Basie Jam 2

From Norman Granz's marathon series of performances recorded at the 1977 Montreux Jazz Festival, this set finds Count Basie fronting a jam session featuring trumpeter Roy Eldridge, altoist Benny Carter, Zoot Sims on tenor and the trombones of Vic Dickenson and Al Grey. Despite the possibility of being overcrowded, a bit of planning by Basie made this into a very coherent set with a blues, a long ballad medley and the closing "Jumpin' at the Woodside." Lots of nice moments.

From the same recording session that resulted in Basie Jam - Vol. 2, these four performances of standards also feature Count Basie, guitarist Joe Pass, trumpeter Clark Terry, altoist Benny Carter, trombonist Al Grey and tenorman Eddie Lockjaw Davis, all in fine form. Norman Granz always preferred Basie in a small group and the success of these jams helped bolster his argument.

When Count Basie returned to Verve Records in 1962, Neal Hefti was contracted to write the tunes and arrangements, a revival of their partnership from the 1958 Roulette LP Basie Plays Hefti. While none of these selections is as famous as his songs like "Cute," "Little Pony," "Splanky," "Li'l Darlin'," and "Repetition," the substantial originality of this music is hard to deny, not to mention that the expert musicians playing his music bring these tracks fully to life in a livelier fashion than most laid-back Basie studio sessions. In fact, it has the feeling of a concert date that trumps the more clean, controlled environment of a session that was recorded on a three-track reel-to-reel…

Norman Granz recorded Count Basie in many different settings during his decade with Granz's Pablo label. This jam session set was a little unusual in that, along with the tenor of Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, guitarist Joe Pass and trombonist J.J. Johnson, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard is in the cast along with Basie; pity he never recorded with the Count Basie Orchestra. This spirited session is a strong consolation prize, with plenty of fine solos taking over familiar chord changes.

This typically enjoyable Basie all-star jam is particularly noteworhty because it includes the great (but underrated) tenor of Budd Johnson along with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and trumpeters Clark Terry and Harry "Sweets" Edison. The music is quite delightful, topped by a fine ballad medley.

Chest of 10 CDs, an essential guide to delve into 'pre-bebop jazz': there are all of them: from the first 'dixieland' bands, including Bessie Smith, Fats Waller, Fletcher Henderson, Louis Armstrong, King Oliver , Jelly Roll Morton, Bix Beiderbecke, Duke Ellington, Earl Hines, Sidney Bechet, Art Tatum, Louis Prima, Benny Goodman, Django Reinhardt, Lionel Hampton, Coleman Hawkins, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Glenn Miller Charlie Christian…

Various Artists - The Complete Norman Granz Jam Sessions (2004) {5CD Box Set Verve B0003252-02 QS01 rec 1952-1954}
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© 1952-54, 2004 Verve / Universal | B0003252-02 QS01
Jazz / Bop / Bebop / Standards

The historic Norman Granz Jam Sessions, recorded between 1952-1954 for Clef and Mercury, are among the most treasured jam sets of all time. The nine separate albums featured the crème de la crème of New York's jazz community from Charlie Parker to Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, Johnny Hodges, Oscar Peterson, Lionel Hampton and Max Roach and dozens of others. This box set simply collects all nine LPs on five remastered CDs, containing original artwork in a slipcase that fits inside a handsome metal display box. The individual volumes are of consistently very high quality and are utterly indispensable to jazz aficionados. For those who already have the discs, this is merely superfluous. For those who don't, this is a pricey buy but a hell of a way to begin a jazz education.

One amazing night in 1972, the greats of swing - Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Bennie Goodman - came together at New York's Philharmonic Hall for a jazz blowout. Joined by Dizzy Gillespie, hosted by Doc Severinson (then in his glory years at the helm of NBC's 'Tonight Show' band), these jazz pioneers reveled in the numbers with which they had changed the face of popular music more than thirty years before.

Various Artists - From Middle Jazz To Be-Bop (1952-1955) - La Grande Histoire Du Jazz Vol. 2 (2010) {Box 25CD - 50 of 100}
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© 1952-55, 2010 Le Chant du Monde | 574 1925.49
Jazz / Classic Jazz / Middle Jazz / Be-Bop

An epic 100 CD chronological documentation of the history of jazz music from 1898 to 1959, housed in four boxed sets. Each box contains 25 slipcase CDs, a booklet (up to 186 pages) and an index. The booklets contain extensive notes (Eng/Fr) with recording dates and line-ups. 31 hours of music in each box, totalling 1677 tracks Each track has been restored and mastered from original sources.

Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars - Music For Lighthousekeeping (1956) {Contemporary OJCCD-636-2 rel 1992}
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© 1956, 1992 Contemporary Records / Fantasy | OJCCD-636-2
Jazz / Cool / West Coast Jazz / Bop

The title of this Howard Rumsey date referred to the Lighthouse jazz club, where Rumsey (bass) was a regular with his various Lighthouse All-Stars. Although a good enough bassist to play with Stan Kenton's big band, Howard Rumsey's main importance was as the organizer of the Lighthouse All-Stars and manager of the Lighthouse. Originally a drummer, Rumsey switched to bass while at college. He played with Vido Musso in the late '30s, and when Stan Kenton formed his first band in 1941, Rumsey became its bassist. A year later he started freelancing in the Los Angeles area.