Zoot+sims

Various Artists - Love Me or Leave Me: The Bethlehem Records Story 1958-1963 (2013) {3CD One Day Music DAY3CD040}
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© 1958-62, 2013 Bethlehem Records / One Day Music / Not Now Music | DAY3CD040
Jazz / Cool / Bop / Others

An excellent budget compilation of the wonderful Bethlehem Records label - what a roster of artists they had. Very good sound too. The Bethlehem label focused on jazz releases, and this set collects some great examples of jazz–vocally and instrumentally–between the years 1958-62. One look at the artists on this 60 track 2 CD set shows how many fine artists released music on the label. Like other collections from One Day Music, there's no booklet, only a short paragraph about the label and a few of the featured artists. The digitally remastered sound is good overall within the limits of recording styles of the era.

Al Cohn's writing for small groups is always appealing, and this Epic LP is no exception. Leading three separate groups consisting of various reeds (and no brass) plus a rhythm section, Cohn obtains marvelous results from his groups of all-stars and veteran session musicians. The first session concentrates on saxophones, including Cohn and Eddie Wasserman on tenor saxes, Sam Marowitz and Gene Quill on alto saxes, with Sol Schlinger on the baritone sax. Cohn's swinging "Shazam" brings the swing era to mind, while "Tears by Me Out the Heart" is a warm ballad.

Miles Davis - Chronicle: The Complete Prestige Recordings 1951-1956 (1987) {Prestige, 8PCD 012-2}
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© 1951-56, 1987 Prestige / Fantasy / ZYX | 8PCD 012-2
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Trumpet

This CD compilation presents, on 8 discs, 17 recording sessions made between 1951 and late 1956 by the extraordinary trumpeter, leader, composer, and perpetual catalyst–Miles Davis. Featured in this collection are such major artists as Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, Lee Konitz, and the original Davis Quintet: John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones. The expanse of Miles Davis's recordings for Prestige Records, the California analogue to New York's Blue Note, is huge. In terms of artistic development, the eight CDs in this box span Davis's development from tentative searching through the full bloom of his first great quintet, whose frontline boasted Davis and a young John Coltrane.

Shorty Rogers - West Coast Sounds: Shorty Rogers and His Orchestra, featuring the Giants 1950-1956 (2006) {Fresh Sound Records}
XLD rip | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 808 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 347 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 45 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1950-56, 2006 Capitol / RCA / Fresh Sound Records | FSR 2231
Jazz / Cool / West Coast Jazz / Trumpet

This 2-CD set truly demonstrates what was defined as the "West Coast style of jazz" but, in fact, was the Shorty Rogers style. We can hear arrangements of a loose variety, played by the most outstanding group of musicians of the Los Angeles jazz scene. The music presented here is a major example of Shorty Rogers' great talent, and a milestone in the orchestral idiom of modern jazz. Shorty's writing and playing were a pretty honest reflection of his own personality. If there was ever an individual to be selected as the head of the West Coast school, it definitely would have been Shorty Rogers.

Teddy Charles - On Campus! Ivy League Jazz Concert (1959) {2014 Japanese Bethlehem Album Collection 1000}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 274 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 95 Mb
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© 1959, 2014 Solid Records / Bethlehem | CDSOL-6148
Jazz / Cool / Vibes

Features the latest remastering. Includes a Japanese description, lyrics. Features original cover artwork. A great Bethlehem Records date from vibes man Teddy Charles – stepping out here in a set that's one of his most openly swinging of the time! The record still has some of the modern currents of Teddy's other work, but also makes great use of Zoot Sims on tenor – really pushing him out front for some bold solos on most numbers – in a great group that also includes Jimmy Raney on guitar, Sam Most on flute, and Dave McKenna on piano.