One of the earliest bassists on the bebop scene in 1940s New York, Oscar Pettiford was also an unusually intrepid experimenter when it came to instrumentation. His cello playing is justly famous, and on the seven tracks that form the core of this reissue CD Pettiford includes a French horn (played by Julian Watkins) in the sextet. But most noteworthy of all is the quality of his compositions. "Pendulum at Falcon's Lair" is a piece of world-class bebop writing, while "Tamalpais Love Song" is almost classical in its structure, achieving a counterintuitive combination of complexity and simple beauty.
This incredible box sets collects 35 early Jazz albums released on the legendary French Jazz labels: Disques Vogue founded in 1947 and its subsidiary Swing, which was originally established in Paris in 1937 by Charles Delaunay and passed to Vogue in 1948. The music was recorded during the first post WWII decade (1947-1957) and features both American Jazz artists, who visited France or lived in France at the time as well as European Jazz artists. Paris was at the time the European Jazz center, which corresponded splendidly with its status as the European intellectual center, which produced dramatic and groundbreaking developments in European Philosophy, Plastic Arts, Cinema, Literature and of course music. Most of these albums were originally released on 10-inch LPs, which had a time limit under half an hour, and therefore they are arranged here to span over 20 CDs, each well over an hour long. The music was beautifully remastered and sounds remarkably fresh and vibrant.
This release features some of the best live recordings by the celebrated Benny Goodman Sextet featuring the legendary Charlie Christian. Taken from rare radio broadcasts, they present the magic of Christians guitar during his short-lived three year music career, before he succumbed to tuberculosis in early 1942. As a bonus, this edition presents four tracks taken from a jam session at Minneapolis Harlem Breakfast Club, presenting the Jerry Jerome Quartet with Charlie Christian on electric guitar (including extended solos), Frankie Hines on piano and the great Oscar Pettiford on bass (no drums).
Stunning 100 CD set containing a plethora of classic Bebop Jazz. Bebop marked the beginning of Modern Jazz, a musical and technical revolution and the first example of Jazz as an art. New harmonic structures coupled with improvising at a fast tempo together with hip outfits.
Charlie Christian's career was all too brief, lasting a mere five years. After catching the attention of John Hammond, who recommended him to Benny Goodman, he appeared on fewer than 100 sessions between 1939 and 1941, mostly broadcasts, plus a few privately recorded sessions issued on various labels over the years, in addition to his well-known studio recordings and with Goodman. While the music in this compilation has been previously available, this collection has to much recommend it. First of all, new digital transfers have been made from original acetates from the Jerry Newhouse collection, rather than relying on later generation sources. Frank Driggs' detailed liner notes provide a wealth of historical background and there are also lots of photographs. But the most important factor is the music itself.
One of the great alto saxophonists, Cannonball Adderley had an exuberant and happy sound that communicated immediately to listeners. His intelligent presentation of his music (often explaining what he and his musicians were going to play) helped make him one of the most popular of all jazzmen.
An epic 100 CD chronological documentation of the history of jazz music from 1898 to 1959, housed in four boxed sets. Each box contains 25 slipcase CDs, a booklet (up to 186 pages) and an index. The booklets contain extensive notes (Eng/Fr) with recording dates and line-ups. 31 hours of music in each box, totalling 1677 tracks Each track has been restored and mastered from original sources.