NEWSLETTER #138
Jazz, Dance Bands & Vocalists
Chet Baker ->
Lee Wiley
KANSAS
CITY JAZZ FROM RAGTIME TO BEBOP by Frank
Driggs & Chuck Haddix |
● BOOK $32.00 |
Hardbound, 274 pages, counts as five CDs for shipping
First in-depth look at the history of jazzin Kansas City - one of the most
important cities in the development of the music. Includes many rare
photos from the collection of Driggs who is one of the world's leading
archivists of jazz photographs.
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NOTE: Unless otherwise noted all
DVDs offered are in NTSC format which means that they will not play on a
European DVD players unless you have a multiple format player. |
DIZZY GILLESPIE SEXTET |
Eagle Eye 39065 |
Jazz in Montreux Presents Dizzy Gillespie
Sextet '77 |
● DVD $10.98 |
Seven tunes with Benny Carter, Clark Terry, Roy Eldridge,
Zoot Sims and others. Includes Girl Of My Dream/ Once In A While/
Here's That Rainy Day/ Here 'Tis and more.
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VARIOUS ARTISTS |
Eagle Eye 39067 |
Jazz in Montreux Presents Jazz At The
Philharmic '75 |
● DVD $10.98 |
All star aggregation with Benny Carter, Roy Eldridge,
Tommy Flanagan, Joe Pass and others do For You/ Autumn Leaves/ Sunday/
If I Had You and I Never Knew.
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CHET BAKER |
Proper BOX 84 |
The Early Years |
● CD $24.98 |
4 discs, 75 tracks, essential
It seems that what it takes to
get advanced Black music into the mainstream is to have it done by
good-looking White guys witness everything from Elvis to Eminem. For 50s
jazz it was the young Chet Baker. The good thing was that he could back it
up with great chops Charlie Parker used him before he ever recorded. In
fact, this set starts off with several extended live recordings from The
Trade Winds in L.A., including the 6/16/52 date with Bird (Sonny Criss is
also in the front line!) on long versions of The Squirrel & They
Didn't Believe Me. Chet's first big chance came with Gerry Mulligan's
revolutionary pianoless quartet from '52 & '53. Most of the rest of the
recordings were done with the series of wonderful quartets co-lead with
pianist Russ Freeman in '53-'43. But most importantly during this time Chet
found out he could sing! With his boyish good looks & vulnerable-sounding
voice, he had a hit with My Funny Valentine that led to a series of
Chet & Strings sessions that kept Chet in the public, as opposed to just the
jazz-lovers, eyes. Recordings here are both live & studio, most done for the
Pacific Jazz labels. With 44 pg booklet. Includes I Fall In Love Too
Easily/ Time After Time/But Not For Me. (GM)
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CHET BAKER |
Shout Factory 30930 |
Career, 1952-1988 |
● CD $29.98 |
2 discs 32 tracks highly recommended
Not too many careers
include both Charlie Parker & Elvis Costello, but Chet's encompassed both.
This set covers the boy trumpeter/crooner's career two ways, The first disc
covers his ethereal trumpet playing. Starting with an instrumental My
Funny Valentine, the 15 tracks cover his early Pacific Jazz years (see
also Proper Box 84 "The Early Years"), as well as later recordings including
his reunion with Gerry Mulligan in '74 for CTI & ending with some live
tracks done for Enja including Look For The Silver Lining from "The
Last Great Concert" in '88. The second disc covers the crooner, starting
with his other signature song Let's Get Lost, the Pacific Jazz
classics, rarities for such LPs As RCA Italia, & at the end, Elvis C's
Almost Blue from '87 & closing with My Funny Valentine from the
"Last Great Concert" in '88. Beautiful slip-case cover with 48 pg booklet.
(GM)
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ART BLAKEY |
Proper Pairs 140 |
Hard Bop |
● CD $12.98 |
2 discs 26 tracks essential
Four early Blue Note sessions
from the hard-bop great. The first session from 12/47 was an off-shoot from
his original band, The 17 Messenger, a group of all Muslim musicians. Art Blakey's Messengers were an 8-piece unit including Kenny Dorham, Shaib
Shihab & Walter Bishop (Bop Alley/ Musa's Vision). Next were a couple
of percussion only duos with Sabu Martinez from '53 (Message From Kenya).
After that is the first great Jazz Messsengers (except in name) with
Clifford Brown (t), Lou Donaldson (ts), Horace Silver (p) & Curley Russell
(b) on the recordings from 2/54 released as a multi volume "A Night At
Birdland With The Art Blakey Quintet." Finally there's the entire "Blakey
Featuring Art Blakey" LP done for EmArCy/ Mercury 5/54 with a quintet
including Walter Bishop & GiGi Gryce. Includes Mayreh/ Salute To
Birdland/ A Night In Tunisia. In slipcase with 16 pg booklet. (GM)
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LENNY BREAU |
Art Of Life 1013 |
Swingin' On A Seven-String |
● CD $15.98 |
Reissue of last studio album of this guitar wizard who died
young in 1984. Recorded in 1982 and originally issued on LP as "When
Lightnin' Strikes" it features the only studio recordings of Breau playing a
seven-string guitar, He is joined by Buddy Emmons on pedal steel guitar, Jim
Ferguson on bass and Kenny Malone on drums. This CD reissue has been
remastered from original analog master tapes using 24-bit remastering
technology and includes the previously unissued bonus track Blue Eyes
Crying In The Rain
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CLIFFORD BROWN |
Proper BOX 86 |
Joy Spring |
● CD $24.98 |
4 discs 66 tracks essential
Again, Proper takes someone
mainly a side-man who recorded over several different labels & gathers the
recordings together to make sense! The highly influential Brown lived a
short but very intense ilife. In fact, except for the opening coupling of
two tunes with Chris Powell & His Blue Flames from '52, all the recordings
on these four discs were recorded in a 19 month period from June 1953 and
December 1954, & that includes nothing between Oct '53 & April '54! Clifford
came on strong when he hit New York, enough that, even though he had signed
to do his debut recording as part of Tadd Dameron's group for Prestige
6/1/53, Blue Note snuck him in the studio two days earlier to record with
Lou Donaldson! After that, a group of young moderns including Art Farmer,
GiGi Gryce & Quincy Jones signed on to record with old-timer Lionel
Hampton's big band to tour Europe. Hamp gave little time over to the young
turks, who rebelled by recording throughout Europe, against the boss's
orders. These "All-Star" sessions, with local musicians, were mostly in
Paris & Stockholm, led nominally by Gryce, Brown, or co-led by both. After
the tour, Brown started his long association with Max Roach, first heard
here in a live recording from Pasadena in '54, ending with live & studio
session from the co-lead Brown-Roach quartet. This is one of the new Proper
Boxes, smaller due to the use of paper sleeves in jewel cases. In box with
36 pg booklet. (GM)
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BILLY ECKSTINE |
Acrobat 4019 |
Jukebox Hits 1943-1953 |
● CD $13.98 |
21 tracks, 67 min, highly recommended
Mr B, perhaps the
greatest Black ballad singer of the 20th century, is heard on his multitude
of chart hits starting with 1942's Earl Hines Orch recording of Stormy
Mondy Blues and ending with '53's St. Louis Blues. Looking at the
tunes & their chart positions, two things are striking - the majority of his
hits were high on the Pop (as opposed to the Race/R&B charts) & that many
were revivals of '30s tunes, including such greats as Prisoner Of Love/
Temptation/ A Cottage For Sale/ You Call It Madness But I Call It Love.,
etc. (GM)
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DUKE ELLINGTON |
JSP JSPCD 924 |
Volume 1: 1926-1929 :Mrs Clinkscales To The
Cotton Club |
● CD $28.98 |
4 discs 96 tracks essential
This may be one of the best sets
to come out this year! Ellington collectors find it hard to keep track of
the early years, as he extensively recorded for the four major labels
Victor, Columbia , Brunkswick & Vocalion. The set starts off with some of
Duke's rarest, the pre-majors recordings starting with backing Alberta Prime
& Florence Bristol in 11/24 for Blu-Disc, as well as their own first
coupling Choo Choo/ Gotta Hurry Home. From there it was The
Washingtonians recording for Pathe'& Gennett before starting to record for
Vocalion & Brunswick as Duke Ellington & His Kentucky Club Orch, for Victor
as Duke Ellington Orch, Columbia as The Washingtonians. And that doesn't
include sessions for Pathe as The Whopee Makers, Okeh as The Harlem
Footwarmers & The Chicago Footwarmers, even Warren Mills & His Blue
Serenaders. There's multiple versions of his signature tunes of the time,
some of my faves of all-time, including Black & Tan Fantasy/ Creole Love
Call/ East St. Louis Toodle-Oo/Jubilee Stomp/ Black Beauty/ The Mooche/
Digga Digga Doo & Doin' The New Lowdown. There's discographical
info that's a bit hard to follow, & unfortunately no credits for the
remastering. And by the way, Mrs Clinkscales was the actual name of young
Edward Ellington's piano teacher! (GM
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STAN GETZ |
Savoy Jazz 17121 |
The Complete Savoy Recordings |
● CD $16.98 |
22 tracks, 64 min, essential
The most comprehensive
collection yet of Getz's first recordings, done for Savoy age 18, as it
contains several unreleased alternate takes. There were three bop-filled
sessions, Stan Getz Quartet from 7/48, fronting an all-star trio of Hank
Jones (p), Curley Russel (b) & Max Roach (d) Opus De Bop/Running Water. Then
there was an 8-piece from 5/49 with such greats as Zoot Sims, Al Cohn & Duke
Jordan, engineered by the legendary Harry Smith (Stan Gets Along/ Stan's
Mood). But before these there was Stan as sideman in Kai Winding's New
Jazz Group, AKA Kai's Krazy Kats, a 12/45 session incl Shorty Rogers &
Shelly Manne (Sweet Miss/ Loaded). With 16 pg booklet. (GM)
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DIZZY GILLESPIE |
Shout Factory 30850 |
Career, 1937-1992 |
● CD $29.98 |
2 discs, 32 tracks, essential
How many career anthologies
cover 55 years of great recordings? Thanks to Shout! Factory, this is one of
the only Diz compilations to cover that entire time. Of course the great BeBop years are covered extensively, with his small groups as leader or with
Charlie Parker & his own blazing big band these have been anthologized
before & always sound great. What's important here is what comes before &
after. The set starts off with pre-star Diz as sideman on rarities by the
Teddy Hill Orch from '37, Cab Calloway in '40 & Billy Eckstine in '44. And
after (most of disc 2), as this set comprises tracks from all Diz's labels)
there's the Norgran/Verve years, cuts from Phillips, Mainstream & Pablo.
Ending with a live Bebop from '92 with Clifford Jordan on tenor. And
of course there's all the great classics in between Salt Peanuts/ Cubana
Be-Cubana Bop/Groovin' High/ All The Things You Are/ Dizzy Atmosphere,
etc. With 48 page booklet. (GM)
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MILLS BLUE RHYTHM BAND |
Retrieval 79045 |
1933-1936 |
● CD $19.98 |
Two CD set with 52 tracks cut by this large, gutsy African
American band, recorded between 1933 and 1936. An enterprise owned by hugely
successful song publisher Irving Mills, the Blue Rhythm Band featured many
notable musicians including Edgar Hayes, Red Allen, Crawford Washington,
J.C. Higginbotham and others with vocalists Adelaide Hall, Chuck Richards
and others. Remastered by John R.T. Davis the set includes 12 page booklet
with informative notes by Richard Sudhalter and full discographical info.
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CHARLIE PARKER |
Savoy Jazz 17492 |
The Genius Of Charlie Parker |
● CD $18.98 |
2 discs, 35 tracks, essential
It's hard to go wrong with
Bird as all his most important works were done by 3 main companies, Savoy,
Dial & Clef/Verve, & have almost always been kept in print. This set is an
expanded version of one of Savoy's first Parker LPs, but expanded to give a
good look at his career. This set includes live & studio tracks, but most
important, if you didn't get the COMPLETE box, each tune has the notes from
that set by such great jazz scribes as Dan Morgenstern & Orrin Keepnews &
Dick Katz. Includes Anthropology/ Salt Peanuts/ Hot House/ Parker's Mood/
Relaxin' At Camarillo, etc. (GM)
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JACK TEAGARDEN |
Proper BOX 80 |
Big "T" |
● CD $24.98 |
4 discs, 92 tracks, essential
Proper doing what it does
best, taking a prolific jazzer known as much as a sideman as a leader &
collecting his material. However with Jack, there's no way it can be all
starting from when the Texan came to NY in '28, he was the hottest trombone
in town, sitting in on litteraly hundreds of recordings, many anonymously.
The 22 tracks on disc 1 covers '28 to '31 & has T recording with the Roger
Wolfe Kahn Orch with Eddie Lang & Joe Venuti, the Ben Pollack orch with
Benny Goodman & Glenn Miller, Eddie Condon's Footwarmers with Mezz Mezrow,
Jimmy McPartland & Joe Sullivan, the Red Nichols led Five Pennies &
Louisiana Rhythm Kings with Miller, Goodman, PeeWee Russell, Jess Stacy, Bud
Freeman & Davy Tough, The Mound City Blue Blowers, Fats Waller & His
Buddies, Irving Mills Hotsy Totsy Boys with Goodman, Gene Krupa & Bix
Beiderbecke, as well as Venuti led bands & his own groups. And that's just
the 1st disc! There's his great 30s & 40s sides on discs 2 & 3, with the
final disc finds him sitting in with Eddie Condon & his longstanding
oartnership with Louis Armstrong! A 48 pg booklet gives out all the info!
(GM)
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VARIOUS ARTISTS |
JSP JSPCD 923 |
Away From Base - Basie Sidemen With Other
Leaders |
● CD $28.98 |
Originally formed in Kansas City, the Count Basie band
really began to achieve recognition after it relocated to New York at the
end of 1936. Once there the star soloists and rhythm men started
moonlighting on recordings in pick-up groups under other leaders. With the
exception of vcalist Jimmy Rushing performing on one title with Benny
Goodman, the 101 recordings on this four CD set feature at least two or more
Count Basie sidemen in various settings, from backing vocalists to
accompanying an organist to sitting in as part of a big band. Vocalists
include Billie Holiday with the Teddy Wilson Orch and her own ensemble,
Helen Humes with the Harry james orch., Mildred Bailey and Una Mae Carlisle.
Other outfits include Timme Rosenkrantz & His Barrelhouse Barons, the Kansas
City Five and Six, Glenn Hardman & His Hammond Five and Sam Price & His
Texas Bluesicians.
MILDRED BAILEY & HER ORCHESTRA: Heaven Help This Heart Of
Mine/ If You Should Ever Leave/ It's The Natural Thing To Do/ The Moon Got
In My Eyes/ UNA MAE CARLISLE: Beautiful Eyes/ Blitzkrieg Baby (you Can't
Bomb Me)/ It's Sad But True/ There'll Be Some Changes Made/ BENNY GOODMAN &
HIS ORCHESTRA: He Ain't Got Rhythm/ Make Believe/ The Blue Room/ Ti-pi-tin/
LIONEL HAMPTON & HIS ORCHESTRA: Any Time At All/ I'm In The Mood For Swing/
Muskrat Ramble/ Shoe Shiner's Drag/ GLENN HARDMAN & HIS HAMMOND FIVE: China
Boy/ Exactly Like You/ Jazz Me Blues/ On The Sunny Side Of The Street/
Upright Organ Blues/ Who?/ BILLIE HOLIDAY: All Of Me/ Georgia On My Mind/
I'm Pulling Through/ Laughing At Life/ Let's Do It/ Night And Day/ Romance
In The Dark/ Tell Me More/ The Man I Love/ Time On My Hands/ You're A Lucky
Guy/ You're Just A No Account/ A Sailboat In The Moonlight/ Back In Your Own
Back Yard/ Born To Love/ Getting Some Fun Out Of Life/ He's Funny That Way/
I Can't Get Started/ I've Got A Date With A Dream/ Me Myself And I/ Now They
Call It Swing/ On The Sentimental Side/ The Very Thought Of You/ Trav'lin'
All Alone/ When A Woman Loves A Man/ Who Wants Love?/ Without Your Love/ You
Can't Be Mine/ HARRY JAMES & HIS ORCHESTRA WITH HELEN HUMES: (i Can Dream)
Can't I?/ It's The Dreamer In Me/ Jubilee/ Life Goes To A Party/ One O'clock
Jump/ Song Of The Wanderer/ Texas Chatter/ When We're Alone (penthouse
Serenade)/ THE KANSAS CITY SIX: 'way Down Yonder In New Orleans/ Countless
Blues/ THE KANSAS CITY FIVE: Good Mornin' Blues/ I Know That You Know/ THE
KANSAS CITY SIX: I Want A Little Girl/ THE KANSAS CITY FIVE: Laughing At
Life/ Love Me Or Leave Me/ THE KANSAS CITY SIX: Pagin' The Devil/ Them There
Eyes/ JERRY KRUGER & HER ORCHESTRA: Rain, Rain, Go Away/ Summertime/ SAM
PRICE & HIS TEXAS BLUSICIANS: Just Jivin' Around/ The Goon Drag (gone Wid De
Goon)/ TIMME ROSENKRANTZ & HIS BARRELHOUSE BARONS: A Wee Bit Of Swing/ Is
This To Be My Souvenir?/ JOE SULLIVAN & HIS CAFE SOCIETY ORCHESTRA: Oh, Lady
Be Good/ Solitude/ TEDDY WILSON & HIS ORCHESTRA WITH BILLIE HOLID: April In
My Heart/ Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man/ Easy Living/ Everybody's Laughing/
Foolin' Myself/ He Ain't Got Rhythm/ Here It Is Tomorrow Again/ TEDDY WILSON
& HIS ORCHESTRA: I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me/ I Must Have
That Man!/ I'll Get By/ I'll Never Be The Same/ I'll Never Fail You/ I've
Found A New Baby/ If Dreams Come True/ Mean To Me/ My First Impression Of
You/ My Man (mon Homme)/ Nice Work If You Can Get It/ Say It With A Kiss/
Sun Showers/ They Say/ Things Are Looking Up/ This Year's Kisses/ When
You're Smiling/ Why Was I Born?/ Yours And Mine
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VARIOUS ARTISTS |
Proper BOX 88 |
Jazz In Britain, 1919-1950 |
● CD $26.98 |
4 discs, 101 tracks highly recommended
Based on Jim Godboldt's book of the same name, this is jazz in Britain, as opposed to
just British jazz. Starting off with the US pioneers Original Dixieland Jass
Band recording in London in 1919, then US recordings by 2 groups who would
come to the UK & spread their influence, Paul Whiteman's Orch & The
Georgians, noted for being the band heard by a young American living in
London, John Hammond, & turning him into a long-time jazz fan! Early British
jazz here includes Jack Hylton's Rhythmagicians, Fred Elizaide & His Music,
Spike Hughes Orch & The Night Club Kings led by Ray Noble. The 2nd vol has
the huge influence of UK visits by Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington, and
includes London recordings by Duke, Joe Venuti Four, Benny Carter Orch & Cab
Calloway Orch, & a Paris recording by Louis, & British bands led by Jack
Hylton, Danny Polo, Nat Gonella, Ambrose & His Orch, & The Swing Rhythm Boys
with trumpeter Tommy McQuater. Vol 3 has jazz entrenched in the UK with
sides by Hylton, Ted Heath, Buddy Featherstonhaugh, Vic Lewis, along with
the UK's 1st Black jazz group Ken "Snakehips" Johnson & His West Indian
Dance Band, as well as Fats Waller recording in London with British
musicians as His Continental Rhythm, & also the hot French import, The
Quintette Of The Hot Club Of France with Django Reinhardt & Stephane
Grappelly in London doing the British fave The Lambeth Walk. The final vol
has the clash between the new beboppers & the strong Trad Jazz contingent
egged on by the arrival of Sidney Bechet & Coleman Hawkins. Includes cuts by
The Ronnie Scott Club Eleven Boptet, Victor Feldman Quartet & Johnny
Dankworth Quartet on thenmodern side, with trad with Humphrey Lyttleton,
heard with Bechet, Graeme Bell & His Australian Jazz Band, as well as a '49
BBC Hi Gang broadcast with Benny Goodman. With 64 page booklet by Godboldt.
(GM)
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VARIOUS ARTISTS |
Warner Jazz (UK) 74351-2 |
People Get Ready |
● CD $19.98 |
15 tracks, 76 min., recommended
This collection features
protest songs recorded between 1967-78 by Black jazz artists on (with one
exception) Atlantic records. Given that narrow focus, this set is all over
the proverbial map in terms of sound. The opening cut (Silent Majority)
offers wordsmith Eugene McDaniels in a crescendo of urgency built with
language. The next is an instrumental of Curtis Mayfield's anthemic
People Get Ready by Wayne Henderson. Instrumentals such as Freddie
Hubbard's Backlash do not fail to please, but it may be difficult to
determine exactly what is being protested. It feels more like protest by
reference (to Nina Simone's Backlash Blues, not included) than a
direct assault. Some pieces (Rahsaan Roland Kirk's Blacknuss comes to
mind) are better in concept (only playing the black keys) than execution. In
fact, much of the collection may well subvert the dominant musical paradigm,
but protest? I guess. Yusef Lateef's instrumental Live Humble sounds
uplifting and may well be the finest track here, but you probably wouldn't
pick it as protest. In short, ignoring the central organizing concept in
favor of just listening to whatever comes may prove the wisest course. Then
the pair of Oscar Brown, Jr. cuts fall short while Jimmie & Vella Cameron's
Lord Abide With Us and Marion Williams' People Got To Be Free
cast bigger shadows. Eddie Harris & Les McCann's driving Carry On Brother
and Les McCann & Eddie Harris' take on Eugene McDaniels' masterpiece
Compared To What, which holds uncomfortable parallels with the world
today, are among the best tracks. (JC)
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