Revola

Caught live with just her piano trio at Chicago's famous now-defunct nightclub, Anita O'Day is in an ebullient mood as she tosses off a series of standards and novelties…

In 1960 bassist Charles Mingus helped to organize an alternative Newport Jazz Festival in protest of Newport's conservative and increasingly commercial booking policy. The music on this LP (which has been reissued on CD) features some of the musicians who participated in Mingus's worthy if short-lived venture…

Julie London made the folks at the Liberty label rich with more than 25 albums, exclusive of compilations, cut over a period of 1955 to 1969. Usually put into a torch song setting, this release allows London to shed that garment and become jazzy. The reason, of course, is the presence of the invaluable Jimmy Rowles, who did the charts, played piano, and led an orchestra of top-flight but unidentified musicians. Unidentified or not, that could well be Don Fagerquist's muted trumpet on "Midnight Sun" and other cuts and either Ted Nash or Bob Cooper on tenor on "Somebody Loves Me."

In 1960 Miles Davis arrived to Europe for a tour with his new quintet, including tenor saxophonist John Coltrane. The Davis-Coltrane quintet's live recordings captured during the tour have come to be considered treasures. The first reason for this is their rarity. Coltrane left Miles to form his own group soon after this brief early 1960 tour…