NEWSLETTER #135
Jazz, Dance Bands & Vocalists
Albert Ayler ->
Mary Lou Williams
| ALBERT AYLER |
Revenant 213 |
Holy Ghost - Rare & Unissued Recordings,
1962-1970 |
● CD $97.98 |
9 discs + book etc in deluxe box, essential
If you think
you MAY like Ayler, this is not the place to start. If you're any kind of
fan, this is a must! In the tradition of their last major set, the Charlie
Patton box, Revenent does another outstanding set for another American
primitive. The set is housed in a repro of a hand-carved spirit box with
loving mementos - a photo as a boy, a hand written note from a Euro hotel,
a real pressed flower, a program for a trio performance. A repro of a '69
small press jazz mag Cricket, & 9 discs, here as loving keepsakes in
colored vellum envelopes. The 1st 7 are all music, mostly performances but
does have a demo session for the "New Grass" LP. The set covers his whole
career, from a 1962 trio performance from Finland to a French concert from
July, 1970, his second to last performance. In between there's such
legendary performances as a 22 minute Four done with the Cecil Taylor
Quartet with Jimmy Lyons in Copenhagen '62, a performance in '68 with the
Pharoah Sanders for an unreleased LP, Albert sitting in with his brother
Donald's band in '69 with Sam Rivers on tenor. There's also such landmarks
as Albert's set at the 1967 Newport Jazz Festival & playing Love Cry
at Coltrane's funeral. My fave may be the 2 discs showcasing 3 nights at
Cleveland's La Cave in '66 with scenester & future Firesign Theater Peter
Bergman as MC. The quintet included a young white Euro violinist Michel
Samson who sat in & ended up staying - the opening Spirits Rejoice
from the first night almost sound like Euro folk! The final two discs have
a multitude of very informative interviews including an almost hour-long
conversation with a Japanese journalist & a post-death interview with Don
Cherry. I don't know if I'm the only one who's gone through all 10 discs,
but I haven't seen any reviews mention that there are hidden bonus tracks
on the two interview discs. There's also an 8-min bonus disc that has 2
performances of Albert in rehearsal with the 76th US AG Band. This is all
tied up with a 250 page hard-cover book with exhaustive info on Albert,
including full info on all the recordings, bios & pics of all the
musicians Albert played with, essays by Val Wilmer, Amiri Baraka & Ben
Young, & a timeline with every single Ayler performance with lineup &
whether it was recorded! (GM)
|
| COUNT BASIE |
Eagle Eye 39055 |
Jazz in Montreux Presents Count Basie Jam
'75 |
● CD $10.98 |
DVD One of a series of eight DVDs produced by Norman Granz featuring
legendary jazz musicians captured live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in
the 70s. This one has four extended jams with Basie plus Roy Eldridge, Johnny
Griffin, Milt Jackson, Niels Pedersen and Louis Bellson.
|
| RAY BRYANT |
Eagle Eye 39056 |
Jazz in Montreux Presents Ray Bryant '77 |
● CD $10.98 |
DVD 10 solo tunes - Take The "A" Train/ Jungle Town
Jubilee/ Django/ Satin Doll/ St. Louis Blues, etc.
|
| DON BYAS |
Classics 1315 |
1951-1952 |
● CD $14.98 |
Features mostly recordings made in France for Vogue and
Blue Star.
|
| BENNY CARTER |
Eagle Eye 39051 |
Jazz in Montreux Presents Benny Carter '77 |
● CD $10.98 |
DVD Five tunes with Ray Bryant, Jimmie Smith and Niels
Pedersen.
|
| NAT KING COLE |
Eagle Eye 39034 |
When I Fall in Love - The One and Only Nat
King Cole |
● CD $17.98 |
DVD 20 performances drawn from Nat's T.V. show including duets
with Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis, The Mills Brothers and others. Also
includes interviews with Nat's wife and children, his brother Freddy and
the producer/ director of the series Bob Henry.
|
| MILES DAVIS |
Proper Intro 2011 |
Enigma - A Proper Introduction To Miles
Davis |
● CD $9.98 |
16 tracks, 73 min, highly recommended Nice introduction to
Miles' pre-Columbia years recordings. This set comprises his Prestige
recordings done '52-53 with such sidemen as Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean,
JJ Johnson, John Lewis, Percy Heath, Max Roach, & his old boss/mentor
Charlie Parker heard here on 2 tunes playing tenor instead of his usual
alto sax - The Serpent's Tooth/ 'Round About Midnght. Tunes include
Tempus Fugit/ Dig/ Dear Old Stockholm/ Ray's Idea, the title tune
etc. With 8 page booklet. (GM)
|
| ROY ELDRIDGE |
Eagle Eye 39054 |
Jazz in Montreux Presents Roy Eldridge '77 |
● CD $10.98 |
DVD Five tunes with Oscar Peterson/ piano, Niels Pedersen/
bass and Bobby Durham/ drums
|
| DUKE ELLINGTON |
Acrobat 179 |
In Small Bands |
● CD $10.98 |
25 tracks, 73 min, essential
Sometimes I think my favorite
music of all time is small group 30s jazz. And as my fave band is Duke
Ellington's, what could be better than a small group with Duke at the
keys? This features bands led by 4 of his great soloists - Rex Stewart
with his 52nd St. Stompers (Tea & Trumpets), His Big 7 (Digga
Digga Doo),& His Orch. (Subtle Slough AKA Just Squeeze Me)
Cootie Williams & His Rug-Cutters (Delta Mood), Barney Bigard Orch
(C Blues), & of course, the master, Johnny Hodges Orch. (The
Jeep Is Jumpin/ Squatty Roo/ Things Ain't What They Used To Be).
Recorded 1938-41 with the Duke's crew as sidemen, including Jimmy Blanton,
Ben Webster, Tricky Sam Nanton, Lawrence Brown, Harry Carney etc. (GM)
|
| DUKE ELLINGTON |
Columbia 87043 |
Masterpieces By Ellington |
● CD $11.98 |
7 tracks, 55 min, essential
Reissue of Columbia 4418 from
'51. Starting in the early days of LPs, artists were sometimes invited to
re-record their older material to take advantage of both the LP's longer
playing time & recording quality (Hifi anyone?) In 1950, The Duke brought
his great 40s band (it would soon splinter as stalwarts Johnny Hodges,
Lawrence Brown & Sonny Greer would leave in '51 to be in Hodges' R & B-ish
band. Duke wrote a new piece, The Tattooed Bride, & had mostly
concert versions of Mood Indigo (nearly 16 min long!),
Sophisticated Lady & Solitude. Sound quality is amazing! This new
re-issue adds 3 bonus tracks from '51, which feature new drummer Louis
Bellson - Vagabonds which was only released on a Franklin Mint LP,
& two 45-only sides, 'Smada released on Okeh & Rock Skippin' At
The Blue Note from Columbia. (GM)
|
| DUKE ELLINGTON |
Columbia 87044 |
Festival Session |
● CD $11.98 |
54 min, 12 tracks, highly recommended
Reissue of Columbia
1400 from 1959. With the Orch as strong as it ever was - including such
stalwarts as Johnny Hodges, Clark Terry, Cat Anderson, Paul Gonsalves,
Harry Carney, Ray Nance, Russell Procope & Jimmy Hamilton, Duke did a few
things in twos. There's re-working of two old tunes, Perdido &
Things Ain't What They Used To Be. Then there's two new tunes,
Launching Pad & Copout Extension (actually a re-working of the
earlier Copout, but extended to 8+ min). Finally there are two new
suites, Idiom '59, which featured the two clarinets of Procope &
Hamilton, & finally Duael Fuel, which features the two drummers (in
stereo!) Sam Woodyard & Jimmy Johnson, with Johnson's solo here unedited
for the first time. In keeping with twos, there's two previously unissued
bonus tracks, VIP's Boogie & Jam With Sam, where all the
soloists get introduced by Duke. (GM)
|
| DUKE ELLINGTON |
Columbia 87066 |
Ellington Uptown |
● CD $11.98 |
13 tracks, 78 min, highly recommended
Reissue of Columbia
Masterworks, which was issued 3 times in 3 different configurations
starting in 1953 (one issue as called "Hifi Ellington Uptown"). The first
issue had a brand new tune by a brand new band - new drummer Louis Bellson
leads off with a drum-filled Skin Deep, followed by extended
re-recordings of four Duke classics, including a 15 min Tone Parallel
To Harlem & a brand-new version of Take The A Train with Betty
Roche' scatting the lyrics, plus Perdido & The Mooche. The
second issue took off Harlem & added another new suite, The
Controversial Suite from 12/51. The final version took off Perdido
& added The Liberian Suite, which begins with I Love The Sunrise.
Now all the material is in one place, with fantastic sound. (GM)
|
|
ELLA
FITZGERALD & COUNT BASIE |
Eagle Eye 39057 |
Jazz in Montreux Presents Ella & Basie '79 |
● CD $10.98 |
DVD 15 songs featuring the great vocalist accompanied by the
Basie Orchestra.
|
| ELLA FITZGERALD |
Proper BOX 74 |
Romance And Rhythm |
● CD $25.98 |
4 discs,100 tracks, essential
Outstanding collection
surveying the development of Ella, from teen band girl to bopper to mature
interpreter of The Great American Songbook. Starting off as girl singer
for the famed Chick Webb Orch & having the enormous hit A Tisket A
Tasket (& also a guest spot as Benny Goodman's thrush in a 11/38
session), Ella fronted Webb's band after the leader died, & it became Ell
Fitzgerald & Her Famous Orch. Until she went "solo" in '41. During this
time she made some great tunes with such guest stars as The Ink Spots, The
4 Tunes, The Mills Bros, Louis Jordan & Louis Armstrong. By the mid-40s
she polished up her scat, with an especially fine version of How High
The Moon here. The set ends with the first of her definitive Songbook
recordings with Ellis Larkin, with a beautiful selection of Gershwin tunes
including Someone TO Watch Over Me & I've Got A Crush On.
With 52 page booklet. (GM)
|
| ELLA FITZGERALD |
Proper Intro 2009 |
Smooth Sailing - A Proper Introduction To
Ella Fitzgerald |
● CD $9.98 |
22 tracks, 72 min, highly recommended
If you want to get a
taste of Ella, but don't want the 4 disc Proper Box, then this might serve
as a good intro. Except for the opening Flying Home from '45, this
set focuses on the early 50's (50-52 to be exact). The first 13 tunes are
also on the Proper Box, but includes her first Songbook with 8 Gershwin
tunes. What you do get with this set that's not on the other is an entire
set from JATP (Jazz At The Philharmonic) from Tokyo in '52, including 8
tunes backed by a piano quartet that includes Herb Ellis on guitar, & the
concert's all-star finale of Perdido with musicians including Ben
Webster, Oscar Peterson, Flip Phillips, Benny Carter & Roy Eldridge! With
8 page booklet. (GM)
|
| BABS GONZALES |
Proper Intro 2052 |
Real Crazy - A Proper Introductions To
Babs Gonzales |
● CD $9.98 |
23 tracks, 63 min, essential
BeBop's biggest cheerleader &
most exuberant vocalist, the king of bop, complete with shades, goatee &
beret! I first heard Babs many years ago on a Capitol Bebop compilation
doing Capitolizing & Professor Bop (both here) & I was
hooked! Just a glance at the titles will give you an idea what happening
here - starting with his first group 3 Bips & A Bop from '47 doing
Oop-Pop-A-Da/ Lop-Pow/ Dob Bla Bli & Weird Lullabye, featuring
the great Tadd Dameron on piano. As a solo he went on to Prelude To A
Nightmare/ Real Crazy, & a lesson on how to sing bop, You'll Be
Boppin' Too. He was also very adept at putting nonsense syllables to
such tunes as The Continental/ St. Louis Blues ("They're boppin'
Mr. Handy's tune")/ Stomping At The Savoy, & Bird's Ornithology
done as The Boss Is Back. The music matches the lyrics, with such
greats as Art Pepper, Sonny Rollins, Don Redmond, Ray Nance, Wynton Kelly,
Johnny Griffin & Buddy Tate. With 8 page booklet. (GM)
|
| KIMBERLY GORDON TRIO |
The Sirens 5009 |
Melancholy Serenade |
● CD $15.98 |
11 tracks, 54 minutes, excellent
A well-respected jazz
critic once wrote of Kimberly Gordon saying "...if sapphires could sing, I
imagine they'd have a similar sound." There is little (if anything) that
can be added to praise as high as that other than to say this is simply a
tremendous set of wonderful jazz. Gordon's voice soars the Chicago skyline
as much as it walks the dark and cold streets and her covers of
Ellington's I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good/ What Am I Here For,
and I Ain't Got Nothin' But The Blues are incredible. Chris
Foreman's piano work and Joe Policastro's double bass lay a smooth
foundation while Gordon's vocals are delectable, sexy, and heartfelt. (CR)
|
| ART HICKMAN'S
ORCHESTRA |
Archeophone 6003 |
The San Francisco Sound |
● CD $14.98 |
25 tracks, 76 min, highly recommended
No, the San
Francisco Sound here isn't the Dead/Airplane/Quicksilver. It was the new
sound of the hot dance orchestras. Hickman was the 1st of the hot orchs to
add both banjo & sax to his sound, & also was the first San Francisco
orchestra to be hired on an ongoing basis by a major hotel, here the St.
Francis. In 1919 the orchestra went to New York for a stay at The Biltmore
Hotel & the Columbia recording studios, which is where the majority of
this disc is from. Between Sept 15-26 the Orch recorded 22 tunes, 20 of
which are here. Includes the original version of Rose Room, later
on one of Benny Goodman's biggest hits. Also includes a fine medley of
Hesitating Blues/ Beale St. Blues. With 22 page booklet full of
exhaustive notes, pics & recording info. (GM)
|
| MILT JACKSON &
RAY BROWN |
Eagle Eye 39052 |
Jazz in Montreux Presents Milt Jackson &
Ray Brown '77 |
● CD $10.98 |
DVD Five tunes with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis/ tenor sax, Clark
Terry/ trumpet and Monty Alexander/ piano.
|
| SPIKE JONES |
Collector's Choice 329 |
(Not) Your Standard Spike Jones Collection |
● CD $29.98 |
Three CDS, 81 tracks, highly recommended
Great collection
of Standard radio transcriptions recorded between 1941 and 1945 by the
master of musical mayhem recorded with his original band. The material
ranges from recordings with the drummerless City Slickers, with Spike on
washboard, cowbells, etc. sounding like a Dixieland band going berserk to
straight ahead dance band sides with Spike on drums. It includes
re-recordings of quite a few of his Bluebird hits along with tracks that
were unique to the transcriptions including the original recording of his
onslaught on Cocktails For Two which he recorded later for Victor
and became his biggest hit. These sessions were cut during the war and
include some patriotic songs like You're A Sap Mr. Jap/ Sailor With The
Navy Blue Eyes/ Yankee Doodler and the immortal Der Fuehrer's Face
though this version is "censored" with the rasberry replaced with a
trombone! Lots of other goodies like Sheik Of Araby/ Never Hit Your
Grandma With A Shovel/ Chlo-e/ Fort Worth Jail/ Boogie Woogie Cowboy/ De
Camptown Races/ St-St-St-Stella/ Come Josephine In My Flying Machine/ Down
In Jungle Town/ Liebestraum/ Down By The O-Hi-O/ They Go Wild Simply Wild
Over Me and lots more. Sound quality is excellent and the set includes
an 8 page booklet with notes and recording details. (FS)
|
|
STAN KENTON &
HIS ORCHESTRA |
Classics 1292 |
1951 |
● CD $14.98 |
23 tracks from 1951 with Bud Shank, Maynard Ferguson,
Shorty Rogers, Art Pepper, June Christy and others.
STAN KENTON: Blues In Burlesque - Part 1/ Blues In Burlesque - Part 2/
Come Rain Or Come Shine/ Coop's Solo/ Coop's Solo/ Daddy/ Dynaflow/ Easy
Street/ Ennui/ Francesca/ Jump For Joe/ Laura/ Night Watch/ Prelude To A
Kiss/ Riff Rhapsody/ Salute/ Samana/ Sambo/ Stardust-boogie/ Street Of
Dreams/ The Hot Canary/ Tortillas And Beans/ What's New
|
| CHARLES MINGUS |
Proper BOX 77 |
The Young Rebel |
● CD $25.98 |
Four CD set with 88 tracks tracing the early history of
this great jazz bassist from 1945 to 1953. It includes his work as a
bandleader as well as a sideman in the bands of Illinois Jacquet, Lucky
Thompson, Lionel Hampton, Red Norvo, Miles Davis and others.
|
| OSCAR PETERSON TRIO |
Eagle Eye 39050 |
Jazz in Montreux Presents Oscar Peterson
Trio '77 |
● CD $10.98 |
DVD This volume features nine tunes - three solo and six where
Peterson is joined by two bassists - Niels Pederson and Ray Brown.
|
| ARTIE SHAW |
Acrobat ACRD 199 |
Begin The Beguine |
● CD $10.98 |
22 tracks, 66 min, excellent
First volume of a series of
discs to survey Shaw's output. Though we usually think of Shaw beginning
with having a huge hit with his first Bluebird disc, the title tune from
'38. However, this starts earlier with seven of his 1937 Brunswick sides
including Night & Day, the double-sided The Chant & Shoot
The Likker To Me John Boy. It's after that we get into the classic
Bluebird stuff, including Any Old Time, the only appearance on
record of Billie Holiday's brief tenure with Shaw, plus Back Bay
Shuffle/ Stardust and more. (GM)
|
| EARMA THOMPSON |
The Sirens 5008 |
Just In Time |
● CD $15.98 |
11 tracks, 49 minutes, recommended
Even if Earma Thompson
isn't a name recognized by many fans of piano, it should be. Chicago's
golden era of jazz and blues gets a hearty remembrance on this all too
short trip back in time but it's something to be treasured and enjoyed
over and over again. Billie's Bounce/ Back At The Chicken Shack/ After
Hours, and I Remember You swing relentlessly with Thompson's
touch on the ivories and John Whitfield's bass while John Brumbach
delivers throaty tenor saxophone to Miles Davis' Vierd Blues and
Gene Ammons' Ger-ru (CR)
|
| VARIOU |
Le Chant Du Monde 574 1201 |
Les Tresors Du Jazz, 1898-1943 |
● CD $69.98 |
Very nice 10 CD box set featuring 231 tracks tracing the
history of jazz from the cakewalks and rags of the turn of the 20th
century to the rise of swing in the late 30s and early 40s. With the
exception of the very first cut (a 1954 recording of Big Bill Broonzy
singing Joe Turner Blues - a song that dates from around 1890) the
tracks are presented in chronological order allowing us to hear how the
music changed and developed over the years as well tracing the history of
individual artists. Sound quality is excellent and the set comes with two
booklets - one with notes in French and full discographical details and
the other has the notes translated into English. Among the many artists
you will hear are Vess L. Ossman, Eubie Blake, King Oliver, Piron's New
Orleans OrchestraLouis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers, Ma
Rainey, Bix Beiderbecke, Duke Ellington, McKinney's Cotton Pickers, Mound
City Blue Blowers, Red Nichols & His Five Pennies, Sidney Bechet, Spirits
Of Rhythm, Louis Prima, Henry "Red" Allen, Robert Johnson, Count Basie,
Eddie South, Lionel Hampton, Slim & Slam, Willie "The Lion" Smith, Glenn
Miller, Fats Waller, Jimmy Yancey, Benny Carter, The Chocolate Dandies,
Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian, Mildred Bailey, Earl Hines, Coleman
Hawkins and many more. A perfect introduction to the music that will also
be an entertaining listen for the connoisseur.
|
| VARIOUS ARTISTS |
Fremeaux & Associes 067 |
From Cake-Walk To Ragtime |
● CD $25.98 |
Two CD set with 36 tracks chronicling the early years in
the development of jazz including J.Cullen & W. Collins, Sousa's Band,
Orchestre Anonyme, Ossman-Dudley Trio, Vess L. Ossman, W. Ditcham,
Prince's Orchestra, J. Charman & W. Miller, Joyce's Orchestra, Europe's
Society Orchestra, Joseph Moskovitz, etc.
|
| VARIOUS ARTISTS |
JSP JSPCD 921 |
Breaking Out Of New Orleans, 1922-1929 |
● CD $28.98 |
4 discs, 101 tracks, essential
Another wonderful JSP
budget box set. This is not the well-known New Orleans jazz - there's no
Louis Armstrong solo sides (though he's part of the Red Onion Jazz
Babies), & the only other well-known name here is Kid Ory's Sunshine Orch.
Here are multiple (& in many cases complete) recordings of hard-core
N.O.jazz. Includes Original Tuxedo Jazz Band/Celestine's Original Tuxedo
Orch, Louis Dumaine's Jazzola 8, Jones & Collins Astoria 8, Sam Morgan's
Jazz Band, Piron's New Orleans Orch, the legendary Red Onion Jazz Babies
w/Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Buster Bailey & Lil Armstrong. Legendary
trumpeter Freddie Keppard is heard with Erskine Tate's Vendome Orch. & the
Doc Cook led bands Cook's Dreamland Orch/Cookie's Gingersnaps as well as
his own Jazz Cardinals. Ory, besides his famous Sunshine Band sides is
heard with The New Orleans Wanderers, The New Orleans Bootblacks & The
Chicago Footwarmers. Those bands also featured famed clarinetist Johnny
Dodds, who is also heard with his own Black Bottom Stompers. As this is a
budget set, there are limited liner notes & no discographical info, but
there is full personnel & recording dates & LOTS of great music! (GM)
CELESTIN'S ORIGINAL TUXEDO ORCHESTRA: As You Like It/ Dear Almanzoer/ Give
Me Some More/ I'm Satisfied You Love Me/ It's A Jam Up/ Just For You,
Dear, I'm Crying(Take 1)/ Just For You, Dear, I'm Crying(Take 1)/ My
Josephine/ Papa's Got The Jim-Jams/ Station Calls (Take 1)/ Station Calls
(Take 2)/ Ta Ta Daddy/ The Sweetheart Of The TKO/ When I'm With You/ THE
CHICAGO FOOTWARMERS: A Brush Stomp/ Ballin' The Jack/ Brown Bottom Bess/
Get 'Em Again Blues/ Grandma's Ball/ Lady Love/ My Baby/ My Girl/ Oriental
Man/ Sweep 'Em Clean/ COOK AND HIS DREAMLAND ORCHESTRA: Brown Sugar/ Here
Comes The Hot Tamale Man!/ High Fever/ Spanish Mama/ COOK'S DREAMLAND
ORCHESTRA: Lonely Little Wallflower/ Moanful Man/ Scissor Grinder Joe/ So
This Is Venice/ The Memphis Maybe Man/ The One I Love Belongs To Somebody
Else/ COOKIE'S GINGERSNAPS: Here Comes The Hot Tamale Man/ High Fever/
Love Found You For Me/ Messin' Around/ JOHNNY DODDS' BLACK BOTTOM
STOMPERS: After You've Gone (C-1239)/ After You've Gone (C-1241)/ Come On
And Stomp, Stomp, Stomp/ Joe Turner Blues/ When Erastus Plays His Old
Kazoo/ LOUIS DUMAINE'S JAZZOLA EIGHT: Franklin Street Blues/ Pretty
Audrey/ Red Onion Drag/ To-Bac-A-Wa/ JONES AND COLLINS ASTORIA HOT EIGHT:
Astoria Strut/ Damp Weather/ Duet Stomp/ Tip Easy Blues/ FREDDIE KEPPARD'S
JAZZ CARDINALS: Salty Dog(Take 1)/ Salty Dog(Take 2)/ Stock Yards Strut/
FATE MARABLE'S SOCIETY SYNCOPATORS: Frankie And Johnny/ Pianoflage/ SAM
MORGAN'S JAZZ BAND: Boogalousa Strut/ Bouncing Around/ Down By The
Riverside/ Everybody's Talking About Sammy/ Mobile Stomp/ Over In The
Gloryland/ Short Dress Gal/ Sing On/ Steppin' On The Gas/ THE NEW ORLEANS
BOOTBLACKS: Flat Foot/ THE NEW ORLEANS WANDERERS: Gate Mouth/ THE NEW
ORLEANS BOOTBLACKS: I Can't Say/ Mad Dog/ THE NEW ORLEANS WANDERERS: Mixed
Salad/ Papa Dip/ Perdido Street Blues/ Too Tight/ ORIGINAL TUXEDO JAZZ
BAND: Black Rag/ Careless Love/ Original Tuxedo Rag/ ORY'S SUNSHINE
ORCHESTRA: Krooked Blues/ Maybe Some Day/ Ory's Creole Trombone/ Society
Blues/ That Sweet Something Dear/ When You're All Alone Blues/ PIRON'S NEW
ORLEANS ORCHESTRA: Bright Star Blues/ Do Just As I Say/ Do-Doodle-Oom/
Ghost Of The Blues/ Kiss Me Sweet/ Louisiana Blues/ Mama's Gone, Goodbye/
New Orleans Wiggle/ Red Man Blues/ Sitting On A Curbstone Blues/ Sud
Bustin' Blues/ West Indies Blues/ West Indies Blues/ THE RED ONION JAZZ
BABIES: All The Wrongs You Done Me/ Cake-Walking Babies (From Home)/ Santa
Claus Blues/ Terrible Blues/ ERSKINE TATE'S VENDOME ORCHESTRA: Chinaman
Blues/ Cutie Blues
|
| VARIOUS ARTISTS |
Proper BOX 76 |
The Arranger's Touch |
● CD $25.98 |
Four CD set with 90 tracks providing an overview of the
development of the arranger in jazz. From early beginnings in the work of
Jelly Roll Morton, arranging became a skill that was highly prized during
the days of the big bands and played a significant role in the evolution
of bop. This collection includes examples of this development from the 20s
through the 50s. Includes recordings by Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot
Peppers, Glen Gray & His Casa Loma Orchestra, Benny Carter & His
Orchestra, Jimmy Lunceford & His Orchestra, Benny Goodman & His Orchestra,
Bob Crosby & His Orchestra, Glenn Miller & His Orchestra, Gene Krupa and
His Orchestra, Cab Calloway & His Orchestra, Horace Henderson & His Orch.,
Count Basie & His Orch., Tommy Dorsey & His Orch., Andy Kirk & His Twelve
Clouds Of Joy, George Auld & His Orch., Billy Eckstine & His Orch., Stan
Kenton & His Orch., George Handy & His Orch., Dizzy Gillespie & His Och.,
Miles Davis & His Orch., Gigi Gryce & His Orch and many more.
|
| VARIOUS ARTISTS |
Retrieval 79043 |
Pioneer Recording Bands, 1917-1920 |
● CD $13.98 |
24 track collection remastered by John R.T. Davies
featuring The Original Dixieland Jazz Band, Earl Fuller's Famous Jazz
Band, Original New Orleans Jazz Band, Gorman's Novelty Syncopaters, The
Louisiana Five, Jimmy Durante's Jazz Band and The Whiteway Jazz Band. With
notes by Mark Berresford.
|
| VARIOUS ARTISTS |
Savoy Jazz 17289 |
Giants Of Jazz - Ballads |
● CD $9.98 |
11 tracks, 49 min, recommended
From Savoy's Giants Of Jazz
series, a budget reissue line of beautifully remastered gems from the
catalog, come this fine late-night set. As with others in this series,
there are no dates, personnel or any other recording info, but the
strength is in the music. Starting off with Charlie Parker's How Deep
Is The Ocean (with an especially nice JJ Johnson trombone solo),
there's also an especially nice solo guitar version of Sophisticated
Lady By Larry Coryell, a duet of Spring Can Really Hang You Up The
Most with Houston Person & Ron Carter, Cannonball Adderly's rendition
of Willow Weep For Me. (GM)
|
| VARIOUS ARTISTS |
Swing Time 2014 |
Original Dance Music Of The 20s and 30s -
Volume 2 |
● CD $14.98 |
25 tracks, 76 min, recommended
Another solid set of fine
dance tunes with excellent sound, or as it's subtitled "Digitally restored
& remastered". There's some familiar names here, including McKinney's
Cotton Pickers - If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight, Jean
Goldkette Orch - My Pretty Girl, The Jan Garber Orch - Back In
Your Own Back Yard, & The Victor Young Orch with The Boswell Sisters -
I Found A Million Dollar Baby, as well as the classic Won't You
Come Over To My House by Julia Lee with George Lee's Novelty Orch.
However, there's plenty of good obscurities including a few by Snooks
Friedman's Memphis Stompers, The Halfway House Orch & The Bert Firman
Orch. No discographical info, just a lot of great music. (GM)
|
| BERT WILLIAMS |
Archeophone 5004 |
The Early Years, 1901-1909 |
● CD $14.98 |
31 tracks, 76 min, highly recommended
The final volume of
the great Black comedian's recorded legacy. This set starts out with Bert
with his original partner George Walker as Williams & Walker, the first
Black stars of stage & even Ziegfield! The pair made a number of
recordings in both 7” (2 min.) & 10” (3 min) 78 rpm format, with both
versions of many tunes here. These were the fruits of sessions for Victor
Monarch in Oct & Nov '01, & include She's Getting More Like The White
Folk/ The Phrenologist Coon & My Little Zulu Babe. Next up are
a couple of tunes from their show "In Abyssinia” & includes Bert's first
waxing of his all-time classic Nobody. The remaining tunes were cut
for Columbia in '06 & includes such rarities as Columbia cylinders & even
a rejected take of I've Such A Funny Feeling When I Look At You.
Exhaustive 32 page booklet loaded with pictures of Williams & Walker, &
numerous pics of record labels & sheet music, as well as a repro of a 8/06
article by George Walker "The Real 'Coon' Of The American Stage”. Please
be aware that, like all Archeophone discs, these are acoustical
recordings, some of which aren't in wonderful condition & can make for
tough listening at times, but you will be greatly rewarded by the effort!
(GM)
|
| CLARENCE WILLIAMS |
Frog DGF 49 |
Clarence Williams' QRS Recordings, Volume
2 |
● CD $16.98 |
27 track collection featuring instrumental performances by
Clarence & His Orch. and The Barrel House Five as well as accompaniments
to blues singers Katherin Henderson, Sara Martin & Laura Bryant including
all available alternate takes. Musicians includes "King" Oliver/ cornet,
Benny Waters/ tenor sax, Arville Harris/ clarinet, Leroy Harris/ banjo,
Cyrus St. Clair/ brass bass, Floyd Casey/ washboard and others.
Beautifully remastered by Ted Kendall set includes booklet with notes by
John Capes and full discographical information.
|
| MARY LOU WILLIAMS |
Eagle Eye 39053 |
Jazz in Montreux Presents Mary Lou
Williams '78 |
● CD $10.98 |
DVD 13 solo sides.
|
| MARY LOU WILLIAMS |
Smithsonian Folkways 40816 |
Black Christ Of The Andes |
● CD $15.98 |
14 tracks, 52 min, highly recommended
Reissue of this
legendary LP that Williams released on her own Mary label in '64, then
reissued as Folkways 2843. In the late 50s-early 60s, this incredible
pianist/composer/arranger embraced & studied Roman Catholicism & stayed
away from the music world. This was her return. Starting off with a
chorale St. Martin De Porres, who was a former slave that was
canonized in '62, with just minimal piano & the voices of The Ray Charles
Singers (no, not the late Genius - this is the very White group that had a
huge 60s hit with Love Me With All Of Your Heart!), this is a mixed
bag of choral music (another, The Devil, also is just Mary Lou with
The Singers); two more, Anima Christi & Praise The Lord,
have full band with vocals by Jimmy Mitchell leading The George Gordon
Singers) as well as piano trios, many with the great MJQ bassist Percy
Heath, & a solo piano version of There's A Fungus Among Us. The two
band sides include Larry Gales, Grant Green & Budd Johnson. Includes four
previously unissued trio numbers with Heath, & 30 page booklet. (GM)
|
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