3-CD Box set, 60-page booklet including comprehensive biography, original liner notes and cover art, rare photos, unseen memorabilia and extensive discography. Shelly Manne (1920-1984) was one of the most important drummers in jazz history. Opening with his first recordings as a leader for Dee Gee Records in 1951 (Chicago) and 1952 (Los Angeles), this collection covers both these septet sessions and the great series of all-star septet and quintet recordings made for Contemporary by Shelly Manne and His Men between 1953 and 1958. Here’s that Manne.
Volume 1 - BBC Radio Sessions & Jazz Bilzen Festival, Belgium). Rare and collectable recordings from 1967-1969 - digitally remastered. Classic BBC radio sessions plus live at the Jazz Bilzen Festival, Belgium. Versions of Mr Apollo, I'm The Urban Spaceman & Canyons Of Your Mind plus many other classic tracks.
Stick Men is a progressive rock band founded in 2007 by Pat Mastelotto, Tony Levin, and Michael Bernier. Since 2010, the lineup stabilized around Mastelotto, Levin, and Markus Reuter. The band was formed as a vehicle for progressive rock music performed almost exclusively with Chapman Sticks and drums. In April of 2015, Stick Men put on four historic concerts in Japan, with special guest, legendary King Crimson violinist David Cross, a project special arranged by Leonardo Pavkovic. The live recording of the 2 Tokyo shows, titled Midori, was released as a double CD in Japan only, and now is available as well via MoonJune in a limited edition of 2500 copies.
Bob Sunenblick's Uptown label continues with its research work to unearth obscure but always gratifying musical moments. Now it’s the turn of Chubby Jackson’s amazing 1949 big band. Chubby was never a best-seller, and a double CD set of this band won’t probably make anyone rich, but it will nevertheless give great amounts of pleasure to many jazz fans.
The Vienna Art Orchestra is a 15-member jazz orchestra that features the avant-garde arrangements and compositions of its leader, pianist Mathias Ruegg. This is a reissue of their 1980 debut, an important document in the post-modern jazz movement. The opening, title track is a joyous, folkish tango that's been cartoonishly toyed with, featuring three solo sections. The marimba section is also ornamented with vocalese from Lauren Newton, followed by an extremely playful horn lead that sounds like a toy instrument. The solo offering from violinist Rudi Berger has an electronically effected fusion sound. A tight, alto sax solo by Wolfgang Puschnig ties everything together neatly with a lengthy, unaccompanied performance.
Look! Up on the bandstand! It’s a piano! It’s a saxophone! It’s a trumpet! It’s Superheroes, a bold and daring, wall-scaling, day saving, faster than George Benson’s blazing guitar, a Chick Corea synth run or Vinnie Colauita drum solo all-star jam session celebrating humanity’s global obsession with these godlike beings who have become multi-billion dollar comic book, film and TV icons.
The men behind the European downtempo outfit Zero 7 – producers Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker – launched their careers in the music industry as tea boys at a London recording studio. Shortly thereafter, however, both were in the thick of action, working alongside a string of well-known British musicians such as the Pet Shop Boys and Robert Plant. They spent the best part of the '90s honing their production skills behind the scenes. Then, after taking on the name of a nightclub in Honduras, the duo gradually began unleashing their own ideas onto an unsuspecting public.
For a 1991 gig at the Blue Note in New York, vibraphonist Lionel Hampton headed a nonet full of classic veterans that were termed "the Golden Men of Jazz": trumpeters Clark Terry and Harry "Sweets" Edison, tenors James Moody and Buddy Tate, trombonist Al Grey, pianist Hank Jones, bassist Milt Hinton and drummer Grady Tate. Even with its many loose moments, these great players came up with some notable moments, including James Moody's humorous vocalizing on "Moody's Mood for Love" and particularly fine playing by Terry and Grey; Tate and Edison do show their age a bit, but are welcome participants in what must have been an occasion for celebration.