As Azure Ray

Kenny Burrell's discography for the Fantasy label encompasses the middle period of his career, and though well played, it leaves one wanting. His Blue Note material from his earlier days is better, and his interpretations of Duke Ellington's music from that era are definitive. There are only two Ellington numbers here, so this collection only scratches the surface.

This is an eight-CD set more for Duke Ellington fanatics than for general listeners. Originally, some of the music came out as a two-LP set (Ella and Duke at the Cote D'Azur) and a single album (Ellington's Soul Call), but the great majority of the material was previously unreleased when this box came out in 1998.

In this magnificent collection presented melodies performed by these masters of jazz piano: Scott Joplin, James P. Johnson, Eubie Blake, Mandy Randolph, Duke Ellington, Art Tatum, Joe Sullivan, Teddy Wilson, Count Basie, Oscar Peterson, Thelonious Monk, Nat King Cole and many, many others …

Positioned squarely in the mainstream, at home in the worlds of jazz and pop standards as well as the blues, comfortable with small groups and big bands, Ernestine Anderson regularly received a lot of airplay on traditional jazz radio stations. She fit those demographics well with her tasteful, slightly gritty, moderately swinging contralto; she rarely probed too deeply into emotional quagmires (and thus didn't disturb the dispositions of those who use the radio as background) but always gave listeners an honest musical account.

The first ever comprehensive box-set of the greatest Jazz vibes-players in history - 18 original albums documenting the history of Jazz-vibes from Swing to Hard Bop and Featuring Lionel Hampton, Milt Jackson, Bobby Hutcherson, Roy Ayers, Cal Tjader and more…

Pianist Hal Galper's interpretations of eight familiar standards on this trio set with bassist Ray Drummond and drummer Billy Hart are consistently surprising and unpredictable. "Giant Steps" is treated as a sensitive out-of-tempo ballad, "What Is This Thing Called Love" begins with abstract chordings over a riff reminiscent of "Manteca" before the trio launches into a very fast tempo, "If I Didn't Care" is given a melancholy countermelody and "Azure" is made funky. In addiition "I Should Care" and "I'll Be Seeing You" (which are usually dramatic ballads) swing hard. By using the past to create new music, Hal Galper has developed fresh angles to old tunes, and the music on his CD has more than its share of successful surprises.