Features 24 bit digital remastering. Comes with a mini description. I have always liked the arrangements in Lionel Hampton & Orchestra recordings. They are powerful, colorful and tasty. As the title 'Sentimental Journey' implies, we're given Lionel Hampton & Orchestra versions of classic standards. And we're blessed with the smooth and lovely vocals of Sylvia Bennett. Made in 1985, the album credits Lionel Hampton for playing not only the vibraphone but also the Yamaha DX-7 (for what? a vibraphone sound? sounds great, though). If you mainly only like Lionel's solo playing, you may not appreciate the big band focus of Lionel Hampton & Orchestra recordings. Solos are shared, but there's a vibraphone solo on every track, of course.
Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. Some big bands started outside the U.S. One notable example was the Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band—which was formed in '60 by American expatriate drummer Clarke, Belgian pianist Boland and former Ellington bassist Jimmy Woode. The band lasted just over 10 years and recorded more than 20 albums. Solos were spread among the 13 all-star musicians, and the band's charts were often intricate and laced with European flavor.
Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. Mavis Rivers meets Shorty Rogers – and the result is a hell of a swinging session that may well be the greatest record ever from this overlooked vocalist! Shorty brings a groove into play right from the start – one that pushes Rivers past her sometimes-trilling style, and into a mode that's rock-solid and soulful all the way through – very much in the same spirit that Marty Paich or Oliver Nelson might bring to their own great arrangements for a singer.
Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. A real standout from the great Shorty Rogers – and a smoking set that has him turning his many talents towards the world of bossa nova! By the time of this set, Shorty was as great an arranger as he was a trumpeter – really one of the go-to guys around LA for hipper soundtracks and vocal dates – and he really shows off his skills on a set of lively arrangements that pop and sparkle a lot more than other American bossa jazz outings of this nature! The set features lots of acoustic guitar and percussion – and bold trumpet and flugelhorn solos by Shorty – on titles that include "Samba Do Lorinho", "Samba Triste", "O Amore E A Rosa", "Pao De Assucar", "So Um Amor", and "O Menino Desce Do Morro".
Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. A really unique little chapter in the career of Shorty Rogers – and a near-lost record that's one of his best from the 60s! As you might guess from the title, the set was recorded as a sort of "stereo dynamics" album – post-bachelor pad, but in a mode that was very concerned with the overall sound qualities as much as the actual music. But the setting turned out to be a really great thing for Shorty, as it encouraged him to open up with his arrangements, and push the group into territory that you wouldn't hear on his 50s albums!
Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. Don't think "waltz music", think "modal jazz" – because the version of jazz waltz that Shorty Rogers serves up here is a great precursor to the great grooves to come on the European scene – especially the work from the artists at MPS Records! Tunes all have this great rhythmic pulse – a way of leaping into a groove that has the piano and bass dancing together wonderfully – often with some cool vibes from Emil Richards, and loads of great reed lines from Bud Shank and Paul Horn! Some tracks feature a small combo, some feature a larger group – and the whole thing is wonderful – with energy that almost rivals the Clarke Boland Big Band with Gigi Campi. Titles include "Be As Children", "Walk On The Wild Side", "Jazz Waltz", "Terrence's Farewell", and "A Taste Of Honey".
Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. Altoist Phil Woods' European Rhythm Machine was the most adventurous group he ever led, bordering on the avant-garde at times. The 1970 version (which includes pianist Gordon Beck, bassist Henri Texier and drummer Daniel Humair) is showcased on this 1986 reissue performing two group originals, Victor Feldman's "Joshua" and "Freedom Jazz Dance."
Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. The title of this 1961 release best sums up this quartet album. There is nothing particularly innovative about this recording, but the level of expertise and musical maturity displayed here is truly astonishing. This is simply straight-ahead hard bop performed by some of the finest musicians in 1960s jazz, including saxophonist David "Fathead" Newman and pianist Wynton Kelly.
Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. A wonderful live set from Gary Burton – originally issued only in Japan, but a wonderful record that stands strongly with Gary's classic early 70s work for Atlantic and ECM Records! The group's a quartet – and has Gary's vibes alongside warm guitar lines from Sam Brown – a player whose sense of tone and timing really echoes that of Burton – cascading fresh sounds one minute, laying back in waves the next – always hitting the right balance of space and tone to keep things right.
Features 24bit digital remastering. Comes with a description. One of the earliest albums as a leader from reedman Robin Kenyatta – and a set that's also one of his most compelling too! There's a definitely freer sound here than on some of Robin's smoother sets from the 70s – a vibe that's somewhere near the space of Impulse Records in the post-Coltrane years, and which is right at home on Atlantic's Vortex label subsidiary.