Japan+jazz+the+best

Paul Bley - Paul Bley - EmArcy (1954) {2013 Japan Jazz The Best Series 24-bit Remaster UCCU-9739}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 179 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 99 Mb
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© 1954, 2013 EmArcy / Verve / Universal Japan | UCCU-9739
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Piano

Early early work by Paul Bley – years before he picked up the synthesizer, and years before he became the moody modernist he was in the 70s! The album's a relatively straight batch of tracks, but does have a touch of modernism – an early example of the sharp sounds that Bley would fully forge in alter years. The lineup is nice, too – with either Percy Heath or Peter Ind on bass, both players who clearly feel Bley's intentions – and Al Levitt on drums. Tracks are mostly standards, but they're done by Bley in a way that's fresh and sprightly – and titles include "My Heart", "Topsy", "I Want To Be Happy", "Autumn Breeze", and "My Old Flame".

The John Young Trio - A Touch Of Pepper (1962) {2013 Japan Jazz The Best Series 24-bit Remaster UCCU-9742}
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© 1962, 2013 Argo / Verve / Universal Japan | UCCU-9742
Jazz / Cool / Hard Bop / Piano

One of the few sides ever recorded as a leader by Chicago soul jazz pianist John Young – a tasty trio set with just the right touch of pepper! The tracks are short and lively, very much in the mode of other Chicago trio players – like John Wright or Ramsey Lewis – and most of the tunes have a nicely rolling groove, thanks to great backing from from Sam Kidd on bass and Phil Thomas on drums – both of whom echo strongly the great Chicago groove going on at the time. The album also features a strong mixture of originals and upbeat standards – with titles that include "Joey", "In Other Words", "Blues Oreenee", "The Bridge", "Serenata", and "Search Me".

Cannonball Adderley - Sophisticated Swing (1957) {2013 Japan Jazz The Best Series 24-bit Remaster UCCU-9960}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 187 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 86 Mb
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© 1957, 2013 EmArcy / Mercury / Verve / Universal Japan | UCCU-9960
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Swing / Saxophone

Sophisticated Swing is the fifth album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, and his fourth released on the EmArcy label, featuring performances with Nat Adderley, Junior Mance, Sam Jones, and Jimmy Cobb. A couple of decades ago Sophisicated Swing was the title of an instrumental tune - by Will Hudson, if our memory holds up - and the music that corresponded with it had a certain sleekness that probably justified the title by the standards of that era. But today sophistication in jazz has a somewhat deeper meaning. The true jazz sophisticate has absorbed the lessons of a new musical generation, one that brought with it great advances in harmonic, melodic and rhythmic subtlety. The word "swing", too, has acquired a significance mare far-reaching than any of us could have imagined in the days of monotonous four-to-the-bar rhythm sections and comparatively limited and unimaginative syncopation.

Cannonball Adderley - Cannonball Enroute (1958) {2013 Japan Jazz The Best Series 24-bit Remaster UCCU-9961}
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© 1958, 2013 Mercury / Verve / Universal Japan | UCCU-9961
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Saxophone

Cannonball Enroute is the sixth album by the jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, and his first released on the Mercury label, featuring performances with Nat Adderley, Junior Mance, Sam Jones, and Jimmy Cobb. Cannonball Adderley's enroute to a great jazz legacy here – stepping out in a groove that begins to show some of the soul jazz modes he was forging at the end of the 50s – a great change from the straighter bop styles of his early years! The lineup here is a wonderful early expression of the familiar Adderley groove – with brother Nat Adderley on cornet, Junior Mance on piano, Sam Jones on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums – with Mance and Jones bringing an especially nice bottom end to the record – one that gets things moving in a very soulful way! Titles include "Porky", "Hoppin John", "That Funky Train", "I'll Remember April", and "18th Century Ballroom".

Cannonball Adderley - Cannonball's Sharpshooters (1958) {2013 Japan Jazz The Best Series 24-bit Remaster UCCU-9962}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 311 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 121 Mb
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© 1958, 2013 Mercury / Verve / Universal Japan | UCCU-9962
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Saxophone

A set that's right on target, right from the start – and one that has the young Cannonball Adderley really coming into his groove! The set's a lot more soul jazz-oriented than some of Cannon's records from a few years before – played by a rock-solid group that includes brother Nat Adderley on cornet, Junior Mance on piano, Sam Jones on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums – hitting a groove that's got plenty of nascent elements of that Cannonball sound that would virtually take over jazz in the 60s! Yet there's also a nicely different vibe going on here too – a bit less structure, and a looser approach to the mode – spun out with some modern moments too, on titles that include "Straight No Chaser", "Jubilation", "Our Delight", "Fuller Bop Man", and "Stay On It".

The Buddy DeFranco Quartet - In A Mellow Mood (1954) {2013 Japan Jazz The Best Series 24-bit Remaster}
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© 2013 Verve / Universal Japan | UCCU-9954
Jazz / Bop / Clarinet

In Memoriam. RIP Mr. Buddy. Buddy De Franco, a highly accomplished and exquisite jazz clarinetist who began his career in several leading swing bands of the 1940s before pivoting to bebop in the late 1940s and early '50s and teaming with leading jazz artists throughout the LP era, died on Dec. 24. He was 91. The album may be laidback, but it's hardly mellow at all – thanks to the presence of Sonny Clark on piano! The session's one of those great 50s pairings of Clark's piano and the clarinet of Buddy DeFranco – proof not only that Buddy could sound pretty darn soulful when he wanted, but also that he was always willing to grow and bring in some new ideas to his music.

Gigi Gryce Orch-tette - Reminiscin' (1960) {2013 Japan Jazz The Best Series 24-bit Remaster UCCU-9963}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 173 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 78 Mb
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© 1960, 2013 Mercury / Verve / Universal Japan | UCCU-9963
Jazz / Hard Bop / Saxophone

A great lost date from the wonderful Gigi Gryce – a set that features the altoist in an sextet, but often swinging with a looser vibe than on some of his better-known albums from the 50s! There's a mix of soulful and modern here that's not unlike the Art Farmer/Benny Golson Jazztet – both players of Gryce's same postwar generation, and coincidentally recording for Mercury at the same time. Although the groove here is definitely different – less emphasis on the bottom, and more on the top – not just Gryce's wonderfully raspy alto, but also the trumpet of Richard Williams too. All other players are great as well – and Eddie Costa brings in some sweet vibes – in a lineup that also features Richard Wyands on piano, and either Reggie Workman or George Duvivier on bass, and either Walter Perkins or Bob Thomas on drums. Tracks include "Reminiscing", "Gee Blues Gee", "Blue Light", and "Night In Tunisia".

Keith Jarrett - Byablue (1976) {2013 Japan Jazz The Best Series 24-bit Remaster UCCU-9990}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 215 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 99 Mb
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© 1976, 2013 Impulse! / Verve / Universal Japan | UCCU-9990
Jazz / Post Bop / Piano

There's a nicely warming vibe on this album from Keith Jarrett – a sound that's sometimes a bit more laidback and personal, but which is still carried off with familiar associates Dewey Redman on tenor, Charlie Haden on bass, and Paul Motian on drums! Most of the tunes are shorter compositions built around gently lyrical lines – somewhat introspective, and a bit less organic than in years past – but in a way that more than makes up for that difference with their own inner beauty. Titles include "Konya", "Rainbow", "Trieste", "Fantasm", "Yahllah", and "Byablue".

Keith Jarrett - Bop-Be (1976) {2013 Japan Jazz The Best Series 24-bit Remaster UCCU-9991}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 265 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 94 Mb
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© 1976, 2013 Impulse! / Verve / Universal Japan | UCCU-9991
Jazz / Post Bop / Piano

Here is another LP helping from the Keith Jarrett "American" Quartet's last recording session – one that is almost as consistent in quality as its predecessor. The happy-go-lucky groove of the title track perfectly expresses its name, with Jarrett blithely singing along; both Dewey Redman and Charlie Haden get plenty of solo space on Redman's "Gotta Get Some Sleep" and Haden's "Pocket Full of Cherry" (a pun referring to Haden cohort Don Cherry); and Paul Motian remains a marvelously flexible drummer. Moreover, there is another fascinating swatch of Middle Eastern experimentation on "Pyramids Moving."

The Jazztet and John Lewis ft. Art Farmer and Benny Golson (1961) {2013 Japan Jazz The Best Series 24-bit Remaster UCCU-9749}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 268 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 97 Mb
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© 1961, 2013 Argo / Verve / Universal Japan | UCCU-9749
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Cool

Features 24 bit remastering and limited edition. Release Date: December 04, 2013. The idea of the Jazztet playing arrangements by John Lewis written especially for them is intriguing. According to Gene Lees' liner notes, Art Farmer first approached Lewis about writing something for the sextet, to which the composer replied that he'd rather score an entire record. Even though the Jazztet and Lewis' own group, the Modern Jazz Quartet, are dissimilar in many ways, the marriage is a successful one.