LOUIS ARMSTRONG – 1949-1950 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1179 (2001) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Diligently reissuing all of Louis Armstrong's recordings, the Classics Chronological Series opens this volume with six sides he waxed for the Decca label during September of 1949. The first two tracks are comforting romantic pop songs sung in front of an orchestra under the direction of Sy Oliver. Much more famous and ultimately among the most lucrative recordings Armstrong ever made, "That Lucky Old Sun" and "Blueberry Hill" had the singer backed by Gordon Jenkins' squarer-sounding big band augmented with a conventional angel cake choir. Then on September 30, 1949, Armstrong recorded with Sy Oliver's band again, this time in two duets with Billie Holiday, one of his greatest admirers. Note that "My Sweet Hunk o' Trash" and "You Can't Lose a Broken Heart" were both composed by James P. Johnson, king of Harlem stride piano. The next chapter in the Armstrong story consists of pure, unadulterated traditional jazz played by a new edition of his All-Stars. The nucleus of Jack Teagarden, Barney Bigard, and Arvell Shaw was greatly fortified by the presence of pianist Earl Hines and percussionist Cozy Cole. Seven of these titles were initially issued in two parts owing to the limitations of the 10" phonograph record. Happily, and thanks to careful editing, Classics now presents each selection as a continuous extended performance, most effectively in the case of the nearly nine-minute "Bugle Call Rag." Garnished with a laid-back "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" and a smokin' five-minute dash through "Panama," these are some of the best Armstrong jams of the early '50s.   arwulf arwulf       Tracklist + Credits :

LOUIS ARMSTRONG – 1950-1951 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1233 (2002) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This chapter in the Chronological Classics Louis Armstrong series continues during a particularly fertile period with Armstrong surrounded by great sidemen and performing with others. A pair of tracks here, "Life Is So Peculiar" and "You Rascal You," showcase Satchmo in front of Louis Jordan's Tympani 5, and "Dream a Little Dream of Me" and "Can Anyone Explain?" are duets with Ella Fitzgerald. The sidemen on Armstrong's dates are a venerable crew from a fascinating era, and include Barney Bigard, Jack Teagarden, Cozy Cole, Hank Jones, Ray Brown, and Earl Hines, among others. There are also three Armstrong-led cuts featuring Velma Middleton on vocals: "Baby, It's Cold Outside," "The Hucklebuck," and the collection's closer, "Big Daddy Blues."  -> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa'<-
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DJANGO REINHARDT – 1944-1946 | The Classics Chronological Series – 945 (1997) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Thanks to a certain high ranking Nazi official whose penchant for jazz music caused him to violate the aggressively racist policies of his own government, Django Reinhardt was able to perform his music throughout most of the Occupation without being deported, involuntarily sterilized, or exterminated along with many of his fellow Gypsies. Nevertheless, weary of an imposed police state and shaken by Allied "precision" bombardment of Paris, Reinhardt and his second wife Naguine attempted to flee to Switzerland by way of Thonon-les-Bains at Lac Leman in 1943. Apprehended and jailed at Thonon, they were set free by the same fortuitous fluke in the Nazi establishment. Given the disruptive nature of these harrowing circumstances, it is not surprising that the only recordings known to have been made with Reinhardt in attendance during the year 1944 are three sides cut on November 3, almost exactly six months after the birth of Babik Reinhardt. Performed by a big band led by tenor saxophonist Noel Chiboust, they constitute the first three selections on the thirteenth volume in Django Reinhardt's portion of the Classics Chronological Series. Recorded in January 1945, tracks four through seven are attributed to the Jazz Club Mystery Hot Band, a mostly American group consisting of Reinhardt, trumpeter Bernie Privin, tenor saxophonist Peanuts Hucko, pianist Mel Powell, bassist Joe Schulman, and drummer Ray McKinley. The Classics chronology skips over a number of recordings that Reinhardt made during 1945, including an unaccompanied guitar solo and performances by several groups of varying size. A handful of titles, played by the U.S. Air Transport Command Band under the direction of Sgt. Jack Platt, do appear as tracks 8-11. The producers of this collection chose to "cut to the chase" by delving into the first months of 1946 when Reinhardt recorded with two distinctively different Hot Club Quintettes. On January 31 and February 1 he was reunited with violinist Stéphane Grappelli in London (tracks 12-19), and on May 15 he cut four sides with a reconfigured Quintette without a violinist and greatly modernized by the innovative technique of clarinetist/alto saxophonist Hubert Rostaing (tracks 20-23). Reinhardt's postwar career (1945-1953) was characterized by what seems in retrospect to have been a puzzling gradual wane in popularity. This appears to have set in at once, for his response to a paucity of regular work during the spring of 1946 led Reinhardt to invest in a set of brushes, paints, and other materials necessary for quiet reflection as he began expanding his improvisational energies to include light as well as sound as his personal system of poetics evolved from the audible to the visual. This is a useful if incomplete sampling of Reinhardt's late wartime and immediate postwar recordings. For a more complete chronology of Reinhardt's entire surviving musical legacy, consult the exhaustively thorough Integrale series, available in 20 double-disc volumes from Fremeaux & Associes. arwulf arwulf     Tracklist :

SY OLIVER AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1949-1952 | The Chronogical Classics – 1365 (2004) FLAC (tracks), lossless

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ELLA FITZGERALD – 1949 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1153 (1999) FLAC (tracks), lossless

In her live performances of 1949, Ella Fitzgerald (who turned 33 that year) often showed the influence of bebop in her phrasing and improvising. However, her studio recordings for Decca (all 21 selections that she cut that year on are on this CD) are surprisingly absent of bebop, instead alternating ballads and bluish pieces with a few swing-oriented numbers. Fitzgerald sounds typically wonderful and cheerful, but the arrangements (for the orchestras of Sy Oliver, Gordwillon Jenkins, and Sonny Burke) are often closer to middle-of-the-road pop music than to jazz. Fitzgerald sounds in fine form on such numbers as "Old Mother Hubbard," "Happy Talk," "Black Coffee," "In the Evening," and "I Hadn't Anyone Till You," imitating Louis Armstrong a bit on "Basin Street Blues." In addition, there are two numbers with Louis Jordan's Tympany Five (including "Baby It's Cold Outside") and two forgettable selections with the Mills Brothers. This CD is a real gap-filler (few of these selections are ever reissued), but not essential. Scott Yanow
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ELLA FITZGERALD – 1951 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1261 (2002) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Most of Ella Fitzgerald's recordings from 1951 (all of which are on this CD) are obscure and have rarely been reissued. "The First Lady of the American Song" turned 34 that year and was in peak form, as she would be throughout the decade. The music ranges from novelties ("Two Little Men In A Flying Saucer," and a cover of "Come On-A My House,") to worthy versions of "Love You Madly," "Smooth Sailing," and "Baby Doll." The settings range from tunes with Sy Oliver's Orchestra and occasional background singers, to a date with Hank Jones, and four lesser-known but delightful duets with Louis Armstrong: "Necessary Evil," "Oops," "Would You Like To Take A Walk," and "Who Walks In When I Walk Out." Scott Yanow
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BENNY GOODMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1941-1942 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1303 (2003) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

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CHARLIE BARNET AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1940, Vol. 2 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1439 (2007) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

 Volume seven in the complete Classics Charlie Barnet chronology contains what appear to be all of the records he made for Victor's budget-priced Bluebird series between May 8 and September 17, 1940. Barnet, a rich kid from New York, began making records with his big band in 1933, gradually outgrowing the conventions of polite pop music and mastering the soprano, alto and tenor saxophones while following in the footsteps of great Afro-American bandleaders like Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford and Count Basie. When the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles burned down on October 2, 1939, all of the Barnet orchestra's instruments and sheet music were completely incinerated. Barnet was able to borrow arrangements from Basie and Benny Goodman; trumpeter Billy May also conveniently produced charts and original compositions for the band, including the expansive and very impressionistic six-and-a-half minute "Wings over Manhattan." Vocalists heard on this compilation are Mary Ann McCall, Larry Taylor and Harriet Clark. Instrumental gems include "No Name Jive"; Ellington's "Rockin' in Rhythm," "The Sergeant Was Shy" and "Ring Dem Bells"; a Harlan Leonard tune called "Southern Fried" (also known as "Hairy Joe Jump") and the original rendition of the famous "Pompton Turnpike." Although "Six Lessons from Madame La Zonga" and Barnet's "The Reverie of a Moax" are runners up for weirdest title, the prize in this category goes to "Wild Mab of the Fish Pond"; the obscure reference might very well have something to do with Percy Bysshe Shelley (and not, hopefully, with his ill-fated wife Harriet Westbrook). arwulf arwulf
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ARTIE SHAW AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1939, Vol. 2 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1045 (1999) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Although the pressure of being a sudden celebrity and the leader of America's number one swing band was clearly getting to Artie Shaw in 1939, his band was excellent, his playing was top-notch, and his solidly selling records kept on being made. The sixth Classics CD in their Artie Shaw series (which reissues all of the master takes from the clarinetist's sessions as a leader) includes such fine numbers as "One Night Stand," "One Foot in the Gutter," "Traffic Jam," "Serenade to a Savage," and Shaw's "Moonray." The key players include Shaw, tenorman Georgie Auld, singer Helen Forrest, drummer Buddy Rich, and Tony Pastor on tenor and vocals. Scott Yanow
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