Benny Loves You

Volume seven in the Classics Benny Goodman chronology presents 22 sides recorded for the Victor label in Hollywood during August 1936 and in New York during October and November of that year. Three big band performances open this compilation; the first two used arrangements written by Fletcher Henderson. Next come four titles excellently rendered by the Benny Goodman trio and quartet with Teddy Wilson, Gene Krupa, and vibraphonist Lionel Hampton, who sings wonderfully on "Exactly Like You" and the "Vibraphone Blues"…

By the autumn of 1941, Benny Goodman's orchestra had taken on a polished, slightly oily aspect that was quite different from the bands he'd led a few years earlier. Pianist Mel Powell was now the arranger, Peggy Lee sang on most of the records, and the focus of the material often drifted away from authentically swinging jazz to include quite a number of pop tunes. This tendency is most dramatically demonstrated by two consecutive versions of "Buckle Down, Winsocki," with its John Philip Sousa intro and jocular group vocal. Although the arrangement gets hipper in midstream, one would never guess that the great Cootie Williams was in the band. Maybe nobody did - Williams left in mid-October, knocking the trumpet section down more than one peg…

Throughout much of the 20th century, Benny Carter was an accomplished composer, arranger, leader, sideman, and multi-instrumentalist. In 2004 the U.K.'s Proper label served his memory well with Proper Box 68 which carefully examines a 22-year segment from his unusually lengthy career. If a reasonably priced 88-track, four-CD set of swing and early modern mainstream jazz dating from 1930-1952 seems like too much of a good thing, maybe you really need to hear more jazz and not less, for here in the land of its birth we still have a lot of catching up to do in order to better comprehend this important part of our cultural heritage…

Jazz Ballads - the ultimate musical expression of feelings. A CD sets with the most beautiful ballads in the history of jazz. Lyrical, imaginative, sensuous and melodic jewels from the art of music. Precisely for those people who have maintained their taste for lasting musical values. Jazz in its most gentle form.

John Cocuzzi is a versatile, talented multi-instrumentalist jazz musician who, with his quintet, stretches out for an entertaining 60 minutes-plus of solid, straight ahead jazz on this very good album. A Washington, D.C. native, Cocuzzi gained an appreciation of jazz at an early age listening to his record collection and to his father, who was a percussionist with the U.S. Marine Band. Initially studying piano and then drums after hearing Lionel Hampton, vibes were added to his arsenal of instruments. Swingin' and Burnin' revisits the small group swing of the '30s and '40s popularized by Benny Goodman, Hampton, Artie Shaw, and others. Cocuzzi adds his own flavor along with some artful arrangements to such warhorses from the past as "Slipped Disc," "Benny's Bugle," and "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You." On the latter, Cocuzzi shows off his vocal skills along with a boogie woogie piano. "Broadway" epitomizes the adroit swinging of the quintet, with each member of the group getting a chance to show their wares during the seven minutes they devote to this Teddy McRae/Bill Bird melody.

Excellent collection of classics! Every major artist of the forties thru the sixties performs on this box set. It will take a while to go through all 200 songs but what a joy and value.
The sound quality is just excellent. I have never heard these classics from the 40/50's resonate so clear and clean before, a real treat.

Billie Holiday - Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday On Columbia (1933-1944) [10CD Box] {2009 Columbia Edition}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.74 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.42 Gb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 243 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2009 Columbia / Legacy / Sony Music | 88697538062
Jazz / Blues / Swing / Vocal

When Sony/Columbia began its ambitious Legacy reissue project, those who followed their jazz titles knew it was only a question of time before the massive Billie Holiday catalog under their ownership would see the light in its entirety. The question was how? Years before there was a host of box sets devoted to her material, but the sound on those left something to be desired. Would they remaster the material in two- or three-disc sets with additional notes? Would it be one disc at a time? Would the material be issued as budget or midline material or at full price? The last item could be ruled out based on the label's aggressive and very thorough packages of single discs by Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, and others.