John Coltrane - Blue Train (10 CD, 2007) [FLAC + 320]

 

Although never formally signed, an oral agreement between John Coltrane and Blue Note Records founder Alfred Lion was indeed honored on Blue Train -- Coltrane's only collection of sides as a principal artist for the venerable label. The disc is packed solid with sonic evidence of Coltrane's innate leadership abilities. He not only addresses the tunes at hand, but also simultaneously reinvents himself as a multifaceted interpreter of both hard bop as well as sensitive balladry -- touching upon all forms in between...

 

Oscar Peterson - The Complete Clef - Mercury Studio Recordings Of The Oscar Peterson Trio (1951-1953) (7 CD, 2008/FLAC)

This Mosaic Records collection is the first comprehensive study of Oscar Peterson's earliest trio recordings, the setting for which he was best known, throughout his reign. The collection includes 127 tunes, including five alternate masters that have never appeared on any record, in any format. The earliest recording dates from November 25, 1951 and the last is from December 7, 1953. In the interest of being complete, we amassed a collection that exceeds even the one held in the Universal Music vaults; with some original masters missing entirely, we went to collectors for vintage 78s, second generation tapes, even rare LPs and EPs, performing sonic miracles when necessary to achieve a quality that meets our Mosaic standards. 

Coming up in the era he did, he fell somewhere in between the swing players and the be-boppers, and the two strains wove together into something he never felt any reason to abandon. He and Ray Brown had developed an almost brotherly relationship thanks to the JATP tours they did together, and in Barney Kessel he found another player whose solos could wipe the floor, the walls, and the ceiling. With the JATP tours combined with these Clef and Mercury recordings the trio found the time and opportunity to hone their craft together and become a tight unit. Norman Granz' vision of the "Songbook" album, was perfected by the trio and the series of "Oscar Peterson Meets…" have long been unavailable and are finally in one package. 

 

• Oscar Peterson: piano, vocal; 
• Barney Kessel: guitar; 
• Ray Brown: bass. 

 

Ahmad Jamal - The Complete Ahmad Jamal Trio Argo Sessions 1956-62 [9 CD, 2010] [FLAC + 24-44 + 320]

 

In 2007, this set was well on its way with Ahmad Jamal’s blessing. He listened to and approved a multitude of previously unissued material, expanding the legacy of this extraordinary trio. A tape search proved problematic and we spent the next two years scouring various Ahmad Jamal Argo masters scouring Europe and Japan as well as the US.

As you can hear, this legacy has been reconstructed although almost half of it has comes from digital sources. Both analog and digital sources have minor problems here and there such as the small frying sound on disc 4, track 5. The only major problem is the “Count “Em 88” album (disc 1, tracks 1-9) which for years was available only in electronically-rechanneled stereo. The only existing source in 2010 is a Japanese CD master that seems to have been dubbed from an LP. It has wow and flutter and occasional electronic static as on track 5. Every effort has been made to bring all of this music to you in the best possible fidelity.

Peter Erskine, John Taylor, Palle Danielsson- As It Was [4 CD, 2016/FLAC]

 

This addition to ECM’s popular Old and New Masters Series is a box set reprising the four albums made by Peter Erskine’s American-British-Swedish trio with John Taylor and Palle Danielsson between 1992 and 1997: You Never Know, As It Is, Time Being and Juni. If its core concept – a piano led by a drummer – was unorthodox, the group was nonetheless influential, and the recordings provide an excellent environment for appreciating the distinctive writing and playing of John Taylor.

 

VA - The Best Jazz Is Played with Verve - Your Guide To North Sea Jazz Festival 1994 (2 CD, 1994/FLAC)

 

The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual festival held each second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. It used to be in The Hague but since 2006 it has been held in Rotterdam. This is because the Statenhal where the festival was held before was demolished in 2006. As of 3 November 2017 the festival officially will be known as the NN North Sea Jazz Festival.

The founder of the three-day festival was Paul Acket, a businessman and jazz lover who made a fortune in the 1960s with his pop magazine publishing company. When Acket sold his company in 1975, he was able to start and sponsor the North Sea Jazz Festival. Acket wanted to present American jazz and European avant-garde jazz. In 1976 the first edition of the festival took place. It was an immediate success: six stages, thirty hours of music, and 300 performances drew over 9000 visitors. Acts included Count Basie, Miles Davis, Billy Eckstine, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, James Taylor, Benny Goodman, and Sarah Vaughan among others. 

Miles Davis Quintet - The First Great Quintet 1955-56 (3 CD, 2021) [Hi-Res FLAC]

 

"In the summer of 1955, after Davis performed at the Newport Jazz Festival, he was approached by Columbia Records executive George Avakian, who offered him a contract if he could form a regular band. Davis assembled his first regular quintet to meet a commitment at the Café Bohemia in July with Sonny Rollins on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums. By the autumn, Rollins had left to deal with his heroin addiction, and later in the year joined the hard bop quintet led by Clifford Brown and Max Roach.

At the recommendation of drummer Jones, Davis replaced Rollins with John Coltrane, beginning a partnership that would last five years and finalizing the Quintet's first line-up. Expanded to a sextet with the addition of Cannonball Adderley on alto saxophone in 1958, the First Great Quintet was one of the definitive hard bop groups along with the Brown-Roach Quintet and the Jazz Messengers, recording the Columbia albums Round About Midnight, Milestones, and the marathon sessions for Prestige Records resulting in four albums collected on The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions." 

Max Neissendorfer Trio - Max Neissendorfer Trio (2023) [24-44]

The Munich jazz singer and pianist Max Neissendorfer (p,voc) is one of the most versatile jazz pianists and scat singers in Europe. Rene Harderer (b) studied double bass with Paulo Cardoso and electric bass with Patrick Scales at the Munich Music Academy. Stephan Treutter (dr) did his diploma in jazz drums at the Munich University of Music and Theater.

1 - There Is No Greater Love (08:45)

2 - Exactly Like You (07:35)

3 - Aqua De Beber (10:43)

4 - Angel Eyes (07:42)

5 - Night And Day (08:17)

6 - Relax (06:57)

7 - Doxy (07:37)

8 - Caravan (09:45)

9 - Get Me To The Church (08:00)

Dexter Gordon – The Complete Trio & Quartet Studio Recordings 1974/1975/1976 (8 CD, 2003) [FLAC]

This mammoth eight-disc box set contains all of the recordings Dexter Gordon cut for Steeplechase Records during the mid-'70s during the last years of his long sojourn in Paris. While his earlier Blue Note sides are often considered his finest, these dates, placing him in the company of brilliant musicians such as Kenny Drew, Tete Montoliu, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Albert Heath, Billy Higgins, Barry Harris, Sam Jones, and others, unquestionably rival them in quality. In addition to the great catalog Gordon amassed at Steeplechase, he left a ton of alternate takes and unreleased material on the shelf. This set brings together all of it, including 24 never-before-issued performances, making this, along with the Blue Note box set, the definitive Dexter Gordon caught at both his creative peaks. 

Michel Petrucciani - Montreux Years (2 CD, 2023) [24-96]

The brand-new release in The Montreux Years series is a collection of Michel Petrucciani’s most memorable performances at the Montreux Jazz Festival from 1990 – 1998.

Jaco Pastorius - Modern American Music... Period! The Criteria Sessions (1974/2014) [24-48]

Modern American Music... Period! The Criteria Sessions presents a series of demo recordings that bassist Jaco Pastorius made two years before his landmark debut album, 1976's Jaco Pastorius. Recorded after hours at Miami's Criteria Studios, these tracks represent some of the earliest solo cuts from Pastorius.