Wayne Shorter - The Complete Columbia Albums Collection (6 CD, 2012/FLAC)

 Enigmatic, often inscrutable, Wayne Shorter (b. 1933) doesn’t give much of himself away to the public. Thankfully, he’s given the world more than plenty in terms of beautiful music. A brilliant tenor and soprano saxophonist, an outstanding composer, and, at present, a bandleader of rare distinction, Shorter is finally basking in the adoration he’s long deserved. The journey started in Newark, New Jersey where Shorter began drawing attention to his musical prowess as a teenager. His five year stint, starting in 1959, with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers alerted the jazz world to Shorter’s compelling voice on the tenor saxophone and his beguiling compositions. On joining Miles Davis in 1964, Shorter solidified what came to be called “The Second Great Quintet,” alongside the trumpeter, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams. Shorter’s tunes – “Footprints,” "E.S.P.", and "Nefertiti" among them – and his alluringly elliptical playing were decisive elements in the critical success of the Davis band. Shorter’s own concurrently released albums as a leader have proved to be just as inspiring to subsequent generations of players as his work with Davis.

• CD 1 - Weather Report 1
• CD 2 - Weather Report 2
• CD 3 - Native Dancer
• CD 4 - Atlantis
• CD 5 - Phantom Navigator
• CD 6 - Joy Ryder

 

Miles Davis & John Coltrane - The Complete Columbia Recordings 1955-1961 [6 CD, 2011/FLAC]

  

Between 1955 and 1959, with occasional changes in personnel, trumpeter Miles Davis led a simply extraordinary small band that changed the course of jazz. This quintet/sextet primarily spotlighted tenor saxophonist John Coltrane but also included such greats as alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley; pianists Red Garland, Bill Evans, and Wynton Kelly; bassist Paul Chambers; and drummers Philly Joe Jones and Jimmy Cobb.

The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis and John Coltrane comprise such fabled Davis albums as 'Round About Midnight, Milestones, Jazz at the Plaza, Volume 1, Someday My Prince Will Come, and the legendary Kind of Blue. Also included are the Davis-with-Coltrane selections that appeared on Miles and Monk at Newport, Jazz Track, Basic Miles, and Circle in the Round. In all, the set boasts 60 tracks, of which 18 are previously unreleased--14 of them complete takes.

 

Charlie Barnet - Chronogical Classics 1936-1940 (6 CD/FLAC)

 

Charlie Barnet was unusual in several ways. One of the few jazzmen to be born a millionaire, Barnet was a bit of a playboy throughout his life, ending up with a countless number of ex-wives and anecdotes. He was one of the few white big band leaders of the swing era to openly embrace the music of Duke Ellington (he also greatly admired Count Basie). Barnet was a pioneer in leading integrated bands (as early as 1935). And, although chiefly a tenor saxophonist (where he developed an original sound out of the style of Coleman Hawkins), Barnet was an effective emulator of Johnny Hodges on alto in addition to being virtually the only soprano player (other than Sidney Bechet) in the 1930s and '40s.

And yet Charlie Barnet was only significant in jazz for about a decade (1939-1949). Although his family wanted him to be a lawyer, he was a professional musician by the time he was 16 and ironically in his career made more money than he would have in business. Barnet arrived in New York in 1932 and started leading bands on records the following year, but his career was quite erratic until 1939. Many of Barnet's early records are worthy but some are quite commercial as he attempted to find a niche. Best is a sideman appearance on a 1934 Red Norvo date that also includes Artie Shaw and Teddy Wilson.

In 1939, with the hit recording of "Cherokee" and a very successful run at the Famous Door in New York, Charlie Barnet soon became a household name. In addition to the fine trumpeter Bobby Burnet (who soloed on many of Barnet's Bluebird records), such sidemen as guitarist Bus Etri; drummer Cliff Leeman; singers Lena Horne, Francis Wayne, and Kay Starr; pianist Dodo Marmarosa; clarinetist Buddy DeFranco; guitarist Barney Kessel; and even trumpeter Roy Eldridge spent time with Barnet's bands. Although at the height of his popularity during 1939-1942 (when his orchestra could often play a close imitation of Ellington's), Barnet's recordings for Decca during 1942-1946 were also of great interest with "Skyliner" being a best-seller.

By 1947 Barnet was starting to look toward bop. Clark Terry was his star trumpeter that year, and in 1949 his screaming trumpet section included Maynard Ferguson, Doc Severinsen, Rolf Ericson, and Ray Wetzel. Barnet, however, soon lost interest and near the end of 1949 he broke up his band. Semi-retired throughout the remainder of his life, Charlie Barnet occasionally led swing-oriented big bands during short tours and appearances, making his last recording in 1966.

 

Horace Tapscott discography [1969-1998]

 

Horace Elva Tapscott (April 6, 1934 – February 27, 1999) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He formed the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra (also known as P.A.P.A., or The Ark) in 1961 and led the ensemble through the 1990s.


He was born in Houston, Texas, and moved to Los Angeles, California, at the age of nine. By this time he had begun to study piano and trombone. He played with Frank Morgan, Don Cherry, and Billy Higgins as a teenager. After service in the Air Force in Wyoming, he returned to Los Angeles and played trombone with various bands, notably Lionel Hampton (1959–61). Soon after, though, he quit playing trombone and focused on piano.

In 1961 Tapscott formed the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, with the aim of preserving, developing and performing African-American music. As his vision grew, this became just one part of a larger organization in 1963, the Underground Musicians Association (UGMA), which later changed name to the Union of God's Musicians and Artists Ascension (UGMAA). Arthur Blythe, Stanley Crouch, Butch Morris, Wilber Morris, David Murray, Jimmy Woods, and Guido Sinclair all performed in Tapscott's Arkestra at one time or another. Tapscott and his work are the subjects of the UCLA Horace Tapscott Jazz Collection.

Enthusiasts of his music formed two labels in the 1970s and 1980s, Interplay and Nimbus, for which he recorded.

John Carter, Bobby Bradford, Horace Tapscott-(1969)- West Coast Hot

Horace Tapscott & Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra-(1978)- Flight 17

Horace Tapscott-(1969)- The Giant Is Awakened

Horace Tapscott-(1978)- Song Of The Unsung

Horace Tapscott-(1979)- In New York

Horace Tapscott-(1979)- Lighthouse 79 Vol. 1

Horace Tapscott-(1979)- Lighthouse 79 Vol. 2

Horace Tapscott-(1980)- Autumn Colours

Horace Tapscott-(1981)- Live At Lobero Volume 1

Horace Tapscott-(1983)- Faith

Horace Tapscott-(1991)- The Dark Tree

Horace Tapscott-(1995)- Aiee! the Phantom

Horace Tapscott-(1997)- Thoughts of Dar Es Salaam

Horace Tapscott-(1998)- Dissent or Descent

Nat King Cole - The Complete Early Transcriptions Of The King Cole Trio 1938-1941 (4 CD, 1991)

 

This four-CD set contains 112 performances by the Trio from 1938-1941, radio transcriptions made especially to be played on the air. The early trio is instantly recognizable and, although there is a greater reliance on group vocals and guest singers (including Bonnie Lake, Juanelda Carter, Pauline and Her Perils, and the Dreamers) rather than on Cole's solo vocals, the music is not all that different from what the King Cole Trio would be playing a few years later when they became much better known. 

Paul Chambers - Mosaic Select 5 (3 CD, 2005/FLAC)

 

Paul Chambers finally receives the Mosaic Select treatment and there's a surprise tossed in with his catalog for fans and connoisseurs: his material recorded for the Transition label. Also included on the Paul Chambers set are the albums Chambers' Music and Whims of Chambers from 1956 and Bass on Top and The Paul Chambers Quintet from 1957. Musicians on these dates ran the gamut from Elvin Jones to Donald Byrd, Clifford Jordan, Horace Silver, Kenny Burrell, Hank Jones, and Art Taylor -- an overwhelming number of fellow Detroiters. There are some other odds and ends as well, but most importantly, the Transition material will be of prime interest to John Coltrane fans. "Trane's Strain," an 11-minute legato orgy, was recorded and released on a Transition sampler called Jazz in Translation. It features Chambers, Coltrane, Pepper Adams, Curtis Fuller, Philly Joe Jones, and Roland Alexander. Two other selections, "High Step" and "Nixon, Dixon and Yates Blues," were recorded on the same day and issued on the Blue Note sampler High Step. Two other selections, "Chamber Mates" and "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm," on which Art Blakey is featured, were originally issued on samplers as well: Blue Berlin and Blakey's Drums Around the Corner. What it all adds up to is nearly four hours of some of the most elegant, heated playing in hard bop history. Away from their membership in the Miles Davis Quintet, Chambers, Trane, and Jones created a standard for all of Chambers' recordings for Blue Note: complex yet airy arrangements, impassioned and highly stylized playing, and plenty of improvisation. This is a set that goes beyond the boundaries of standard Blue Note fare (which is high-quality fare, indeed) and extends into the realm of pure musicology as articulated by jazz. Most of the players on these sessions had their musical vocabularies altered permanently by their participation. Many harmonic ideas were born in these dates in the mid-'50s, and most are still being articulated and built upon to this day. This box is essential. 

 

Charlie Parker - Portrait [10 CD, 2007]

One of a handful of musicians who can be said to have permanently changed jazz, Charlie Parker was arguably the greatest saxophonist of all time. He could play remarkably fast lines that, if slowed down to half speed, would reveal that every note made sense. "Bird," along with his contemporaries Dizzy Gillespie and Bud Powell, is considered a founder of bebop; in reality he was an intuitive player who simply was expressing himself. Rather than basing his improvisations closely on the melody as was done in swing, he was a master of chordal improvising, creating new melodies that were based on the structure of a song. In fact, Bird wrote several future standards (such as "Anthropology," "Ornithology," "Scrapple from the Apple," and "Ko Ko," along with such blues numbers as "Now's the Time" and "Parker's Mood") that "borrowed" and modernized the chord structures of older tunes. Parker's remarkable technique, fairly original sound, and ability to come up with harmonically advanced phrases that could be both logical and whimsical were highly influential. By 1950, it was impossible to play "modern jazz" with credibility without closely studying Charlie Parker.

Dave Brubeck Quartet with Paul Desmond - The Complete Storyville Broadcasts (3 CD, 2014/FLAC)

 

In the history of jazz, there have been a handful of iconic figures who have transcended popular music styles of their era to create a new generation of jazz devotees. The late Dave Brubeck was one of these. 

Beginning in February of 1951, shortly after the Brubeck Quartet was formed the prior August, George Wein signed Brubeck to perform at his jazz venue called Storyville which was located in the Copley Square Hotel in downtown Boston. This was the beginning of a series of broadcasts by Brubeck from Storyville over the next three years. This release gathers all these broadcasts in a 3 CD set which is an absolute must for Brubeck fans for a variety of reasons not the least of which is the aural evidence of the development of the Quartet's style as personnel changes took place over the three year span of these recordings. The fact that Brubeck and Paul Desmond anchored the groups lent stability and direction which evolved into the golden years of the Quartet before Desmond's departure for a solo career. There is very little to critique here. The playing is wonderful - the improvisations are elegant, unique, and ultimately Brubeckian - in short, essential to any serious jazz collection. The notes are extensive and the sound reproduction is superb. The transfers are clean and immediate. 

Blue Note Works 4000-4100 series [4161-4175]

 

...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.4161- George Braith‎- 1963- Soul Stream
BN.4162- Stanley Turrentine- 1964- Hustlin' {RVG Remaster}
BN.4164- Jimmy Smith- 1963- Prayer Meetin' {RVG Remaster}
BN.4165- Jackie McLean- 1963- Destination... Out {RVG Remaster}
BN.4166- Joe Henderson- 1964- In 'n Out {RVG Remaster}
BN.4167- Andrew Hill- 1964- Point of Departure {RVG Remaster}
BN.4168- Freddie Roach- 1964- Brown Sugar
BN.4169- Lee Morgan- 1964- Search For The New Land {RVG Remaster}
BN.4170- Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers- 1964- Free For All {RVG Remaster}
BN.4171- George Braith- 1964- Extension
BN.4172- Freddie Hubbard- 1964- Breaking Point {RVG Remaster}
BN.4173- Wayne Shorter- 1964- Night Dreamer {RVG Remaster}
BN.4174- Big John Patton- 1964- The Way I Feel
BN.4175- Herbie Hancock- 1964- Empyrean Isles {RVG Remaster}

Ike Quebec - The Complete Blue Note 45 Sessions (2 CD, 2005/FLAC)

 

The Complete Blue Note 45 Sessions is a compilation album by American saxophonist Ike Quebec. The album focuses on Quebec's 45 RPMs recorded between 1959 and 1962 and aimed at the juke box market. The songs were successful, marking the start of a comeback for the saxophonist who had fallen into obscurity since his early career in 1940s.

The compilation was first issued on Mosaic MR3/MD2-121 in 1988, then re-released on a now out-of-print Blue Note CD in 2005. Despite the fact this is a compilation, all the pieces couldn't be found anywhere else at the time of the release, and still remain so, not counting From Hackensack to Englewood Cliffs which, however, includes only a part of this collection.

The July 1 session marks the last day of recording at the original Van Gelder Studio, based in Hackensack. Van Gelder would move the studio to Englewood Cliffs soon after.