Blue Mitchell - The Complete Blue Note Blue Mitchell Sessions (1963-67) [4 CD, 1998/FLAC]

 

Blue Mitchell was always a consistent, lyrical, and pleasing trumpeter. Although not as significant during the 1960s as Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard (much less Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis), Mitchell had his own appealing sound and was a major asset on many modern mainstream dates. This four-CD limited-edition Mosaic box set collects Mitchell's first six Blue Note dates as a leader: Step Lightly, The Thing to Do, Down With It, Bring It Home to Me, Boss Horn, and Heads Up.

Three albums are by his quintet, which included tenor saxophonist Junior Cook and usually the young pianist Chick Corea and was formed shortly after he left Horace Silver, and the three others are with larger groups, two of which have arrangements by Duke Pearson. Among the other key sidemen are tenor great Joe Henderson, altoist Leo Wright, baritonist Pepper Adams, and pianists Herbie Hancock and McCoy Tyner. There are just two previously unreleased cuts (both alternate takes), but most of the sets have been somewhat rare for years, and taken as a whole, the swinging hard bop and boogaloo performances are Blue Mitchell's finest recordings as a leader.

Return To Forever - Live At Yomiuri Land Open Theatre, 1983 (2022) [FLAC]

 Live At Yomiuri Land Open Theatre, Japan 1983

•     Chick Corea     fender rhodes, piano, synthesizer, composer
•     Stanley Clarke  electric bass, composer
•     Al Di Meola     guitar
•     Lenny White     drums

1.  Overture 6:59
2.  No Mysyery 10:53
3.  Romantic Warrior 22:13
4.  Duel of the Jester and the Tyrant 10:13
5.  Vulcan Worlds 4:44
6.  Song to the Pharoah Kings 24:24 

Miles Davis - The Lost Quintet [2019]

 

Miles and his Quintet were on their 1969 European tour, promoting the ‘Bitches Brew’ album.

Recorded on 11th May 1969 in Rotterdam, the recordings were lost for years and now available remastered as a CD.

• Bass – Dave Holland
• Drums, Marimba – Jack DeJohnette
• Electric Piano – Chick Corea
• Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Wayne Shorter
• Trumpet – Miles Davis

01. Directions
02. Bitches Brew
03. Sanctuary
04. Mastuero

Dexter Gordon - Soul Sister (2022/FLAC)

 In September 1962, Dexter Gordon  left for Europe, and two months later he was recorded at the Metropole Jazz Centre in Oslo, Norway. In February 1963, he appeared in concert in Copenhagen, Denmark, and was recorded by Danish radio. These two dates were released on Soul Sister by SteepleChase Records.

    Dexter Gordon (tenor sax)

    Bent Axen (piano)

    Niel-Henning Orsted Pedersen (bass)

    William Schiopffe (drums)

    01. Three O’Clock In The Morning

    02. Soul Sister

    03. A Night In Tunisia

    Recorded on February 24, 1963 in Copenhagen, Denmark

    ____________________________________________________

    Dexter Gordon (tenor sax)

    Einar Iversen (piano)

    Erik Amundsen (bass

    Jon Christensen (drums)

    04. Second Balcony Jump

    05. Ernie’s Tune

    06. Stanley The Steamer

    Recorded on November 24, 1962 in Oslo, Norway

HR-Bigband (featuring Billy Cobham) - Meeting of the Spirits (A Celebration of the Mahavishnu Orchestra) [2006/FLAC]

 

Meeting of The Spirits / Celebrating The Music Of The Mahavishnu Orchestra. Bring together the mighty Hessische Rundfunk Big Band, the legendary drummer, Billy Cobham, the outstanding compositions of John McLaughlin and the consummate arranging skills of Colin Towns and you have an infallible recipe for success. For John McLaughlin, this project was, in his own words, a dream come true. 

Chick Webb & Ella Fitzgerald - The Complete Decca Sessions (1934-1941) [8 CD, 2013/FLAC]

 

A massively comprehensive look at the earliest years of Ella Fitzgerald on record – the legendary recordings she made with the Chick Webb orchestra at the end of the 30s and start of the 40s! Ella was way more than just another singer with a band – as her presence in the Webb group really dominated its recording history, so much so that there were nearly five times as many Chick Webb singles with vocals by Ella as there were instrumentals by the group! Fitzgerald's placement was for good reason, too – as her singing abilities were landmark – almost more with the deftness of an instrument than most other singers who'd come before, and developed amazingly over the course of the seven years presented in the set. If you only know Ella from all her later famous sides – and plenty of those are wonderful, too – you'll find even more to love here – a beautifully remastered presentation of 187 titles that were originally issued on 78rpm singles, all collected here for the first time ever – with amazing notes, photos, and details on all the music. The set's not only a great illustration of the strength of the Webb and Fitzgerald team, but also of the way that Mosaic's talents for compilation can work especially well for the pre-LP years of jazz!

Norah Jones — Come Away with Me (Super Deluxe Edition) [3 CD, 2022/FLAC]

 Norah Jones’ 2002 debut album Come Away With Me was reissued for its 20th anniversary, in April.

The album’s blend of jazz, blues, country, folk and pop – had an enormous appeal and Come Away With Me has, to date, sold nearly 30 million copies, and has garnered multiple awards, including eight Grammys.

22 unreleased tracks: demos, session outtakes, alternate versions & mixes Norah’s earliest demos—the tracks that got Blue Note’s attention, and the demos she recorded for the label—some of which were released on the promo-only EP First Sessions.

The full previously-unreleased original version of the album—including 11 unreleased cuts—produced by Craig Street and now newly-mixed by Tony Maserati, with alternate versions of well-known tracks and unheard performances

Jan Garbarek discography [1969-2009]

 

Jan Garbarek (born 4 March 1947 in Mysen, Norway) is a Norwegian tenor and soprano saxophonist, active in the jazz, classical, and world music genres. Garbarek was the only child of a former Polish prisoner of war Czeslaw Garbarek and a Norwegian farmer's daughter.

Garbarek's sound is one of the hallmarks of the ECM Records label, which has released virtually all of his recordings. His style incorporates a sharp-edged tone, long, keening, sustained notes, and generous use of silence. He began his recording career in the late 1960s, notably featuring on recordings by the American jazz composer George Russell (such as Othello Ballet Suite and Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved by Nature). If he had initially appeared as a devotee of Albert Ayler and Peter Brötzmann, by 1973 he had turned his back on the harsh dissonances of avant-garde jazz, retaining only his tone from his previous approach.

Sonny Rollins Quartet With Don Cherry - Complete Live At The Village Gate 1962 [6 CD, 2015/FLAC]

 

The 1962 live engagement at the Village Gate marked Sonny Rollins’ first recording ever with Don Cherry, as well as one of th earliest made by the saxophonist following his three-year long selfimposed musical exile. It was all recorded in a piano-less quartet format with Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums.

While only three tunes from the gig (“Dearly Beloved” in a highly edited form) were included on the famous LP "Our Man in Paris" (RCA Victor LPM 2612), this 6-CD collection adds all existing music taped during those live sessions, totaling more than five hours of previously unreleased material in brilliant stereo sound.

Among the many highlights here are the unedited "Dearly Beloved" (which is 10 minutes longer than the LP version), the issued Oleo with an extra minute at the beginning, Rollins’ only known reading of "Alexander’s Ragtime Band", and "Home Sweet Home", plus extended renditions of songs he only rarely recorded, such as "Solitude" and "Love Walked In".

                                                       

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.