Sonny Rollins- The Freelance Years- The Complete Riverside & Contemporary Recordings [5 CD, 2000/FLAC]

 Gathering the sessions for both Riverside and Contemporary Records between 1956 and 1958, this five-disc box is chock-full of the magic that has made Rollins the legendary icon he is. Not only are the saxophonist's essential records WAY OUT WEST, THE SOUND OF SONNY, SONNY ROLLINS PLAYS, FREEDOM SUITE, and SONNY ROLLINS AND THE CONTEMPORARY LEADERS included, but classic sessions led by Thelonious Monk, Kenny Dorham, and Abbey Lincoln are also here.

Together these discs show Rollins as a magnificent soloist who had his style fully developed while John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter were still in finishing school. The included booklet contains a thoughtfully written essay on Rollins during this period and a priceless collection of photographs of the legendary participants herein. Even if you only dimly consider yourself a Sonny Rollins fan, these recordings should be in your collection.

Dave Brubeck - Time Signatures: A Career Retrospective (4 CD, 1992/FLAC)

With material from 1946 to 1991, this handsome box set reveals the enormous breadth of Brubeck's interests, accomplishments, and collaborations. There are tracks, for example, with Louis Armstrong, Jimmy Rushing, Gerry Mulligan, and Carmen McRae. There's even a duo with Charles Mingus. Also here is the full range of Brubeck's studied structures, involved harmonies, and elements unusual to jazz, including expansive time signatures and the use of fugue form and 12-tone theory. Included, of course, are such signature hits as "Blue Rondo a la Turk" and "Take Five." Brubeck came up playing hillbilly, swing, and Dixieland, and at college studied modern composition. All of that--and little constraint--informed his complex, idiosyncratic style. The package includes an 80-page booklet with his biography, rare photographs, and descriptions of every track. 

Jimmy Smith- Complete Sermon Sessions (1957-1958) (2 CD, 2009) [FLAC]

 This release contains Jimmy Smith's complete classic Sermon sessions for the first time ever on a single set, in chronological order. These are his only preserved collaborations with Lee Morgan, the formidable trumpet player whose life came to a tragic end after being shot by his girlfriend at the tender age of 33. Tenor saxophonist Tina Brooks is also featured here. The outstanding reedman would pass away at the age of 42 after a life of drug addiction and self abuse. When these recordings were made, all of these musicians were in their early or late twenties.

Bud Powell -The Scene Changes: The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 5 (2015) [24-192]

Pianist Bud Powell made several fine recordings for Blue Note during the 1950s, including The Scene Changes, his last album for the label in 1958. He's joined by bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Art Taylor on a handful of his own compositions. Powell is in excellent form, and there's a simple elegance to the small setting with each of the players sharing equal space in the stereo spectrum. The title cut bops along at a snappy pace before taking time out toward the end for a Taylor solo, while 'Down With It' is pushed forward by Powell's forceful, driving rhythm. Extra touches here and there, like the piano intro on 'Cleopatra's Dream' and the drum roll that kicks off 'Duid Deed,' lets the listener know these players are in the groove. Only 'Boderick' sticks out as minor, and the fact that the players only devote two minutes to this parlor-piano piece seems to indicate they felt the same way. Powell, Chambers, and Taylor make amends for this on the eight-minute 'Coming Up,' a medium-tempo piece with idiosyncratic piano lines and a thumping beat (the bonus cut includes a shorter version of the composition). The Scene Changes is a fine album filled with good compositions and nice interplay between three musicians in top form.“ 

Frank Sinatra - The Capitol Years (1954-1962) [21 CD, 1998/FLAC]

 

While Capitol Records issued upgraded, 20-bit remastered editions of eight of Sinatra's key albums in the U.S. in 1998, EMI-U.K. put together this 21-CD box, containing every song that Frank Sinatra authorized for release between 1953 and 1961, remastered in state-of-the-art 20-bit digital audio.

 Each CD contains an individual Sinatra Capitol LP (including singles compilations), but the bonus tracks from the American versions appear on a separate CD here (The Rare Sinatra), which means that some of these discs run only 30 minutes or so. What will really confuse dedicated fans is that the sound on this box is superior to the American remasters. On Songs for Young Lovers, for example, Sinatra simply sounds much closer than he does on the Capitol CD, and Swing Easy is even better. In the Wee Small Hours is very slightly more uneven, at least the title track, but everything else is superior. Songs for Swingin' Lovers is where the box really departs from the 1998 American remasters -- Sinatra sounds about twice as close, and the sound is significantly richer. A Swingin' Affair blows its American equivalent out of the water. Only the Lonely sets new heights for intimate and vivid sound, which Come Dance With Me matches -- and the U.K. box has the right version of "Day In -- Day Out," in contrast to the American disc. The enveloping, sumptuous texture of Nice 'n' Easy sets the bar still higher, and Come Swing With Me matches that standard. Sinatra's Capitol library will likely never sound better, and the only complaint lies with the packaging -- the booklet, which came with an earlier LP version of this material, is meaningless; still, it's hard to argue with anything that sounds this good. 

Donald Byrd - At the Half Note Cafe, Vol. 1 & 2 {RVG Edition 2003} [24-192]

Situated at 289 Hudson Street in New York City, the Half Note Cafe quickly established itself as the venue at which to catch some of the best up and coming jazz talents of the age. Its reputation was further enhanced with a series of live recordings conducted at the club, with John Coltrane, Wes Montgomery and the Art Farmer Quartet among those artists to subsequently release live albums. And then there was Donald Byrd, whose band comprised Donald (trumpet), Pepper Adams (saxophone), Duke Pearson (piano), Laymon Jackson (bass) and Lex Humphries (drums) and who gathered at the Half Note on 11 November 1960 to record their show. With local DJ Ruth Mason acting as MC, the show kicked off with the ten minute plus My Girl Shirl and closed some two hours later with When Sunny Gets Blue. When subsequently released on vinyl, the show had been mashed up somewhat, with the two albums showing no reference to the original running order. That does not detract from what is an excellent album, with its later companion volume equally enthralling and entertaining. First class performances all round, as you would expect, make this a compelling album.

Corea, Clarke & White - Forever (2 CD Live, 2011) [FLAC]

 

 

Forever is a double CD album of live acoustic recordings recorded in California, Tokyo and Seattle in 2009 by Return to Forever pianist Chick Corea, bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White and studio rehearsals with guests Jean-Luc Ponty, Bill Connors and Chaka Kahn which was released on the Concord label I 2011.

• Chick Corea — piano (Disc One and Disc Two, tracks 3-7 & 10), keyboards (Disc Two, tracks 1, 2, 8 & 9)
• Stanley Clarke - bass (Disc One and Disc Two, tracks 1, 4-7 & 10), electric bass (Disc Two, tracks 2, 8 & 9)
• Lenny White - drums (Disc One and Disc Two, tracks 1-3 & 5-10)
• Bill Connors - guitar (Disc Two, tracks 2 & 7-9)
• Jean-Luc Ponty - violin (Disc Two, tracks 4-5 & 7-9)
• Chaka Khan - vocals (Disc Two, tracks 6-7)

 

Buddy De Franco - The Complete Verve Recordings With Sonny Clark (4 CD, 1990) [FLAC]

 

Clarinetist Buddy DeFranco recorded extensively for Norgran and Verve during 1953-1958. For a little over a year, Sonny Clark was his regular pianist and all of their small-group recordings have been reissued on this limited-edition five-LP set. With bassist Eugene Wright (a couple years before he joined the Dave Brubeck Quartet) and drummer Bobby White completing the quartet, and guitarist Tal Farlow making the group a quintet on its final 11 numbers, DeFranco had one of his strongest bands.

The majority of the 39 selections on the typically attractive Mosaic box are standards or based on a familiar tune's chord changes. Buddy DeFranco had no real competitors (other than Benny Goodman) during the era, while Sonny Clark was one of the most talented of the Bud Powell-influenced pianists; they made for a mutually inspiring team.

• Sonny Clark (piano), 
• Buddy De Franco (clarinet), 
• Tal Farlow (guitar), 
• Bobby White (drums), 
• Gene Wright (bass)

 

Freddie Hubbard - The Complete Blue Note & Impulse '60s Studio Sessions (7 CD, 2022) [FLAC]

Ten Classic Studio Albums on Seven CDs: This limited edition collection traces Hubbard’s rise to prominence by collecting the entire ten studio albums recorded during his first six years as a leader. All of the music gives evidence of a brilliant player with an ever-more-personal voice, a budding composer who would go on to pen several jazz classics. Now at last Freddie gets his own seven-CD box set, with a special twist. Thanks to a special arrangement with the labels, we were able to package “The Complete Freddie Hubbard Blue Note & Impulse ‘60s Studio Sessions” in one box, representing every studio date he led from 1960 to 1966. 

Jean-Luc Ponty - Original Album Series Vol.2 (5 CD, 2016) [FLAC]

1979 - A Taste For Passion 

1979 - Live 

1980 - Civilized Evil 

1982 - Mystical Adventures 

1983 - Individual Choice