50s House

The Modern Jazz Quartet And The Oscar Peterson Trio At The Opera House (1957) {2013 Japan Jazz The Best Series 24-bit Remaster UCCU-9945}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 151 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 94 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 109 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remaster | Mono
© 1957, 2013 Verve / Universal Japan | UCCU-9945
Jazz / Bop / Cool / Third Stream

The Modern Jazz Quartet make a rare appearance on Verve Records in the 50s – splitting half the album here with the classic Oscar Peterson Trio! The live performance was recorded in Chicago, and definitely has the MJQ working in a looser vibe than on some of their late 50s recordings for Atlantic – a bit more open and swinging, in a Verve mode – with some of the bop inspiration that first showed up on their early Prestige recordings – as you'll hear on the cuts "Now's The Time", "Round Midnight", and "D&E Blues". The second half of the record features live material from Oscar Peterson's hip group with Herb Ellis on guitar and Ray Brown on bass – that great drum-less lineup that really lets Oscar take off on piano – on tunes that include "Big Fat Mama", "Should I Love You", "Indiana", and "Elevation".

John Lee Hooker - House Rent Boogie (2001) {Ace Records CDCHD 799}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 212 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 152 Mb
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© 1940s-50s, 2001 Ace Records | CDCHD 799
Blues / Delta Blues / Acoustic Blues / Detroit Blues / Blues Revival

A cross-section of hot Hooker at his prime with great solo performances and small combo recordings, when he was making sides exclusively for the black audience in the late 40s-early 50s. Here is a new CD of vintage Hooker recordings culled from the private tape vaults of Bernie Besman and Joe Bihari. At this stage, you might think it safe to assume that there is nothing left unissued from Hooker's early years in Detroit. Wrong! Ace researcher, the intrepid Ray Topping, has put together a release that combines classic early Hooker recordings many of which have never been available on CD before together with a total of FIVE previously unissued recordings.

Jimmy Smith - House Party (1957) {Blue Note Japan, CP32-9511, Early Press}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 495 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 166 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 37 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1957, 1987 Blue Note / Toshiba-EMI | CP32-9511
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Organ

One of those hard-wailing all-star sessions that Jimmy did so well for Blue Note! The album features an amazing array of top-line players – like Tina Brooks, Lee Morgan, Curtis Fuller, Lou Donaldson, Art Blakey, and Kenny Burrell – and they all play with Smith in differing combinations, all of which have an open-ended groove that sounds very nice, and very much like the kind of material that Smith would have laid down at some small club in the late 50s.

Arthur Gunter - Baby Let's Play House: The Complete Excello Singles 1954-1961 (2016) {Jasmine Records JASMCD 3077}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 167 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 128 Mb
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© 1954-61, 2016 Jasmine Records | JASMCD 3077
Blues / Rhythm & Blues

Arthur Gunter, a seemingly obscure blues singer will never be forgotten because he holds a unique place in American pop history. His first recording, 'Baby Let's Play House' in 1954 for Excello Records of Nashville became one of the first recordings by Elvis Presley. This is the first time both sides of his Excello singles have been collected together in chronological order and the quality of these sessions are all exciting and typical of the kind of blues popular in the south.
Listen to the sounds of Arthur Gunter and wonder at the impression it must have had on the young Elvis Presley - stunning by all accounts. This collection is a must for blues and R&B fans.

Collectors will be thrilled to learn that The Come Back contains 11 previously unreleased tracks, but even those who aren't hardcore collectors will find that this CD paints an exciting picture of Slim's two years at United.
Like John Lee Hooker, Memphis Slim was very much a label-hopper - from the '40s to the '80s, it was safe to assume that the singer/pianist wouldn't stay at one label for too long. In the '50s, Slim did some of his best work for United, a Chicago-based indie whose catalog has since been acquired by Delmark (another Windy City label). Slim's United period of 1952-1954 is the focus of The Come Back, a 20-track collection that Delmark assembled in 2002. This is a blues CD that has both jazz and rock appeal…

Collectors will be thrilled to learn that The Come Back contains 11 previously unreleased tracks, but even those who aren't hardcore collectors will find that this CD paints an exciting picture of Slim's two years at United.
Like John Lee Hooker, Memphis Slim was very much a label-hopper - from the '40s to the '80s, it was safe to assume that the singer/pianist wouldn't stay at one label for too long. In the '50s, Slim did some of his best work for United, a Chicago-based indie whose catalog has since been acquired by Delmark (another Windy City label). Slim's United period of 1952-1954 is the focus of The Come Back, a 20-track collection that Delmark assembled in 2002. This is a blues CD that has both jazz and rock appeal…

Meade Lux Lewis - Cat House Piano (1998) {Verve Elite 314 557 098-2 rec 1954-1955}
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© 1954-55, 1998 PolyGram / Verve Elite Edition | 314 557 098-2
Jazz / Jazz Blues / Boogie-Woogie / Piano Blues

This single CD from 1998 has all of the music from boogie-woogie pianist Meade Lux Lewis' two Verve LPs of 1954-1955. The earlier date is a set of duets with drummer Louie Bellson, while the later session finds Lewis accompanied by bassist Red Callender and drummer Jo Jones. The packaging is perfect, and with 76-and-a-half minutes of playing, the amount of music is generous. The only problem is that there is a definite sameness to the 14 selections (which mostly clock in between four and seven minutes), the majority of which are medium-tempo blues romps. None of the melodies (all Lewis originals) are at all memorable. The romping momentum of the music overall is difficult to resist, but it is advisable to listen to this set in small doses.

On May 15, 1953, five of jazz's most influential musicians - Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Max Roach and Bud Powell - met at Massey Hall in Toronto for their first and only known recording as a quintet. Although only a small audience had the opportunity to experience this historic evening in person, it was captured on tape. The resulting album, The Quintet: Jazz at Massey Hall, became one of the genre's most important and acclaimed releases.

In 2000 when Blue Note upgraded 1958's House Party as part of the label's superior Rudy Van Gelder series, they augmented the title with a ten-plus minute driving blow of Charlie Parker's "Confirmation" as a well-chosen bonus track. Now the effort is bookended by some primal Bird, which was always a forte of the assembled coterie. In addition to sharing three of the five sides with the RVG edition of The Sermon! (1958), there are two selections from the August 25, 1957, confab of Lee Morgan (trumpet), George Coleman (alto sax), Curtis Fuller (trombone), Eddie McFadden (guitar), Kenny Burrell (guitar), and Donald Bailey (drums)…