Maynard Ferguson - The Complete Roulette Recordings of the M.F. Orchestra [10 CD, 1994/FLAC]

 

Trumpeter Maynard Ferguson led his greatest big band during the years that he was signed to Roulette and all of the music from his 13 Roulette LPs (plus 11 previously unissued selections) are included on this deluxe limited-edition ten-CD box set. Although three of the LPs were originally recorded as dance records (and stick close to the melodies), this box as a whole finds Maynard at his peak and with an orchestra that includes such talented soloists as trombonists Slide Hampton and Don Sebesky (both of whom contributed arrangements), altoist Lanny Morgan, the tenors of Carmen Leggio, Willie Maiden, Joe Farrell, and Don Menza, pianists Jaki Byard and Joe Zawinul, and drummer Rufus Jones in addition to the leader. The music is very jazz-oriented and contains more than its share of classic moments, particularly the sessions that resulted in A Message From Newport and Newport Suite.

 

Miroslav Vitous discography [1969-2018]

 

Miroslav Ladislav Vitouš (6 December 1947) is a Czech jazz bassist who is known for his extensive career in the US.

Best known as one of the foremost young bassists in the jazz-rock movement of the late '60s and early '70s, Miroslav Vitous is one of Europe's most versatile imports, equally at home in mainstream idioms and even pop music. A sometime-leader, his bass dances and skitters around an ensemble as an equal member of the front line, and he makes very creative use of the bow. He is influenced not only by bassists like Scott LaFaro, Ron Carter, and Gary Peacock, but also by Czech folk music.

 

Dexter Gordon - The Complete Blue Note Sixties Sessions [6 CD, 1996/FLAC]

The Complete Blue Note Sixties Sessions is an attractive six-disc box set featuring all of Dexter Gordon's '60s recordings for the label in chronological order. Such classic albums as Dexter Calling and Go! were recorded during these years, and they are presented in their entirety, as are two complete sessions that have been previously unavailable on CD and several unreleased alternate takes.

 

Charlie Parker - Bird In Boston - Live At The Hi-Hat 1953-1954 (2 CD, 2016/FLAC)

  

For over two decades, the Hi-Hat Club occupied a choice location among the jazz clubs of Boston’s South End district, at the corner of Columbus and Massachusetts Avenue. After the end of World War II, lesser luminaries took over the band-stand, and after a while entertainment practically stopped altogether.

Dave Coleman, a jazz promoter, had taken over management of the club in 1949. Through Coleman’s personal initiative, the Hi-Hat enjoyed its most successful years, and by 1951 it was the only club featuring a consistent policy of presenting modern jazz.

Between 1953 and 1954 Charlie Parker made several visits to Boston, where he was often hired to play as a “single” at the Hi-Hat, backed by local musicians. The performances contained in these two albums come from radio broadcasts emceed by famed disc-jockey “Symphony Sid” (Sid Torin), duplicating here his New York role from the control booth inside the Hi-Hat for his nightly radio show on WCOP.

• Charlie Parker (as), 
• Herb Pomeroy, Herbie Williams (tp), 
• Jay Migliori (ts), 
• Dean Earle, Rollins Griffith (p), 
• Bernie Griggs, Jimmy Woode (b), 
• Bill Graham, Marquis Foster, George Solano (d)

 

VA - The Complete Felsted Mainstream Collection (1958-1959) [5 CD, 2011]

 

 Between January of 1958 and April of 1959, famed English jazz writer Stanley Dance produced nine glorious LPs of traditional jazz for the Felsted label. Among the performers were many superb jazzmen who had been forgotten for decades or had rarely recorded as leaders. This 5-CD box set puts together, for the first time ever, all of the Felsted swing albums in their complete form, half of which had never previously appeared on CD, while many others have been long unavailable and truly hard to find. The leaders on the nine albums are clarinettist Buster Bailey, trombonist Dicky Wells (two LPs), tenor saxophonists Coleman Hawkins, Buddy Tate and Budd Johnson, pianists Earl Hines and Billy Strayhorn, and drummer Cozy Cole. Also featured are: Buck Claytonlayton, Charlie Shavers (tp),Johnny Hodges (as), Vic Dickenson (tb), Willie “The Lion” Smith, Hank Jones, Dick Caryary (p), Kenny Burrell (g), Rayay Brown (b),Jo Jones (d), among many others.

Keith Jarrett feat. Jan Garbarek, Palle Danielsson & Jon Christensen - Belonging (1974/2015/FLAC-HD)

 On Keith Jarrett's first recording with his "European" quartet -- Jan Garbarek (sax), Palle Danielsson (bass), Jon Christiensen (drums) -- he stakes out somewhat less abrasive territory than that which his "American" foursome was exploring at this time. Garbarek sports a neutral, vibratoless tone that occasionally reaches an emotional climax; the rhythm section is supportive and just loose enough. The record operates at its strongest level when Jarrett locks the quartet into his winning gospel mode on "'Long as You Know You're Living Yours" and the tense drive of "Spiral Dance"; the reflective numbers are less compelling. Still, this LP-turned-CD successfully bucked the powerful electric trends of its time and holds up well today.

• Keith Jarrett, piano
• Jan Garbarek, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
• Palle Danielsson, bass
• Jon Christensen, drums

Recorded April 24-25, 1974 at Studio Arne Bendiksen Studios, Oslo

01. Spiral Dance (4:16)

02. Blossom (12:17)

03. Long As You Know You're Living Yours (6:17)

04. Belonging (2:17)

05. The Windup (8:27)

06. Solstice (13:18)

Miles Davis - The Lost Septet [2 CD, 2020]

 

Captured at the Wiener Konzerthaus in Vienna, The Lost Septet features Miles Davis accompanied by Gary Bartz, Keith Jarrett, Michael Henderson, Ndugu Leon Chancler, James Mtume Foreman and Charles Don Alias.

Davis toured Europe with this septet in 1971 — during his controversial, rock-oriented fusion era — but he never recorded with them in a studio. This concert was only previously broadcast on the radio.

 

   

John Coltrane - Interplay [5 CD, 2007/FLAC]

 

Interplay, Prestige Records' 5-CD set, containing early collaborative recordings of the peerless tenor saxophonist and visionary John Coltrane, serves two distinct purposes. The first is to offer an extraordinary collection of music that provides an excellent overview of the modern jazz scene during the fertile 1956-1958 period. The other - and arguably more important purpose to the legions of Coltrane faithful - is its rich delineation of the evolutionary process behind one of the most profoundly important and emotionally compelling artists this planet has ever seen.

Yusef Lateef - The Man with the Big Front Yard (1998/2019) [3 CD, FLAC]

 During the last half century, Yusef Lateef has successively reinvented himself as a swing-era tenor, world-music pioneer, and orchestral composer. Now 32 Jazz has reissued the cream of his Atlantic recordings on The Man with the Big Front Yard. This three-disc set offers a superb look at Lateef's quick-change artistry. A cut like "Kongsberg" finds the saxophonist in a hard-bop mood, leading an able quartet through his own gospel-flavored composition. Elsewhere Lateef deploys a bigger, funkier ensemble--indeed, the 1969 sessions originally issued as Yusef Lateef's Detroit feature percolating performances by the likes of pianist Eric Gale and Bernard Purdie. And a delicate arrangement of "Come Sunday," which spotlights the leader's flute alongside Kermit Moore's cello, anticipates the chamber music that this protean artist would produce throughout the 1970s.

Duke Ellington - The Complete Capitol Recordings (1953-1955) [5 CD, 1995/FLAC]

 Historians and some Duke Ellington fans look askance at the brief period he spent on Capitol Records (1953-55). This was a hectic period in jazz, with bebop in the near-view, hard bop coming along as well, and the big band was considered by many to be a relic of bygone eras. Yet Ellington persevered, and not without another adversity: the temporary loss of signature alto player Johnny Hodges, who was off leading his own bands. The resulting five CDs worth of material collected here show an Ellington band more aimed at repetition, both of its own repertoire, which had sounded better in the 1940s, and of other bands' material. Singer Jimmy Grissom does a good job with the Ellington band, without the velvety, almost spooky polish of Herb Jeffries (as evidenced on the astounding Blanton-Webster Years collection) but with a sureness that even sounds like jump blues in spots. What comes from the full-band tracks here is a clear demonstration that Ellington's outfit was sharp in the early '50s, with Juan Tizol and Ray Nance playing at a peak. But what's invaluable from this box set are the Ellington small-band tunes. The piano-trio cuts, available separately on Piano Reflections, present Duke as a keyboard polymath, dropping modernist touches in his spacing and phrasing and still managing a great deal of coloristic depth. And then there are the totally startling long blues tunes with Ellington on electric piano. Preeminently interested in everything that seemed musically possible, Ellington makes the tunes shine. This collection serves as a long-form rebuttal to all the naysayers who scoff at the Duke's early 1950s work.