Benny Carter - Anthology : The Deluxe Collection (Remastered) [3 CD,2020/FLAC]

Benny Carter was a major figure in every decade of the 20th century since the 1920s, and his consistency and longevity were unprecedented. As an altoist, arranger, composer, bandleader, and occasional trumpeter, Carter was at the top of his field since at least 1928, and in the late '90s, Carter was as strong an altoist at the age of 90 as he was in 1936 (when he was merely 28). His gradually evolving style did not change much through the decades, but neither did it become at all stale or predictable except in its excellence. 

James "Blood" Ulmer discography [1977-2009]

Free jazz has not produced many notable guitarists. Experimental musicians drawn to the guitar have had few jazz role models; consequently, they've typically looked to rock-based players for inspiration. James "Blood" Ulmer is one of the few exceptions -- an outside guitarist who has forged a style based largely on the traditions of African-American vernacular music. Ulmer is an adherent of saxophonist/composer Ornette Coleman's vaguely defined Harmolodic theory, which essentially subverts jazz's harmonic component in favor of freely improvised, non-tonal, or quasi-modal counterpoint. Ulmer plays with a stuttering, vocalic attack; his lines are frequently texturally and chordally based, inflected with the accent of a soul-jazz tenor saxophonist. That's not to say his sound is untouched by the rock tradition -- the influence of Jimi Hendrix on Ulmer is strong -- but it's mixed with blues, funk, and free jazz elements. The resultant music is an expressive, hard-edged, loudly amplified hybrid that is, at its best, on a level with the finest of the Harmolodic school.

Duke Ellington - Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band [3 CD, 2003]

Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band is a 2003 three-disc compilation combining the master takes of all the recordings by Duke Ellington's Orchestra during the years of 1940 to 1942 with an additional nine tracks, including five alternative takes and four new masters. While essentially an expanded re-release of 1990s The Blanton–Webster Band, the packaging, sound and updated notes make this, according to Allmusic, "truly worth either an initial investment or reinvestment". All About Jazz: New York noted that these performances, from what is often considered "the band in its prime", "not only set the standard for big bands and jazz orchestras, but created an ideal near insurmountable to improve upon". The Penguin Guide to Jazz selected this compilation as part of its suggested "Core Collection."

Bassist Jimmy Blanton was only with the Ellington orchestra for two years, retiring in 1941 due to tuberculosis, and dying the following year at the age of 23. Despite this compilation's "Blanton-Webster Band" subtitle, Blanton does not appear on the final 17 tracks of the collection, having been replaced on bass by Alvin "Junior" Raglin. 

Anita O'Day - The Complete Anita O'Day Verve-Clef Sessions (9 CD, 2019) [FLAC]

 

This collection presents everything Anita O'Day recorded for Norman Granz' Clef and Verve labels, including her reunion with Gene Krupa in 1956, and her cameo number in "The Gene Krupa Story". Except that one track is missing - "Get Out Of Town", from the album "Anita O'Day Swings Cole Porter With Billy May", which was track 9 on disc 6 of the original Mosaic box set, is not here. Nevertheless, 197 tracks for just over a tenner is astonishing value. You can find a review of the music in this set here: Anita was a real jazz singer and her interpretations of the great American songbook are much more original than many of the time.

Stan Getz - The Complete Roost Recordings 1950-1954 [3CD, 1997/FLAC]

 

The Complete Roost Recordings is a 1997 compilation 3-CD set of sessions led by saxophonist and bandleader Stan Getz recorded for the Roost Records label between 1950 and 1954.The compilation includes material previously released on Getz's Roost LPs The Sound, The Getz Age, the two volumes of Stan Getz at Storyville and the album with guitarist Johnny Smith - Moonlight in Vermont along with alternate takes and previously unreleased performances.

Norah Jones discography [2002-2020] (FLAC)

 

Vocalist and pianist Norah Jones developed a unique blend of jazz and traditional vocal pop, with hints of bluesy country and contemporary folk, due in large part to her unique upbringing. The daughter of Ravi Shankar, Jones grew up in Texas with her mother. While she always found the music of Billie Holiday and Bill Evans both intriguing and comforting, she didn't really explore jazz until attending Dallas' Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. During high school, Jones won the Down Beat Student Music Awards for Best Jazz Vocalist and Best Original Composition in 1996, and earned a second Best Jazz Vocalist award in 1997. Putting her vocal talents on the back burner, Jones worked toward earning a degree in jazz piano at the University of North Texas for two years before accepting a friend's offer of a summer sublet in Greenwich Village during the summer of 1999.

(2002) Norah Jones - Come Away With Me (CD + Enhanced BonusCD, Limited Edition)

(2004) Norah Jones - Feels Like Home (Deluxe Edition)

(2007) Norah Jones - Not Too Late

(2009) Norah Jones - The Fall (Deluxe Edition)

(2010) Norah Jones -  ...Featuring

(2012) Norah Jones - Covers

(2012) Norah Jones - Little Broken Hearts (Deluxe Edition)

(2017) Norah Jones - Day Breaks

(2019) Norah Jones - Begin Again

(2020) Norah Jones - Pick Me Up Off The Floor

Dave Stryker - Blue to the Bone Vol. 1-4 (1996-2011/FLAC)

 

Dave Stryker (born March 30, 1957) is an American jazz guitarist. He has recorded over twenty-five albums as a leader and has been a featured sideman with Stanley Turrentine, Jack McDuff, and Kevin Mahogany.

Dave Stryker’s music is deeply rooted in blues, having performed with Jack McDuff in the 80s and Stanley Turrentine in the 90s. Dave’s special blend of jazz and blues culminated first time in 1996 in the form of “Blue To The Bone I”. Since then the project has become a popular on-going series.

Verve Jazz Masters series Vol. 21-30

 

 Jazz Masters is a series of mainly single artist compilations released by Polygram/Verve between 1994 and 1996. The compilations collect material that was originally released on Verve or on one of the labels that became part of the Polygram group. The 20th and 60th releases in the series were various artist collections.

VJM 21 - George Benson

VJM 22 - Billy Eckstine

VJM 23 - Gil Evans

VJM 24 - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong

VJM 25 - Stan Getz & Dizzy Gillespie

VJM 26 - Lionel Hampton & Oscar Peterson

VJM 27 - Roland Kirk

VJM 28 - Charlie Parker Plays Standards

VJM 29 - Jimmy Smith

VJM 30 - Lester Young

 

The Dave Brubeck Quartet – Anything Goes! The Dave Brubeck Quartet Plays Cole Porter (1967/FLAC)

The Quartet performs eight of Cole Porter's most famous songs on this enjoyable outing. Few surprises occur but the music often swings hard, pianist Brubeck and altoist Paul Desmond take several excellent solos and bassist Eugene Wright and drummer Joe Morello really push the group. 

•     Dave Brubeck – piano
•     Paul Desmond – alto saxophone
•     Gene Wright – double bass
•     Joe Morello – drums
•     Teo Macero – producer 

A1 Anything Goes

A2 Love For Sale

A3 Night And Day

A4 What Is This Thing Called Love

B1 I Get A Kick Out Of You

B2 Just One Of Those Things

B3 You're The Top

B4 All Through The Night

Steve Coleman - Live at the Village Vanguard Volume II (2021) [ FLAC]

 Recorded live in performance at the renowned Village Vanguard in New York City, "Mdw Ntr," finds MacArthur Fellow Steve Coleman exploring new terrain in his use of non-linear performance practices in his music. Featuring his long-running flagship ensemble Five Elements, he utilizes spontaneous and pre-composed modules, or motivic cells that can be played in any order, allowing each musicians to spontaneously jump forward or backward to different sections – even between compositions – highlighting different strata of the music and reinventing the form each time in a completely interactive way. Coleman often composes these modules by envisioning them as chains of tonal dyads that are strung together along rhythmic patterns to create melodic structures, something he sees as an analogue of DNA sequences. 

• Steve Coleman (alto saxophone)
• Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet)
• Kokayi (wordsmith)
• Anthony Tidd (bass)
• Sean Rickman (drums) 

1. Menes to Midas 12:29

2. Unit Fractions 16:15

3. Little Girl I'll Miss You 09:34

4. Compassion (drum solo) - Ascending Numeration - DeAhBo (Reset) 16:14

5. Pad Thai-Mdw Ntr 14:33

6. 9 to 5 09:36

7. Mdw Ntr 08:42

8. Rumble Young Man, Rumble 08:52

9. Khet & KaBa 07:38

10.DeAhBo (Reset) 08:04

11.9 to 5 - Mdw Ntr 21:33