke through with trumpeter Miles Davis' comeback band from 1981 to 1983, and again in 1985. Following that he launched a solo career, releasing more than a dozen albums. He was hailed as the Best Jazz Guitarist of 1993 by Guitar Player magazine, and in 2009 was listed on Down Beat's list of 75 best jazz guitar players.