Atlantic Records

Founded in 1947 by avid jazz fans and record collectors Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson with a $10,000 loan from Ertegun’s dentist, Atlantic Records ended up being one of the most successful independent labels in the history of recorded music, and a litany of the label’s artists over the past 60-plus years is stunning in its diversity, ranging from John Coltrane and Big Joe Turner to Kid Rock and Gnarls Barkley and several points in-between. This “time capsule” – nine discs of music, one DVD documentary, and a 45 rpm 7" of Sticks McGee's “Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-Oh-Dee,” plus several little bits of flare and memorabilia and a book of photographs, all of it housed in a sturdy metal box – simply confirms what most pop music fans already knew: Atlantic Records is one hell of a record company.

2008 two CD set that focuses on the Jazz great's years with Atlantic Records (1968-75). One of the most significant pianists in Jazz to emerge since the '60s, Keith Jarrett's musical career spans across four decades, during which he has been continuously growing as a powerful improviser. His solo concerts have earned him international fame, he has led dynamic quartets / quintets, performed classical music, and later played explorative versions of standards with his long-time trio.

All of the titles here make some kind of reference to cosmic issues of good and evil on the planet Earth, but the suggestive wordplay doesn't make this music much different from that on Jean-Luc Ponty's previous Atlantic outings. Ponty plays with his accustomed fluid virtuosity; the five-piece group ranges from standard Ponty fusion to mild funk; the rhythm section is sometimes more grandly recorded than before; and occasionally, one can hear some embryonic sequenced structures that would be explored further on in the decade. But one still gets the overall impression that Ponty has been around this block a few too many times; what was once fresh and musical has ossified into formula.

As one of the leaders of modern jazzrock guitar, two-time Grammy nominee Mike Stern never slows down in his drive to crank out blistering solos and pretty, reverb-laced ballads. On GIVE AND TAKE, one of Stern's most well rounded albums, the guitarist mixes some of his best new compositions with a few of the most challenging standards in the repertoire.

Overshadowed by the critical buzz generatd by "Giant Steps" and "My Favorite Things," lacking the exoticism of "Ole" or the big-name partnerships of "Bags and Trane," or "The Avant-Garde," this album is one of the least-discussed of the saxophonist's Atlantic recordings.

This is the CD first press issue of this boxset. These were sold individually as Vols 1-8 and they were also sold together as a boxset. The contents of the boxset are all 8 Vols individually packaged into a LP sized case plus the boxset comes with a 36 page LP sized booklet.