“please Don’t Talk About Me When I'm Gone: The Search For Leon Redbone”,

There's a moment on Billie Holiday: The Ultimate Collection when Lester Young slips into his sax solo and the camera zooms in on Billie Holiday's face. Glistening eyes, arching brow and an uncontrollable smile reveal anticipation, awe and admiration. The pair joins an allstar cast including Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge and Gerry Mulligan among others for a 1957 CBS performance of "Fine And Mellow . Earlier, a scene from the 1947 film New Orleans portrays an exuberant Louis Armstrong bursting with delight during "The Blues Are Brewin' while the stunning, gardenia-encrusted Miss Holiday sings by his side. With ten rare performances, the DVD provides an overview of Lady Day's career and provides a glimpse into the singer's persona.

Any casual listener looking over this 132-track five-CD set would probably conclude that it was far more Bill Haley than they need bite off in one gulp - and they'd be right, as casual listeners. For the serious rock & roll enthusiast, as well as the hardcore Bill Haley fan, however, there's a wealth of worthwhile material to be found here, some of which will amaze even those fans: a dozen great songs and 55 or so more that are good, and another 20 that are fascinating mistakes, and that's a good average for an artist who is generally thought of as having generated just a handful of important records. What Haley had most of all was a distinctive sound - between the backbeat, the country boogie roots, and the R&B sources - that pretty much defined white rock & roll for almost its first two years (until Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins emerged in the spring of 1956); the first two CDs here offer that sound in abundance…

Peggy Lee & June Christy - The Complete Capitol Transcription Sessions 1945-1949 (1998) {5CD Set Mosaic MD5-184}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 761 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 649 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 51 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1945-49, 1998 Mosaic Records / Capitol / EMI | MD5-184
Jazz / Vocal Jazz / Swing / Straight-ahead Jazz / Mainstream Jazz

Mosaic, the Rolls-Royce of record companies, has produced another of its limited-edition gems (5,000 copies and no more). This five-CD boxed set highlights the early work of two of the more famous vocal graduates of the swing era – Peggy Lee and June Christy. Recently signed by Capitol, they were the company's attempt to break into the transcription business. Transcriptions were records provided to radio stations to fill a constant need for music that regular commercial releases were unable to meet. Most of the songs on this album, cuts from 1945 through 1949, were never before or since recorded by Lee and Christy, so they are a nice addition to their respective discographies.

Jazz accordion-master, Van Damme plays much more than cool/accordion mush. In fact, he was an innovator during 60s post-bop. He is an unsung hero…