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  
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TADD DAMERON – 1947-1949 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1106 (2000) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Although Tadd Dameron was a talented pianist, he never considered piano playing his strong point -- the bebopper was best known for his writing and arranging, and when he recorded as a leader (which wasn't all that often), Dameron was quite happy to let his sidemen take most of the solos. Dameron can hardly be accused of hogging the solo space on 1947-1949, a collection of small-group and big-band sides he recorded as a leader for Blue Note and Savoy, among others, from August 1947-April 1949. The material, most of it superb, falls into two main categories: hard-swinging bop instrumentals and romantic ballads featuring vocalists. On the instrumentals (which include "Our Delight," "Dameronia," "The Squirrel," "Lady Bird," and other Dameron originals), he features some of early bop's heavy-hitting soloists, including trumpeter Fats Navarro (a major influence on Clifford Brown), tenor saxman Wardell Gray, and alto saxman Ernie Henry (who, like Sonny Stitt, was a Charlie Parker disciple but not a clone). And Dameron's romantic side takes over when he features Kay Penton (a delightful though underexposed vocalist) on several ballads (including "What's New" and "Gone With the Wind") and employs the Billy Eckstine-influenced Kenny Hagood on "I Think I'll Go Away." Meanwhile, singer Rae Pearl (who later went by Rae Harrison) provides a wordless vocal on Dameron's dreamy "Casbah." Boasting some of Dameron's most essential work, this French release is recommended without hesitation to lovers of early bop. Alex Henderson  
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BENNY GOODMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1945 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1355 (2004) FLAC (tracks), lossless

It's easy to understand why Benny Goodman's recordings were so popular during the 1940s. The music was uplifting, the orchestra ran like a top, the leader was an exceptionally fine clarinetist, and he regularly employed pop vocalists with varying degrees of jazz ability, represented here by Jane Harvey, Bob Hayden, Kay Penton, and Dottie Reid. From the jazz head's point of view, this segment of the Goodman chronology is greatly enhanced by the presence of trombonist Trummy Young on all of the big-band tracks. Furthermore, Fletcher Henderson wrote the arrangements for "It's Only a Paper Moon" and "You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me." On the initial recording of Sunny Skylar's swanky "Gotta Be This or That," Goodman shared the vocal with Jane Harvey. The well-known two-part master take was sung by Goodman alone with a Red Norvo vibe solo and a brief episode for bowed bass and voice by Slam Stewart, whose every passage was mimicked vocally by Kay Penton and members of the band. A previously unreleased take, featuring a trombone solo and smooth vocal by Trummy Young, swings for five frowsy minutes and tapers off suddenly as the engineer runs out of room on the record. There are five excellent instrumental tracks on this compilation. Two sides played by the Sextet feature Teddy Wilson, Slam Stewart, and Red Norvo. Entrusted with the tasks of composing and arranging for the large ensemble, Mel Powell devised an intricate feature for Goodman's clarinet and called it "Clarinade"; this package contains a V-Disc version and the familiar Columbia take. The other big-band instrumental is a gorgeous rendition of "Love Walked In" arranged by Eddie Sauter. arwulf arwulf  
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