Cab Calloway - Chronogical Classics 1940-1949 (5 CD/FLAC)

 

Cabell "Cab" Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American jazz singer, dancer, bandleader and actor. He was associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he was a regular performer and became a popular vocalist of the swing era. His niche of mixing jazz and vaudeville won him acclaim during a career that spanned over 65 years.

Calloway was a master of energetic scat singing and led one of the most popular dance bands in the United States from the early 1930s to the late 1940s. His band included trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie, Jonah Jones, and Adolphus "Doc" Cheatham, saxophonists Ben Webster and Leon "Chu" Berry, guitarist Danny Barker, bassist Milt Hinton, and drummer Cozy Cole.

Calloway had several hit records in the 1930s and 1940s, becoming known as the "Hi-de-ho" man of jazz for his most famous song, "Minnie the Moocher", originally recorded in 1931. He reached the Billboard charts in five consecutive decades (1930s–1970s). Calloway also made several stage, film, and television appearances until his death in 1994 at the age of 86. He had roles in Stormy Weather (1943), Porgy and Bess (1953), The Cincinnati Kid (1965), and Hello Dolly! (1967). His career saw renewed interest when he appeared in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers.

Calloway was the first African American musician to sell a million records from a single and to have a nationally syndicated radio show. In 1993, Calloway received the National Medal of Arts from the United States Congress. He posthumously received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. His song "Minnie the Moocher" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999, and added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry in 2019. He is also inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame and the International Jazz Hall of Fame. 

 

Bill Evans - Complete On Verve [18 CD, 1993]

The 18 CDs in this exhaustive set provide a comprehensive picture of Bill Evans from 1962 to 1969, a period when the pianist was both consolidating his fame and sometimes taking his music into untested waters, from unaccompanied piano to symphony orchestra. His work with multitracked solo piano, originally released as Conversations with Myself and the later Further Conversations with Myself, was the most remarkable new format for his introspective music. It gave Evans a way to be all the pianists he could be at once--combining densely chordal, harmonically oblique parts with surprising, rhythmic punctuation and darting, exploratory runs. Two dates with drummer Shelly Manne, in 1962 and 1966, reveal the stimulus Evans could find in a new playing relationship, as does the final disc with flutist Jeremy Steig. Evans also revisited significant earlier musical relationships. The Village Vanguard recordings from 1967 reunite him with the great drummer Philly Joe Jones, whose extroverted, polyrhythmic approach always worked wonderfully with the pianist's more introverted style. Along with the virtuosic young bassist Eddie Gomez, they make up one of the most stimulating of the many trios that Evans led throughout his career. There's also a superb set of duets with guitarist Jim Hall, another of Evans's most closely attuned musical partners. Evans's recordings with a symphony orchestra are marred by conductor Claus Ogermann's ponderous arrangements, and some false starts and multiple takes will appeal only to completists, but there are tremendous musical riches here. The set is packaged in an unfinished metal box designed to rust into an original object, but Evans's own originality is apparent everywhere.

 

 

Bud Shank & Bob Cooper - Mosaic Select 10 (3 CD, 2004/FLAC)

 For hardcore West Coast jazz fans, this Mosaic Select volume will be a kind of treasure-trove, though for most it will simply be a compelling curiosity piece. The collaborations of saxophonist and flutist Bud Shank and arranger, saxophonist, and oboist Bob Cooper created some tumult in the mid-1950s, when they recorded four albums together with various-sized ensembles, and, to a lesser degree, on Shank's date with Bob Brookmeyer arranged by Cooper. All tolled, there are five albums on these three discs: Bud Shank and Bob Brookmeyer (along with the session's remaining tracks that showed up on Bud Shank and Three Trombones on Pacific Jazz), Jazz at Cal-Tech (Pacific Jazz), Flute and Oboe (World Pacific), Swing's to TV, as well as the cuts from Jazz Swings Broadway (World Pacific) and of course, the classic, Blowin' Country (World Pacific). The quark strangeness and charm of these recordings cannot be underestimated, and neither can their swing. With sidemen like pianist Claude Williamson, drummers Chuck Flores or Shelly Manne, bassist Don Prell and others, these dates have a kind of quaintness that dates them in that restless yet ultra-hip period in the 1950s when almost anything went as long as it swung, and that stood outside the entire hard bop scene. These sides are not for everyone, but they are priceless for the sheer sophistication and adventurousness of their arrangements and the interplay between Shank and Cooper, which was symbiotic. A very fine idea by the folks at Mosaic. 

 

The Bad Plus discography [2000-2019]

  

The Bad Plus is a jazz trio from the United States, consisting of pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson, and drummer Dave King, originating from Minneapolis, Minnesota.


The trio's music combines elements of modern avant-garde jazz with rock and pop influences. The band have recorded versions of songs by Nirvana, Aphex Twin, Blondie, Pink Floyd, Ornette Coleman, Pixies, Rush, Tears for Fears, Neil Young, David Bowie, Yes, Interpol, and Black Sabbath. Blunt Object: Live in Tokyo includes a cover of Queen's "We Are the Champions" along with the jazz standard "My Funny Valentine". Suspicious Activity? contains a cover of the theme from "Chariots of Fire", while a version of "Karma Police" by Radiohead appeared on the 2006 album Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads. The band has said that they changed their sound a little bit for their sixth album, For All I Care.

The Bad Plus.2000- The Bad Plus

The Bad Plus.2003- These Are The Vistas

The Bad Plus.2004- Give

The Bad Plus.2005- Suspicious Activity

The Bad Plus.2006- Blunt Object - Live In Tokyo

The Bad Plus.2007- Prog

The Bad Plus.2008- For All I Care

The Bad Plus.2009- For All I Care

The Bad Plus.2011- Never Stop

The Bad Plus.2012- Made Possible

The Bad Plus.2014- Inevitable Western

The Bad Plus.2014- The Rite Of Spring

The Bad Plus.2015- The Bad Plus Joshua Redman

The Bad Plus.2016- It's Hard

The Bad Plus.2018- Never Stop II

The Bad Plus.2019- Activate Infinity

Blue Note Works 4000-4100 series [4111-4125]

 

...The Modern Jazz Series continued into the 1970s with the LPs listed below. Many were issued in both monaural versions (BLP series) and stereo versions (BST 84000 series).  Most of the 4000 series have been reissued by Toshiba-EMI in Japan ("Blue Note Works 4000" series); the catalog numbers are TOCJ-4###

BN.4111- Grant Green- 1962- The Latin Bit {RVG Remaster}
BN.4112- Dexter Gordon- 1962- GO! {RVG Remaster}
BN.4113- Freddie Roach- 1962- Down To Earth {RVG Remaster}
BN.4114- Ike Quebec- 1962- Boss Nova. Soul Samba {RVG Remaster}
BN.4115- Freddie Hubbard- 1962- Hub-Tones {RVG Remaster}
BN.4116- Jackie McLean- 1962- Jackie McLean Quintet (not released)
BN.4117- Jimmy Smith- 1960- Back at the Chicken Shack {RVG Remaster}
BN.4118- Donald Byrd- 1961- Free Form {RVG Remaster}
BN.4119- Charlie Rouse- 1962- Bossa Nova Bacchanal
BN.4121- Don Wilkerson- 1962- Elder Don
BN.4122- Stanley Turrentine - 1962-  Jubilee Shout!!!
BN.4123- Kenny Burrell- 1963- Midnight Blue {RVG Remaster}
BN.4124- Donald Byrd- 1963- A New Perspective {RVG Remaster}
BN.4125- Lou Donaldson- 1963- Good Gracious!

Eric Vloeimans - V-Flow (5 CD, 2010/FLAC)

Eric Vloeimans is an award-winning jazz trumpeter, songwriter, and record producer. With his crisp attack and rich tone, he is arguably the most famous jazz trumpeter in the Netherlands. Throughout his long career, Vloeimans has consistently colored outside defined genre lines. He continually melds jazz with influences ranging from classical, pop music, folk, and even electronica by using a wide array of effects on his horn.

V-Flow is a limited distribution box that compiles some of the trumpeter's best work as a leader, alongside significant sideman sessions. Even those who have his twelve Challenge releases, from 1994's First Floor through to 2009's Heavens Above! will likely find a few previously unheard gems on V-Flow, most significantly the more than half of his debut as a leader, No Realistics (Art in Jazz/Via, 1992), previously out of print and now remastered for a chock-full collection that's clocks in at just under six hours.

Since graduating from the Rotterdam Conservatorium with honors in the late 1980s, in addition to time spent at the prestigious New School in New York, Vloeimans has gradually but inexorably and inevitably become one of the best-known of Holland's next generation of jazz musicians, a small but potent collective that also includes guitarists Jesse van Ruller and Anton Goudsmit, saxophonists Benjamin Herman and Yuri Honing, and keyboardist Michiel Borstlap. Vloeimans has comfortably married a clear knowledge and reverence of the American jazz tradition to hints of European classicism, occasional shots of futuristic electronic, and no shortage of the absurdity endemic to the New Dutch Swing of musicians like internationally known drummer Han Bennink and pianist Misha Mengelberg, both part of the first wave of their homeland's jazz in the 1960s, when it began to shake off its largely imitative approach and assert its own distinctive personality and aesthetic. 

 

Don Wilkerson - The Complete Blue Note Sessions (1962-63) (2 CD, 2001/FLAC)

Don Wilkerson was a saxophonist in the mold of Gene Ammons and Willis Jackson, a big-toned, booting Texas tenor player who mixed blues, swing, and bop into a joyous, soulful brew. A mainstay of Ray Charles's band, he contributed tenor solos to hits such as "I Got a Woman" but never achieved the enduring fame of band-mate David Newman. He recorded three sessions for Blue Note in 1962 and 1963, all collected on this two-CD set. It's classic soul jazz, riff-based and driving, with Wilkerson touching on a variety of bases, from bar-walking roadhouse shuffles to the rolling gospel of "Camp Meeting" and some gorgeous sweet-toned balladry on "Poor Butterfly" and "Easy Living." Guitarist Grant Green is present on all three sessions, playing with a grittier edge than usual, and there are strong contributions from other Blue Note regulars as well. Hard-bop pianist Sonny Clark and drummer Billy Higgins take some real delight in getting back to basics on the first session, while organist John Patton lays down a carpet of sounds both sanctified and funky on the third. The second session, with drummer Willie Bobo, has Wilkerson touching on the Latin and western sides of his Texas background, even mixing them together on Bob Wills's "San Antonio Rose." 

 

Jimmie Noone - Chronogical Classics 1923-1940 (5 CD/FLAC)

 

Jimmie Noone (or Jimmy Noone; April 23, 1895 – April 19, 1944) was an American jazz clarinetist.


Noone was born in Cut Off, Louisiana, and started playing guitar in his home town; at the age of 15, he switched to the clarinet and moved to New Orleans, where he studied with Lorenzo Tio and with the young Sidney Bechet, who was only 13 at the time. By 1912, he was playing professionally with Freddie Keppard in Storyville, and played with Buddy Petit, Kid Ory, Papa Celestin, the Eagle Band, and the Young Olympia Band, before joining the Original Creole Orchestra in Chicago, Illinois in 1917. The following year, he joined King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, then in 1920 joined Keppard in Doc Cook's band which he would remain with for six years, and make early recordings with. In 1926, he started leading the band at Chicago's Apex Club. This band, Jimmie Noone's Apex Club Orchestra, was notable for its unusual instrumentation—a front line consisting of just Noone and alto saxophonist/clarinetist Joe Poston, who had worked with Noone in Doc Cook's band. The influential Pittsburgh-born pianist Earl Hines was also in the band for a time.

Noone signed with Brunswick in May, 1928 and was assigned to their Vocalion label. From his first session yielded "Four or Five Times" b/w "Every Evening (I Miss You") (Vocalion 1185), which was a best seller. He continued recording for Vocalion prolifically through February, 1935. He then signed with Decca in early 1936 and one session each for Decca in 1936, 1937 and 1940. He did one session for Bluebird also in 1940.

In 1935, Noone moved to New York City to start a band and a (short-lived) club with Wellman Braud. He then returned to Chicago where he played at various clubs until 1943, when he moved to Los Angeles, California. Shortly after he joined Kid Ory's band, which was featured for a time on a radio program hosted by Orson Welles. Noone played a few broadcasts with the band, but died suddenly of a heart attack. The Ory band, with New Orleans-born clarinetist Wade Whaley, played a blues (titled "Blues for Jimmie" by Welles) in his honor on the radio, and the number eventually became a regular feature for the Ory band. He died, aged 48, in Los Angeles, California.

 

VA - Jazz Classic Songs Vol. 1 & 2 (2007/FLAC)

VOLUME 01

1. I`m Beginning To See The Ligh[ Joe Williams With Count Basie] 3:09.

2. Top Hat, White Tie And Tails [ Louis Armstrong] 4:14

3. Tenderly [Billie Holiday] 3:45

4. Stockholm Sweetin` [Jon Hendricks]3:50

5. The Touch Of Your Lips [Chet Baker]2:45

6. It Ain`t So Honey It Ain`t So [Jack Teagarden] 2:45

7. Is You Is Or You Ain`t (Ma Baby) [Louis Jordan] 3:25

8. I Could Have Told You [Artur Prysock] 3:47

10 Too Close For Comfort [Mel Torme] 4:05

11. It Was A Very Good Year [Wes Montgomery] 3:48

12. Please Don`t Talk About Me When I`m Gone [Billie Holiday] 4:23

13. Squatty Roo [Ella Fitzgerald] 1:16

14. Crazy He Calls Me [Dinah Washington] 4:52

15. Only Trust Your Heart [Stan Getz & Astrud Gilberto] 4:31

16. Don`t Explain [Nina Simone] 4:22

16. If You Could See Me Now [Morgana King] 3:23

17. A Child Is Born [Oscar Peterson] 2:36

VOLUME 02

1. Too Darn Hot [Mel Torme ] 2:49

2. Easy To Love [Charlie Parker With Strings ]3:34

3. I Wish I Were In Love Again [Ella Fitzgerald] 2:40

4. Little Girl Blue [Louis Armstrong ]5:46

5. Ten Cents A Dance [Anita O'Day ]3:41

6. Dancing On The Ceiling [Erroll Garner ]3:41

7. I Didn't Know What Time It Was [Billie Holiday] 6:01

8. Thou Swell [Count Basie & Joe Williams] 2:26

9. It Never Entered My Mind [Coleman Hawkins & Ben Webster] 5:51

10. Falling In Love With Love [Helen Merrill] 3:57

11. Everything I've Got [Tal Farlow] 3:34

12. Nobody's Heart [Mel Torme] 1:53

13. Things Are Looking Up [Ella Fitzgerald] 3:09

14. Summertime [Charlie Parker With Strings] 2:50

15. I Was Doing All Right [Louis Armstrong] 3:23

16. I Got Rhythm [Oscar Peterson] 3:25

17. They All Laughed [Fred Astaire] 3:01

18. Someone To Watch Over Me [ Roland Kirk] 3:41

19. Love For Sale [Billie Holiday ]3:00

20. Let's Do It [Dinah Washington] 2:39 

John Patton - Mosaic Select 6 (3 CD, 2003/FLAC)

 

The Mosaic Select treatment has deservedly been given to Big John Patton. There are those who argue that Patton's entire catalog should have been the subject of a Mosaic box set proper. There was easily enough material for five, if not six, CDs. There are five albums collected here. His first three, Along Came John, The Way I Feel, and Oh Baby!, were recorded in 1963, 1964, and 1965, respectively. The last two on this set are That Certain Feeling and Understanding, from 1968.

 Missing are Blue John, his proper second album from 1963 and unreleased until 1986, Let 'Em Roll, and Got a Good Thing Goin', released in 1965 and 1966, and his post-1968 work, Accent on the Blues, Memphis to New York Spirit (unreleased until 1996), and Boogaloo. Quibbling aside, of the material included here, only Along Came John is currently available domestically, making this set a necessary purchase for Patton fans who have not shelled out the big bucks for Japanese pressings. Virtually every one of these outings is important, the first because it showcased Patton outside of his stead in Lou Donaldson's great early-'60s combo, accompanied by tenors Fred Jackson and Harold Vick with Grant Green and Ben Dixon. The band changed only slightly for The Way I Feel, when Vick was replaced by trumpeter Richard Williams. On Oh Baby!, Jackson was replaced by Vick and Williams by Blue Mitchell. These three dates are all very much of a piece. The band stays deep in the funky blues groove while nodding to the waning days of hard bop. And while the horns are generally regarded as strictly meat and potatoes on these sides, a close listen will correct that erroneous perception.

In the late '60s, Patton's sound became more lean, yet also more expansive and spacious. With Junior Cook on saxophone, Clifford Jarvis on drums, and Jimmy Ponder on guitar, Patton embarked on That Certain Feeling, one of his most illustrious dates as a leader. Ponder's fluid and edgy runs nicely complemented Patton's now arpeggio-heavy manner of playing. Cook's smoky tone that came out of both Ben Webster and Coleman Hawkins added depth, dimension, and ambience to the band's sound. On the final session here, Understanding, the sound cut even closer to the bone: Harold Alexander was enlisted on tenor and flute, with drummer Hugh Walker the only other musician involved. The trio played all around the groove jazz sound, while turning it inside out in Alexander's out-ish honking solos. Patton's organ is way up in the mix, shape-shifting time signatures inside a 2/4 meter. The pace is aggressive, deep, and at times dissonant, making an excellent case for reappraisal here, as it dates better than anything else on this set. All in all, this is a deep, sometimes mystifying collection featuring Patton as a composer, bandleader, and arranger. His sense of rhythmic dynamics is among the most sophisticated in the history of the jazz B-3. There isn't a weak second on any of this material and it should be snapped up before Mosaic's copies go -- they do not reissue. Blue Note should take the cue, do the entire catalog in 24-bit audio, and hustle it out there.

♦ CD1 (01:11:44)

01. The Silver Meter [05:40]

02. I'll Never Be Free [05:03]

03. Spiffy Diffy [06:00]

04. Along Came John [06:02]

05. Gee Gee [06:02]

06. Pig Foots [05:44]

07. The Rock [07:29]

08. The Way I Feel [08:38]

09. Jerry [06:45]

10. Davene [07:25]

11. Just 3/4 [06:51]

♦ CD2 (01:02:14)

01. Fat Judy [07:40]

02. Oh Baby [06:17]

03. Each Time [05:39]

04. One To Twelve [07:52]

05. Night Flight [06:35]

06. Good Juice [06:31]

07. String Bean [05:42]

08. I Want To Go Home [08:36]

09. Early A.M. [07:17]

♦ CD3 (00:58:47)

01. Dirty Fingers [06:09]

02. Minor Swing [06:38]

03. Daddy James [06:47]

04. Ding Dong [05:34]

05. Congo Chant [09:11]

06. Alfie's Theme [04:41]

07. Soul Man [06:11]

08. Understanding [06:56]

09. Chitlins Con Carne [06:36]

Personnel: Big John Patton (organ); Grant Green, Jimmy Ponder (guitar); Fred Jackson (tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone); Harold Vick, Junior Cook (tenor saxophone); Richard Gene Williams , Blue Mitchell (trumpet); Clifford Jarvis, Hugh Walker, Ben Dixon (drums).