Coleman Hawkins Perdido

Coleman Hawkins - Hawkins! Eldridge! Hodges! Alive! At The Village Gate! (1962) {Verve 513 755-2 rel 1992}
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© 1962, 1992 Verve / PolyGram | 513 755-2
Jazz / Mainstream Jazz / Hard Bop / Swing / Saxophone / Trumpet

From the mid-'50s until Coleman Hawkins's death in 1969, the tenor-saxophonist frequently teamed up with trumpeter Roy Eldridge to form a potent team. However, Hawkins rarely met altoist Johnny Hodges on the bandstand, making this encounter a special event. Long versions of "Satin Doll," "Perdido" and "The Rabbit in Jazz" give these three classic jazzmen (who are ably assisted by the Tommy Flanagan Trio) chances to stretch out and inspire each other. The remainder of this CD has Eldridge and Hodges absent while Coleman Hawkins (on "new" versions of "Mack the Knife," "It's the Talk of the Town," "Bean and the Boys" and "Caravan") heads the quartet for some excellent playing. Timeless music played by some of the top veteran stylists of the swing era.

Tenor saxophonist Coleman "The Hawk" Hawkins (1904- 1969) was one of the most important instrumental soloists in jazz. The "father of the saxophone" conquered this previously unpopular instrument for jazz and influenced generations after him. He also possessed a strong personality, enormous presence and a pronounced musical adventurousness, so that he always remained stylistically on the cutting edge until the sixties…

JATP concerts from the 1940s were documented in 1998 on a 10-CD Verve boxed set. But until now, the 1950s concerts have been passed over for a retrospective. In fact, since the CD era began very little of the material from that span has been available at all.

Various Artists - From Modern Jazz To New Thing (1957-1959) - La Grande Histoire Du Jazz Vol. 4 (2010) {Box 25CD - 100 of 100}
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© 1957-59б 2010 Le Chant du Monde | 574 1975.99
Jazz / Hard Bop / Modal Music / Third Stream

An epic 100 CD chronological documentation of the history of jazz music from 1898 to 1959, housed in four boxed sets. Each box contains 25 slipcase CDs, a booklet (up to 186 pages) and an index. The booklets contain extensive notes (Eng/Fr) with recording dates and line-ups. 31 hours of music in each box, totalling 1677 tracks Each track has been restored and mastered from original sources.

Charlie Parker - Bird: The Complete Charlie Parker On Verve (1946-1954) {2005 10CD Box Set Verve-Universal 983 3382}
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© 1949-54, 2005 Verve / Universal Music Italia Srl | 983 3382
Jazz / Bop / Small Group / Big Band / Saxophone

As a leader, Charlie Parker recorded for Savoy and Dial during 1945-1948 and then for Verve exclusively (at least in the studios) during 1949-1954. This remarkable ten-CD box set, which adds quite a bit of material to an earlier ten-LP set, contains all of these recordings plus Bird's earlier appearances with Jazz at the Philharmonic. The JATP jams are highlighted by Parker's perfect solo on "Oh Lady Be Good," a ferocious improvisation on "The Closer," and a solo on "Embraceable You" that tops his more famous studio recording. In addition, this box has all of the "Bird and Strings" sides, his meetings with Machito's Cuban orchestra, the 1950 session with Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk, small-group dates (including a 1951 meeting with Miles Davis), odd encounters with voices and studio bands, the famous "Jam Blues" with fellow altoists Johnny Hodges and Benny Carter, and his final recordings, a set of Cole Porter tunes. The fact-filled 34-page booklet is also indispensable. Highly recommended.

Various Artists - From Ragtime To Swing (1898-1952) - La Grande Histoire Du Jazz Vol. 1 (2010) {Box 25CD - 25 of 100}
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© 2010 Le Chant du Monde | 574 1900.24
Jazz / Ragtime / Swing

Each box contains 25 slipcase CDs, a booklet (up to 186 pages) and an index. The booklets contain extensive notes (Eng/Fr) with recording dates and line-ups. 31 hours of music in each box, totalling 1677 tracks Each track has been restored and mastered from original sources. The only reason I can think of for there not yet being a review of these four boxed sets, is that those who own them are just too busy having one hell of a blast listening to them. Some people moan about the 50 year copyright law for audio recordings in Europe, but without it this highly entertaining, eye-opening and educational undertaking could never have taken place. These 100 discs (spread over four boxed sets of 25 discs) tell the story of jazz from 1898 to 1959.

This is an attractive eight-CD set (+ Bonus CD), whose discs are also available as eight separate releases, that could have been a great reissue but settled for being merely quite good. To celebrate the 80th anniversary of the first jazz recording, RCA released a disc apiece covering each of the past eight decades. In listening to the music straight through, one becomes aware of RCA's strengths and weaknesses as a jazz label. Victor was one of the most important jazz labels during the 1920s, '30s and '40s, catching on to bebop a little late (1946) but still documenting many classic recordings. By the 1950s, the label's attention was wandering elsewhere; it missed free jazz almost completely in the '60s, and in the last three decades has only had a few significant artists, mostly Young Lions whose output sounds conservative compared to the earlier masters…