Jazz Masters 9

Johnny Smith - The Sound Of The Johnny Smith Guitar (1960) {2017 Japan SHM-CD Jazz Masters Collection 1200 Series WPCR-29240}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 201 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 83 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 64 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24bit remaster
© 1960, 2017 Roost / Parlophone / Warner Music Japan | WPCR-29240
Jazz / Cool / Guitar

Reissue with SHM-CD format and new 24bit remastering. The Johnny Smith sound is a wonderful one – not just the sound that he makes with his groundbreaking work on the strings of the guitar, but also the way he records the instrument – which set a new standard in jazz guitar albums, and also helped pave the way for countless generations to come! A date like this is a great example of the standard-setting work that Smith was able to give us in his prime – and the approach slightly updates the Smith guitar sound of the early 50s – clarifying it a bit, but still keeping that great tone right out front – with a group that includes Hank Jones on piano, George Duvivier on bass, and Ed Shaughnessey on drums.

Johnny Smith - Guitar & Strings (1960) {2017 Japan SHM-CD Jazz Masters Collection 1200 Series WPCR-29239}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 203 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 76 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 89 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24bit remaster
© 1960, 2017 Roost / Parlophone / Warner Music Japan | WPCR-29239
Jazz / Cool / Guitar

Reissue with SHM-CD format and new 24bit remastering. A very special album from Johnny Smith – one of the few to feature his sublime guitar sound amidst a larger string setting – which only seems to emphasize the moodier, darker tones of his instrument! The album's a lot like his My Dear Little Sweetheart set – and, like that one, it features help from conductor Irv Kostal, as well as violinist Gene Orloff – both artists with the right sort of subtle, understated approach to make sure that Johnny's six strings never get lost in the larger swirl! Most tunes are very slow-moving, which allows us to hear that Smith guitar magic in full relief – that special way that Johnny had of choosing just the right notes and colors, in just the right way.

The Tyree Glenn Quintet - Let's Have A Ball (1958) {2017 Japan SHM-CD Jazz Masters Collection 1200 Series WPCR-29163}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 178 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 72 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 113 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24bit remaster
© 1958, 2017 Roulette / Parlophone / Warner Music Japan | WPCR-29163
Jazz / Bop / Mainstream Jazz / Trombone

Reissue with SHM-CD format and the latest 24bit remastering. A playfully swinging set from trombonist Tyree Glenn – working here in a nicely offbeat style that also includes a bit of vocals as well! Glenn's got a great way with the muted trombone – working the end with a wah wah approach that's certainly got its roots in trad jazz, but which also comes across here with a classy swinging 50s style – thanks to strong small combo backing from Tommy Flanagan, Charlie Potter, and Jo Jones. The album should sound hokey, but it doesn't – thanks to a richly expressive style by Glenn, one that's got more than enough soul to get past the gimmicks.

Johnny Smith Trio - Easy Listening (1958) {2016 Japan SHM-CD Jazz Masters Collection 1200 Series WPCR-29084}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 179 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 74 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 56 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24bit remaster
© 1958, 2016 Roost / Parlophone / Warner Music Japan | WPCR-29084
Jazz / Cool / Guitar

SHM-CD reissue. Comes with a mini-description. Features new remastering if it comes from Parlophone. The gentle genius of guitarist Johnny Smith – perfectly captured in this late nite trio session from the 50s! There's a lot more jazz here than you might guess from the "easy listening" title – and Johnny's working with drummer Charlie Mastropaolo and bassist George Roumanis, in a style that's very much in keeping with his other best Roost work at the time. Smith has this way on the strings that's like few other players of his time – a style of playing the guitar that's so gentle, so spacious, the notes come off the instrument almost by themselves – with a lightly ringing quality that's the best part of the unique Johnny Smith tone.

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Backgammon (1976) {2016 Japan SHM-CD Jazz Masters Collection 1200 Series WPCR-29102}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 362 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 114 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 183 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24bit remaster
© 1976, 2016 Roulette / Parlophone / Warner Music Japan | WPCR-29102
Jazz / Hard Bop

Reissue with SHM-CD format and new 24bit remastering. Comes with a mini-description. Killer work from this overlooked Art Blakey stretch of the mid 70s – a time when the drummer was getting back to basics, and re-igniting his music with help from some key younger players! This set sparkles with sharp tenor from the great David Schnitter – already a powerhouse out of the box, and driven onto new heights by Blakey! Also present is pianist Albert Dailey, whose conception helps bring in some fresh sounds to the Jazz Messengers universe – alongside flute player Ladji Camara, who also vocalizes on one cut. Yoshio Suzuki handles bass, and old line trumpeter Bill Hardman comes in to round out the group – on titles that include "Uranus", "Third World Blues", "Namfulay", and "Backgammon".

Antonio Carlos Jobim's entry in the exhaustive Verve Jazz Masters set of historical reissues is one of the best single-disc Jobim anthologies available. It's not got much in the way of historical range, since it stops in the mid-'60s, just before Jobim left Verve for Reprise and then A&M. However, since Jobim's Verve years were, in the minds of many, his career highpoint, Verve Jazz Masters 13 distills the best of his most artistically and commercially successful period. Nearly all of Jobim's greatest songs are here in their definitive versions, and the whole is sequenced thoughtfully, so that the disc has a logical and delightful flow. This is magnificent stuff, as well as being the birth of bossa nova.

Johnny Smith - The Johnny Smith Quartet (1955) {2016 Japan SHM-CD Jazz Masters Collection 1200 Series WPCR-29117}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 143 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 84 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 61 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24bit remaster
© 1955, 2016 Roost / Parlophone / Warner Music Japan | WPCR-29117
Jazz / Cool / Guitar

SHM-CD reissue. Comes with a mini-description. Features new remastering if it comes from Parlophone. Sublime guitar work from the great Johnny Smith – a musician who was years ahead of his time, and influenced a generation with his clean, clear tone on the instrument! Smith's in a perfect setting here – a Roost label quartet date that includes Bob Pancost on piano, George Roumanis on bass, and Mousie Alexander on drums – a very understated group that really lets Johnny's wonderful tones and colors stand strongly out front! Titles include "0500 Blues", "Old Girl", "Tired Blood", "Un Poco Loco", and "More Bass". Great CD version – one of the few proper issues of this material!

Johnny Smith - The Johnny Smith Foursome Vol.2 (1957) {2017 Japan SHM-CD Jazz Masters Collection 1200 Series WPCR-29211}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 182 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 100 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 71 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24bit remaster
© 1957, 2017 Roost / Parlophone / Warner Music Japan | WPCR-29211
Jazz / Cool / Guitar

Reissue with SHM-CD format and new 24bit remastering. In 1957, Johnny Smith was at the height of his artistic power when he cut this album for the Roost label. Smith had a patented method for shifting from single-string statements of the melody line to complex chordal structures with amazing ease. This ability is put to use for each of the cuts on this album, but is especially useful on such cuts as "Angel Eyes" and "You Go to My Head." Smith's guitar also seemed to have a one of a kind resonance to it, which energized every melody he played, whether on the melody itself or when improvising, making his playing immediately recognizable.

Verve Jazz Masters 57 presents an introduction to the recordings of George Shearing. The enclosed booklet includes biographical material and commentary on the songs selected.
"…I just asked the band what they'd like to play, and they said, 'Oh, let's play some "I'll Remember April", or let's play some "September in the Rain".' So we did , and (the latter) sold nine hundred thousand copies." So London-born George Shearing reminisces on his early US fame and fortune in Brian Priestley's liner note. Shearing had an almost uncanny knack for creating music both pleasing to the public and artistically satisfying - as can be heard in this compilation of his early Fifties MGM sessions, which includes many tracks never issued on CD.

Johnny Smith - Plus The Trio (1960) {2017 Japan SHM-CD Jazz Masters Collection 1200 Series WPCR-29183}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 196 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 78 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 77 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24bit remaster
© 1960, 2017 Roost / Parlophone / Warner Music Japan | WPCR-29183
Jazz / Cool / Guitar

Reissue with SHM-CD format and new 24bit remastering. Comes with a mini-description. A trio is helping out guitarist Johnny Smith – but, as with all of his other Roost Records of the time, the man himself is very far out in the lead – making real magic on the strings of his guitar, and playing with an effortless command of tone and color! Some moments of the record actually have a bit more of an uptempo swing than other of Johnny's albums of the period – but others are a masterpiece is gentle harmonics – those incredible notes that Smith almost seemed to invent for jazz guitar in the 50s – and which seem to come through even more beautifully in the sparest of settings. The trio features Bob Pancoast on piano, Mousie Alexander on drums, and George Roumanis on bass