STUFF SMITH — Stuff Smith, Dizzy Gillespie & Oscar Peterson (1957-1994) 2CD | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The great swing violinist Stuff Smith had not recorded as a leader since 1945 when producer Norman Granz got him to make three albums for Verve during a three-month period. Smith, who was still very much in his prime, recorded 11 selections (one previously unissued) with pianist Carl Perkins, either Red Callender or Curtis Counce on bass and Oscar Bradley or Frank Butler on drums (Have Violin Will Swing), jammed nine numbers (three released for the first time here) with the Oscar Peterson Trio (for the album titled Stuff Smith), and on five tunes teamed up with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and a rhythm section (Dizzy Gillespie-Stuff Smith); all are reissued in full on this generous two-CD set from 1994. In each of the settings, the violinist excels, making this an easily recommended and very satisfying release.
Scott Yanow   Tracklist + Credits :

DIZZY GILLESPIE | MILT JACKSON | JOE CARROLL — School Days (1957-2000) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

An old recording from 1951, this album has been re-released on Columbia from the old Savoy/Regent recordings. The blowing is insane in spots -- in "Pop's Confessin," Dizzy tries to hit the loudest, highest, longest note possible (à la Roy Eldridge). Joe Carroll provides some humor in his vocal work (often performing in duet with Dizzy). Milt Jackson actually goes without his vibes here, singing and playing piano. A young John Coltrane solos on “We Love to Boogie,” which was one of his first appearances on record. According to the original liner notes, other performers on the album are "probably" Bill Graham on baritone sax, Wynton Kelly on piano, Percy Heath on bass, and Al Jones, Kansas Fields, or Joe Hanes on drums. The interplay among trumpet, piano, and Joe Carroll's vocals is some of the best you'll hear from this time period (it gets even better in a couple years, but this is still outstanding). "Lady Be Good" is a tour de force for Carroll, and "School Days" starts to sound a lot like the blues-shouting R&B of the day. For any fan of Dizzy, and the bop of the day, this is a worthwhile investment in listening pleasure. The trumpet is good, the vocals are good, the humor is good. You can barely miss with this one. Adam Greenberg 
Tracklist :
1 Lady Be Good 2:39
Written-By – G&I. Gershwin 
2 Pop's Confessin 3:31
Written-By – Neiburg, Daugherty, Reynolds
3 Nobody Knows The Trouble 2:36
Written-By – K. Clarke
4 Bopsie's Blues 2:33
Written-By – D. Gillespie
5 I Couldn't Beat The Rap 2:57
Written-By – D. Gillespie
6 School Days 3:07
Written-By – D. Gillespie
7 I'm In A Mess 2:10
Written-By – A. White, P. White
8 Umbrella Man 2:23
Written-By – Cavanaugh, Rose, Stock
9 Love Me, Pretty Baby 3:00
Written-By – K. Clarke
10 We Love To Boogie 2:50
Written-By – D. Gillespie
Credits
Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone – Bill Graham (tracks: 2 to 8)
Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – John Coltrane (tracks: 10)
Bass – Bernie Griggs (tracks: 2, 8), Percy Heath (tracks: 1, 3 to 7, 9,10)
Drums – Al Jones (tracks: 2 to 8), Art Blakey (tracks: 1, 9), Kansas Fields (tracks: 10)
Guitar – Kenny Burrell (tracks: 10)
Organ, Vocals – Milt Jackson (tracks: 3)
Piano – Milt Jackson (tracks: 1,3 to 7, 9, 10), Wynton Kelly (tracks: 2, 8)
Tenor Saxophone – Budd Johnson (tracks: 1, 9)
Trombone – Jay Jay Johnson (tracks: 1, 9)
Trumpet – Dizzy Gillespie (tracks: 1 to 10)
Vibraphone – Milt Jackson (tracks: 1, 3 to 7, 9)
Violin – Stuff Smith (tracks: 3)
Vocals – Dizzy Gillespie (tracks: 2, 4, 7, 8), Freddy Strong (tracks: 10),
Joe Carroll (tracks: 1 to 9), Melvin Moore (tracks: 1, 4 to 8, 9)

DIZZY GILLESPIE – The Champ (1956-2003) RM | Savoy Jazz Classic Masters | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

An early LP on Savoy that gathers Dizzy Gillespie's small-group recordings from 1951-52, The Champ has a lot to recommend it -- songs, sidemen, and performances. With just one exception, each of the selections are drawn from quintet or sextet dates, boasting work by Art Blakey, Milt Jackson, J.J. Johnson, Percy Heath, and Stuff Smith in addition to an early appearance from John Coltrane (he made his debut with Diz, though not here). On the title track, a six-minute jam released as a two-part single, Gillespie plays furiously and tenor Budd Johnson contributes a great squawking solo. "Birk's Works," one of Dizzy's finest compositions, gets its first commercial recording, while Stuff Smith's violin solo gives "Caravan" exactly the exotic touch it needs to lift it above competing versions. Diz and Joe Carroll trade vocals on "On the Sunny Side of the Street," and bop culture meets gospel for "Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac."  John Bush
 Tracklist :
1 The Champ 05:43
 Dizzy Gillespie
2 Birk's Works 03:09
Dizzy Gillespie
3 Caravan 02:56
Duke Ellington / Irving Mills / Juan Tizol
4 Time On My Hands 02:26
Harold Adamson / Mack Gordon / Vincent Youmans
5 On the Sunny Side of the Street 03:09
Dorothy Fields / Jimmy McHugh
6 Tin Tin Deo 02:43
Gil Fuller / Dizzy Gillespie / Chano Pozo
7 Stardust 03:07
Hoagy Carmichael / Mitchell Parish
8 They Can't Take That Away from Me 03:46
George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin
9 The Bluest Blues 02:57
Dizzy Gillespie / Gary McFarland / Sir Charles Thompson
10 Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac 03:10
 Dizzy Gillespie
11 Ooh-Shoo-Be-Doo-Bee 03:21
Joe Carroll / Dizzy Gillespie / Bill Graham
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Bill Graham (tracks: 3 to 5, 7 to 11), John Coltrane (tracks: 2, 6)
Baritone Saxophone – Bill Graham (tracks: 3 to 5, 7 to 11)
Bass – Bernie Griggs (tracks: 8, 11), Percy Heath (tracks: 1 to 7, 9, 10)
Drums – Al Jones (tracks: 3 to 5, 7 to 11), Art Blakey (tracks: 1), Kansas Fields (tracks: 2 to 6)
Guitar – Kenny Burrell (tracks: 2, 6)
Organ – Milt Jackson (tracks: 3 to 5, 7 to 9)
Piano – Milt Jackson (tracks: 2, 6, 10), Wynton Kelly (tracks: 8, 11)
Tenor Saxophone – Budd Johnson (tracks: 1), John Coltrane (tracks: 2, 6)
Trombone – J.J. Johnson
Trumpet – Dizzy Gillespie
Vibraphone – Milt Jackson (tracks: 2, 6, 10)
Violin – Stuff Smith (tracks: 3 to 5, 7, 9)
Vocals – Dizzy Gillespie (tracks: 10), Joe Carroll (tracks: 1, 3 to 5, 7 to 11), Melvin Moore (tracks: 1, 10), Milt Jackson (tracks: 3 to 5, 7 to 9)

DIZZY GILLESPIE AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1951-1952 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1286 (2003) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This intriguing CD features trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie during a transitional period, more than a year after his 1940s bebop orchestra broke up. "We Love to Boogie" has the first commercially recorded solo of tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, four years before he joined Miles Davis. Gillespie is heard with five different small groups playing music that is both boppish and a little R&B-influenced. Three of the combos match him with baritonist Bill Graham, with Milt Jackson playing as much piano as vibes and violinist Stuff Smith guesting on one session. Highlights include "Birk's Works," Joe Carroll's vocal on "Oh, Lady Be Good," the heated two-part "The Champ," "The Bluest Blues," and Carroll and Gillespie's singing on "On the Sunny Side of the Street." The final four numbers, taken from singles cut for the Atlantic label, are particularly rare. Scott Yanow          Tracklist :

STUFF SMITH AND HIS ONYX CLUB BOYS – 1936-1939 | The Classics Chronological Series – 706 (1993) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This delightful CD has the first 24 titles ever led by violinist Stuff Smith, virtually all of Smith's prewar recordings and the complete output of the violinist's Onyx Club Boys (other than four songs from 1940). With trumpeter Jonah Jones and occasional drummer Cozy Cole the stars of the supporting cast, this was one of the top swing combos of the era. Smith's hard-swinging violin, his enthusiastic vocals, and his interplay with Jones made this a particularly hot unit. In addition to the hit "I'se A-Muggin'," highlights of the disc include "I Hope Gabriel Likes My Music," "After You've Gone," "You'se a Viper," "Old Joe's Hittin' the Jug," "Twilight in Turkey," and the classic "Here Comes the Man With the Jive." Highly recommended Scott Yanow      Tracklist + Credits :

STUFF SMITH – 1939-1944 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1054 (1999) FLAC (tracks), lossless

This segment of the Stuff Smith story finds the fiddler facing personal and professional difficulties that prevented him from recording as much as he'd have liked to. The music that did get committed to wax is more or less uniformly satisfying. The first five selections heard here benefit greatly from the presence of trumpet ace Jonah Jones. "Big Wig in the Wigwam," a song with little redeeming social value when presented by Lionel Hampton, became a solid piece of swing when Stuff's band got a hold of it. Here it bristles with elements of "Diga Diga Doo" and Stuff's earlier rowdy masterpiece "Old Joe's Hittin' the Jug." Four titles released on the budget Varsity label in 1940 include a Grenadine-flavored sob story by Stella Brooks, two high-spirited group vocals, and a wild "Crescendo in Drums," with violin improvisations that seem like premonitions of the sound currents that Leroy Jenkins would be generating with his violin many years later. In November of 1943, Stuff Smith & His Trio made ten sides for the World Broadcasting Service, with Stuff's solos resembling some of Eddie South's best work, with flourishing touches worthy of Florian Zabach. Featured here and on the following two sessions were bassist John Levy and pianist Jimmy Jones, both excellent improvisers who were perfectly suited to Stuff Smith's style and persona. A quartet date with amplified guitarist Mary Osborne sports a pair of modernistic studies in blue, and the vocal duet between Stuff and Osbourne is deservedly famous among people who are interested in historical collaborations. This fine CD closes with six additional trio sides produced by Moses Asch, sounding pleasantly progressive for 1944. arwulf arwulf       Tracklist + Credits :

STUFF SMITH – 1944-1946 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1081 (1999) FLAC (tracks), lossless

Violinist Stuff Smith's third Classics CD (which wraps up his dates as a leader prior to the mid-'50s) starts off with 16 numbers from 1944-1946, many of which are rarities. Smith is heard leading various trios (sidemen include pianists Jimmy Jones and Billy Taylor) on music recorded for the Savoy (with Billy Daniels and Rosalie Young having vocals), Baronet, Selmer, Musicraft, and Town & Country labels; Sarah Vaughan sings on "Time and Again." Best is the Selmer date, which has versions of "Perdido," "Bugle Call Rag," and Smith's "Desert Sands." Also included on this CD are Smith's six recordings with Alphonso Trent's notable territory band during 1928-1930 (including classic versions of "After You've Gone" and "St. James Infirmary"). All three Classics Stuff Smith CDs are easily recommended. Scott Yanow     Tracklist + Credits :

RED NORVO AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1943-1944 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1306 (2003) FLAC (tracks), lossless

With chronological precision, this delightful disc covers eight months in the life of Red Norvo, who by November of 1943 had permanently switched from playing xylophone to the smoother, cooler, more modern vibraphone. Five V-Disc sides feature two attractive vocals by Helen Ward and excellent solos from rising tenor sax star Flip Phillips, clarinetist Aaron Sachs (who appears on four of the five sessions reissued here), trumpeter Dale Pearce, and trombonist Dick Taylor. A rhythm section of Ralph Burns, Clyde Lombardi, and Johnny Blowers rounds off this outstanding, up-to-date octet. Jazz-wise, the music recorded at this blowing session is strikingly superior to the stuff Norvo had produced only 18 months earlier, and vastly different from his big-band output during the late '30s. Norvo's next recording date took place in Chicago on April 5, 1944. Four exciting sides, originally issued on the Steiner Davis label, are distinguished by the easygoing interplay between Norvo, Lombardi, guitarist Remo Palmieri, and the great jazz violinist Stuff Smith. "Rehearsal" is exactly that -- three and a half minutes of impromptu jamming laced with laughter, discussion, and even a little scat singing. "Red's Stuff" is probably the creative apex of this incredible date, a rare treat for connoisseurs of vintage mid-20th century jazz. An authentically modern-sounding series of bop ideas, tonalities, and phrasing verify the radically progressive direction being pursued by the Red Norvo Sextet as they recorded for Brunswick in May of 1944. Their absorption of contemporary musical modes is evident in an amazing rendition of Denzil de Costa Best's "Dee Dee's Dance," a brand new approach to "Blue Skies," and especially the busy Benny Goodman/Charlie Christian jam vehicle "Seven Come Eleven." Three similarly advanced V-Discs from May of 1944 -- clocking in at nearly five minutes per side -- lead listeners to the threshold of Norvo's tenure as a Keynote recording artist. On July 27, 1944, at his first session for Harry Lim's ambitious modern jazz label, the vibraphonist and a small contingent from the previous date were joined by Teddy Wilson and Slam Stewart. The other half of the material from this session may be found on Classics 1356, the 1944-1945 volume in the label's Red Norvo chronology. arwulf arwulf  
Tracklist + Credits :

LUCKY THOMPSON – 1944-1947 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1113 (2000) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tenor saxophonist Eli "Lucky" Thompson came up in Detroit but made all of his earliest recordings in the Los Angeles area during the 1940s. This fascinating album of rare jazz opens with a mind-blowing Timme Rosenkrantz-sponsored jam session recorded on December 26, 1944. Thompson leads an ensemble combining violinist Stuff Smith, trombonist Bobby Pratt, pianist Erroll Garner, and drummer George Wettling. "Test Pilots" appears to be a collective improvisation during which, like many Stuff Smith dates, the mood is wonderfully relaxed and informal. Recording for the Excelsior label in September of 1945, Lucky Thompson's All-Stars consisted of trumpeter Karl George, trombonist J.J. Johnson, bop clarinetist Rudy Rutherford and a tough rhythm section in Bill Doggett, Freddie Green, Rodney Richardson, and Shadow Wilson. In August, 1946, Thompson appeared in a live performance with fellow tenor Jack McVea and trumpeter Howard McGhee, along with pianist Jimmy Bunn, guitarist Irving Ashby, bassist Red Callender and drummer Jackie Mills. The proceedings were recorded and issued on the Black and White label under the heading of "Ralph Bass' Junior Jazz Series." The five-minute "Oodle Coo Bop" is really "Ornithology." It is followed by a gutsy jam titled "Bopin' Bop," and a 12-minute blowout simply called "Big Noise." This begins with a detailed introduction by producer Ralph Bass, who speaks like a 1940s high school principal or camp counselor. "Body and Soul," a feature for Hilton Jefferson-styled alto saxophonist Les Robinson, was included for the sake of completeness even though Thompson is not heard on this track. His next date as a leader occurred on September 13, 1946 and is noteworthy for the presence of piano genius Dodo Marmarosa. Red Callender and Jackie Mills acted as the perfect "other half" of this smart little quartet. Dodo and Red were present at the "Lucky Moments" session on April 22, 1947, where Thompson delivered a masterpiece in tenor sax ballad artistry, "Just One More Chance." This inventive octet included Benny Carter, Neal Hefti, baritone saxophonist Bob Lawson, guitarist Barney Kessel, and Lester Young's brother Lee on the drums. It forms one rousing conclusion for this excellent collection of Lucky Thompson's earliest recordings. arwulf arwulf  
Tracklist + Credits :