Good Bait

Little Girl Blue, released in 1959, was Nina Simone's first recording, originally issued on the Bethlehem label. Backed by bassist Jimmy Bond and Albert "Tootie" Heath, it showcases her ballad voice as one of mystery and sensuality and showcases her uptempo jazz style with authority and an enigmatic down-home feel that is nonetheless elegant. The album also introduced a fine jazz pianist. Simone was a solid improviser who never strayed far from the blues. Check the opener, her reading of Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo," which finger-pops and swings while keeping the phrasing deep-blue. It is contrasted immediately with one of the - if not the - definitive reads of Willard Robison's steamy leave-your-lover ballad "Don't Smoke in Bed"…

This four-disc, 100-track box set traces famed bebop trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie's career from his early years with Teddy Hill, Lionel Hampton and Cab Calloway through his work with figures like Coleman Hawkins and Billy Eckstine. It includes his 1947 concert at Carnegie Hall with Charlie Parker and concludes with the famous sessions that Gillespie recorded with Parker and Thelonious Monk for Norman Granz in 1950. At a budget price, this package captures Gillespie's peak years and performances and makes a deep introduction to this amazing musician. The sound transfers are decent, but audiophiles may find that the noise reduction processes used on these tracks leaves some of them sounding a little on the thin and muted side. Given the fair price and the volume of material compiled here, though, this set is a smart purchase.