Документы по Истории Мюнхенского Сговора. 1937 1939

This magnificent three-disc set has the first 63 recordings by Count Basie's Orchestra, all of his Deccas. The consistency is remarkable (with not more than two or three turkeys) and the music is the epitome of swing. With such soloists as Lester Young and Herschel Evans on tenors, trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison, the great blues singer Jimmy Rushing, and that brilliant rhythm section of Basie, guitarist Freddie Green, bassist Walter Page, and drummer Jo Jones, the music is timeless. It's all here: "One O'Clock Jump," "Sent for You Yesterday," "Blue and Sentimental," "Jumpin' at the Woodside," "Jive at Five," and many others. This is the first Count Basie collection to acquire and should be in every jazz collection.

Harry James was one of the most outstanding instrumentalists of the swing era, employing a bravura playing style that made his trumpet work instantly identifiable. He was also one of the most popular bandleaders of the first half of the 1940s, and he continued to lead his band until just before his death, 40 years later.

In 1939 Charlie Barnet made some of the best records of his entire career. Inspired by the example of Duke Ellington, he developed his orchestra into a formidable swing machine that sometimes seemed more closely connected to the Afro-American tradition than most of the other white big bands on the scene at that time. This volume in the Barnet chronology contains eight tracks with vocals by Judy Ellington (no relation to Duke!) and five by an insufferable droopy-voiced nerd by the name of Larry Taylor…