BOBBY SCOTT — The Compositions Of Bobby Scott (1955-2014) RM | Serie Bethlehem Album Collection 1000 – 126 | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :

1    Dot    3:38
2    Kwan Youen    2:57
3    Moon Tan    3:49
4    Betty    4:16
5    Aunt Sarah    4:10
6    Cerebellum    4:09
7    Wigwam    2:19
8    The Creed    4:03
9    Table Cloth Stomp    2:58
10    A Parable    2:59
11    The Wig    2:35
12    Count Bill    2:45
– BONUS TRACK –
13    Makin' Whoopee    4:36
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Charlie Mariano (tracks: 2, 7 to 12), Hal McKusick (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6)
Baritone Saxophone – Al Epstein (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6), Jimmy Giuffre (tracks: 2, 7 to 12)
Bass – Max Bennett (tracks: 2, 7 to 12), Milt Hinton (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6)
Conductor – Bobby Scott (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6)
Drums – Osie Johnson (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6), Stan Levey (tracks: 2, 7 to 12)
Piano – Bobby Scott (tracks: 2, 7 to 12)
Tenor Saxophone – Bill Holman (tracks: 2, 7 to 12)
Trombone – Eddie Bert (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6), Frank Rosolino (tracks: 2, 7 to 12)
Trumpet – Conte Candoli (tracks: 2, 7 to 12), Ronnie Woellmer (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6)

BOB BROOKMEYER | JIMMY CLEVELAND | FRANK ROSOLINO — The Trombones Inc. (1958-2007) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

 Each of the selections on this set has between seven and a dozen trombonists along with a rhythm section. The first five selections were recorded with East Coast musicians and the next six with players from the West Coast but, truth be told, there is no real difference in the style of music. The arrangements of J.J. Johnson, Warren Barker and Marty Paich are strictly straight-ahead with an emphasis on the sound of the trombone sections. There are many concise solos along the way but the only standouts are Frank Rosolino and Jimmy Cleveland, as most of the other individual spots are brief. The final number, "I Found a New Baby," was not on the original LP and was apparently recorded half on the East Coast and half on the West, a discographer's nightmare but pointing to the unity of this project. The music is fun and very much in the idiom of 1950s J.J. Johnson although Johnson does not actually play a note on this project. Scott Yanow   Tracklist & Credits :

COLEMAN HAWKINS - 1953-1954 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1416 (2006) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Following someone's career session by session reveals the best and the very worst in performance, repertoire, production, and general working conditions. The segment of Coleman Hawkins' time line beginning with the material he waxed for Al Benson's Parrot record label in Chicago during August of 1953 and ending halfway through his superb Jazztone All Stars date on November 8, 1954, is a case in point. At the end of the summer of 1953, Hawkins was working a steady gig at Chicago's Toast of the Town club. Accepting Benson's invitation to make records, Hawkins waded through a dozen titles, four of which would be released as 78 and/or 45-rpm singles, with "I'll Follow My Secret Heart" mistakenly entitled "I'll Follow My Sacred Heart." The remaining eight tracks from this date were eventually bought up by Savoy and issued on LP. Coleman Hawkins was a brilliant improviser, an archetype, and a gentleman. Surrounded by modestly able, well-intentioned players, he swung dutifully through this session, sounding as strong and sure as ever in less than optimum circumstances. Les Strand's boppish organ noodling casts a peculiar pallor over the proceedings, soon to be exacerbated by a weird vocal choir and an unidentified pianist who attempts to coax music out of a preposterous upright piano that sounds as though it had been dragged out of a broom closet at the last minute. The general effect might be compared with the kind of a malaise that could be brought on by cheap rye whiskey cut with lukewarm tap water. Following on the heels of this mess, the six tracks that close this portion of the Classics Coleman Hawkins chronology have the texture and flavor of gourmet cuisine and rare port wine. Flanked by trumpeter Emmett Berry and trombonist Eddie Bert and backed by Billy Taylor, Milt Hinton, and Jo Jones, Hawkins was able to relax and blow some honest jazz with his dignity intact. These recordings -- expanded to durations in excess of five and six minutes on the new LP format -- are especially valuable for the presence of Emmett Berry, a warm and gifted balladeer, as he demonstrates beautifully during nearly seven minutes devoted to "Out of Nowhere." arwulf arwulf    Tracklist + Credits :

STAN KENTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA - 1947 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1011 (1998) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Bucking the tide while beginning to surf on a wave of increasingly mannered modernity, Stan Kenton's orchestra maintained its popularity during the post-WWII decline of the big bands. Volume four in the Classics Stan Kenton chronology presents all of his Capitol recordings made between January 2 and September 24, 1947. June Christy continued to be the featured vocalist, often backed by Kenton's newly formed vocal group, the Pastels. Dave Lambert was the director of this ensemble and sang with them on at least the first three tracks heard here. Noteworthy instrumentalists present in Kenton's 19-piece band during 1947 were drummer Shelly Manne, trombonists Kai Winding and Eddie Bert, as well as saxophonists Vido Musso, Boots Mussulli and the largely unknown George Weidler, who demonstrated impressive skill and dexterity on the arresting "Elegy for Alto." Kenton, who is known to have been obsessed with the notion that he was "greater than Duke Ellington," had a penchant for emulating and (he thought) one-upping African-American musicians. This seems to have manifested itself in "Machito," a spiced up portrait devised by Pete Rugolo soon after Kenton's band shared the bill with Machito's Afro Cuban Salseros at a Town Hall concert in New York. Dizzy Gillespie had this to say about Kenton and the postwar big band scene: "By 1947, a lotta bands had begun to imitate our style of playing. And some of them, especially the white bands like Stan Kenton's, did better in America, commercially, than we could at that time with segregation. No one could take our style, but we had to stay in existence to keep the style alive. They had us so penned up within the concept of race that a colored big band wasn't all that economically feasible, unless you were playing and doing just what the people ordered." Living and working within this kind of a social environment, it is unfortunate that Stan Kenton sometimes exacerbated the problem by stating publicly that white jazz musicians were victims of racial discrimination! Sadly, this sort of twisted ignorant logic has survived into the 21st century. arwulf arwulf
Tracklist :

STAN KENTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1950-1951 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1255 (2002) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Illness, exhaustion and a national recording ban imposed by executives heading the American Federation of Musicians forced Stan Kenton to disband and withdraw from the music scene in December 1948. The hiatus lasted until February 1950, when he resumed making records for the Capitol label (see Classics 1185, Stan Kenton & His Orchestra 1950). Classics 1255, 1950-1951, which is the seventh volume in the Classics Kenton chronology, contains all of the recordings he made with his big band between May 18 1950 and March 20 1951. By and large, Kenton's music sounded better than ever during this period. His 37-piece Innovations Orchestra, which nearly bankrupted him when he took it on a national tour that set him back something like two hundred grand, performed attention-getting music using ambitiously conceived "progressive" arrangements. Kenton shared composing and arranging duties with Laurindo Almeida, Shorty Rogers and the ever-imaginative Pete Rugolo. In addition to dynamic studies focusing upon the brass and string sections, as well as the cello department in particular, a series of pieces were created as portraits of bandmembers June Christy, Art Pepper, Maynard Ferguson and Shelly Manne. Two tracks cut on August 16 1950 feature pianist and vocalist Nat King Cole, who maintained his composure amid blasts from the brass and shouts from the band during "Orange Colored Sky" -- note that the vocal routine used by the band is a precise word-for-word imitation of the famously rowdy version by that "Incendiary Blonde" Betty Hutton. Kenton bowed to convention by employing a resonant crooner and Billy Eckstine impersonator by the name of Jay Johnson; there is also a wistful band vocal on "September Song." Kenton continued to employ Latin American percussionists to spice up his Caribbean-style arrangements; Cole Porter's "Love for Sale" works very nicely under the influence of Miguel Ramon Rivera's conga drumming. Lest anyone should complain that this band didn't play enough melodies that could be whistled or hummed, Kenton's old chum Vido Musso's tenor sax was featured on the familiar "Santa Lucia" and a dramatic rendering of "Vesti la Giubba," the famous aria from Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci. After capping all of this with the delightful "Artistry in Tango" and savoring Bud Shank's graceful solo on Pete Rugolo's "Theme for Alto," one can begin to understand how and why Kenton's early-'50s band enjoyed increasing popularity in its day. Much of what he'd recorded during the previous decade pales by comparison. arwulf arwulf  
Tracklist : 

WARDELL GRAY – 1946-1950 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1264 (2002) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Here you have the first installment in the Classics Wardell Gray chronology. His earliest appearances on record can be found on this label's surveys of Earl Hines and Billy Eckstine. Having this brilliant saxophonist's recordings laid out in exact chronological order is both a treat for the connoisseur and a perfect introduction for those who haven't yet had the pleasure. Wardell Gray's first session as a leader took place in Los Angeles on November 23, 1946, in the excellent company of pianist Dodo Marmarosa, bassist Red Callender, and alternate drummers Harold "Doc" West and Chuck Thompson. These Sunset recordings were not issued commercially and languished for years in obscurity. Here the Lester Young influence is palpable, and Gray was gracious enough to acknowledge his idol with "One for Prez." The next step of the chronology lands listeners in New York during April and May of 1948, whereupon the saxophonist made four brilliant sides for the Sittin' in With record label backed by a rhythm trio featuring pianist Al Haig, and then sat in as a member of a septet led by virtuoso percussionist J.C. Heard. While the quartet date spotlights Gray and Haig, the Heard band glows with a front line of trumpeter Joe Newman, trombonist Benny Green, baritone saxophonist Tate Houston, and Wardell Gray. (Anyone who really loves this kind of music will feel better just contemplating that lineup.) After a smart little study in bop scat singing by Buddy Stewart, the next installment is the justifiably famous New Jazz session of November 11, 1949. Securely supported by Al Haig, Tommy Potter, and Roy Haynes, on that day Wardell Gray blew some of the best jazz of his entire all-too-brief career. The producers of the Classics Chronological Series wisely opted to present only the master takes, although interested parties are encouraged to tap into Wardell Gray Memorial, Vol. 1 on Prestige for multiple takes of both "Southside" and especially "Twisted" for audible proof of this man's wealth of creativity and imagination. Speaking of Prestige, this mind-blowing treasure trove of great vintage bop closes with four sides recorded for that label in Detroit, MI, on April 25, 1950. It's the perfect closer for this potent little package of essential early modern jazz. Every track is strong and solid, tight and righ arwulf arwulf t.
All Tracks & Credits :

BILL EVANS & LEE KONITZ - Play The Arrangements Of Jimmy Giuffre (1959-2005) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This Lone Hill Jazz compilation presents the contents of two separate releases Lee Konitz Meets Jimmy Giuffre and You and Lee featuring Lee Konitz and Jimmy Giuffre (the latter playing baritone sax and contributing the arrangements) together, with pianist Bill Evans being the prominent sideman, though the ensemble includes tenor saxophonists Warne Marsh and Ted Brown (both of whom studied with Lennie Tristano alongside Konitz), and alto saxophonist Hal McKusick, though it is Konitz that is featured throughout the sessions from Lee Konitz Meets Jimmy Giuffre. Konitz contributed the quirky blues "Cork 'N' Bib," which features an unusually bluesy solo by Evans, plus an atonal offering by Marsh and Giuffre's robust single chorus. The breezy setting of "The Song Is You" is an excellent wrap to this spring session. Later the same year the musicians returned to the studio while adding guitarist Jim Hall to record the Verve LP You and Lee, which had not been reissued on CD until appearing in this anthology. Play the Arrangements of Jimmy Giuffre concentrates exclusively on Giuffre's arrangements of standards and while it isn't quite as wide-ranging as the earlier effort, Konitz is obviously inspired by the arrangements and excellent ensemble behind him. Ken Dryden  
Tracklist :
1    Palo Alto    3:08
 Konitz
2    When Your Lover Has Gone    5:02
 Swan
3    Cork 'N Bib    9:50
Konitz
4    Somp'm Outa' Nothin'    4:29
Giuffre
5    Someone To Watch Over Me    3:36
 George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin
6    Uncharted    3:55
Giuffre
7    Moonlight In Vermont    3:59
Suessdorf / Blackburn
8    The Song Is You    5:08
 Oscar Hammerstein II / Jerome Kern
9    Darn That Dream    1:58
De Lange / Van Heusen
10    Ev'rything I've Got (Belongs To You)    4:48
Rodgers / Hart
11    You Don't Know What Love Is    4:19
Raye / De Paul
12    I Didn't Know About You    4:00
Ellington / Russell
13    I'm Getting Sentimental Over You    3:57
 George Bassman / Ned Washington
14    You're Driving Me Crazy    4:11
Donaldson
15    You're Clear Out Of This World    4:08
Arlen / Mercer
16    The More I See You    3:39
Warren / Gordon
17    You Are Too Beautiful    4:12
Rodgers / Hart
Credits :   
Alto Saxophone – Hal McKusick (tracks: 1 to 9), Lee Konitz (tracks: 1 to 9)
Baritone Saxophone, Arranged By – Jimmy Giuffre (tracks: 1 to 17)
Bass – Buddy Clark (tracks: 1 to 8), Sonny Dallas (tracks: 10 to 17)
Drums – Ronnie Free (tracks: 1 to 8), Roy Haynes (tracks: 10 to 17)
Guitar – Jim Hall (tracks: 14 to 17)
Piano – Bill Evans (tracks: 1 to 8, 10 to 13)
Tenor Saxophone – Ted Brown (tracks: 1 to 9), Warne Marsh (tracks: 1 to 9)
Trombone – Bill Byers, Eddie Bert
Trumpet – Ernie Royal, Marky Markowitz, Phil Sunkel  

AL COHN - Al Cohn And His "Charlie's Tavern" Ensemble (1954-2008) FLAC (tracks), lossless

Al Cohn was something special, a gem among musicians. Writer, arranger, performer, leaderhe was one of those rare creative artists gifted with unlimited imagination and technical resources, with magnificent taste and an unerring insight into the expressiveness of East Coast jazz. In the 50s, the personnel he assembled for the four sessions that make up this CD often relaxed in Charlies Tavern, a congenial watering hole on Broadway across from Birdland, the jazz corner of the world. Despite slight personnel changes, each group was power-packed and, unlike many such outfits, married outstanding individuality to collective cohesiveness. With them, Cohn emphatically demonstrated the allembracing brilliance of the many-faceted talents that earned him the title Mr. Music. freshsoundrecords
Tracklist :
1     Inside Out 6:48
Al Cohn    
2     Autumn Leaves 6:09     
Al Cohn    
3     Serenade for Kathy 6:58
Al Cohn    
4     Move 7:16
Denzil Best    
5     Never Never Land 5:29
Styne / Conmden / Green    
6     Something for Lisa 6:26
Al Cohn    
7     Count Every Star 3:08
Bruno Coquatrix / Sammy Gallop    
8     La Ronde 2:46     
Cochran / Strauss    
9     Breakfast with Joe 4:07
Johnny Carisi    
10     This Reminds Me of You 3:15
Ralph Burns    
11     Cabin in the Sky 3:05     
Duke / Latouche    
12     Lullaby of Birdland 2:22
George Shearing    
13     Cohn My Way 2:54
Manny Albam
Notas.
Tracks #1-3, from the album "East Coast-West Coast Scene" (RCA Victor LJM-1020)
Tracks #4-11 & 13, from the album "Mr. Music" (RCA Victor LJM-1024)
Track #12, from the album "Lullaby of Birdland" (RCA Victor LJM-1146)
Personnel on #1-3:
Al Cohn (ts); Joe Newman (tp); Billy Byers; Eddie Bert (tb); Hal McKusick; Gene Quill (as); Sol Schlinger (bs); Sanford Gold (p); Billy Bauer (g); Milt Hinton (b); Osie Johnson (d).
Recorded in New York City, October 26, 1954
Personnel on #4-5:
Same personnel, but Frank Rehak, trombone, replaces Eddie Bert.
Recorded in New York City, December 22, 1954
Personnel on #6-8:
Same personnel, but Jimmy Raney, guitar, replaces Billy Bauer.
Recorded in New York City, December 23, 1954
Personnel on #9-13:
Al Cohn (ts); Joe Newman (tp); Billy Byers (tb); Gene Quill (as); Sol Schlinger (bs); Sanford Gold (p); Buddy Jones (b); Osie Johnson (d).
Recorded in New York City, December 23, 1954

COLEMAN HAWKINS - "The Bean" (1993) FLAC (tracks), lossless

Tracklist :
1    Coleman Hawkins Quintet–    The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise    3:49
2    Coleman Hawkins Quintet–    Ill Wind    5:34
3    Coleman Hawkins Quintet–    My Melancholy Baby    4:08
4    Coleman Hawkins Quintet–    In A Mellotone    4:45
5    Coleman Hawkins' Band–    Ain't Misbehavin'    7:34
6    Coleman Hawkins' Band–    Stompin' At The Savoy    6:18
7    Coleman Hawkins–    Midnight Sun    2:51
8    Coleman Hawkins Acc By Billy Byers And His Orchestra–    The Bean Stalks Again    3:25
9    Coleman Hawkins' Band–    Out Of Nowhere    6:46
10    Coleman Hawkins Acc By Neal Hefti's Orchestra–    Lucky Duck    2:44
11    Coleman Hawkins Quintet–    I Can't Get Started    2:52
12    Coleman Hawkins Acc By Neal Hefti's Orchestra–    Ruby    2:24
13    Coleman Hawkins And His Orchestra–    And So To Sleep Again    2:52
14    Coleman Hawkins' Band–    Get Happy    5:34
15    Coleman Hawkins–    Foolin' Around    1:20
16    Coleman Hawkins Quartet–    The Man I Love    6:48
Credits :
Bass – Ray Brown, Wendell Marshall
Drums – Alvin Stoller, Art Blakey, Jo Jones
Electric Guitar – Herb Ellis
Piano – Hank Jones, Horace Silver, Oscar Peterson
Tenor Saxophone – Coleman Hawkins, Zoot Sims
Trombone – Billy Byers, Eddie Bert, Urbie Green
Trumpet – Emmett Berry, Howard McGhee, Neal Hefti
Notas.
Track 5,6,9,14 New York, November 8, 1954
Track 1,2,3,4 Los Angeles, October 24, 1957
Track 7 New York, February 26, 1952
Track 8 New York, January 18, 1956
Track 10,12 New York, April 27, 1953
Track 11 New York, Birdland, September 6, 1952
Track 13 New York, October 19, 1951
Track 15,16 New York, Phytian Temple, November 7, 1955