From Al Cohn

Al Cohn, Joe Newman & Freddie Green - Mosaic Select (2007) {3CD Set, Mosaic Records MS-027 rec 1955}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 691 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 458 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 49 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1955, 2007 RCA Victor / Mosaic / BMG Music | MS-027
Jazz / Bop / Mainstream Jazz / Trumpet / Sax / Guitar

This Mosaic compilation draws from material that comprised five separate RCA Victor LPs of the 1950: Al Cohn's The Natural Seven and The Jazz Workshop: Four Brass, One Tenor, Freddie Green's Mr. Rhythm, plus two Joe Newman records, All I Wanna Do Is Swing and I'm Still Swinging. Cohn, Green, and Newman are the common element to all of the recording sessions, leading bands ranging from septets to nonets.The Natural Seven was inspired by the Kansas City Seven drawn from the Count Basie band of the 1930s, and while the arrangements by Cohn and Manny Albam swing lightly in the style of Basie's septet, the focus is more on originals written for the session rather than simply recreating earlier recordings.

Since his passing in 1987, Al Cohn has tended to be overlooked by jazz writers, though he developed a strong following among those who played with him, not only for his inventive tenor sax, but also his swinging originals and arrangements. This Avid two-CD set combines three of his albums in their entirety, a fourth where he appeared as a sideman with valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer, and two bonus tracks. Mr. Music has been one of the harder releases to find, recorded over several days in late 1954, it features many of the top cool and swing stylists, including trumpeter Joe Newman, trombonist Billy Byers, alto saxophonists Gene Quill, Hal McKusick, guitarists Billy Bauer or Jimmy Raney, and two of the most in-demand rhythm section players, bassist Milt Hinton and drummer Osie Johnson…

Other than a couple of albums for tiny collector's labels, this Muse album was Al Cohn's first album as a leader since 1962. Cohn had spent much of the interim as a full-time writer for studios and was finally returning to active playing. He renewed his musical partnership with Zoot Sims on this quintet date for Muse, which also includes pianist Jaki Byard, bassist George Duvivier and drummer Mel Lewis…

Al Cohn - Al Cohn's Tones (1953) {Savoy Jazz SV-0187 rel 1992}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 133 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 77 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 16 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1950, 1953, 1992 Savoy Jazz / Nippon Columbia Japan | SV-0187
Jazz / Cool / Bop / West Coast Jazz / Saxophone

Backed by some of the top bop players of the day, Al Cohn stretches out here for a program heavy with up-tempo swingers. Cut in two sessions during 1950 and 1953, Cohn's Tones finds the usually more mellow tenor great feeding off the driving drum work of both Tiny Kahn and Max Roach. Besides the ballad evergreen "How Long Has This Been Going On" and a bluesy "Ah-Moore," the eight-track set is all Cohn originals done in a Lester Young-on-the-West Coast style. Also featuring the talents of pianist Horace Silver, this early Cohn release is at once hot and cool, vigorous and lithe.

From December 1954 to December 1955, jazz producer Jack Lewis recorded a series of outstanding albums at RCA Victor’s famous Webster Hall Studios in New York City with Al Cohn and Joe Newman, each leading several small swinging bands, and as sidemen on Freddie Green’s only album as a leader.

J.J. Johnson & Al Cohn - The Birdlanders (1954) {Fresh Sound Records FSR-CD170 rel 1991}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 340 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 175 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 90 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1954, 1991 Fresh Sound Records | FSR-CD 170
Jazz / Bop / Trombone / Saxophone

In 1954, Henri Renaud was highly regarded in jazz circles. The French pianist/producer had played with his share of American heavyweights, who ranged from Lester Young to Clifford Brown to Sarah Vaughan. So when Renaud visited New York in 1954 and launched an all-star project that he called the Birdlanders, he had no problem attracting a lot of first-class beboppers. In order to be a Birdlander, one needed to be a regular at Birdland…this time, Renaud himself is on piano, and he is joined by an impressive cast that includes vibist Milt Jackson, trombonists J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding, tenor saxman Al Cohn, bassist Percy Heath, and drummer Charlie Smith.