Stan Getz - East of the Sun: The West Coast Sessions (3 CD, 1996/FLAC)

 

The mainstream came to know this remarkable tenor sax player via bossa nova -- his unforgettable, breathy solo on "The Girl from Ipanema" propelled the song to number five in 1964 and to continued popularity to this very day, every bit as much as Astrud Gilberto's equally stunning, spare voice. But Stan Getz's involvement in this populist '60s craze actually displeased many a serious jazz enthusiast who'd admired his work in that field for more than two decades. After all, this 17-time winner of the Down Beat poll for top tenor saxophonist had already staked out a remarkable reputation, playing in the bands of such vaunted names as Stan Kenton, Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, and Woody Herman from 1944-1949, and then leading his own bands thereafter. 

This three-CD box, then, finds Getz in top form as a jazz soloist and bandleader. Recorded, as so much jazz was, in various off-the-cuff sessions from 1955-1957 -- although this box culls from different LPs such as West Coast Jazz, Stan Getz and the Cool Sounds, and The Steamer -- it still all fits together as one long, languid, bop-to-bluesy session. Fusion beckoned to many a talent of the time, but Getz nicely held his ground, insisting that long, wide-stretching solos always serve a well-grounded song, be it a composition by George and Ira Gershwin, Miles Davis, Jimmy Van Heusen, or himself. With an almost unparalleled sense of time and space, Getz fills it in no particular hurry, and his piano, trumpet, bass, and drums likewise seem inclined to be tasteful rather than showoff-ish virtuosity. The slow, quiet-afternoon melancholic stuff, such as "A Handful of Stars," are the real favorites. Like "Girl from Ipanema," these allow Getz to blow like the gentle lull before a storm or, as original pianist Lou Levy writes in the notes here 40 years later, like "a sound of an angel." But the man is a master of all the styles presented, and an overriding cool, calm, pleasant air nicely defines these spontaneous yet well-organized sessions. This box is a fitting legacy and a thorough overview of an inspired period in his prolific career.

Bass - Leroy Vinnegar

Drums - Shelly Manne (tracks: CD1, CD2-01 to 04) , Stan Levey (tracks: CD2-05 to 12, CD3)

Piano - Lou Levy

Saxophone  - Stan Getz

Trumpet - Conte Candoli (tracks: CD1-01 to 07)

Recorded August 9, 15, and 19, 1955; November 24, 1956; and August 2, 1957.

Andy Kirk - Chronogical Classics 1929-1948 (7 CD/FLAC)

 

Andrew Dewey Kirk (May 28, 1898 – December 11, 1992) was an American jazz saxophonist and tubist who led the Twelve Clouds of Joy, a band popular during the swing era.

He was born in Newport, Kentucky, United States. Kirk grew up in Denver, Colorado, where he was tutored by Wilberforce Whiteman, Paul Whiteman's father. Kirk started his musical career playing with George Morrison's band, but then went on to join Terrence Holder's Dark Clouds of Joy. In 1929, he was elected leader after Holder departed. Renaming the band Clouds of Joy, Kirk also relocated the band from Dallas, Texas, to Kansas City, Missouri. Although named the Clouds of Joy, the band has also been known as the Twelve Clouds of Joy due to the number of musicians in the band. They set up in the Pla-Mor Ballroom on the junction of 32nd and Main in Kansas City and made their first recording for Brunswick Records that same year. Mary Lou Williams came in as pianist at the last moment, but she impressed Brunswick's Dave Kapp, so she became a member of the band.

 

David Liebman & Richie Beirach - Mosaic Select 12 (3 CD, 2004/FLAC)

 

The 12th volume in the Mosaic Select series offers a different view of its chosen artists than on previous issues. For starters, all of the recordings on these three CDs are previously unissued live performances. They are compiled from the years between 1976 and 1991, when Dave Liebman and Richie Beirach began recording together in an electric group called Lookout Farm (with Frank Tusa, Jeff Williams, and Todd Barkan), and recorded for the ECM label. They continued as a duo for the same label, and then for the A&M Horizon label and Artists House. Finally, they collaborated again in a group called Quest, with bassist Ron McClure and drummer Billy Hart. The music ranges from fusion (Liebman had been Miles Davis' saxophonist for his On the Corner and Get Up With It albums) to modal exploration á la Coltrane and McCoy Tyner. 

Bill Evans Trio & Guests - Live In Nice 1978 (2 CD, 2010/FLAC)

 

This release presents a complete never before released live performance by the great Bill Evans with an unusual trio that never made a studio album (featuring drummer Philly Joe Jones and bassist Marc Johnson).

 
Joining them are Lee Konitz for three amazing quartet tracks, Curtis Fuller (who joins Konitz and the trio for a marvelous quintet version of Lover Man), and Stan Getz and Christian Escoude (who join Fuller and the trio for the finale on All the Things You Are).

 
A rare interview with Evans made right after the Nice concert has also been included on this release, as well as another unissued concert by the same trio taped in Italy a few days later. 

Recorded Live at Le Grande Parade Du Jazz, Nice, France, July 7, 1978.

 

VA - Blue Note Live At The Roxy Vol. 1+2 (1976/FLAC)

  

2 CD comprising live recordings from the 'Blue Note Live' concert at the Roxy in Los Angeles, California on 28th June 1976, featuring performances by Alphonse Mouzon, Carmen McRae, Ronnie Laws, Earl Klugh & Donald Byrd.

Vol. 1

01. New York City (Alphonse Mouzon) (5:33)

02. Just Like The Sun (Alphonse Mouzon) (4:19)

03. Without A Reason (Alphonse Mouzon) (8:02)

04. Captain Midnight (Ronnie Laws) (4:48)

05. Night Breeze (Ronnie Laws) (8:19)

06. Piano Interlude (Ronnie Laws) (1:44)

07. Always There (Ronnie Laws) (3:30)

08. Places And Spaces (Donald Byrd) (4:56)

09. (Fallin' Like) Dominoes (Donald Byrd) (6:12)

Vol. 2

01. Music (Carmen McRae) (3:55)

02. Paint Your Pretty Picture (Carmen McRae) (4:53)

03. Them There Eyes (Carmen McRae) (1:53)

04. T'ain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do (Carmen McRae) (5:00)

05. You're Everything (Carmen McRae) (3:05)

06. Presentation of Proclamation (Councilman Dave Cunningham) (4:40)

07. Medley: Like A Lover~A Felicidade~Manha De Carnaval~Samba De Orfeu (Earl Klugh) (12:57)

08. Blue Note '76 (Blue Note All-Stars) (12:46)

Tony Allen & Hugh Masekela - Rejoice (Special Edition) (2 CD, 2021/FLAC)

 "Rejoice" is a very special collaboration between Tony Allen, the legendary drummer and co-founder of Afrobeat, and Hugh Masekela, the master trumpet player of South African jazz.

Having first met in the 70s thanks to their respective close associations with Fela Kuti, Allen, the Nigerian master drummer widely hailed as the co-founder of Afrobeat (and long-time member of alt-rock supergroup The Good The Bad & The Queen), and Masekela, South Africa’s legendary trumpet player, talked for decades about making an album together. When, in 2010, their touring schedules coincided in the UK, the moment presented itself and producer Nick Gold took the opportunity to record their encounter. The unfinished sessions, consisting of all original compositions by the pair, lay in archive until after Masekela passed away in 2018. With renewed resolution, Tony Allen and Nick Gold, with the blessing and participation of Hugh’s estate, unearthed the original tapes and finished recording the album in summer 2019 at the same London studio where the original sessions had taken place. Allen and Masekela are accompanied on the record by a new generation of well-respected jazz musicians including Tom Herbert (Acoustic Ladyland / The Invisible), Joe Armon-Jones (Ezra Collective), Mutale Chashi (Kokoroko) and Steve Williamson.

For this Special Edition, World Circuit have gone back to the original 2010 mixes and added previously unheard parts from the 2019 sessions to create 8 reimagined bonus mixes.

• Tony Allen, drums
• Hugh Masekela, trumpet, flugelhorn
• Joe Armon-Jones, keyboards, piano
• Mutale Chashi, bass

CD 1

01. Robbers, Thugs and Muggers (O'Galajani)

02. Agbada Bougou

03. Coconut Jam

04. Never (Lagos Never Gonna Be the Same)

05. Slow Bones

06. Jabulani (Rejoice, Here Comes Tony)

07. Obama Shuffle Strut Blues

08. We've Landed

CD 2

01. Robbers, Thugs and Muggers (O'Galajani)  (Cool Cats Mix)

02. Agbada Bougou  (Cool Cats Mix)

03. Coconut Jam  (Cool Cats Mix)

04. Never (Lagos Never Gonna Be The Same)  (Cool Cats Mix)

05. Slow Bones  (Cool Cats Mix)

06. Jabulani (Rejoice, Here Comes Tony)  (Cool Cats Mix)

07. Obama Shuffle Strut Blues  (Cool Cats Mix)

08. We've Landed  (Cool Cats Mix)

Verve Jazz Masters series Vol. 31-40

 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 31 - Cannonball Adderley

VJM 32 - Chet Baker

VJM 33 - Benny Goodman

VJM 34 - Coleman Hawkins

VJM 35 - Johnny Hodges

VJM 36 - Gerry Mulligan

VJM 37 - Oscar Peterson Plays Broadway

VJM 38 - Django Reinhardt

VJM 39 - Cal Tjader

VJM 40 - Dinah Washington Sings Standards

The Crusaders album collection 1972-2003 (FLAC)

 

The Crusaders were an American jazz group that were successful from the 1960s to the 1990s. The group were known as the Jazz Crusaders from their formation in 1960 until shortening their name in 1971. The Crusaders were comfortable playing a wide assortment of genres, from straight ahead jazz, to urban R&B, to R&B-based jazz, to even blues. The band reached a commercial apex in 1979 with their hit single "Street Life", featuring lead vocals by Randy Crawford, and their accompanying album of the same name. 

 

Peggy Lee - The Singles Collection (4 CD, 2002) [FLAC]

 Peggy Lee was a renaissance woman, a multi-talented singer and composer who achieved popular as well as critical success. Short of a complete recordings box set, The Singles Collection is the best Peggy Lee career anthology yet, and a big improvement over the oddly compiled and sequenced 1998 box set Miss Peggy Lee. The Singles Collection isn't complete -- Lee released hundreds of singles -- and it doesn't come close to compiling all of her hits (in fact, it doesn't even compile all of her Top Ten hits), but it does offer a chronological journey through her catalog from her early days with Benny Goodman and Bob Crosby all the way up to the '70s when she recorded for A&M. Although Capitol Records produced the box set, the selections include cuts from other labels, including Lee's Decca Records period. Nearly half of the box's 110 tracks are new to CD, and collectors will appreciate the glimpse into the studio afforded by a handful of bonus tracks that include false starts and studio chatter. Lee may have enjoyed commercial success with "ethnic" novelties ("Mañana" being the foremost example) and upbeat pop songs, but it is her interpretations of serious jazz and pop tunes that have made her a contender for the title of Best Vocalist of the 20th Century. The Singles Collection follows her artistic growth and demonstrates the breadth of her interpretive abilities, which gives a better picture of Lee's artistry than any single album or inferior anthology could do.

Fats Waller - Chronogical Classics 1922-1940 (10 CD/FLAC)

 

Fats Waller seems never to have suffered from seasickness. Every photograph and eyewitness account of his transatlantic nautical adventures indicates a strong constitution, unfazed by rough seas even if the rest of the passengers were hanging over the rails. When Waller invaded London in August 1938, a team of Anglo and European musicians were assigned the task of accompanying him through the grooves of six phonograph recordings. Known for the rest of time as "Fats Waller & His Continental Rhythm," this band hammered out one amazing performance after the next. "Don't Try Your Jive on Me" and "Ain't Misbehavin'" both feature the organ, cool at first but gradually gathering steam and finishing grandly with horns in the air. "Music, Maestro Please" is late-'30s sentimentality at its finest, with tinkling celeste and even a bit of romantic violin. After Dr. Jekyll goes off to mope behind the potted palms, Mr. Hyde bursts in on a riotous version of Slim Gaillard's "Flat Foot Floogie" and an alarming ode to disappointed hopes with the catchy title "Pent Up in a Penthouse." Here Waller threatens to "step out the window and turn left," a frightening proposition for anyone occupying a suite so many floors up from the street. Fats's maniacal treatment of "A-Tisket A-Tasket" surpasses even the original version, made famous by its composer Ella Fitzgerald. One week after this combustible session, Fats placed himself at the console of a pipe organ, that instrument so dear to his heart. It is a crying shame that no recordings were made when Waller was granted access to the organ of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. Fats later said he considered that to have been the greatest moment of his life. Back in London, the organist pointedly concentrated on spirituals, the music his father the Baptist preacher would have preferred. "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" is gorgeous. Near the end the music, the song seems to become partially composed of light as Waller's fingers create swirling tides of heavenly tonalities. Before the session was over, Fats was given the opportunity to accompany the lovely Adelaide Hall, famous for her wordless vocal on Duke Ellington's original version of "Creole Love Call." Some music critics, unable to enjoy Hall's diva approach, insist that she was "not a jazz singer." This is a very odd assessment considering all the wonderful jazz recordings she made throughout her long life, much of which was spent in Scandinavia, where she always received respectful admiration. Here Fats teases her with quips that help to spice up a very sweet pair of love songs. Back in New York and bolstered by His Rhythm, Fats wrestled with his repertoire, still saddled with droopy titles like "I'll Never Forgive Myself." While "Two Sleepy People" is pleasant, it pales when compared with Waller's lusty V-Disc version of 1943. Here in the waning weeks of 1938, "You Look Good to Me" is the best of the vocal tracks, second only to the bouncy instrumental "Yacht Club Swing."