This is one of Ella Fitzgerald's most enjoyable recordings from her later years. With pianist Tommy Flanagan, guitarist Joe Pass, bassist Keter Betts, and drummer Bobby Durham serving as a backup group (not a bad band), she swings everything from "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "It Don't Mean a Thing" to "Lemon Drop" and even Carole King's "You've Got a Friend." Her ballad interpretations are only topped by her scatting talents. This set serves as a perfect introduction to the mature Ella Fitzgerald.

This captures over an hour's worth of John Zorn's search for the improvised song form. Several lineups from 1983 are documented here. The first eight tracks feature Zorn with Christian Marclay spinning and Peter Blegvad speaking. The text is unremarkable (for example, Honey-Cab's "…tell her everything I know/ In ink as black as carbon/ On paper white as snow"), but Blegvad's sonorous delivery works well with the chaos that the other two musicians spit and spin out, combining into tides of noisy mischief.

Cedar Walton is a great jazz master whose bop-based style has influenced younger pianists over many decades. Also known for his great composing, this time Walton chose to do, for Venus Records, a songbook by legendary film composer Victor Young. Aided superby by super-bassist Buster Williams and – a sharp drummer of a younger generation, Walton plays Young's beautiful songs with relaxed elegance and modern jazz flair.

Multiquarium Big Band feat. Biréli Lagrène: Remerbering Jaco is a tribute to Jaco Pastorius’s music, made by André Charlier (drums) and Benoit Sourisse (piano) from the Multiquarium Big Band, one of the best French Big Bands. Jaco Pastorius is a big star in the Jazz-Rock scene (and beyond), an icon for bass players all around the world, the one who brought to electric bass the possibility of becoming in some cases, a soloist instrument in a band. Jaco Pastorius made very famous solo albums and wrote amazing big band music. He played with Pat Metheny, Joni Mitchell but was also a very important member of the famous Jazz-rock band, Weather Report with Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul, Peter Erskine (who contributes some spoken word to this album!) The virtuoso gypsy guitar player, Biréli Lagrène, has been invited to play electric fretless bass on the album.

Trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire has proven himself an artist of rare ability and wide-ranging aesthetic interests. Now with his bold new double-album A Rift in Decorum: Live at the Village Vanguard, Akinmusire reached a new pinnacle as he and his quartet - Sam Harris (piano), Harish Raghavan (bass) & Justin Brown (drums) - join a distinguished strata of jazz artists who've made live recordings in the hallowed New York City venue.

For over 15 years saxophonist Euge Groove has been a consistent best-seller on the Contemporary Jazz charts, scoring hit after hit at Smooth Jazz radio, including more than half a dozen #1 hits, and hitting #1 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz chart; in short, Euge Groove is one of the genre's stars. Groove On! Delivers Euge Groove's trademark funk/jazz grooves on a wide-ranging set including potential radio hits as well as feel-good album tracks. Highlights include a sparkling guest vocal from new Contemporary Jazz vocal sensation Lindsey Webster (who has recently topped the Smooth Jazz radio charts as well) and fellow Smooth Jazz star, guitarist Peter White.

Lejos ahora de colores flamencos y del swing más rítmico, el nuevo proyecto nos presenta un jazz profundo y elaborado que explora las posibilidades de la orquesta. Con un grupo de músicos de confianza y espacios para la voz con toques mediterráneos, las composiciones del saxofonista brillan con luz propia. Además de las piezas escritas especialmente para la ocasión, Perico Sambeat da también nueva vida a algunos temas propios anteriores, como “Matilda”, que ahora se nos muestra en todo su esplendor.

1952-1953 (2005). From July 26, 1952 to December 12, 1953, Count Basie continued to record for Norman Granz's Clef label, variously utilizing a quintet, sextet, nonet, and 16-piece big band. Released in 2005, this volume in the Classics Chronological Series documents all of the issued studio titles from this time period, neatly omitting no less than 15 Birdland radio broadcasts so as to focus upon the Count's protean adventures within the intimate confines of recording studios in New York and Los Angeles. Basie's excellent instrumentalists include trumpeter Joe Newman, trombonist Henry Coker, reedmen Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Paul Quinichette, Marshall Royal, Ernie Wilkins, Frank Wess, Frank Foster, and Charlie Fowlkes…

So when Juha Kujanpää contacted us about his new album ‘Goldwing’ (‘Kultasiipi’ in Finnish) which combined progressive rock and Nordic folk, I didn't bat an eyelid, in fact I was clicking the enclosed links quicker than ever. It’s the 2nd solo album from the Finnish composer, who has worked with many different artists in Finland, and whilst its taken while for us to have chance to listen, it’s immediately had an impact as an interesting and in most parts beautiful album, which is well worth checking out - particularly if you like progressive and modern classical music. ~ Nordic Music

A 9CD collection entitled 'My Song' is the first and definitive Labi Siffre box-set and is released to celebrate 50 years of an outstanding musical career.A total of 146 recordings - compiled by Labi and including 44 bonus tracks - together with a 32-page picture booklet in which Labi speaks candidly about his career. This exclusive edition contains a photo personally signed by Labi Siffre, limited to Just 500 copies. Containing all of Labi's nine albums: Labi Siffre (1970) The Singer and The Song (1971) Crying Laughing Loving Lying (1972) For The Children (1973) Remember My Song (1975) Happy (1975) So Strong (1988) Man of Reason (1991) and The Last Songs (1998), all of which presented individually in its own CD wallet facsimile of the original album sleeve artwork.

A versatile British pianist and vibist who found a home in America playing bebop, cool, swing, big band, and rock effectively. Victor Feldman was a child prodigy who was a professional from the age of seven and sat in on drums with Glenn Miller's Army Air Force Band in 1944 when he was ten. He cut jazz dates for Choice, Concord, Palo Alto, and TBA and in the 1980s up until his death he led a soulful crossover group (the Generation Band) that often featured his son, Trevor Feldman, on drums.

If one is to believe the dates given on this LP, three of the selections were recorded by keyboardist Victor Feldman just two days before his death. More likely is that those straight-ahead acoustic numbers with bassist John Patitucci and drummer Trevor Feldman were previously unreleased tunes from their 1983 date. The later tracks ("Don't Ask Oscar," "You Gave Me the Runaround" and "Basin Street Blues") are actually the high point of this album, for the other seven numbers (originally released as In My Pocket by the Coherent Sound label in 1988) are electronic, funky and rather lightweight.

Jazz has taken some unexpected directions in Europe. Garcia-Fons is a double-bass player, and he leads a French quartet that consists of himself, another double-bass player, an accordionist and a drummer. In this arrangement, Garcia-Fons exploits the huge range of the bass to play melody, while the other bassist large plays the traditional low part.
The well-known artist closest to Garcia-Fons' sound would have to be Astor Piazzolla, and indeed Alboreá does contain one tango, anagrammatically entitled "Natgo." Garcia-Fons also makes use of other world music sources, such as the Moorish sound of "Secret Zambra." And many of the tracks, not surprisingly, seem to owe something to French musette. Although Garcia-Fons might like to say his biggest musical influence was Charlie Mingus, it sometimes sounds as if his real mentor was André Previn, not just as jazz musician but as film score composer…

This is the third and final volume in the complete recordings of Lil Green in chronological order as reissued by the Classics Blues & Rhythm Series. By 1947 Lil Green was beginning to sound more than a little like Ida Cox, even when handling songs from Tin Pan Alley rather than straight up out of the tried and true traditional blues repertoire. Comparisons could also be drawn between Lil Green and Nellie Lutcher or Julia Lee. While her "crossover" performances are worthwhile, there's nothing quite like hearing this woman savor the flavor of Bessie Smith hits like "Aggravatin' Papa," "Outside of That," and "You've Been a Good Old Wagon (But You Done Broke Down)." Green's own "Lonely Woman" has a powerful undercurrent running through it – there is even a remote possibility that Ornette Coleman was inspired by this record when conceiving his own composition of the same title in 1959. Even if the link is purely coincidental, these melodies have something wonderful in common. Green's final recordings for the Victor label are strengthened by the presence of tenor saxophonists Budd Johnson, Lem Johnson, and David Young.