LENA HORNE — The Young Star (2002) RM | MONO | Bluebird's Best Series | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Lena Horne became an international celebrity as a teenager -- making her first record at 18 with Noble Sissle and his orchestra -- and in many ways her star never faded. Because her success as a singer and actress paved the way for so many African-American divas in later decades, it's easy to overlook the simple vocal magic that got the legend rolling. This is one of the new Bluebird series' best compilations, a compendium of early-'40s classics that define the era. Sometimes her approach was ironic. Even if the mood of "Stormy Weather" is dark, the innocence of her voice conveys a rich optimism and whimsy. On these selections, which include "What Is This Thing Called Love?" and a hypnotic take on the Rodgers & Hart gem "Where or When?," her tone is light and flowing, with a gentle, sexy lisp in certain spots. The last three tracks, from January 1944, are so rare and obscure that the location of the recording and the backing orchestra are unknown. A must for the Horne fan or for folks who think Judy Garland and Billie Holiday were the only vocal standard setters of the time. Jonathan Widran   

Tracklist :
1    Stormy Weather 3:25
Composed By – Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler
Conductor [Orchestra Conducted By] – Lou Bring
2    What Is This Thing Called Love? 2:43
Composed By – Cole Porter
Conductor [Orchestra Conducted By] – Lou Bring
3    Ill Wind (You're Blowin' Me No Good) 2:33
Composed By – Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler
Conductor [Orchestra Conducted By] – Lou Bring
4    The Man I Love 3:23
Composed By – George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin
Conductor [Orchestra Conducted By] – Lou Bring
5    Where Or When? 2:45
Composed By – Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers
Conductor [Orchestra Conducted By] – Lou Bring
6    I Got A Right To Sing The Blues 3:14
Composed By – Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler
Conductor [Orchestra Conducted By] – Lou Bring
7    Mad About The Boy 2:59
Composed By – Noel Coward
Conductor [Orchestra Conducted By] – Lou Bring
8    Moanin' Low 2:45
Composed By – Howard Dietz, Ralph Rainger
Conductor [Orchestra Conducted By] – Lou Bring
9    As Long As I Live 2:51
Composed By – Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler
Conductor [Orchestra Conducted By] – Horace Henderson
Drums [Featuring] – Big Sid Catlett
Guitar [Featuring] – Dave Barbour
Piano [Featuring] – Lennie Hayton
Tenor Saxophone [Featuring] – Illinois Jacquet
10    I Ain't Got Nothin' But The Blues 2:56
Composed By – Don George, Duke Ellington, Larry Fotin
Conductor [Orchestra Conducted By] – Horace Henderson
Drums [Featuring] – Big Sid Catlett
Guitar [Featuring] – Dave Barbour
Piano [Featuring] – Lennie Hayton
Tenor Saxophone [Featuring] – Illinois Jacquet
11    I Didn't Know About You 3:09
Composed By – Bob Russell, Duke Ellington
Conductor [Orchestra Conducted By] – Horace Henderson
Drums [Featuring] – Big Sid Catlett
Guitar [Featuring] – Dave Barbour
Piano [Featuring] – Lennie Hayton
Tenor Saxophone [Featuring] – Illinois Jacquet
12    One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) 3:25
Composed By – Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer
Conductor [Orchestra Conducted By] – Horace Henderson
Drums [Featuring] – Big Sid Catlett
Guitar [Featuring] – Dave Barbour
Piano [Featuring] – Lennie Hayton
Tenor Saxophone [Featuring] – Illinois Jacquet
13    Suddenly It's Spring 2:37
Composed By – Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke
14    Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me 2:58
Composed By – Bob Russell, Duke Ellington
15    I'll Be Around 2:40
Composed By – Alec Wilder

RED NORVO AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1936-1937 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1123 (2000) FLAC (tracks), lossless

The first two selections on this chronological reissue of Red Norvo's early recordings has the xylophonist jamming "I Got Rhythm" and "Lady Be Good" in an octet in early 1936. Otherwise he is featured with his 12 to 13 piece big band on 21 selections, 13 of which have vocals by his wife Mildred Bailey (including "A Porter's Love Song to a Chambermaid," "It's Love I'm After," "Smoke Dreams," and "Slummin' on Park Avenue"). The instrumentals are highlighted by "I Know That You Know," "Remember" (famous for trumpeter Stew Pletcher's odd solo), "I Would Do Anything for You," and "Jiving the Jeep." Eddie Sauter's arrangements and Norvo's xylophone gave the big band its own unique musical personality. Scott Yanow
Tracklist + Credits :

RED NORVO AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1945-1947 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1386 (2005) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

 Volume eight in the Classics Red Norvo chronology opens with two extended jams from Timme Rosenkrantz's Town Hall Jazz Concert of June 9, 1945. A wild romp on "Seven Come Eleven" runs for ten-and-a-half minutes while "In a Mellotone" lasts more than a quarter-of-an-hour. This particular Town Hall event was audio-documented by Milt Gabler and the recordings eventually appeared on his Commodore record label. Unlike most of the concerts held at Town Hall during the '40s and organized by staunch traditionalist Eddie Condon, this gig resounded with music of a slightly more modern and bop-informed nature, with Specs Powell, Slam Stewart, Remo Palmieri, Teddy Wilson, and Red Norvo providing steamy support for trumpeter Shorty Rogers, trombonist Eddie Bert, clarinetist Aaron Sachs, and tenor saxophonist Flip Phillips, who cuts loose in ways that anticipate his behavior at JATP concerts a few years later. The inclusion of these two precious live jams makes this installment in the Norvo chronology extra special. Most of the rest of the material was recorded for the Capitol label in Los Angeles between October 13 and December 18, 1947. For the October 13 session the band, billed as "Ten Cats and a Mouse," engaged in a peculiar experiment, as everybody swapped instruments. This meant, for example, that Red Norvo played piano, Paul Weston blew the clarinet, Benny Carter played tenor sax, and Peggy Lee (the "Mouse") played drums! On the following day, the instruments all returned to their rightful owners and Kansas City legend Jesse Price was behind the drum kit. On November 28, 1947, Norvo's Septet included cool guitarist Barney Kessel and young saxophonists Dexter Gordon and Jimmy Giuffre, as well as visionary pianist Dodo Marmarosa. Both "I'll Follow You" and "Bop!" are more modern-sounding than anything Norvo had previously presented to the public. The fascinating overlap between bop and R&B is evident on the other two tracks from this date, issued as by Jesse Price and his Blues Band, with shout blues vocals by Price. For the two ultra-modern sessions from mid-December 1947, Norvo switched back to the drier sound of the xylophone in front of smooth ensembles playing arrangements (suitable for film noir soundtrack purposes) written by Johnny Thompson. Even the old "Twelfth Street Rag," handled here by an ensemble equipped with a pair of French horns, comes across as bracingly futuristic. One expects Art Pepper and Warned Marsh to come in at any moment. This excellent compilation closes with two previously omitted V-Disc jams from November 1944 and February 1945, originally issued under Paul Baron's name but featuring the vibraphone of Red Norvo. arwulf arwulf  
Tracklist + Credits :

ANITA O'DAY – 1945-1950 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1274 (2002) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The Classics volume on Anita O'Day covering 1945 through 1950 takes her through the first five years of her solo career -- after her breakout with Gene Krupa (and "Let Me Off Uptown"), but before the immense success of her Verve years. The only hit present is the bright novelty "Hi Ho Trailus Boot Whip," but fortunately O'Day didn't record many castoffs then; instead, par for the course during the late '40s was her bluesy romp version of "What Is This Thing Called Love?," another Cole Porter tune recorded at the same session. Her sweetly swinging versions of "Them There Eyes" and "I Told Ya I Love You, Now Get Out" are excellent, and the backing includes high-caliber musicians Benny Carter, Dave Barbour, and pianist/arranger Ralph Burns. John Bush          Tracklist + Credits :

BENNY GOODMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1946-1947 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1385 (2005) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Volume 29 in the Classics Benny Goodman chronology lands right on the cusp of this bandleader's transition from Columbia to Capitol and his stylistic progression from swing to bop. The Columbia sides, cut between August 29 and October 22, 1946, are a mixed bag of vocal pop, mood music with strings, jazz standards played by a sextet and big-band dance tunes including a lively version of "Under the Double Eagle," arranged by pianist Joe Bushkin and newly titled as "Benjie's Bubble." Audible only as one-fifth of the unified sax section, tenor saxophonist and Lester Young devotee Zoot Sims worked with Goodman during October 1946 without ever getting a chance to solo on record. Guitarist Barney Kessel did, right after Eve Young's vocal on "That's the Beginning of the End." Recorded at the tail-end of that same session on October 22, 1946, two energetic, bop-inflected sextet performances clearly preface the stylistic territory that lay ahead. Here Kessel sounds at home in the company of vibraphonist Johnny White, pianist Joe Bushkin, bassist Harry Babasin and drummer Louie Bellson. The beginning of Goodman's tenure as a Capitol recording artist is documented here with records he made between January 28 and March 28, 1947. The first Capitol session opens with Mary Lou Williams' delightfully modernistic opus "Lonely Moments." The flip side features group whistling scored for the entire band on her "Whistle Blues." A survey of personnel reveals an almost entirely reconstituted 17-piece ensemble, with vocals by Johnny Mercer and Matt Dennis. Tracks 15 through 25 are trio, quartet and quintet exercises largely featuring the facile jazz accordion of Ernice Felice, a squeezebox innovator who came up in San Jose, CA. Quite different from Goodman's more conventional Columbia recordings. arwulf arwulf  
Tracklist :

ARTIE SHAW AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1946-1950 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1368 (2004) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist + Credits :

BOB HOWARD AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1936-1937 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1076 (1999) | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Bob Howard did a lot of recording in the mid-'30s for Decca, with the hope that his Fats Waller-influenced jive singing would catch on as Waller's records had for Victor. It did not work out, but Howard did record enough material to fill up three CDs. This particular set has the 21 selections that he cut during five sessions in 1936-1937. Howard, who also played piano, sticks here exclusively to singing and is joined by sextets/septets that often include trumpeter Marty Marsalis, Sid Trucker, or Slats Long on clarinet and Zinky Cohn or Frank Froeba on piano. The music (which includes "Bojangles of Harlem," "Copper Colored Gal," "Me, Myself And I," "Penny Wise and Pound Foolish," and "He's a Gypsy From Poughkeepsie") is pleasing in small doses but a bit too derivative for extensive listening. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1     Bojangles of Harlem 2:42
Dorothy Fields / Jerome Kern
2     Mendel's Son's Swing Song 2:53
Erard
3     Sing Baby Sing 2:57
Channing Pollack / Jack Yellen
4     Swinging on the Moon 3:16
Mel Tormé / Joseph Young
5     Copper Colored Gal 2:50
J. Fred Coots / Benny Davis
6     That's What You Mean to Me 3:14
J. Fred Coots / Benny Davis
7     Hop, Skip and Jump 2:36
Bloch / Chancer         
8     You're Giving Me a Song and a Dance 2:52
Milton Ager / Marty Symes
9     Me, Myself and I 3:13
Irving Gordon / Alvin Kaufman / Allan Roberts
10     Spring Cleaning 2:27
Teddy Powell / Walter Samuels / Leonard Whitcup
11     You Can't Take It With You 2:50
Wes Hein
12     You're Just a Little Diff'rent 2:37
Mandell / Littau    
13     Bundle of Love 2:55
Joyner     
14     You're Precious to Me 2:56
Ballard / Pellish / Brusiloff
15     Fan My Brow 2:44
Unknown
16     Formal Night Harlem 3:10
Shuman / Faro / Leman     
17     He's a Gyspy from Poughkeepsie 2:49
Bud Green
18     Easy Living 2:44
Ralph Rainger / Leo Robin
19     I'll Take the Key and Lock You Up 2:44
Tinturin /  Lawrence / Howell    
20     Sing and Be Happy 2:36
Akst / Clare
21     Penny Wise and Pound Foolish 2:31
Fred Rose

BENNY CARTER WITH BEN WEBSTER & BARNEY BIGARD - B.B.B. & Co. (1962-1992) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

One of Benny Carter's last jazz recordings before he became totally immersed in writing for the studios, this set matches his alto and trumpet with tenor great Ben Webster, clarinetist Barney Bigard and trumpeter Shorty Sherock on a pair of lengthy blues and Carter's "Lula" and "When Lights Are Low." All of the swing all-stars are in fine form, making one wish that they were not being so neglected by critics and fans alike during this era; Webster soon left the U.S. permanently for Europe. Although not essential, this set is fun. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1    Opening Blues 10:10
Written-By – Leonard Feather
2    Lula 7:42
Written-By – Benny Carter
3    When Lights Are Low 4:42
Written-By – Benny Carter
4    You Can't Tell The Difference When The Sun Goes Down Blues 12:05
Written-By – Feather
Credits :
Alto Saxophone, Trumpet – Benny Carter
Bass – Leroy Vinnegar
Clarinet – Barney Bigard
Drums – Mel Lewis
Guitar – Dave Barbour
Liner Notes – Leonard Feather
Piano – Jimmy Rowles
Tenor Saxophone – Ben Webster
Trumpet – Shorty Sherock