Don Byas - The Chronogical Classics 1944-1953 (6 CD/FLAC)

 

One of the greatest of all tenor players, Don Byas' decision to move permanently to Europe in 1946 resulted in him being vastly underrated in jazz history books. His knowledge of chords rivalled Coleman Hawkins, and, due to their similarity in tones, Byas can be considered an extension of the elder tenor. He played with many top swing bands, including those of Lionel Hampton (1935), Buck Clayton (1936), Don Redman, Lucky Millinder, Andy Kirk (1939-1940), and most importantly Count Basie (1941-1943). An advanced swing stylist, Byas' playing looked toward bop. He jammed at Minton's Playhouse in the early '40s, appeared on 52nd Street with Dizzy Gillespie, and performed a pair of stunning duets with bassist Slam Stewart at a 1944 Town Hall concert. 

After recording extensively during 1945-1946 (often as a leader), Byas went to Europe with Don Redman's band, and (with the exception of a 1970 appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival) never came back to the U.S. He lived in France, the Netherlands, and Denmark; often appeared at festivals; and worked steadily. Whenever American players were touring, they would ask for Byas, who had opportunities to perform with Duke Ellington, Bud Powell, Kenny Clarke, Dizzy Gillespie, Jazz at the Philharmonic (including a recorded tenor battle with Hawkins and Stan Getz), Art Blakey, and (on a 1968 recording) Ben Webster. Byas also recorded often in the 1950s, but was largely forgotten in the U.S. by the time of his death. 

Lou Donaldson — The Complete Blue Note Lou Donaldson Sessions 1957-60 (6 CD, 2002/FLAC)

 

A soul survivor in every sense of the term, this alto saxophonist is one of the few remaining jazz artists who made a major impact on the jazz community via an extensive run with producer Alfred Lion and the Blue Note label (Horace Silver being another Blue Note legend that comes to mind). From his first recordings for the label with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, it was clear that Lou Donaldson put melody and sound at a premium, coming up with an amalgam that combined the creamy smoothness of Johnny Hodges with the quicksilver bop inflections of Charlie Parker. 

Over the course of some 20 albums that Donaldson would cut for Blue Note beginning with his first sessions in 1953, you can trace the course of popular jazz styles, from bop inflected quintets to soul jazz organ combos. The majority of this new six disc set covers the type of bebop fare that is the core of Donaldson's musical persona and much of this material has been available previously on compact disc, although there are a few items that could only be found previously on pricey Japanese imports.

For the record, the albums included herein are Wailing with Lou, Swing and Soul, Lou Takes Off, Blues Walk, LD + 3, The Time Is Right, Sunny Side Up, Light-Foot, Gravy Train, and Midnight Sun.

 

Toots Thielemans discography [1955-2012]

  

Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans  (29 April 1922 – 22 August 2016), known as Toots Thielemans, was a Belgian jazz musician well known for his guitar and harmonica playing as well as his whistling. Thielemans is credited as one of the greatest harmonica players of the 20th century

He has worked as a bandleader (scoring an international hit in the 1960s with his song "Bluesette"), as a sideman (notably on many projects with composer/arranger Quincy Jones), and has appeared on dozens of film soundtracks. In 2009 he became NEA Jazz Master, the highest honour for a jazz musician in the United States.

1955. Toots Thielemans - Sound Of Toots Thielemans

1958. Jean 'Toots' Thielemans - Man Bites Harmonica

1959. Toots Thielemans - The Soul Of Toots Thielemans

1961. Toots Thielemans - Blues Pour Flirter {Jazz In Paris, #17}

1964. Toots Thielemans - The Whistler And His Guitar

1967. Toots Thielemans - Guitar And Strings And Things (LP)

1967. Toots Thielemans - Two Toots

1969. Toots Thielemans & Elis Regina - Aquarela Do Brasil

1972. Toots Thielemans & Svend Asmussen - Toots & Svend

1975. Toots Thielemans - Images

1975. Toots Thielemans - Old Friend (LP)

1979. Toots Thielemans - Apple Dimple

1980. Thielemans - Pass - Pedersen - Live In The Netherlands

1984. Stephane Grappelli & Toots Thielemans - Bringing It Together

1985. Ake Johansson Trio with Chet Baker & Toots Thielemans - Chet & Toots

1985. Toots Thielemans - Bluesette

1985. Toots Thielemans - The Silver Collection

1988. Toots Thielemans - Only Trust Your Heart

1989. Toots Thielemans - Footprints

1991. Toots Thielemans & Shirley Horn Trio - For My Lady

1991. Toots Thielemans - Compact Jazz

1992. Toots Thielemans - The Brasil Project

1993. Toots Thielemans - The Brasil Project, Vol. 2

1994. Toots Thielemans - East Coast West Coast

1995. Toots Thielemans - Giants Of Jazz {CD 53238}

1996. Toots Thielemans - Verve Jazz Masters 59

1997. Toots Thielemans - Toots 75 - The Birthday Album

1998. Toots Thielemans - Chez Toots

1998. Toots Thielemans - Penthouse Serenade

2001. Toots Thielemans - Hard To Say Goodbye (The Very Best Of...)

2006. Toots Thielemans - One More For The Road

2010. Toots Thielemans European Quartet - Live

2012. Toots Thielemans European Quartet - 90 yrs

2012. Toots Thielemans The Best Of (2 CD)

Blue Note Works 4000-4100 series [4176-4185]

 

...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.4176- Dexter Gordon- 1964- One Flight Up {RVG Remaster}
BN.4177- Grachan Moncur III- 1964- Some Other Stuff {RVG Remaster}
BN.4178- Blue Mitchell- 1964- The Thing To Do {RVG Remaster}
BN.4179- Jackie McLean- 1964- It's Time
BN.4180- Anthony Williams- 1964- Life Time {RVG Remaster}
BN.4181- Kenny Dorham- 1964- Trompete Toccata {RVG Remaster}
BN.4182- Wayne Shorter- 1964- JUJU {RVG Remaster}
BN.4183- Grant Green- 1964- Talkin' About
BN.4184- Sam Rivers- 1964- Fuchsia Swing Song {RVG Remaster}
BN.4185- Horace Silver- 1964- Song For My Father {RVG Remaster}

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.