Muscle Bombshells 2: The Big Date

The Big Latin Band of Henry Mancini (1968). A great little album of Latiny tunes from Henry Mancini - played by a very hip lineup of west coast jazzmen! The rhythms have a great mix of Latin influences and Mancini magic - the kind of grooves you'd hear on his 60s soundtracks at the time, played by a lineup that includes Bud Shank and Tom Scott on reeds, Buddy Childers and Pete Candoli on trumpets, Ray Brown on acoustic bass, Max Bennett on fender bass, Larry Bunker on percussion, and Shelly Manne on drums. The vibe is nice and relaxed - a bit more upbeat than bossa, but not as all-out as other RCA Latin sessions - thanks to Mancini's nice sense of warmth and space in the arrangements…

Jumping With the Big Swing Bands collects various swing-era tracks by such popular dance band leaders as Louis Prima, Jimmie Lunceford, and Harry James. Included here are such rare cuts as Lunceford's "Sit Back and Ree-Lax" and "Shut Out."

This big-band date by Bob Mintzer from the early '90s utilizes some of the Big Apple's top available musicians of the era, including trumpeters Marvin Stamm and Randy Brecker, saxophonists Scott Robinson and Roger Rosenberg (both of whom double on clarinet), and pianist Phil Markowitz. Mintzer has moved freely between contemporary and mainstream jazz depending on the record date and personnel, but on this DMP release he incorporates a bit from each style.

In a career spanning over seven decades, Quincy Jones has earned his reputation as a renaissance man of American music. Since entering the industry as an arranger in the early 1950s, he has distinguished himself as a bandleader, solo artist, sideman, songwriter, producer, film composer, and record label executive. A quick look at a few of the artists he's worked with - Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, Lesley Gore, Michael Jackson, Peggy Lee, Ray Charles, Paul Simon, and Aretha Franklin - reveals the remarkable diversity of his career. He has been nominated for a record 80 Grammy awards, and has won 27 in categories including Best Instrumental Jazz Performance for "Walking in Space" (1969), Producer of the Year (1981), and Album of the Year for Jackson's Thriller (1983) and his own Back on the Block (1990)…

This two-fer assembles two sought-after if vastly different Ted Heath LPs from 1970 and 1963 - even if the pairing makes little sense, their reissue on CD is still cause for celebration. The posthumously released The Big Ones captures Heath at the peak of his alchemical powers, transforming the biggest chart hits of the flower-power era to create singularly outré space age jazz far freakier than anything produced under the influence of psychedelics. Heath's ingenious arrangements seem to reinvent these familiar pop songs from within, often abandoning the melody to seize on a stray idea or subtle nuance - for example, his rendition of the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"…

Trumpet Virtuoso Doc Severinsen was leader of the Johnny Carson hosted “Tonight Show” from 1967 to 1992 while having a prolific recording career. Tempestuous Trumpet / The Big Band's Back In Town, both from the early 1960s and produced by Enoch Light, offer the listener exciting big band music with excellent trumpet playing. First time on CD and re-mastered.