Lou Donaldson Swing And Soul (2000)

Lou Donaldson - The Complete Blue Note Lou Donaldson Sessions 1957-60 (2002) {6CD Set, Mosaic MD6-215}
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© 1957-60, 2002 Mosaic Records / Blue Note / Capitol | MD6-215
Jazz / Hard Bop / Saxophone

A soul survivor in every sense of the term, this alto saxophonist is one of the few remaining jazz artists who made a major impact on the jazz community via an extensive run with producer Alfred Lion and the Blue Note label (Horace Silver being another Blue Note legend that comes to mind). From his first recordings for the label with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, it was clear that Lou Donaldson put melody and sound at a premium, coming up with an amalgam that combined the creamy smoothness of Johnny Hodges with the quicksilver bop inflections of Charlie Parker.

Essentially, Hammond Bond is a re-release of the 1966 album From Twen with Love by German organist Ingfried Hoffmann, who was a member of Klaus Doldinger's band in the '60s. The new title (which is given the tagline "Ingfried Hoffmann plays jazz for secret agents" on the CD cover) emphasizes the fact that the original album was released to benefit from the first James Bond craze, but it makes the album appear to be more of a novelty record than it really is: From Twen with Love (the original title references the second James Bond movie, of course, and the Philips Twen label where it was first published) is an organ jazz album very much in the vein of the soul-jazz recordings popular during this time…

2009 eight CD box set. The Blue Note Highlights Collectors Box was compiled by Jazz icon Hans Mantel commemorating the 70th Birthday of Blue Note Records. This box set contains four single CD's, and two double CD's, each with their own specific theme. The emphasis is on Blue Note's golden era between 1955 and 1967 with all material taken from commercially available recordings…

Grant Green & Baby Face Willette - Trio/Quartet - Complete Recordings (2014) {2CD American Jazz Classics 99103 rec 1961-62}
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© 1961-62, 2014 Blue Note / American Jazz Classics | 99103
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Guitar / Organ

This release presnts all of Grant Green and Baby Face Willette's collaborative albums as leaders. Recorded in 1961-62, they consist of the LP "Grant's First Stand" (Blue Note BST-84064), issued under the guitarist's name, and “Baby Face” Willette's albums "Face to Face" (Blue Note BST-84068) and "Stop and Listen" (Blue Note BST-84084). Other than their three LPs as leaders, Green and Willette only recorded together on Lou Donaldson's album Here ‘Tis, from which it has been added the title song, a long blues, as a bonus.

On Combo 66, top-tier guitarist John Scofield is featured in a quartet with his longtime drummer, Bill Stewart, and two new collaborators, pianist/organist Gerald Clayton and bassist Vicente Archer. Scofield keeps the fire burning, commemorating his 66th anniversary with a provocative blend of post-bop, rock, swinging blues, soul-jazz, and funk…

This set is a previously unissued gig by one of the greatest lineups in the long history of Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers – Blakey, drums; Bobby Timmons, piano; Wayne Shorter, saxophone; Lee Morgan, trumpet; Jymie Merrit, bass. First Flight to Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings are drawn from the final shows of the band's first tour of Japan…

Monty Alexander - Saturday Night (1985) {2016 Japan Timeless Jazz Master Collection Complete Series}
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© 1985, 2016 Limetree / Timeless Records / Solid Records Japan / Ultra-Vibe | CDSOL-6423
Jazz / Post Bop / Piano

Reissue with the latest remastering and the original cover artwork. Comes with a description written in Japanese. Monty Alexander's always great in a trio, but we really love the pianist when he's trying to add a little something extra to the mix – as he does here in a quartet performance that features some nice added percussion from Robert Thomas! The tracks have that warm glow and open flow that Alexander first started bringing to his music in the 70s – with sensitive rhythm work here from Reggie Johnson on bass and Ed Thigpen on drums – but the added percussion really helps things swing at a slightly higher level, giving a gentle kick to some cuts, while Monty's still able to open up with some warmly lyrical lines over the top.