Eddie Safranski

André Previn - Previn At Sunset (1945-1946) {1201 Music-Black Lion 9029-2 rel 2001}
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© 1945-46, 2001 1201 Music / Black Lion | 9029-2
Jazz / Cool / West Coast Jazz / Standards / Show Tunes / Trad Jazz / Piano

André Previn was just 16 years old when he recorded the earliest numbers on Previn at Sunset, but he was already a brilliant pianist and a busy arranger at the MGM studios. Most (but not quite all) of the recordings that he made for the Sunset and Monarch labels, among the earliest in his career, are here. A major swing stylist who had not yet been affected by bop, Previn is heard on some unaccompanied solos; in three different trios with such sidemen as guitarists Dave Barbour or Irving Ashby, bassists John Simmons, Eddie Safranski, or Red Callender, and drummer Lee Young; and a couple of jam tunes ("All the Things You Are" and "I Found a New Baby") with a sextet also either Buddy Childers or Howard McGhee on trumpet, altoist Willie Smith, and Vido Musso on tenor. The small group swing performances are quite enjoyable, and the teenage pianist easily keeps up with the other, more famous players.

Don Elliott - Double Trumpet Doings (1955) {Jazzland OJCCD-1925-2 rel 1999}
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© 1955, 1999 Jazzland Records / Fantasy | OJCCD-1925-2
Jazz / Cool / Mainstream Jazz / Trumpet

Originally issued under the slightly more esoteric title “New Counterpoint for Six Valves” this is a disc dominated mainly by the frequent dialogues between its two principle soloists. Elliott and Dedrick make a disparate pair and their contrasting sounds are prime reason for the program’s more interesting outcomes. Elliott was a follower of bebop and renowned more for his talents as a vibraphonist than as a brassman. A collaborator at various times with the likes of George Shearing, Benny Goodman and Buddy Rich his artistic enterprises also moved beyond the realms of jazz into Broadway musicals and novelty tunes. Dedrick was more the product of a swing upbringing and his tone is shaped by a mellower, less overtly complicated approach.

Fats Navarro - In The Beginning… Bebop (1992) {Savoy Records Japan SV-0169 rec 1946-1948}
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© 1946-48, 1992 Savoy Records / Nippon Columbia Japan | SV-0169
Jazz / Bop / Bebop

Trumpeter Fats Navarro is, in fact, only one of three leaders on the sessions compiled on this release. The CD's 12 tracks are actually divided into four from a 1947 Kai Winding date, four from a 1948 Brew Moore outing, and Navarro's tracks from 1946. The three dates share the unpretentious attitude of Savoy sessions from this period – the era predating the intelligentsia's co-opting of bop.

Joe Bushkin - Three Classic Albums Plus (2013) {2CD Avid Jazz AMSC1097}
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© 2013 Avid Jazz | AMSC1097
Jazz / Traditional Jazz / Piano

AVID Jazz here presents three classic Joe Bushkin albums plus, including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD. 'After Hours'; 'Piano Moods'; 'Brad Gowans and his New York Nine' plus radio transcriptions, plus three tracks from 'The Jazz Keyboards' plus several tracks from the 78 era. Joe Bushkin plays jazz from the old school having come up in the late thirties where he began playing at the Famous Door on 52nd Street, New York before going on to play with the likes of Bunny Berigan, Muggsy Spanier, Eddie Condon, Bud Freeman, Tommy Dorsey and Louis Armstrong to name but a few greats! Across our selections Joe can be heard playing with the likes of Barney Kessel, Harry Babasin, Buck Clayton, Jo Jones, Sid Weiss and Morey Feld. All three albums plus have been digitally re-mastered.

As far as Roy Eldridge's big bands go, this was the peak. With arrangements by Buster Harding and a stable of powerful young players, the Roy Eldridge Orchestra must have been formidable in live performance. Most of the recordings they made for the Decca label represent the ultimate in extroverted big-band swing. The explosive "Little Jazz Boogie" is one of the hottest records Roy Eldridge ever made. The flip side, "Embraceable You," bears witness to his profound abilities as an interpreter of ballads. Three sides by the Roy Eldridge Little Jazz Band recorded for V-Disc on November 14, 1945, allow for more intimate interplay…

Johnny Smith - Moonlight In Vermont (1953) {2016 Japan SHM-CD Jazz Masters Collection 1200 Series WPCR-29024}
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© 1952-53, 2016 Roost / Parlophone / Warner Music Japan | WPCR-29024
Jazz / Cool / Guitar

Reissue with SHM-CD format and new 24bit remastering. A beautiful document of some of the most laidback jazz ever recorded – the sublime 50s recordings of the Johnny Smith group, done at a time when the lineup included Stan Getz! The tunes on the set feature Johnny's mellow electric guitar setting the pace, alongside wonderfully-blown early solos from Stan, plus some other tenor work from Zoot Sims and Paul Quinichette, who also sit in the tenor chair on a few of these recordings. The tunes are mostly standards, but done in a great style that's not exactly cool jazz, but which has a groundbreakingly easy groove that's simply sublime!

Johnny Smith - The Complete Roost Johnny Smith Small Group Sessions (1952-64) {8CD Box Set Mosaic MD8-216 rel 2002}
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© 1952-64, 2002 Roost / Mosaic Records / EMI | MD8-216
Jazz / Cool / Guitar

Johnny Smith is an exquisite jazz guitarist known mostly to fellow musicians and serious jazz fans. This beautifully packaged and expertly annotated eight-CD limited-edition boxed set from Mosaic includes his complete small-group recordings for Roost, most of which have languished out of print for decades. Smith's unique voicings on his instrument set him apart from other players, yet he maintains a lush, crystal-clear tone no matter the tempo or setting.