George Russell The Complete

The Red Heads - The Complete Recordings (2004) {3CD Set Jazz Oracle BDW8043 rec 1925-1927}
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© 1925-27, 2004 Jazz Oracle | BDW8043
Jazz / Early Jazz / Hot Jazz

The Red Heads was a pseudonym for Red Nichols & His Five Pennies whenever their recordings were released on the Melotone, Oriole, or Perfect labels during the years 1925-1927. Following in the wake of EPM Musique's 25-track Complete edition of 1998, Jazz Oracle's 74-track, three-CD set of 2004 augmented the main body of their work with a surprisingly large number of sides by pop vocalists Jay C. Flippen and Cliff Edwards with sweet and jazzy accompaniments by the Red Heads. Edwards, also known as Ukulele Ike, eventually achieved international fame as the voice of Jiminy Cricket. This exhaustively thorough chronological survey also features vocals by Frank Gould and Arthur Fields.

This giant 16-CD Galaxy set features Pepper at the peak of his powers. Most of the performances are in a quartet setting, although this collection also includes a session with strings, five unaccompanied alto solos (he also plays clarinet on a few tracks), and a pair of CDs in which Pepper performs duets with pianist George Cables. Although more general collectors may want to acquire some of the individual sessions first (most of which are available separately on CD), the more dedicated jazz fans are advised to save their money and acquire this essential package.

Louis Armstrong - The Complete Decca Studio Master Takes 1940-1949 (2000) {2CD Definitive Records DRCD11166}
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© 1940-49, 2000 Definitive Records / Disconforme | DRCD11166 / DRCD11172
Jazz / Early Jazz / Big Band / Swing / Vocal Jazz / Trumpet

The 43 tracks that make up the first part of the The Complete Decca Studio Master Takes 1940-1949 of Louis Armstrong are remarkable not only for the outstanding performances they reflect, but for the many settings Armstrong recorded in during the era. While none of this material will come as a surprise to collectors, those who are starting to check out Armstrong's post-New Orleans period would do themselves a favor in scoping this collection because the Decca years, even more so than his long tenure with Verve, showcase Armstrong at the pinnacle of American popular music, and that that music happens to be jazz is even more revelatory.

William John Evans, known as Bill Evans (pronunciation: /ˈɛvəns/, August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980), was an American jazz pianist and composer who mostly worked in a trio setting. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, and is considered by some to have been the most influential post-World War II jazz pianist. Evans's use of impressionist harmony, inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block chords, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines continue to influence jazz pianists today. Unlike many other jazz musicians of his time, Evans never embraced new movements like jazz fusion or free jazz.

Bill Evans - The Complete Riverside Recordings (1987) {12CD Set Riverside-Fantasy 12RCD 018-2 rec 1956-1963}
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© 1956-63, 1987 Riverside Records / Fantasy | 12RCD 018-2
Jazz / Post Bop / Modal Music / Piano

This magnificent 12-CD set contains all of Bill Evans' Riverside recordings as a leader, an extremely important period in the influential pianist's development. The first session predates Evans' period with the Miles Davis Sextet and other significant sessions include his sets with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian (highlighted by the marathon Village Vanguard session of June 25, 1961), Evans' return nearly a year after LaFaro's death in a car accident with a new trio (consisting of Motian and bassist Chuck Israels), a sideman set with altoist Cannonball Adderley, the Interplay sessions with either trumpeter Freddie Hubbard or tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims, an extensive and rather somber solo set, and a 1963 appearance at Shelly's Manne Hole with bassist Israels and drummer Larry Bunker.

Dan Morganstern makes an excellent point in his liner notes when he laments the tendency to refer to Roy Eldridge as a “link between Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie.” For one thing, Diz eschewed the kind of brilliant trumpet tone that characterized the work of Eldridge and Armstrong. Considered in this light, if one starts with Armstrong’s early achievements and then looks for anything like that kind of distilled joy in all the subsequent history of the music, one gets no further than the spectacular sides the man they called “Little Jazz” made for Columbia in January 1937. There’s just no one after that to “link” to, ever…

The unreleased material has many entries, an example, such as a demo, take and rehearsal recorded 1960-1969. Some records were not published in the official album and bootlegs.