Jazz

This box is a musical treat for all jazz fans, as no less than 20 original albums by the Modern Jazz Quartet are released here on ten CDs…

Released for the first time on this 1999 Challenge CD, this live set features the unusual duo of guitarist Jim Hall and valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer, two-thirds of the 1957 Jimmy Giuffre Three. Although there are occasions when one of the musicians accompanies the other one, much of the time Hall and Brookmeyer function as equals, improvising together on a set of standards plus an ad-lib blues called "Sweet Basil." Their ability to improvise while thinking of the whole picture and their knack for spontaneously harmonizing really come in handy during this intriguing and frequently exciting outing. Among the selections reborn in the playing of Hall and Brookmeyer are John Lewis' "Skating in Central Park," "Body and Soul," "Darn That Dream," and "St. Thomas." A successful effort that should not have taken 20 years to release.

Two of singer Chris Connor's finest Atlantic albums are reissued in full on this single CD. The laid-back yet coolly emotional jazz singer is heard backed by top-notch rhythm sections (with either Ralph Sharon or Stan Free being the pianist/arranger) and occasional horns (trumpeter Joe Wilder, flutist Sam Most, tenors Al Cohn and Lucky Thompson, flutist Bobby Jaspar and Al Epstein on English horn and bass clarinet) adding some short solos. Connor (then around 30) was in her prime, and her renditions of such songs as "Poor Little Rich Girl," "Lonely Town," "I'm Shooting High," "Moonlight in Vermont," and even "Johnny One Note" are memorable and sometimes haunting.

From humble origins in New Orleans to its journey upriver to Chicago, this Rough Guide charts the 1920s “golden age” of jazz with classic tracks by legends such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington & Jelly Roll Morton as well as many other pioneering artists.

In honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Allman Brothers debut album, New West Records is proud to present, Big Band of Brothers: A Jazz Celebration of the Allman Brothers Band. This record is a true collection of big band jazz interpretations of Allman Brothers classics. The record features guest vocals by Marc Broussard and Ruthie Foster. Big Band of Brothers also features Jack Pearson on guitar, who has performed as a guest of the Allman Brothers Band on numerous occasions, and actually joined as a member of the band in 1997. Together with Dickey Betts, he completed the band's archetypal guitar duo for nearly 3 years. Wycliffe Gordon (of Jazz at Lincoln Center fame) is also featured as a soloist. Gordon is consistently ranked among leading trombone players in the Downbeat critics poll.

This compilation in the Verve Jazz in Paris reissue series gathers three separate recording sessions originally issued on various French EP discs. The first four tracks were recorded for the movie Les Tricheurs, with Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, and Gus Johnson backing various horn soloists. The title track is a blues, composed on the spot, featuring Stan Getz and Roy Eldridge; the trumpeter easily wins the solo battle as Getz is a bit sloppy with several reed squeaks during his chance. Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, and Eldridge each are individually featured performing originals with the rhythm section, with Gillespie taking top honors for his driving bop tune "Mic's Jump"…

Wolfgang Dauner has now been highly active on the scene for more than fifty years. Dauner hired top young musicians to be around him for the current upgrade to United 2.0. The second United generation, like the first one, is eagerly researching the crossing points between jazz, rock, funk and world music. Featuring some of the finest avant-garde jazz players from Germany and beyond the Ensemble began life in 1975. Pianist Wolfgang Dauner, initially recruiting musicians from his home base of Stuttgart (then a hotbed of avant-garde jazz), put together a rotating cast of musicians, and shared writing and arranging duties with guitarist Volker Kriegel. They recorded the first album under the United Jazz+Rock Ensemble name, Live im Schützenhaus, in 1977, to be released on the group's then founded Mood Records label. The album was a hit, eventually becoming the best-selling German jazz record of all times, and the Ensemble was awarded the "Deutscher Schallplattenpreis 1978" for artist of the year, followed by another 14 albums plus a variety of international collaborations.

Astrud Gilberto's entry in the nicely appointed Verve Jazz Masters compilation series shows exactly why the Brazilian singer is deserving of such an accolade. In her '60s heyday, Gilberto was often derided by jazz purists for her vibrato-less "desafinado" (deliberately slightly off-pitch) singing style and deadpan, childlike voice. But the diminutive bossa nova star has since been a huge influence on dozens of jazz and pop singers. VERVE JAZZ MASTERS is less of a greatest hits package than it is a smartly balanced retrospective of many of Gilberto's best performances. Her biggest hits, "Call Me" and "Summer Samba," are not included, and her signature tune, "The Girl From Ipanema," is only represented by a live take from a 1964 Carnegie Hall concert. The collection places equal emphasis on Gilberto's bossa nova-style interpretations of jazz standards and on her signature Portuguese-language sambas.