The Swing Around

Kenny Burrell - The Bluesin' Around Sessions (2013) {Essential Jazz 24bit Remaster rec 1961-1962}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 475 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 182 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 253 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1961-62, 2013 Essential Jazz Classics / Columbia | EJC55619
Jazz / Bop / Guitar

This release contains the complete original Kenny Burrell LP Bluesin' Around (Columbia FC38507), which showcases the guitarist in a quintet format with such stars as Illinois Jacquet, Hank Jones, Brother Jack McDuff, Leo Wright, and Eddie Bert. In addition, all existing songs from the same sessions that weren't included on the original LP plus all but one of the existing alternate takes from the dates. The music is presented here chronologically, in order to avoid mixing the personnel from the different sessions.

Beside Marty Paich, none of Mel Tormé's collaborators exerted such a large influence on the singer's career as George Shearing, the pianist whose understated, expressive accompaniment contributed to Tormé's resurgence during the early '80s. Their six excellent albums together – two of which, An Evening With… and Top Drawer, earned Grammy awards – proved that classic vocal music had outlasted the long night that was the '70s, and emerged to become a timeless American genre. The pair's work for Concord was usually recorded live in a trio or quartet setting; leaving much space for Shearing solos, Tormé occasionally reprised his big standards ("A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square," "Lullaby of Birdland," "The Folks Who Live on the Hill"), but often searched for more obscure material he could make his own, and often succeeded. Tormé and Shearing were restless innovators, taking on a full album of World War II standards, medleys devoted to songs about New York and by Duke Ellington, and a stunningly broad range of material: "Oleo," "Lili Marlene," "How Do You Say Auf Wiedersehen?," and "Dat Dere."

This is an odd release by Rosemary Clooney, who's accompanied by keyboardist Buddy Cole and an unidentified rhythm section. Although the singer is in great form, Cole's extremely corny arrangements and his very dated sound on both organ and piano (which are frequently overdubbed, often in unison) threaten to make the entire session more of a nostalgia trip than something that will appeal to jazz collectors. Still, Clooney's pure swinging vocals on standards such as "'Deed I Do," "Blue Moon," "Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me," and "This Can't be Love" are very rewarding, in spite of Cole's uninspiring backgrounds.

Glenn Miller's reign as the most popular bandleader in the U.S. came relatively late in his career and was relatively brief, lasting only about three and a half years, from the spring of 1939 to the fall of 1942. But during that period he utterly dominated popular music, and over time he has proven the most enduring figure of the swing era, with reissues of his recordings achieving gold record status 40 years after his death. Miller developed a distinctive sound in which a high-pitched clarinet carried the melody, doubled by a saxophone section playing an octave lower, and he used that sound to produce a series of hits that remain definitive examples of swing music…

Elliot Lawrence, who was born in 1925, formed a big band at the very end of the swing era, much too late to make a strong impression. A fine pianist/arranger/composer, Lawrence primarily wrote for radio and television. In the 1950s he recorded quite frequently for such labels as Decca, King, Columbia, Groove, Vik, Camden, and, particularly, Fantasy, cutting six records for the latter label during 1955-1957 with big bands. This CD has all of the music from the LP Swinging at the Steel Pier, five cuts from Plays Tiny Kahn and Johnny Mandel Arrangements (just the Kahn charts), and a few selections from Plays for Swinging Dancers and Dream on…Dance On. The music, which features arrangements by Tiny Kahn, Al Cohn, Johnny Mandel, and Gerry Mulligan, is essentially updated swing along with some melodic dance music.

Cab Calloway was a legendary fireball of talent, whose infectious 'hi-de-hi's', 'ho-de-ho's', scattin' and jivin' became the spirited cry of people wanting to be happy. A truly larger than life figure in American pop culture, immortalized in cartoons and caricatures, Calloway also led one of the greatest bands of the Swing Era. 100 Years later the coolest Swing band around, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, are celebrating the birthday of Calloway with this fantastic album. 11 tracks including 'Minnie The Moocher'…