Charlie Barnet Skyliner

Skyliner was one of Charlie Barnet's most exciting hit records, and quickly became as closely identified with his big band as was Ray Noble's Cherokee. This 1996 EPM Musique Jazz Anthology compilation is one of at least six Barnet albums with the word "Skyliner" in the title. Tracks one through twelve were recorded for the Bluebird label between June 19, 1940 and April 30, 1942. Tracks thirteen through twenty follow Barnet's progress through the turbulent wartime years with a trail of Decca sides cut between July 1942 and February 1944. "Skyliner" comes from a V-Disc recorded on July 13, 1944; "E-Bob-O-Lee-Bob," like "Oh Miss Jaxon" a vocal feature for trumpeter Peanuts Holland, was harvested from a Jubilee broadcast on December 6, 1945. Some of this band's arrangements were written by Horace Henderson, Billy May and by the leader himself. Most Charlie Barnet albums are well worth investigating. This one lives somewhere near the top of the heap.

With signs of a resurgence of interest in big bands in the late 1950s, Maxwell Davis came up with the idea of producing a series of albums for Crown Records recorded in the finest stereophonic sound, in a tribute to such legendary bandleaders as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Woody Herman, Charlie Barnet and Stan Kenton, among others. For this purpose, he wrote all new arrangements and reimagined and conducted a number of tribute bands to perform the music with the signature spirit that made their original leaders famous. The personnel for each album consisted primarily of prominent members and soloists who performed with the original bands, with additional valuable contributions from some of the best jazz musicians working in the Hollywood and New York studios.

André Francis and Jean Schwarz, two of the greatest lovers and connoisseurs of jazz, have designed this chronological anthology which brings together the greatest rare or essential masterpieces in the history of jazz, with its greatest creators, from 1944 to 1951.

This two-CD set is an unusually successful sampler. Although there are a few hits among the 40 selections, many obscurities are also included, and not all of the big bands represented are major names, such as Tiny Bradshaw, Noble Sissle, Spud Murphy, Teddy Powell and Jan Savitt. The emphasis is very much on jazz, and this worthy reissue is overflowing with forgotten classics. The music is programmed in chronological order, so one can experience the evolution of big bands from Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson and Luis Russell to postwar recordings from Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman.

This collection is packed with fifty recordings from the greatest interpreters of the american popular song, often in the intimate settings that served those interpreters best. While some of these recordings come from the big-band era, and some are instrumentals, many represent the adult-pop developments of swing vocal styles that appeared in the 1950's and sometimes competed with - and at other times overlapped with the teenage sounds of rock and roll.
Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Nat King Cole, Dinah Washington and many others.

Eddie Duran - Jazz Guitarist: Modern Music From San Francisco (2017) {Fresh Sound FSR-CD 924 rec 1955-1957}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 281 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 151 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 143 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1955-57, 2017 Fantasy / Jazz Records / Fresh Sound Records | FSR-CD 924
Jazz / Cool / Bebop / Guitar

Born in San Francisco in 1925, Eddie Duran is an unfairly neglected jazz guitarist and a soloist full of imagination and heart who was already playing professionally at 15. To this day he considers himself an “ear player,” despite having played and recorded with Vince Guaraldi, Red Norvo, Cal Tjader, Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, George Shearing, Earl “Fatha” Hines and Benny Goodman, in the heyday of the San Francisco bebop scene.