Leonhart

This double-CD set gave bassist Milt Hinton an opportunity to engage in reunions with many of his old friends from the 1930s. The seven sessions were compiled during a 12-month period and the results are often delightful. The opening "Old Man Time" is sung by Hinton himself, and it is both insightful and humorous. The other highlights include Joe Williams singing "Four or Five Times" (which features some very rare Flip Phillips clarinet), three bass guitar duets with Danny Barker, appearances by Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Clark Terry, Al Grey, Ralph Sutton, and the formation of a group called "The Survivors" that has guitarist Al Casey at age 75 being the youngest member; the latter band also includes 85-year-old trumpeter Doc Cheatham, Eddie Barefield, Buddy Tate and even Cab Calloway. A lot of storytelling takes place during the songs and, in addition to the 92½ minutes of music, there are two "Jazzspeaks." The 13-minute one features Hinton, Calloway, Cheatham and Barefield reminiscing about their experiences in the early days, while a marvelous 45-minute monologue by the bassist covers most of his long and productive life and is consistently fascinating. Highly recommended.

On one of the first relatively straightahead sessions for GRP, baritonist Gerry Mulligan (accompanied by a rhythm section led by Dave Grusin's keyboards with an occasional horn section) performs six of his then-recent compositions including the title cut. Strangely enough, the most memorable selection is "I Never Was a Young Man" which has a rare but very effective Mulligan vocal.

This CD may be scoffed at by serious jazz listeners, and even by big-band devotees wary of modern "ghost band" performances, but the fact is that it sold over 100,000 pieces when it first appeared in 1983, and its CD version was among the very earliest compact discs ever released commercially in the United States (indeed, so early that the actual CDs had to be imported from Japan). The second-ever release by GRP Records, it put the label on the map, and it also stood as testimony to how good those original arrangements of the Glenn Miller Orchestra were. So how is it as music?

Eddie Higgins has been an active jazz musician since the late '50s, though he has developed an especially strong following in Japan, resulting in numerous opportunities to record for Japanese jazz labels. This single-disc set features the bandleader with tenor saxophonists Scott Hamilton and Ken Peplowski, along with bassist Jay Leonhart and drummer Ben Riley…

Renowned jazz pianist Eddie Higgins is joined here by bassist Jay Leonhart and drummer Joe Ascione for 13 of his own compositions. By the titles of the tracks, it can be seen that Higgins is taking the listener on a musical journey to places he has visited that have musically inspired him.

This is the latest addtion to the highly regarded CD series, MARIAN MCPARTLAND'S PIANO JAZZ, which is take from Ms. McParland's highly successful and long-running NPR program. This album features stripped-down, live-in-the-studio performances of Steely Dan Classic "Josie," "Black Friday," and "Chain Lightning."

An excellent set that brings together 28 early 50s recordings by T-Bone Walker - crucial sides that link together jazz and blues traditions, with incredible work on guitar that would go onto influence both genres tremendously. The fact that Walker became a huge influence on soul jazz guitarists like Billy Butler, George Freeman, and Wild Bill Jennings is probably not lost on Blue Note - who included the set here as the only non-jazz set in their 2LP 70s reissue series.