Denny Zeitlin - Mosaic Select 34 (The Columbia Studio Trio Sessions 1964-1967) [3 CD, 2009/FLAC]

 

Considering the hot pianists of the day were Dave Brubeck, Bill Evans, and George Shearing, what Denny Zeitlin brought to the table as a performer and composer was a unique perspective that could have trumped them all. Had his professional calling not been that of a full-time clinical psychiatrist, he might have been the "it" guy had he received the kind of publicity the other three garnered. This outstanding offering in the Mosaic Select series contains Zeitlin's three piano-bass-drums recordings for Columbia Records done in Los Angeles, all which have become collectors' items on vinyl for their smaller press runs, but also the excellent music contained. The three-CD set includes some bonus tracks previously unreleased, but are not Zeitlin's complete studio works from this period, as he chose not to issue a handful of other selections or any alternate takes. 

Frank Sinatra - The Complete Capitol Singles Collection (4 CD, 1996/FLAC)

 

The Complete Capitol Singles Collection is exactly what it says it is all of Frank Sinatra's singles for Capitol Records, both the A-sides and B-sides, as well as duets with artists like Jo Stafford, June Hutton, and the Nuggets, presented in chronological order. Although the majority of these tracks have been collected on other compilations, this four-disc box set is the first time all of the singles have been collected on one set. It also represents the first time many of these tracks over 20 have appeared on disc, and quite a few haven't been reissued since their original release. Arguably, Sinatra was at his creative peak during his tenure at Capitol, and while he did release carefully considered albums, his singles which never appeared on the albums were just as electrifying and satisfying as the full-length LPs. In other words, it's an essential set.

 

Ella Fitzgerald - Complete Song Books [16 CD, 1993/FLAC]

 

The Ella Fitzgerald Songbooks were a series of eight studio albums released in irregular intervals between 1956 and 1964, recorded by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, supported by a variety of orchestras, big bands, and jazz quartets.






The eight albums are as follows, with arrangers in parentheses:

DISC ONE - Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Song Book (disc 1/2)

DISC TWO - Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Song Book (disc 2/2)

DISC THREE - Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Rodgers and Hart Song Book (disc 1/2)

DISC FOUR - Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Rodgers and Hart Song Book (disc 2/2)

DISC FIVE - Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Duke Ellington Song Book (disc 1/3)

DISC SIX - Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Duke Ellington Song Book (disc 2/3)

DISC SEVEN - Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Duke Ellington Song Book (disc 3/3)

DISC EIGHT - Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Irving Berlin Song Book (disc 1/2)

DISC NINE - Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Irving Berlin Song Book (disc 2/2)

DISC TEN - Ella Fitzgerald Sings The George and Ira Gershwin Song Book (disc 1/3)

DISC ELEVEN - Ella Fitzgerald Sings The George and Ira Gershwin Song Book (disc 2/3)

DISC TWELVE - Ella Fitzgerald Sings The George and Ira Gershwin Song Book (disc 3/3)

DISC THIRTEEN - Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Harold Arlen Song Book (disc 1/2)

DISC FOURTEEN - Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Harold Arlen Song Book (disc 2/2)

DISC FIFTEEN - Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Jerome Kern Song Book

DISC SIXTEEN - Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Johnny Mercer Song Book

Miles Davis - Before The Cool: The Miles Davis Collection 1945-48 (2 CD, 2020) [FLAC]

 

Trumpeter Miles Davis was without doubt one of the most important and influential jazz musicians of the post-war era, not only as a pioneer of the bebop movement but through being at the forefront of many stylistic and musical innovations over the years. His landmark debut album for Capitol The Birth Of The Cool, recorded during 1949 and 1950, became regarded as seminal in the history of cool jazz, exploring unusual harmonies and textures. 

This excellent-value 49-track 2-CD set comprises his studio recordings in small ensembles, in which he is the only trumpeter, from his studio debut in 1945 through to the end of 1948, just weeks before the first of the Birth Of The Cool sessions in January 1949. As a bonus, it concludes with a live recording with Charlie Parkers All Stars in December 1948. It features performances with Charlie Parker's Reeboppers, the Charlie Parker Septet, Charlie Parker All Stars, Coleman Hawkins All Stars, Miles Davis All Stars, Charlie Parker Quintet & Charlie Parker Sextet from eleven different recording sessions during these years . Charlie Parker was his primary collaborator on these sessions, but among the musicians featured in the various line-ups were Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Kai Winding, Coleman Hawkins, Lucky Thompson, Hank Jones, John Lewis, Max Roach, J.J. Johnson, Al Haig, Curly Russell and others. Its a fascinating insight into the development of his music during these key formative years. 

Verve Jazz Masters series Vol. 51-60

 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 51 - Blossom Dearie

VJM 52 - Maynard Ferguson

VJM 53 - Stan Getz

VJM 54 - Woody Herman

VJM 55 - Harry James

VJM 56 - Herbie Mann

VJM 57 - George Shearing

VJM 58 - Nina Simone 

VJM 59 - Toots Thielemans

VJM 60 - The Collection

 

Charlie Parker - The Complete Savoy Studio Sessions (3 CD, 1986/FLAC)

 This three-CD box set contains all of the recordings Charlie Parker made for the Savoy label and it is overflowing with gems and an almost countless number of alternate takes. Bird was one of the most important jazzmen of all time and nearly every note he recorded (in the studios if not live) is well worth hearing. This box starts off with his sideman date with Tiny Grimes in 1944, contains Parker's famous "Ko Ko" session of 1945 (with a young Miles Davis on trumpet and highlighted by "Now's the Time" and "Billie's Bounce"), and continues through his 1947-1948 quintet sessions with a more mature Miles Davis; either Bud Powell, John Lewis, or Duke Jordan on piano; bassists Tommy Potter, Curly Russell, or Nelson Boyd; and drummer Max Roach. Together they recorded such classics as "Donna Lee," "Chasin' the Bird," "Milestones," and "Parker's Mood." Every scrap that the great altoist cut for Savoy is in this box. 

Miles Davis - The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965 [8 CD, 1995/FLAC]

 

In late December 1965 recordings were made of two nights of performances by Miles Davis´ second great quintet at the Plugged Nickel nightclub in Chicago. Some tracks were available on Miles Davis compilations, but the full recordings were released thirty years later as a box set under the title The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965. The studio recordings of the quintet consist almost entirely of original compositions by members of the quintet. These club recordings show the group playing tunes which were either standards or had been in Davis's live repertoire for several years. The tunes are performed with substantially more rhythmic and harmonic freedom than on earlier recordings.

Cannonball Adderley discography [1955-2019]

 

Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928 – August 8, 1975) was a jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s.

Adderley is remembered for his 1966 single "Mercy Mercy Mercy", a crossover hit on the pop charts, and for his work with trumpeter Miles Davis, including on the epochal album Kind of Blue (1959). He was the brother of jazz cornetist Nat Adderley, a longtime member of his band.

 

 

Charles Mingus - The Complete Columbia & RCA Albums Collection (10 CD, 2012/FLAC)

 The ten-disc 2012 Charles Mingus anthology The Complete Columbia & RCA Albums Collection brings together all of the legendary bassist's albums recorded for Columbia and RCA from the '50s to the '70s. Included here are 1959's Mingus Dynasty, 1959's Mingus Ah Um, 1962's Tijuana Moods, 1972's Let My Children Hear Music, and 1972's Charles Mingus and Friends in Concert. Also featured is Gunther Schuller's 1989 recording of the lengthy, 130-minute Mingus composition released in 1990 as Epitaph. There are also three discs of alternate takes from the various releases. 

 

Lennie Tristano - Personal Recordings 1946-1970 (6 CD, 2021) [FLAC]

 

This set follows an unusual pattern for a Mosaic release in that it is not presented in chronological order, but rather themed to a style of presentation crossing eras and personnel.