Kenny Burrell Swingin'

Louis Smith was a talented, but underrecorded, straight-ahead bop trumpeter who led two dates in the '50s before retiring to teach at the University of Michigan and the nearby Ann Arbor Public School system. For most of his career, he remained a teacher, making a brief comeback in the late '70s before returning to education. It wasn't until the mid-'90s that he began a recording career in earnest, turning out a series of albums for the Steeplechase label. A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Louis Smith began playing trumpet as a teenager. He graduated high school with a scholarship to Tennessee State University, where he studied music and became a member of the Tennessee State Collegians. Folllowing his college graduation, Smith did a little graduate work at Tennessee before transferring to the University of Michigan, where he studied with professor Clifford Lillya.

Andy Bey - Andy Bey & The Bey Sisters (1964-65) {Prestige rel 2000}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 399 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 161 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 11 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1964-65, 2000 Prestige / Fantasy | PRCD-24245-2
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Vocal Jazz

Although the vocal trio Andy Bey & the Bey Sisters lasted 11 years, it wasn't as well documented as it should have been. The trio, which consisted of Andy Bey and his sisters Geraldine and Salome, was formed in 1956 and broke up in 1967 – and during that 11-year period, they only recorded three albums. The first was provided for RCA Victor in 1961, and the other two, Now! Hear! and 'Round Midnight, were recorded for Prestige in 1964 and 1965, respectively. In late 2000, those two Prestige dates were reissued on this excellent CD.

At one time a listener could place a CD like guitarist Mundell Lowe's A Grand Night for Swinging in the disc player and immediately date it to the 1950s. But the revival of many older styles by younger musicians like guitarist Howard Alden in the '80s and '90s has led to an overlapping of styles. This may make it difficult to match an album to a particular date, but it does help to make older styles more familiar and, thus, accessible. A Grand Night for Swinging is a nice set, featuring Lowe and a good supporting cast including pianist Billy Taylor, bassist Les Grinage, drummer Ed Thigpen, and, on three cuts, alto saxophonist Gene Quill. Known for his cooler tone and lighter touch at the time, Lowe had decided to record an album that proved he could swing a little harder.

Ernie Wilkins - The Everest Years (1959-60) {Re–Everest 545 450 756-2 rel 2005}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 429 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 158 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 13 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1959-60, 2005 Re / Everest / Universal | 545 450 756-2
Jazz / Bop / Modern Big Band / Modern Arragement

Arranger Ernie Wilkins' two Everest LPs, Here Comes the Swingin' Mr. Wilkins and The Big New Band of the '60s, are reissued in full on this single CD. Recording during 1959-1960, Wilkins used an overlapping personnel of Count Basie members (both past and of the time), some of the top jazz-oriented studio players, and various miscellaneous jazz musicians. There is no way that this could have been a full-time big band, not with such soloists as Duke Ellington's tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves, trumpeters Clark Terry and Thad Jones, and the Basie players, but Wilkins' swinging arrangements gave his short-lived orchestra its own sound.