Art Farmer & Gigi Gryce - When Farmer Met Gryce (1955) {Prestige OJCCD-072-2 rel 1994}
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© 1954-55, 1994 Prestige Records / Fantasy | OJCCD-072-2
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Trumpet / Saxophone

One of Art Farmer's pivotal mid 50s sides – recorded in the company of altoist Gigi Gryce, a great player and a budding young arranger who helped Farmer really formulate the best side of his sound! The tracks are lyrically modern – but still have a nice dose of soul in them – a wonderful blend that really sets the stage for the move that Art was making away from earlier trumpeters in jazz – into that hip territory that was neither too cool, nor too overblown – and which would almost be known as "Farmer-like" in years to come! The album features Gryce and Farmer in 2 different groups – one with Horace Silver on piano, Percy Heath on bass, and Kenny Clarke on drums – the other with Freddie Redd on piano, Addison Farmer on bass, and Art Taylor on drums.

Charlie Parker - Jazz at the Philharmonic "1946" (1996) {Giants Of Jazz CD53107 rel 1996}
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© 1946, 1996 Giants Of Jazz / Promo Sound AG | CD 53107
Jazz / Bebop / Bop / Saxophone

The 1946 Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts were true all-star events. This CD compiles portions of two different evenings. The first track, from January, includes trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie, Al Kilian, and Howard McGhee and saxophonists Charlie Parker, Willie Smith, Charlie Ventura, and Lester Young in the front line. Young, having recently gotten out of the military service, is still not at full strength, with Parker and Gillespie taking charge in the rousing "Sweet Georgia Brown." McGhee takes Dizzy's place on the remaining January numbers.

Kai Winding, Bennie Green & J.J. Johnson - Green with Strings (1954) {Prestige OJCCD-1727-2 rel 1989}
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© 1952-54, 1989 Prestige Records / Fantasy | OJCCD-1727-2
Jazz / Bop / Cool / Mainstream Jazz / Trombone

A great pairing of sides by two of the fifties greatest trombone acts! JJ Johnson and Kai Winding are on one side, with a boppish set of tunes, and Bennie Green's on the other, with a tight string ensemble. The music holds little surprises, but there's some nice takes on standards and of course, loads of great trombone.

Bill Evans Trio - New Jazz Conceptions (1956) {Riverside Japan, VDJ-1641, Early Press}
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© 1956, 1988 Riverside / Victor Japan | VDJ-1641
Jazz / Modal Music / Post Bop / Piano

Bill Evans' first album as a leader – and a well-titled set that went onto transform the sound of the piano in jazz! The session isn't as lyrically free as some of Evans' later classics, but already has an undeniably fresh approach to the keys – one that's modern, yet never academic – fluid, but never flowery – pure genius of economy and understatement, while also at the same time opening bold new worlds in sound. The trio features drummer Paul Motian and bassist Teddy Kotick.

Avid Jazz presents four classic Buddy De Franco albums plus, including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered double CD.
“Buddy De Franco”; “The Artistry of Buddy De Franco”; “Mr. Clarinet”; “Pretty Moods” plus selections from “Jazz Tones”.
Reading the original liner notes from all our classic Buddy De Franco selections one strand of opinion stands out head and shoulders above all others. Since 1945 when he started his long run of Poll Winners victories in Metronome and Downbeat magazines, he had become the new kid on the block a.k.a. Mr Clarinet! All the notes refer to there being only two really fully recognisable giants of the jazz clarinet up to the emergence of Buddy De Franco…

Mose Allison - Mose Allison (1957) {2007 Prestige Remastered}
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© 1957, 2007 Prestige / Concord / Universal | 0888072240025
Jazz / Hard Bop / Jazz Blues / Vocal Jazz / Piano

Mose Allison can interpret a familiar blues song in such a way that it becomes an exciting, new song. I never get tired of him. This two-LP set has the complete contents of Mose Allison's first two albums: Back Country Suite and Local Color. The former session is dominated by the interesting ten-song "Back Country Suite" but is most memorable for Allison's brief vocals on "Young Man Blues" (here called "Blue Blues") and "One Room Country Shack."

Two of singer Chris Connor's finest Atlantic albums are reissued in full on this single CD. The laid-back yet coolly emotional jazz singer is heard backed by top-notch rhythm sections (with either Ralph Sharon or Stan Free being the pianist/arranger) and occasional horns (trumpeter Joe Wilder, flutist Sam Most, tenors Al Cohn and Lucky Thompson, flutist Bobby Jaspar and Al Epstein on English horn and bass clarinet) adding some short solos. Connor (then around 30) was in her prime, and her renditions of such songs as "Poor Little Rich Girl," "Lonely Town," "I'm Shooting High," "Moonlight in Vermont," and even "Johnny One Note" are memorable and sometimes haunting.

Miles Davis - Live In Den Haag (1960) {Lone Hill Jazz ‎LHJ10206 rel 2005}
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© 1960, 2005 Lone Hill Jazz ‎| LHJ10206
Jazz / Hard Bop / Modal Music / Trumpet

Great live material from one of the most important pairings in modern jazz – recorded during the last months that John Coltrane was working with the Miles Davis Quintet! Recorded at the Kurhaus, Scheveningen, Den Haag, The Netherlands, April 9, 1960. Includes the complete concert plus rare radio and TV broadcasts by Miles & Coltrane from 1955 to 1959. Featuring John Coltrane, Wynton Kelly, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb & Philly Joe Jones. Includes booklet with comprehensive liner notes.

A holiday album in the classic Perry Como mold, Season's Greetings is warm and relaxed, with lush renditions of "Winter Wonderland," "The Christmas Song," "O Holy Night" and seven other Christmas favorites.

Sonny Stitt - Prestige First Sessions (1992) {Prestige PCD-24115-2 rec 1950-1951}
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© 1950-51, 1992 Prestige Records / Fantasy | PCD-24115-2
Jazz / Bebop / Bop / Saxophone

Sonny Stitt is heard in his early prime throughout this CD, sticking to tenor on all but two of the 24 selections. Few could play bebop with Stitt's sincerity, quick reflexes and large vocabulary. He swings hard throughout the performances, most of which feature him as the only soloist. Three dull vocals aside (by the forgotten Teddy Williams and Larry Townsend), this gapfilling CD is highly recommended to fans of classic bebop.

Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis & Sonny Stitt - Jaws & Stitt at Birdland (1954) {Roulette Jazz ‎CDP 7975072 rel 1991}
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© 1954, 1991 Roulette Jazz / EMI Records | ‎CDP 7975072
Jazz / Bebop / Saxophone

Sonny Stitt (sticking to tenor on this set) sat in with fellow tenor Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis' trio (which also includes organist Doc Bagby and drummer Charlie Rice) for a spirited and typically competitive jam session. Since Davis and Stitt had different sounds (one has little difficulty telling them apart) and were equally skilled, their collaboration is a draw. In addition to three standards, this CD has five basic originals. The original LP's four numbers are joined by four equally heated selections from the same date that were previously put out by the Phoenix label. Easily recommended to bebop collectors.

Part of the ultimate audiophile Prestige stereo reissues from Analogue Productions — 25 of the most collectible, rarest, most audiophile-sounding Rudy Van Gelder recordings ever made. All cut at 33 1/3 and also released on Hybrid SACD. All mastered from the original analog master tapes by mastering maestro Kevin Gray.

Lennie Niehaus - Vol. 2: Zounds! (1956) {Contemporary OJCCD-1892-2 rel 1997}
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© 1954-56, 1997 Contemporary Records / Fantasy | OJCCD-1892-2
Jazz / Cool / Bop / West Coast Jazz / Saxophone

This formerly rare Contemporary set was reissued on a 1997 OJC CD. Lennie Niehaus, best known for his scores for Clint Eastwood films in the 1980s and '90s, was an excellent cool-toned bop altoist back in the '50s who spent time working with Stan Kenton. For this album, he is heard on two different occasions providing arrangements and alto solos for octets. With such fine players as either Jack Montrose or Bill Perkins on tenor, Bob Gordon or Pepper Adams on baritone, and other top West Coast jazz musicians, Niehaus primarily performs cool jazz. The inventive charts (which on the later date utilize a French horn and a tuba) and the superior, concise solos make this a set well worth acquiring by fans of the West Coast jazz sound of the '50s.

Miles Davis - The Complete Amsterdam Concert (1957) {Celluloid 668232}
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© 1957 Celluloid France | 668232
Jazz / Cool / Hard Bop / Trumpet

This two-LP set is a real rarity, a performance by trumpeter Miles Davis while he was in Europe in late 1957. Joined by drummer Kenny Clarke and three excellent French players (tenor saxophonist Barney Wilen, pianist Rene Urtreger and bassist Pierre Michelot), the same unit with which Davis recorded a French soundtrack during this period, the quintet jams through ten songs from Davis's repertoire. Although all of this music (around 56 minutes worth) could have been put on one rather than two LPs, this hard-to-find set is recommended for the rare opportunity to hear Miles Davis stretching out with these musicians.