Stan Getz, Chet Baker - Stockholm Concerts 1983 [3 CD, 1999/FLAC]

  

According to this set's annotator, Mike Hennessey, and Stan Getz's biographer, Donald Maggin, the circumstances surrounding the making of these 1983 recordings was unpleasant in the extreme. For various reasons, Getz was unhappy to be concertizing with Baker and forced him out before the 35-date tour was halfway finished. Before Baker left, however, the men played a pair of concerts in Stockholm, which were fortunately recorded for posterity. Fortunately not because Getz and Baker shared any special rapport that led to a classic performance, but because the resulting album gives listeners another example of how wonderful a player Chet Baker was, even after years of drug addiction and general dissolution. Getz is his typical self -- lyrical, facile almost to the point of glibness, but musical nevertheless. Baker, on the other hand, is as he ever was -- one of the most spontaneously creative, emotionally compelling voices in jazz. The band is good if unspectacular; drummer Victor Lewis was a particularly nice choice in that he could drive a band like this without overwhelming the rather brittle lead voices. And Getz is excellent; if you're a Getz fan, he's in fine form here, so you won't be disappointed. Baker, on the other hand, is superb; it's his inimitable musicality that ultimately makes this rather pricey three-disc set a bargain.

 

Sonny Rollins - Go West!: The Contemporary Records Albums (3 CD, 2023) [24-192]

Go West!: The Contemporary Records Albums combines legendary Jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins' two studio albums for Lester Koenig's Contemporary Records, Way Out West and And The Contemporary Leaders, with a third disc, Contemporary Alternate Takes. Featuring remastered audio by Bernie Grundman, the set is available on both RTI pressed 180g 3-LP and 3-CD formats.

• Brown, Ray - bass
• Hawes, Hampton - piano
• Kessel, Barney - guitar
• Manne, Shelly - drums
• Rollins, Sonny - tenor saxophone

Way Out West

01 - I’m An Old Cowhand 05:43

02 - Solitude 07:51

03 - Come, Gone 07:53

04 - Wagon Wheels 10:13

05 - There Is No Greater Love 05:18

06 - Way Out West 06:33

Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders

07 - I’ve Told Ev’ry Little Star 05:29

08 - Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody 04:56

09 - How High The Moon 07:47

10 - You 04:18

11 - I’ve Found A New Baby 03:41

12 - Alone Together 06:03

13 - In The Chapel In The Moonlight 06:42

14 - The Song Is You 05:43

Alternate Takes

15 - I’m An Old Cowhand (Alternate Take) 10:11

16 - Come, Gone (Alternate Take) 10:30

17 - Way Out West (Alternate Take) 06:40

18 - The Song Is You (Alternate Take) 06:17

19 - You (Alternate Take) 04:18

20 - I’ve Found A New Baby (Alternate Take) 04:21

Keith Jarrett - Standards Live (1985/2021) [24-96]

Take one look at the thoughtful cover art of this seminal Keith Jarrett release, and you’ll gain immediate insight into what makes his trio click. Each curvaceous line brings a lifetime of movement, of study, and of passion to bear on the music at hand. And with these six standards resurrected to such profound levels, there’s nothing not to like.

Recorded July 2, 1985 at the Palais dis Congrès Studios de la Grand Armée

• Keith Jarrett, piano
• Jack DeJohnette, drums
• Gary Peacock, double bass

01 - Stella By Starlight 11:20

02 - The Wrong Blues 08:03

03 - Falling In Love With Love 08:40

04 - Too Young To Go Steady 10:11

05 - The Way You Look Tonight 09:31

06 - The Old Country 06:37

Christian McBride & Inside Straight - Kind of Brown (2009) [24-96]

Bassist/composer Christian McBride is one of the most in-demand sidemen in the music business, having toured and recorded with the likes of Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Diana Krall and Sting. The Philadelphia-native has also made a name for himself as a daring leader, exploring both acoustic and electronic styles. For Kind of Brown, his premier date for the Detroit-based Mack Avenue Records, McBride introduces his new acoustic jazz quintet Inside Straight, featuring pianist Eric Scott Reed, saxophonist Steve Wilson, vibraphonist Warren Wolf, Jr. and drummer Carl Allen.

• Christian McBride: bass
• Carl Allen: drums
• Eric Scott Reed: piano
• Steve Wilson: sax
• Warren Wolf, Jr.: vibes

01 - Brother Mister 04:52

02 - Theme for Kareem 07:51

03 - Rainbow Wheel 06:30

04 - Starbeam 06:36

05 - Used 'Ta Could 06:33

06 - The Shade of the Cedar Tree 07:49

07 - Pursuit of Peace 06:04

08 - Uncle James 05:26

09 - Stick & Move 08:05

10 - Where Are You? 04:18

VA - Membran Music's Jazz Ballads Series Vol. 16-20 (10 CD, 2004) [FLAC + 320]

 

A CD sets with the most beautiful ballads in the history of jazz.

Lyrical, imaginative, sensuous and melodic jewels from the art of music.

Precisely for those people who have maintained their taste for lasting musical values.

Jazz in its most gentle form.

Irrestible...

Jazz Ballads 16: Charlie Parker

Jazz Ballads 17: Tenor Giants

Jazz Ballads 18: Art Tatum

Jazz Ballads 19: Louis Armstrong & Jack Teagarden

Jazz Ballads 20: All Stars Jam Sessions

Ella Fitzgerald - Air Mail Special (Quadromania 4 CD, 2005/FLAC)

 

Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917 – June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the First Lady of Song, Queen of Jazz, and Lady Ella. She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, intonation, and a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing.

Brad Mehldau, Larry Grenadier, Jorge Rossy - The Art of the Trio Recordings: 1996-2001 (7 CD, 2011/FLAC)

 

Nonesuch Records releases jazz pianist Brad Mehldau’s Art of the Trio Recordings: 1996–2001 on December 6, 2011. The set includes the five original Art of the Trio albums (the fifth volume includes two CDs), released on Warner Bros. over a prolific four year period from 1997 to 2001; a seventh disc of previously unreleased material from shows at the Village Vanguard in 1997, 1999, and 2001 completes the box. These recordings feature Mehldau’s longtime trio with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy. Repertoire includes interpretations of standard tunes and modern classics as well as many original compositions. New liner notes by Bad Plus pianist Ethan Iverson include interviews with all three trio members. 

David Murray - The Complete Remastered Recordings On Black Saint & Soul Note Vol.2 (7 CD, 2013) [FLAC]

 

David Murray's first box set in this series was one of Black Saint/Soul Note's better reissues. And this second volume is it's equal, and in some instances possibly better. The seven albums here span the years 1979 to 1993, and show Murray in different playing styles, but always close to the top of his skills. 

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.