DIZZY GILLESPIE – Jambo Caribe (1964-1998) RM | FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

The populist Dizzy Gillespie gets full rein in this lively, happy collection of tunes exploring rhythms and idioms from the Caribbean. Gillespie is in an ebullient mood, even offering some sly lead calypso vocals on three numbers (perhaps his lighthearted presidential "campaign" of 1964 contributed to the high spirits; the sessions began a day after Election Day). Much of the material comes from Dizzy's band on the session -- which includes the formidable James Moody on tenor and flute, Kenny Barron on piano, and percussionist Kansas Fields -- and there are some genuine calypsos by Joe Willoughby to round out the package. The cut with the biggest quota of fun is "Barbados Carnival," with guitarist Chris White doubling as a calypso singer, and the lengthy "Trinidad, Goodbye" offers the largest amount of straight-ahead playing. This slice of enjoyable minor Gillespie, originally on Limelight, was reissued on Verve with the original cover on its By Request series in 1998. Richard S. Ginell
Tracklist  :
1 Fiesta Mo-Jo 3:50
Written-By – Dizzy Gillespie
2 Barbados Carnival 3:15
Written-By – Chris White
3 Jambo 5:00
Written-By – Dizzy Gillespie
4 Trinidad, Hello 4:20
Composed By – Kenny Barron
5 Poor Joe 2:39
Composed By – Joe Willoughby
6 And Then She Stopped 3:17
Written-By – Dizzy Gillespie
7 Don't Try To Keep Up With The Joneses 2:35
Composed By – Joe Willoughby
8 Trinidad, Goodbye 8:27
Written-By – Kenny Barron
Credits
Bass, Guitar, Vocals – Chris White
Bass, Piano – Kenny Barron
Drums – Rudy Collins
Percussion – Kansas Fields
Tenor Saxophone, Flute – James Moody
Trumpet, Vocals – Dizzy Gillespie 

BUCK CLAYTON – 1953 | The Chronogical Classics – 1394 (2005) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The third installment in the Classics Buck Clayton chronology documents the trumpeter's European adventures with recordings made between April 2 and October 21, 1953. Clayton had toured Europe in 1949, and after savoring the social atmosphere in the U.S. was happy to head back to France in February 1953 with drummer Kansas Fields, pianist Red Richards, and trombonist Big Chief Russell Moore, a Native American whose Pima heritage places his ancestral turf within the Gila and Salt River valleys in southern Arizona. In addition to playing live gigs with Mezz Mezzrow, the North Americans made phonograph records. On April 2, the Buck Clayton Quintet cut five sides for the Vogue label; "Patricia's Blues" is a particularly attractive example of Clayton at his most subtle, sensual, and soulful. A concert performance by this band led by Mezzrow with Gene Sedric in the front line took place at the Theatre de Champs-Elysee near the end of May. The recordings made at that event have been reissued under Mezzrow's name. Buck Clayton and Kansas Fields participated in four different recording sessions in Brussels, Belgium, between August and October, 1953. These would be the only records ever released under the name of Marion Joseph "Taps" Miller, a trumpeter and rowdy vocalist who became marginally famous for a minute when Count Basie named a tune after him in 1944. The heavy-handed Belgian musicians who participated in these sessions made enough noise to match Miller's extremely boisterous vocals. "Hot Dog," with its repeated demands for mustard and pickles, epitomizes Miller's approach to entertainment. Fortunately, tracks 16-23 find Clayton sitting in with a big band led by Django Reinhardt session man Alix Combelle, an intelligent, hip, and sophisticated tenor saxophonist whose complete chronological recordings occupy their own niche in the Classics Chronological series. arwulf arwulf  
Tracklist + Credits :

MEZZ MEZZROW – 1951-1953 | The Chronogical Classics – 1393 (2005) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

 This seventh volume in the Chronological Classics series documenting the wildly flamboyant personality Mezz Mezzrow is finally nearing the end, focusing in on the last decade of his life as a recording artist; he lived for another 14 years after he stopped. This set features Mezzrow in the company of Claude Bolling, Red Richards, Buck Clayton, Red Richards, Mowgli Jospin, Big Chief Russell Moore, Zutty Singleton and others. The program is all the old tunes, played and played again, from Mezzrow's own minor classic "Really the Blues" (the title of his memoir as well), to "Royal Garden Blues," "When the Saints Go Marching In," "Honeysuckle Rose" and many more; the feel is relaxed and easy. There is little real innovation going on here, but the sound is terrific and the tunes themselves are timeless. Mezzrow collectors will want this addition to the catalog.
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Tracklist + Credits :

MEZZ MEZZROW – 1953-1954 | The Chronogical Classics – 1449 (2007) FLAC (tracks), lossless

Volume eight in the Mezz Mezzrow department of the Classics Chronological Series contains selected recordings cut for the Vogue label between March 1, 1953 and November 21, 1954 in Paris, France. Mezz sounds entirely at home as leader and participant in 17 relaxed rituals of old-fashioned jazz, including ten minutes of the "Basin Street Blues" and a nine-minute romp through the changes of "I Can't Give You Anything But Love." Like volume seven, this is an exciting and entertaining if technically incomplete representation of the artist's professional activity during the designated time period. The first two tracks are excerpts from matinee and evening concerts given at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees on March 1, 1953. Although other excerpts appeared at the end of volume seven, the omission of numerous titles from these gigs leaves a gap in the Mezzrow discographical timeline that is uncharacteristic of the Classics reissue label. Tracks three-nine were recorded in Paris on April 2, 1953, ten-fourteen from a little known session featuring Fats Waller's chief saxophonist Eugene "Honeybear" Sedric (without a doubt some of the best Sedric ever preserved on record!) and the final three jams were taped at the Salle Pleyel concert hall on November 21, 1954 with pianist Claude Bolling, drummer man Freddie Moore, trombonist Jimmy Archey, and one of the first trumpeters ever to make records with Jelly Roll Morton, the great Lee Collins. Other key participants in this excellent collection of traditional New Orleans/Chicago styled jazz and swing are trumpeter Buck Clayton, trombonist Big Chief Russell Moore, pianist Red Richards, bassist Pierre Michelot, tap dancer Taps Miller, and primal jazz and blues drummer Kansas Fields. Once again, Mezzrow's amazing homegrown ability to surround himself with legendary jazzmen yields honest and intimate good-time music that comes across friendly and for real. arwulf arwulf  
Tracklist + Credits :

TEDDY WILSON – 1947-1950 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1224 (2002) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The eleventh volume in the extensive Classics Teddy Wilson chronology combines the last of his Musicraft recordings, cut in December 1947, with a pair of trio dates for Columbia that took place during the summer of 1950. As all of this excellent music has languished in obscurity for years, the producers of this series have once again done the world a gracious favor by taking the time to compile and reissue it for 21st century ears. The first four tracks, waxed on December 3, 1947, feature trumpeter Buck Clayton in perfect accord with Wilson, bassist Billy Taylor, Jr. and drummer Denzil Best. Between December 15 and 18, Wilson and Taylor returned to the studio with drummer William "Keg" Purnell to cut eight more sides, four of them garlanded with sweet vocals by Kay Penton. Because of his teaching duties at Juilliard, steady work as house pianist on the air at WNEW and periodic live performances with Benny Goodman, there are sizeable gaps in Teddy Wilson's discography during the period between 1946 and 1952. The largest of these -- two-and-a-half years -- separate the Musicraft and Columbia recordings heard on this compilation. On June 29, 1950 Teddy Wilson resumed recording as a leader for Columbia records, cutting seven relatively brief tracks with bassist Arvell Shaw and drummer "J.C. Heard." This leg of the chronology closes with four titles recorded on August 25, 1950 with bassist Al McKibbon and drummer Kansas Fields. arwulf arwulf  
Tracklist + Credits :

MARY LOU WILLIAMS – 1953-1954 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1417 (2006) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

In part because it didn't have any of her biggest hits, the 1964 album Queen of Soul is a relatively overlooked one in Etta James' discography, even for an artist whose LPs weren't all that well known. The ten songs are dependable early soul music, though the material isn't quite on the level of her best mid-'60s work. "I Wish Someone Would Care" is about the best tune, but James was beaten to the punch on that score by Irma Thomas, who not only recorded the original and superior version, but also wrote the song. The one track to bear a James writing credit ("Bobby Is His Name," co-penned with Ed Townsend) is a pretty lightweight, almost teen pop-influenced number; "That Man Belongs Back Here with Me," co-composed by noted tunesmith Clint Ballard, is fair but not great pop-soul with a jazzy touch; "Flight 101" has a tinge of melodrama, though James' typically strong vocal saves it. "Loving You More Every Day" has a satisfying blues-gospel feel, but much of this has dated orchestration, even the closing "Mellow Fellow," which has one of her trademark, throaty, drawn-out testifying openings. Perhaps some of the album's overall unevenness can be attributed to it having been taken from sessions done over a period of two years. Richie Unterberger  
Tracklist :
1    Mary Lou Williams Quartet–Sometimes I'm Happy    2:28
2    Mary Lou Williams Quartet–Monk's Tune    2:28
3    Don Carlos Meets Mary Lou–Why    4:19
4    Don Carlos Meets Mary Lou–Lullaby Of The Leaves    4:11
5    Don Carlos Meets Mary Lou–Just You, Just Me    2:35
6    Don Carlos Meets Mary Lou–Chicka Boom Blues    3:15
7    Don Carlos Meets Mary Lou–Mary's Waltz    2:58
8    Don Carlos Meets Mary Lou–O.W.    5:08
9    Don Carlos Meets Mary Lou–Moonglow    3:54
10    Don Carlos Meets Mary Lou–N.M.E. (New Musical Express)    3:26
11    Mary Lou Williams And Her Rhythm–Tire, Tire L'Aguille    2:35
12    Mary Lou Williams And Her Rhythm–Lover    3:03
13    Mary Lou Williams And Her Rhythm–En Ce Temps Là    3:20
14    Mary Lou Williams And Her Rhythm–Autumn In New York    2:32
15    Mary Lou Williams And Her Rhythm–Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea    2:18
16    Mary Lou Williams And Her Rhythm–Nicole    3:31
17    Mary Lou Williams And Her Rhythm–Carioca    2:40
18    Mary Lou Williams And Her Rhythm–There's A Small Hotel    3:12
19    Mary Lou Williams Et Ses Formations–Leg 'N' Lou    2:58
20    Mary Lou Williams Et Ses Formations–Gravel (Scratchin' In The Gravel)    3:35
21    Mary Lou Williams Et Ses Formations–Nancy Is In Love With The Colonel    3:12
22    Mary Lou Williams Et Ses Formations–Mary Lou Blues    2:5
Credits :    
Bass – Buddy Banks (tracks: 3 to 22), Rupert Nuese (tracks: 1, 2)
Drums – Gérard Pochonet (tracks: 3 to 10), Jean-Louis Viale (tracks: 11 to 18), Kansas Fields (tracks: 19 to 22), Tony Kinsey (tracks: 1, 2)
Guitar – Ray Dempsey (tracks: 1, 2)
Piano – Mary Lou Williams
Tenor Saxophone – Don Byas (tracks: 3 to 10), Ray Lawrence (tracks: 19 to 22)
Trumpet – Nelson Williams (tracks: 19 to 22)