100 Best Jazz Albums

The first of 100 tunes in this collection is a 1937 recording of tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins and guitarist Django Reinhardt playing Out Of Nowhere. It was recorded two years before Blue Note Records was founded. The taping was done for EMI’s Capitol label’s French division. This is an ominous hint as to the content of the 10-disc “100 Best of Blue Note” box set, which at first glance appears to have all the trimmings of a slick 21st century collection.

A fluent and skilled musician, famous in his native country as a classical Spanish guitar player, Almeida went to the USA in the 40s to work in film and television studios. His jazz work was first widely exposed during a spell with Stan Kenton in the late 40s. Although continuing his film and television work, Almeida also took many opportunities to play jazz, joining forces with bass player Harry Babasin, altoist Bud Shank and drummer Roy Harte in 1953. The work of this group anticipated many of the hallmarks of the bossa nova craze that came a few years later. During his career Almeida won Grammy awards in 1959 for his performance on Danzas, and the following year for The Spanish Guitars Of Laurindo Almeida and Conversations With The Guitar. In 1961, he gained two more with Discantos and Reverie For Spanish Guitars, and in 1962 further honours with nominations for Viva Bossa Nova! in the Best Performance…

Although most of her best performances came in tandem with Jon Hendricks and Dave Lambert, Annie Ross recorded a lot of quality material on her own, and most of it is right here. A collection of her (mostly) solo material from the '50s, Four Classic Albums finds Ross close to the height of her vocal powers, with excellent interpretive skills and a quickly shifting tone (sometimes caressing, other times catty). The two highlights of these classic albums are Gypsy, her run-through of the classic musical, and Sings a Song with Mulligan!, her duet album with Gerry Mulligan that ranks as one of the finest jazz vocalist/instrumentalist pairings ever (and thereby, one of the best vocal albums of all time). “I Feel Pretty” is impossibly spry and bouncy, with both Ross and Mulligan showing off their musical dexterity, playing off each other's notes with kittenish glee…

Freddie Hubbard - Anthology: The Soul-Jazz and Fusion Years 66-82 (2002) {2CD Soul Brother Records CD SBPJ 10 D}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 0.99 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 365 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 26 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1966-82, 2002 Soul Brother Records / Passion Music | CD SBPJ 10 D
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Jazz Funk / Fusion / Trumpet / Flugelhorn

This collection on the U.K.'s Soul Brother imprint is a very compelling look at a big slice of Freddie Hubbard's long career as a leader, and one that gets ignored for the most part. Hubbard recorded over 20 records between Backlash, his Atlantic debut in 1966, and Ride Like the Wind for Elektra in 1982, with lengthy stops at Columbia and CTI (as well some straight hard bop and post-bop outings for labels Fantasy and Pablo). In many cases, some of these original recordings were not only disregarded by more traditional jazzheads, they were regarded with outright hostility. It didn't matter to Hubbard, however, because at the time, these were among his best-selling albums and connected with the public deeply.

Born in Kaganawa Prefecture, Naoko Terai began practicing the violin at the age of four. In 1986, she made her professional debut as a jazz player and gradually her talent and sense of music drew attention of the other jazz musicians. In 1995, a pianist, Kenny Barron invited her to join the recording of his album, “Things Unseen”, which was release in November 1997 on Polydor Records. She tool part on an increasingly broad range of musical activities, performed in many live houses and joined the recordings of a number of albums as a guest player.