Vernon Howard

Howard McGhee - West Coast 1945-1947 (2013) {Uptown Records UPCD27.74}
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© 1945-47, 2013 Uptown Records | UPCD27.74
Jazz / Bop / Trumpet

The superb compilation West Coast 1945-1947 brings together various studio and live radio broadcasts from bop jazz trumpeter Howard McGhee. Born in Tulsa and raised in Detroit, McGhee was a powerhouse bop trumpeter in the vein of Fats Navarro and Dizzy Gillespie. He was also a melodicist, which meant that he was capable of soloing with both dazzling technical proficiency and gorgeous romantic lyricism. One of the few bop musicians to relocate to California during the '40s, McGhee even backed Charlie Parker on some Dial sessions during the saxophonist's West Coast tour at about the same time he made the recordings featured here.

Future Jazz is an interesting teaming of the Blue Note and Knitting Factory labels for a compilation of creative modern jazz (leaning toward the "outside"). The CD serves as a supplement to a book of the same name by music journalist Howard Mandel. The selections all come from 1990s releases, with the exception of Eric Dolphy's classic "Hat and Beard" (1964) and James Newton's rendition of "Black and Tan Fantasy" (1986). Better-known names like Dolphy, Cassandra Wilson, Don Pullen, and Pat Metheny are mixed with names that certainly should be as recognized, like pianist Marilyn Crispell, drummer Gerry Hemingway (both of the mid-'80s Anthony Braxton Quartet lineup), and the late saxophonist Thomas Chapin.

10-CD box set that contains 250 original Rockabilly recordings. Featuring Jonny Cash, Carl Phillips, Johnny Horton, Marty Robbins, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Hank Thompson, Faron Young, Bill Haley & The Saddlemen and many others. All the tracks were recorded between 1947 and 1960 but with the vast majority coming from the 1950's.

This boxed set reassembles largely analog material from existing Lyrita CDs under a new generic grouping. Dates and locations of recording sessions are not given. Lyrita seem always to have been reticent about those details. The sound is a model of its kind – Lyrita were always able to boast glorious sound. The freshly written liner-notes are by the authoritative and accessible Paul Conway and run to ten pages. These are not a simple retread of the original notes by other authors.