Lafayette Escadrille (1958)

Ella Fitzgerald didn't lack for live recording opportunities in the late '50s, which on the surface, would make this first issue of a 1958 Chicago live club date an easy one to pass on. Verve label head Norman Granz recorded her often in the '50s with an eye to releasing live albums, which he did with her shows at Newport in 1957 and Los Angeles' Opera House in 1958 (not to mention another 1958 concert in Rome that was released 30 years later to wide acclaim). Those shows, however, differed widely from this one, which found her in front of a very small audience at Chicago's jazz Mecca Mister Kelly's (Sarah Vaughan's landmark At Mister Kelly's was recorded there four months earlier)…

The Champs had a huge hit with "Tequila" in 1958 and its raw, loose barroom saxophone riff has kept it a radio, soundtrack, and drinking contest staple ever since.

The presence of John Coltrane on this 1958 Savoy release is its obvious drawing card, but in fact there are impressive contributions from all hands. Leader Wilbur Harden left the jazz scene by the early '60s, which is a pity. He was a player with fresh ideas and an engaging command of his trumpet's and flügelhorn's middle register. The sextet heard on this date performs two Harden compositions and one by the group's trombonist, Curtis Fuller, for a skimpy total running time of 29 minutes. The "way out" reference in the title is misleading. There are traces of exotic Asian and African influences, but they never overpower what is essentially an intelligent, straight-ahead, hard bop date. At the time of this release, Coltrane had been recording as a leader and sideman for Prestige and was on his second tour of duty with Miles Davis, whose group was on the verge of recording Kind of Blue…

Avid Jazz presents three classic Stan Getz albums - plus, including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered double CD. 'Stan Getz & The Oscar Peterson Trio', 'Hamp & Getz' and 'Jazz Giants '58' plus four additional tracks from Getz and Peterson and an outtake from the Hamp- Getz album. We guess you could say that this collection of classic albums follows the theme of our super-group idea with the recent Lionel Hampton release. For our first selection, the meeting of the cool Stan Getz and the perhaps more traditional Oscar Peterson Trio would certainly rate as a meeting of jazz superstars, take a listen and find out! The old meets the new with our next album as Stan Getz joins Lionel Hampton following a meeting of the two during sessions for the Benny Goodman Movie soundtrack…

Mancini's jazz influences are front an center here, walking a fine line between the hard-driving r&b-flavored hard bop and the unsentimental, laid-back cool jazz movements that were still very edgy in the late 1950s.

Many of singer June Christy's popular Capitol albums feature her cool-toned vocals backed by an orchestra. This recording is an exception. Christy excels on a jazz-oriented set with a nonet that includes trumpeter Ed Leddy, trombonist Frank Rosolino and her husband Bob Cooper (who arranged the set) on tenor and oboe…