Jazz Cafee

Chet Baker - My Funny Valentine [10 CD, 2008] [FLAC + 320]

Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer.
In the 1950s, Baker earned much attention and critical praise, particularly for albums featuring his vocals, such as Chet Baker Sings. Jazz historian David Gelly descibed the promise of Baker's early career as seemingly representing "James Dean, Sinatra, and Bix, rolled into one." However, his "well-publicized drug habit" also drove his notoriety and fame, as Baker was in-and-out of jail for much of his life before enjoying a career resurgence in the late 1970s and '80s.

Baker died in 1988 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Bill Evans - The Complete Fantasy Recordings [9 CD, 1989]

Bill Evans' Fantasy recordings of 1973-1979 have often been underrated in favor of his earlier work but, as this remarkable nine-CD set continually shows, the influential pianist continued to grow as a musician through the years while holding on to his original conception and distinctive sound. The collection has all of the 98 selections recorded at Evans' 11 Fantasy sessions, including nine numbers from a previously unreleased 1976 concert with his trio. In addition, Evans' appearance on Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz radio program is tacked on as a bonus and it is actually among McPartland's finest shows, a fascinating hour of discussion and music with Evans. Nearly all of the performances on this box (which includes duets with bassist Eddie Gomez and singer Tony Bennett, trio outings with Gomez and either Marty Morell or Eliot Zigmund on drums, and a couple of quintet sets with the likes of tenors Harold Land and Warne Marsh, altoist Lee Konitz, guitarist Kenny Burrell, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer Philly Joe Jones) is available individually on CD but Bill Evans' more passionate collectors will certainly want this definitive box. The only minus is Gene Lees' typically self-serving liner notes; he always seems to love to write about himself.

CD1 - Stanley Clarke (1974)

CD2 - Journey to Love (1975)

CD3 - School Days (1976)

CD4 - Modern Man (1978)

CD5 - Clarke/Duke Project (1981)

By the time of this, Art Pepper's tenth recording as a leader, he was making his individual voice on the alto saxophone leave the cozy confines of his heroes Charlie Parker and Lee Konitz. Joining the Miles Davis rhythm section of pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones made the transformation all that more illuminating. It's a classic east meets west, cool plus hot but never lukewarm combination that provides many bright moments for the quartet during this exceptional date from that great year in music, 1957.

Art Pepper - alto saxophone
Red Garland - piano
Paul Chambers - bass
Philly Joe Jones - drums

01 - You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To 05:26

02 - Red Pepper Blues 03:39

03 - Imagination 05:54

04 - Waltz Me Blues 02:58

05 - Straight Life 04:01

06 - Jazz Me Blues 04:49

07 - Tin Tin Deo 07:44

08 - Star Eyes 05:14

09 - Birks Works 04:19

David Murray - The Complete Remastered Recordings On Black Saint & Soul Note Vol.1 (5 CD, 2011) [FLAC]

The five CDs in this box represent the first David Murray Octet recordings, released between between 1980 and 1991. The original version of the band included Murray on tenor saxophone and bass clarinet, Lawrence "Butch" Morris on cornet, Henry Threadgill on alto saxophone, trombonist George Lewis, trumpeter Olu Dara, drummer Steve McCall, bassist Wilber Morris, and pianist Anthony Davis. This incarnation lasted for the first two albums in the set, Ming (1981) and Home (1982). Lewis and Dara are replaced on 1983's Murray's Steps by Craig Harris on trombone and trumpeter Bobby Bradford. While all of the Murray Octet recordings are worth hearing, it is these first three that are most enduring in scope and execution.

VA - Golden Jazz Box: The Six Best Albums From The Six Best Jazzmen (6 CD, 2015) [FLAC]

Son of the Blues, Jazz is one of the deepest expressions in music. With improvisation as its foundation, the genre includes multiple artists that are embedded in gold letters in the history of popular music. Golden Jazz Box is a celebration of that legacy, presenting the 6 best albums of each one of the genre's biggest icons: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Chet Baker, Dave Brubeck, Bill Evans and Duke Ellington.

Golden Jazz Box works as a true musical encyclopedia, the definitive collection of these wonderful singers in one six-CD box. Golden Jazz Box is a fantastic album, suitable for any moment and mood and an opportunity to get closer to these timeless artists.

The only soundtrack recorded by Thelonious Monk in 1959 to be released for the first time! Contains performances of classic Monk tunes heard in Roger Vadim's 1960 French film Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Features Monk's 1959 all-star band of Charlie Rouse, Sam Jones & Art Taylor, plus special guest saxophonist Barney Wilen.

Thelonious Monk - piano
Charlie Rouse - tenor saxophone
Barney Wilen - tenor saxophone (1, 2, 8, 11)
Sam Jones - bass
Art Taylor - drums

Rec.: Nola Penthouse Sound Studios, 111 W. 57th St., New York City, NY, July 27, 1959.

01. Rhythm-A-Ning (5:47)

02. Crepuscule With Nellie (5:16)

03. Six In One (4:28)

04. Well, You Needn't (4:57)

05. Pannonica (Solo 1) (2:27)

06. Pannonica (Solo 2) (2:55)

07. Pannonica (Quartet) (6:20)

08. Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are (6:57)

09. Light Blue (2:47)

10. By And By (We'll Understand It Better By And By) (1:47)

11. Rhythm-A-Ning (Alternate) (5:36)

12. Crepuscule With Nellie (Take 1) (2:29)

13. Pannonica (45 rpm Master) (6:53)

14. Light Blue (45 rpm Master) (4:09)

15. Well, You Needn't (Unedited) (6:47)

16. Light Blue (Making Of) (14:13)

Charlie Parker - Complete Savoy & Dial Sessions [8 CD, 2001/FLAC ]

Recorded between 1944 & 1948. Through the miracle of high-resolution digital transfer and mastering technology, Bird enthusiasts can now get an earful of the shape of Charlie Parker's musical accomplishments for Savoy and Dial in the 1940s. Available as a eight-disc box set, the alto saxophonist is recorded in various configurations as performer and bandleader with such mainstream jazz greats as trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, pianists Bud Powell and Erroll Garner, drummer Max Roach, trombonist J.J. Johnson, and bassist Ray Brown, to name but a few.

The Mahavishnu Orchestra with John McLaughlin - The Inner Mounting Flame (1971/2012 remaster/FLAC)

The Inner Mounting Flame is the debut studio album by American jazz-rock fusion band Mahavishnu Orchestra, recorded in August 1971 and released in November of the same year by Columbia Records. After their formation, the group performed several debut gigs before they entered the studio to record their first album featuring all original material written by guitarist John McLaughlin.

John McLaughlin – guitar
Rick Laird – bass
Billy Cobham – drums, percussion
Jan Hammer – keyboards, organ
Jerry Goodman – violin

01. Meeting Of The Spirits (6:52)

02. Dawn (5:10)

03. The Noonward Race (6:28)

04. A Lotus On Irish Streams (5:40)

05. Vital Transformation (6:16)

06. The Dance Of Maya (7:17)

07. You Know, You Know (5:07)

08. Awakening (3:30)

09. The Noonward Race (Live) (15:23)

Lennie Tristano - Intuition (4 CD, 2003/FLAC)

Blind since childhood, pianist Lennie Tristano nevertheless went on to create a whole school of jazz composition and playing. His playing was spare and his harmonies inspired by contemporary classical music, forming an antidote to the bebop styles prevalent at the time. This 4CD set is a comprehensive collection of his early work and includes performances from musicians such as Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh as well as Lennie's solo and trio work.

Lennie Tristano (piano); Billy Bauer (guitar); John LaPorta, Buddy DeFranco (clarinet); Lee Konitz, Charlie Parker (alto saxophone); Emmett Carls, Warne Marsh, Charlie Ventura (tenor saxophone); Ernie Caceres (baritone saxophone); Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Navarro, Miles Davis, Shorty Rogers (trumpet); Earl Swope, J. Alan Johnson , Kai Winding (trombone); Denzil Best, Don Lamond, Harold Granowsky, Al Levitt, Jeff Morton, Roy Haynes, Shelly Manne (drums).