Providing an independent & competitive source of music & home entertainment
AVID JAZZ CD OFFER
AVID JAZZ MID PRICE CD OFFER
NEW RELEASES FROM ONLY £6.49
Includes back catalogue and new releases
AVID Jazz low price re-mastered compact discs. Includes the celebrated "4 original albums on 2 CDs" series and the "3 Original Albums Plus", both of which often include extra material and original LP liner notes.
Applies to listed titles only. Offer expires 22 February 2012.
Track Listing CD1: 1-7: ‘Benny Carter, Jazz Giant’
1. Old Fashioned Love
2. I’m Coming Virginia
3. A Walkin’ Thing
4. Blue Lou
5. Ain’t She Sweet
6. How Can You Lose
7. Blues My Naughtie Sweetie Gives To Me
8-19: ‘Swingin’ The ‘20’s’
8. Thou Swell
9. My Blue Heaven
10. Just Imagine
11. If I Could Be With You
12. Sweet Lorraine
13. Who’s Sorry Now
14. Laugh! Clown! Laugh!
15. All Alone
16. Mary Lou
17. In A Little Spanish Town
18. Someone To Watch Over Me
19. A Monday Date
20. All Alone (Alternative Take)
Track Listing CD2: 1-12: ‘Sax Ala Carter!’
1. And The Angels Sing
2. Everything I Have Is Yours
3. I Understand
4. All Or Nothing At All
5. I’ll Never Smile Again
6. If I Loved You
7. Far Away Places
8. I Should Care
9. For All We Know
10. I Don’t Stand A Ghost Of A Chance
11. The One I Love
12. Moon Of Manakoora
13-24: ‘Aspects’
13. June In January
14. February Fiesta
15. March Wind
16. I’ll Remember April
17. One Morning In May
18. June Is Bustin’ Out All Over
19. Sleigh Ride In July
20. August Moon
21. September Song
22. Something For October
23. Swingin’ In November
24. Roses In December
25. February Fiesta (Alternative Take)
26. August Moon (Alternative Take)
AVID Jazz here presents four classic Benny Carter albums including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD.
“Benny Carter, Jazz Giant”, “Swingin’ The 20’s”, “Sax Ala Carter!” and “Aspects”
Giants don’t come much bigger than Benny Carter, except maybe for Ben Webster………….and we’ve got them both together for our first album on this fine CD set! A stunning line up join our giants for these sessions recorded in 1957 & 1958. Frank Rosolino on trombone, Andre Previn on piano (an underrated jazz pianist!), Barney Kessel on guitar, Leroy Vinegar on bass and Shelly Manne on drums. Old meets new for our next selection “Swingin’ The 20’s”, Benny is joined by legendary pianist Earl Hines for their first recorded session together. These two seasoned jazz men here show they are unafraid to take on the modern guys here represented by Leroy Vinegar and Shelly Manne………the set was completely improvised………..the quartet just played! Another quartet but, a different approach for “Sax Ala Carter!” recorded in 1960…..standards in a relaxed style are the order of the day. Benny is joined by Jimmy Knowles on piano, Leroy Vinegar on bass and Mel Lewis on drums. All change again for these sessions from 1958 & 1959, Benny gathers together his first big band since the 1940’s for “Aspects”. This time of course it would not be a touring band but a recording band. The members were all handpicked from Hollywoods finest musicians solely for the purpose of making the record. Among the musicians were Shorty Sherock, Pete Condoli, Tommy Pederson, Buddy Colette and Shelly Manne
All four albums have been digitally re-mastered for probably the finest ever sound quality!
Track Listing CD1: 1-10: ‘Locking Horns’
1. Corky
2. Mambo For Joe
3. Wolafunt’s Lament
4. Midnight Fantasy
5. ‘Tater Pie
6. Oh Shay
7. Bassing Around
8. Oh Joe
9. Susette
10. Similar Souls
11-22: ‘All I Wanna Do Is Swing’
11. Soon
12. Limehouse Blues
13. Dream A Little Dream Of Me
14. Corner Pocket
15. If I Could Be With You
16. It’s A Thing Of The Past
17. Pretty Skinny Bunny
18. Leonice
19. Jack’s Wax
20. Topsy
21. Captain Spaulding
22. I Could Have Told You
Track Listing CD2: 1-11: ‘The Midgets’
1. The Midgets
2. The Late Late Show
3. Really? Healy!
4. One Lamper
5. She Has Red Hair
6. Valerie
7. No Moon At All
8. Indeed The Blues
9. Living Dangerously
10. Scooter
11. My Dog Friday
12-21: ‘Soft Swingin’ Jazz’
12. Makin’ Whoopee
13. Three Little Words
14. Scotty
15. There’s A Small Hotel
16. I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart
17. Moonglow
18. Organ Grinder’s Swing
19. Rosetta
20. Too Marvelous For Words
21. The Farmer’s Daughter
AVID Jazz here presents four classic Joe Newman albums including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD.
“Locking Horns”, “All I Wanna Do Is Swing”, “The Midgets” and “Soft Swingin’ Jazz”.
“Locking Horns” with the legendary Count Basie sideman Joe Newman for our first selection is Cool School saxophonist Zoot Sims who is joined by the one and only Oscar Pettiford on bass, Osie Johnson on drums and Adrian Acea on piano (who contributes 50% of the writing duties to this fine blowing album). Picture the scene …………it’s somewhere between midnight and 10 am and a group of musicians are gathered around a single mike in a recording studio…………engineer Dick Gardner is at the controls. The men are all seated in a circle, rising only to take a solo. Joe Newman could be taking the first solo, (after all it is his band!)….he’s ready to swing! Alongside he has a brace of fine saxophonists, Al Cohn on tenor and Ernie Wilkins on alto. Another horn man rises to take his solo, it’s Frank Rehack getting some remarkable sounds from his trombone. The rhythm section is flying, another Basie man Freddie Green takes a solo on guitar and Milt Hinton comes in on bass. The mysteriously named Shadow Wilson lays down a wavering beat on drums while Nat Pierce plays tasteful and intelligent piano. Whew! “All I Wanna Do Is Swing”……………..You gotta hear this album! Here come “The Midgets”……so named from a friendly fued started by Lester Young during his time with Count Basie…….the big guys (Bombers) versus the little guys (Midgets). “The Midgets”album sees the emergence of the flute as a fully blown jazz instrument (if you will pardon the pun!)……….. in the hands of Frank Wess. Ernie Wilkins turns up again as main writer and arranger for a more modern style of jazz where Joe plays mute throughout to stay tonally close to Wess’ flute. For “Soft Swingin’ Jazz” the music does what it says in the title……………for Joes second album on Coral he decided to do a “soft after hours type of album”. Helping him along are another Count Basie refugee, pianist and vocalist Shirley Scott with Eddie Jones on bass, Charlie Persip on drums and once again Ernie Wilkins arranging the whole thing.
JACKIE McLEAN Four Classic Albums
AMSC1043 2 x CD
NEW ORLEANS 1961 LIVING LEGENDS Four Classic Classic Albums
Track Listing CD1: 1-5: ‘Fat Jazz’
1. Filide
2. Millie’s Pad
3. Two Sons
4. What Good Am I Without You
5. Tune Up
6-11: ‘Jackie’s Bag’
6. Quadrangle
7. Blues Inn
8. Fidel
9. Appointment In Ghana
10. A Ballad For Doll
11. Isle Of Java
Track Listing CD2: 1-5: ‘New Soil’
1. Hip Strut
2. Minor Apprehension
3. Greasy
4. Sweet Cakes
5. Davis Cup
6-12: ‘Swing, Swang, Swingin’
6. What’s New
7. Let’s Face The Music And Dance
8. Stable Mates
9. I’ll Remember You
10. I Love You
11. I’ll Take Romance
12. 116th And Lenox
AVID Jazz here presents four classic Jackie McLean albums including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD.
“Fat Jazz”….from 1957, a moment in time…….Jackie had recently left Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers to form his own band…..”six outstanding young musicians” including, unusually a tuba player, Ray Draper. So here are the results…five diverse tracks including two by the young Draper. “Jackie’s Bag”…….It’s 1959 and what a line up!!........Donald Byrd- trumpet, Sonny Clark- piano, Paul Chambers- bass, Philly Joe Jones-drums, Blue Mitchell-trumpet, the mysterious and under recorded Tina Brooks-tenor, Kenny Drew-piano, Art Taylor-drums, Phew! Five McLean originals and one from Tina Brooks and an album of two halves! Two rhythm sections, side two recorded in 1960 featuring a three horn attack...the results speak for themselves! “New Soil”…....”New Soil” is my idea for a title……..this is a change in my career……..my style’s changed, I’ve changed……..I’m not like I used to be, so I play different”. Once again Jackie teams up with old mate Donald Byrd on trumpet, Paul Chambers on bass, Pete La Roca on drums while new man Walter Davis Jnr. joins on piano. Davis contributes three of the five featured numbers and as Jackie proclaims in the liner notes “ A very pleasant very humourous guy, he’s a good piano player but he writes well too”. “Swing Swang Swingin” ….October 1959……from the original album liner notes…….”this album is testimony to Jackie’s new strength…as the main soloist he plays with unflagging zest through six well chosen selections”( from the Great American Songbook including Cole Porter, Oscar Hammerstein and Johnny Mercer). The set concludes with Jackie’s own “116th And Lenox” and as the album title suggests of the band, Walter Bishop Jnr., Jimmy Garrison and Art Taylor “they came, they swung and they split”
All four albums have been digitally re-mastered for probably the finest ever sound quality!
Track Listing CD1: 1-8: ‘Percy Humphrey’s Crescent City Joy Makers’
1. Milenberg Joys
2. Over In Gloryland
3. Lonesome Road
4. We Shall Walk Through The Streets Of The City
5. Weary Blues
6. Bucket’s Got A Hole In It
7. All The Gals Like The Way I Ride
8. Rip ‘Em Up Joe
9-16: ‘Sweet Emma Barrett ‘The Bell Gal’ & Her Dixieland Boys Featuring Jim Robinson’
9. Bill Bailey
10. Chinatown
11. Down In Honky Tonk Town
12. The Bell Gal’s Careless Blues
13. I Ain’t Gonna Give Nobody None Of This Jelly Roll
14. Just A Little While To Stay Here
15. Tishomingo Blues
16. When The Saints Go Marching In
Track Listing CD2: 1-9: ‘Jim Robinson’s New Orleans’
1. Ice Cream
2. In The Shade Of The Old Apple Tree
3. Mobile Stomp
4. Bogalousa Strut
5. Jada
6. Bugle Boy March
7. Yearning
8. Whenever You’re Lonely
9. When You Wore A Tulip
10-18: ‘Billie & Dede Pierce Vocal Blues And Cornet In The Classic Tradition’
10. St. Louis Blues
11. Goodbye Daddy Blues
12. Careless Love
13. Brickhouse Blues
14. Algiers Hoodoo Blues
15. Slow Tonk Blues
16. Gulf Coast Blues
17. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out
18. Love Song Of The Nile
AVID Jazz here presents four classic albums including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD.
“Percy Humphrey’s Crescent City Joymakers”; “Sweet Emma Barrett “The Bell Gal” & Her Dixieland Boys featuring Jim Robinson”; “Jim Robinson’s New Orleans Band” and “Billy And Dede Pierce Vocal Blues And Cornet In The Classic Tradition.
Jazz, New Orleans style is the order of the day on these four classic albums of the genre. The difference being these albums were all recorded in 1961 by a bunch a disparate musicians who had had musical careers of varying success over the previous thirty years. On these albums you will meet some of the characters who populated the New Orleans of the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s and who maybe never quite made it, in the sense of becoming worldwide familiar names in their chosen field of jazz and blues. Say “Hi” to Percy Humphrey, Albert Burbank and Emmanuel Sayles. Meet the lady with the bells down her legs, Sweet Emma Barrett, and trombonist Jim Robinson who pops up on two of our four albums including his own album with his New Orleans Band. Then there is Billie and Dede Pierce performing some of the oldest forms of New Orleans music with their blues in the classic tradition. That tradition being the singing of the blues to the accompaniment of cornet and piano, one of the earliest forms of negro jazz when it was first recoded in the 1920’s. Billie was 54 when this album was made but she could boast about how she had played piano for Bessie Smith when she was only 15!! They could also both boast that they had been chosen by none other than Ida Cox to support her on her final tour of the south!
Track Listing CD1: 1-7: ‘Transatlantic Alliance’
1. Four
2. The Gypsy
3. Get Up
4. Stomp
5. Wail
6. Medley: Together / Darn That Dream / I Surrender Dear / I’ve Lost Your Love
7. Wailing Wall
8-12: ‘Victor Feldman Modern Jazz Quartet’
8. “Suite Sixteen”: Monody / Minore / Habanera / Epilogue
9. Duffle Coat
10. Deep In A Dream
11. Easy To Love
12. Time Will Tell
13: ‘The Arrival Of Victor Feldman’
13. Serpent’s Tooth
Track Listing CD2: 1-9: ‘The Arrival Of Victor Feldman’
1. Waltz
2. Chasing Shadows
3. Flamingo
4. S’posin’
5. Bebop
6. There Is No Greater Love
7. Too Blue
8. Minor Lament
9. Satin Doll
10-16: ‘Victor Feldman In London (Volume 2)’
10. Blues In Two Modes
11. Jennie
12. One Momentum
13. Karen
14. Wood Work
15. It Ain’t Necessarily So
16. Short Circuit
AVID Jazz here presents four classic Victor Feldman albums including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD.
“Transatlantic Alliance”, “Victor Feldman Modern Jazz Quartet”, “The Arrival Of Victor Feldman” and “Victor Feldman In London (Vol 2)”.
Victor Feldman was a jazz musician with a foot on both sides of the Atlantic. The 1956 set “Transatlantic Alliance” features British label Tempo stars Tubby Hayes, Dizzy Reece and Jimmy Deucher playing in a variety of different sized bands. “The Victor Feldman Quartet” from 1955 is the last of the Tempo label recordings before he moved to the States and quickly secured a spot in the Woody Herman Herd! “The Arrival of Victor Feldman” finds our man recording in Los Angeles in 1958 accompanied by Stan Levey on drums and Scott La Faro on bass who would go on to play with legendary pianist Bill Evans before dying tragically in a car crash at only 25 years old. We conclude with “Victor Feldman in London (Vol 2) featuring Feldman in a variety of permutations from a big band to a nine-tet to a quintet. The musicians involved were a veritable who’s who of British jazzmen including the likes of Tubby Hayes (who plays an amazing solo on baritone sax), Jimmy Deucher, Dizzy Reece, Phil Seaman and Ronnie Scott. Feldman, by the way can be heard not only on his customary vibes but also on his other instrument of choice - drums!
All four albums have been digitally re-mastered for probably the finest ever sound quality!
Track Listing CD1: 1-12: ‘Stan Tracey Showcase’
1. Almost Like Being In Love
2. Over The Rainbow
3. The Surrey With The Fringe On Top
4. I Love Paris
5. The Best Thing For You
6. I Can’t Give You Anything But Love
7. This Nearly Was Mine
8. They Can’t Take That Away From Me
9. I’ve Got Five Dollars
10. Mad About The Boy
11. But Not For Me
12. Love Is
13-20: ‘Little Klunk’
13. Li’l Ol’ Pottsville
14. Dream Of Many Colours
15. Little Klunk
16. Boo-Bah
17. Baby Blue
18. A Walk In The Park
19. We’ll Call You
20. Free
21 Euphony
22. Monument
Track Listing CD2: 1-8: ‘Jazz Inc’
1. Caravan
2. Boo-Bah
3. Lullaby
4. Reelin’
5. Li’l Ol’ Pottsville
6. Jamba
7. I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart
8. Summertime
9. We’ll Call You
10 The Toff
11. Festival Junction
12. Rapandas
13. Lover
14. Whisper Not
15. If I Should Lose You
16. Ruby My Dear
AVID Jazz here presents three classic Stan Tracey albums plus including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD.
“Stan Tracey Showcase”……..An appropriate title for the first album released in 1958 under his own name. By the time of its release Stan had become a familiar figure on the British jazz scene. His style had developed via the more left field American pianists Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk and the little known and under recorded Herbie Nicholls . “Little Klunk”……..Familiar names line up for Stans’s 1959 outing “Little Klunk”….British jazz stalwarts Kenny Napper on bass and Phil Seamen on drums join Stan for this small group get together. The album features all Tracey originals and Stan shows off his prowess not only on piano but also on vibes. “Jazz Inc”……”Swinging music in the modern manner”……so goes the sub heading to this 1959 recording by The Tony Crombie Orchestra. Crombie is joined by established musicians like Stan Tracey and Jimmy Napper alongside newer names such as Bobby Wellins who of course would go on to become one of Britain’s finest jazz men. “Plus”………”Stan Tracey Quartet”………A rare 1959 recording date featuring two of the greatest British jazz stars on the cusp of their greatness……..Stan Tracey and Tubby Hayes joined by old friends Tony Crombie and Kenny Napper…Tubby is featured here exclusively on vibes! “Plus”……..”Harry Klein Quintet – Baritone Sax”……..Stan pops up here having fun with the Harry Klein Quintet featuring the unusual pairing of Klein down low on the baritone sax and Vic Ash up high on the rarely heard clarinet.
All three albums plus have been digitally re-mastered for probably the finest ever sound quality!
Track Listing CD1: 1-8: ‘West Side Story’
1. Something’s Coming
2. Jet Song
3. Tonight
4. I Feel Pretty
5. Gee, Officer Krupke!
6. Cool
7. Maria
8. America
9-20: ‘Collaboration’
9. It’s Delovely
10. Porterhouse
11. Heat Wave
12. 40º Below
13. You Stepped Out Of A Dream
14. Claudia
15. You Do Something To Me
16. Call For Cole
17. Everything I’ve Got
18. Some Antics
19. It Only Happens When I Dance With You
20. General Cluster
21: ‘King Size’
21. I’ll Remember April
Track Listing CD2: 1-5: ‘King Size’
1. Much Too Late
2. You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To
3. It Could Happen To You
4. Low And Inside
5. I’m Beginning To See The Light
6-14: ‘Pal Joey’
6. I Could Write A Book
7. That Terrific Rainbow
8. Bewitched
9. Take Him
10. Zip
11. It’s A Great Big Town
12. What Is A Man
13. I’m Talkin’ With My Pal
14. Do It The Hard Way
“West Side Story”………A 1959 recording of the classic Leonard Bernstein score featuring Andre Previn on piano accompanied by Red Mitchell on bass and Shelly Manne on drums. Take a listen and consider Bernstein’s thoughts from his book “The Joy Of Music”……..”A popular song doesn’t become jazz until it is improvised on, and there you have the real core of jazz improvisation”. “Collaboration”…….Andre is joined by Shorty Rogers in an unusual collaboration where each arranger takes turns to lead off with three standard arrangements while the other follows with three original tunes based on the standards chords (with, of course, numerous variations)…this is jazz after all!! Joining in the fun are players such as Bud Shank, Jimmy Giuffre, Shelly Manne and Al Hendrickson on guitar. “King Size”……..Using the trio Previn had regularly taken on tour, Red Mitchell on bass and Frankie Capp on drums King Size is shot through with a “group spirit and naturalness of interplay” that could only come from a group who have spent a lot of time together on the road and know each other intimately. “Pal Joey”……..Previn is again joined by Shelly Manne and Red Mitchell for this completely improvised Rodgers and Hart classic. The album was developed by Previn playing the tunes through straight and then throwing them open to the band for their improvisational ideas. The resulting tracks you will hear were then usually accomplished in one take!
All four albums have been digitally re-mastered for probably the finest ever sound quality!
Track Listing CD1: 1-12: ‘The Big Shorty Rogers Express’
1. Blues Express
2. Pink Squirrel
3. Coop De Graas
4. Infinity Promenade
5. Short Stop
6. Boar- Jibu
7. Pay The Piper
8. Home With Sweets
9. Tale Of An African Lobster
10. Contours
11. Chiquito Loco
12. The Sweetheart Of Sigmund Freud
13-24: ‘Shorty Rogers And His Giants’
13. Morpo
14. Bunny
15. Powder Puff
16. Mambo Del Crow
17. Joycycle
18. The Lady Is A Tramp
19. The Pesky Serpent
20. Diablo’s Dance
21. Pirouette
22. Indian Club
23. The Goof And I
24. My Little Suede Shoes
Track Listing CD2: 1-5: ‘Wherever The Five Winds Blow’
1. Hurricane Carol
2. Breezin’ Along In The Trades
3. Marooned In A Monsoon
4. The Chinook That Melted My Heart
5. Prevailing On The Westerlies
6-17: ‘Chances Are It Swings’
6. Chances Are
7. No Such Luck
8. It’s Not For Me To Say
9. Lilac Chiffon
10. I Just Don’t Know
11. Who Needs You
12. Everybody Loves A Lover
13. Come To Me
14. My Very Good Friend In The Looking Glass
15. You Know How It Is
16. A Very Special Love
17. Teacher, Teacher
“The Big Shorty Rogers Express”-Shorty Rogers & His Giants……….Here we find the famed arranger and trumpeter Shorty Rogers moving away from the small group format and into the big band field. Shorty and his fellow musicians Art Pepper, Bud Shank, Jimmy Giuffre, Marty Paich to name but a few, bring a fresh West Coast spirit to the traditional big band swing ethic! “Shorty Rogers & His Giants”………………Shorty is once again joined by many fine players including Milt Bernhart on trombone, Hampton Hawes on piano, John Grass on French horn alongside stalwarts Art Pepper, Jimmy Giuffre, and Shelly Manne for a combination of swing and small group numbers. “Wherever The Five Wind Blows”…………Jimmy Giuffre, Lou Levy, Ralph Pena and Larry Bunker join Shorty in a meteorlogical blowing journey where the band swings with its usual tasteful and mellifluous style. We encounter monsoons, hurricanes and prevailing Westerlies while the music remains beautifully explanatory and the band, all rightfully famous, are on top form! “Chances Are It Swings”…………Billed as Shorty Rogers & His Orchestra this 1958 recording date finds Shorty in fine and plentiful company in the form of the likes of Pete & Conte Candoli, Bud Shank, Barney Kessell, Red Norvo and Paul Horn. Here Shorty collaborates with song writer Robert Allen producing a “happy combination of brilliant arranging and hit songs”.
All four albums have been digitally re-mastered for probably the finest ever sound quality!
Track Listing CD1: 1-10: ‘The Blues’
1. Rosanne
2. Hodge-Podge
3. Jappa
4. Through For The Night
5. Sheik Of Araby
6. Latino
7. Johnny’s Blues
8. Indiana
9. Easy Going Bounce
10. Burgundy Walk
11-15: ‘More Of Johnny Hodges’
11. Ballad Medley: Autumn In New York / Sweet Lorraine / Time On My Hands / Smoke Gets In Your Eyes / If You Were Mine / Poor Butterfly / All Of Me
12. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
13. Warm Valley
14. Madam Butterfly
15. Skokiaan
16. Used To Be Duke
Track Listing CD2: 1-10: ‘In A Tender Mood’
1. Who’s Excited
2. Sweepin’ The Blues Away
3. Standing Room Only
4. Below The Azores
5. Sweet Georgia Brown
6. Duke’s Blues
7. Tenderly
8. Tea For Two
9. What’s I’m Gotchere
10. Nothin’ Yet
11. Sweet As Bear Meat
12-23: ‘Johnny Hodges And His Strings Play The Prettiest Gershwin’
12. Love Is Here To Stay
13. Nice Work If You Can Get It
14. ‘S Wonderful
15. Summertime
16. Soon
17. But Not For Me
18. Somebody Loves Me
19. They Can’t Take That Away From Me
20. Someone To Watch Over Me
21. They All Laughed
22. The Man I Love
23. Oh, Lady Be Good
“The Blues”…………For our second installment featuring classic Johnny Hodges’ albums we kick off with “Rabbit” and his Orchestra where he is joined by such luminaries as Ben Webster, Red Callender, Ray Brown, Lawrence Brown and Leroy Lovett. The Orchestra indeed has blues in mind during these dates from 1952 through 1954! “More of Johnny Hodges and His Orchestra”…………Jumping aboard to help “Rabbit” for more big band favourites are among others Louis Bellson, Shorty Rogers, Jimmy Hamilton and Harry Carney in a formation that in the words of Norman Granz in his original liner notes “comes closer to the Duke’s band…. since I had more members……together at one time on this date……….the great Duke “sound” is there in all its glory”. “In A Tender Mood”…………Johnny Hodges and His Orchestra in more recording dates from 1952. Joining up to the Orchestra this time we find among others Emmett Berry on trumpet, Al Sears and Flip Phillips on tenor, Jim Marshall on drums and J.C Heard on drums. As the title suggests here we find “Rabbit” in a tender mood, as he remarks in the original album liner notes after being asked what music hits him the most emotionally………”I think I feel my own music the most when it’s pretty and tender”. Asked when he liked to play it he replied…..”When I’m in a tender mood”. Listen for yourself and hear what the great man means! “Johnny Hodges & His Strings Play The Prettiest Gershwin”…………We conclude our quartet of classics with an album recorded in Stuttgart in 1958. Here we find Hodges with The Stuttgart Light Orchestra under the baton of Walter Rohrig and arranged by Russell Garcia in a date devoted to the music of George Gershwin. Ellington devotees may notice how Hodges succeeds in bridging the differences between Gershwin and the Duke. The results are some of the freshest and most sensitive treatments the Gershwin melodies have ever enjoyed!
All four albums have been digitally re-mastered for probably the finest ever sound quality!
Track Listing CD1: 1-6: ‘Blues Saxophones’
1. Tangerine
2. La Rosita
3. Cocktails For Two
4. Shine On Harvest Moon
5. You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To
6. Blues For Yolande
7. Maria
8. It Never Entered My Mind
9. Prisoner Of Love
10-14: ‘Soulville’
10. Soulville
11. Late Date
12. Time On My Hands
13. Lover Come Back To Me
14. Where Are You
Track Listing CD2: 1-2: ‘Soulville’
1. Makin’ Whoopee
2. Ill Wind
3-9: ‘The Soul Of Ben Webster’
3.Fajista
4. Chelsea Bridge
5. Charlotte’s Piccolo
6. Coal Train
7. When I Fall In Love
8. Ev’s Mad
9. Ash
10. All To Soon from Sophisticated Lady
11. Love Is Here To Stay from Sophisticated Lady
12. It Happens To Be Me from Sophisticated Lady
13. My Funny Valentine from Sophisticated Lady
14. You’re Mine, You from Sophisticated Lady
15. Sophisticated Lady from Sophisticated Lady
16. Love’s Away from Sophisticated Lady
“Blue Saxophones”…………Take the Oscar Peterson Trio with Alvin Stoller on drums, add two of the greatest tenor saxophonists who ever lived, Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster and voila………you have Blue Saxophones! Two masters together in 1957, one (Hawkins) a huge influence on the other (Webster), but now,both very much their own men. As the final paragraph of Charles Fox’s liner notes attests “This is tenor playing in the grandest of manners, unashamedly romantic, even sensuous, with both musicians constructing their solos firmly and audaciously.” “Soulville”………Ben is once again joined by the Oscar Peterson Trio for another 1957 date. This time sitting in on drums is Stan Levey, in Bens own words “he’s improved since I heard him on the Street years ago.” Ben of course is a huge fan of Peterson…..”the guy can play a lot as a soloist but when it comes time for you to play a solo, he plays for you.” “The Soul Of Ben Webster”………..Here we find Ben joined by fellow tenor man Harold Ashby alongside among others Art Farmer on trumpet and Jimmy Jones on piano in a 1958 blowing date. As Benny Green reminds us in his liner notes “in a way the story of Ben Webster is the story of jazz itself over the last twenty years.” Great new and exciting players will always emerge but we must never forget the original practitioners like Webster, Young and Colman Hawkins and this fine album reminds us that Ben Webster was truly one of the jazz greats! “Sophisticated Lady” (Ben Webster with Strings & Quartet featuring Teddy Wilson)………………Unfortunately we cannot feature quite the entire album but we thought you would appreciate listening to some fine Ben Webster playing with strings. Alongside among others Teddy Wilson, Billy Strayhorn, George Duvivier and Louis Bellson and on some tracks accompanied by 3 violins, 1 viola and 1 cello listen as Ben performs classic songs including two numbers by his old boss Duke Ellington.
All three albums plus have been digitally re-mastered for probably the finest ever sound quality!
Track Listing CD1: 1-6: ‘The Swinger’
1. Pussy Willow
2. The Very Thought Of You
3. Nasty
4. The Strollers
5. Sunday
6. Fair Ground
7-11: ‘Mr Swing-Harry Edison’
7. Love Is Here To Stay
8. Short Coat
9. Baby, Won’t You Please Come Home
10. Impressario
11. Ill Wind
Track Listing CD2: 1-7: ‘Gee Baby Ain’t I Good To You’
1. Blues For Piney Brown
2. Blues For The Blues
3. Blues For Bill Basie
4. Gee, Baby Ain’t I Good To You
5. You’re Getting To Be A Habit With Me
6. Taste On The Place
7. Moonlight In Vermont
8. Hollering At The Watkins from Sweets
9. Used To Be Basie from Sweets
10. How Deep Is The Ocean from Sweets
11. Studio Call from Sweets
12. Love Is Here To Stay from Sweets
13. K.M.Blues from Sweets
14. Walkin’ With Sweets from Sweets
Let’s meet Harry Edison the studio horn man of choice for both Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald! Again we will use a few well chosen quotes from the original sleeve notes to convey what you can expect on these finely re-mastered albums. “The Swinger”……..In the words of Quincy Jones , then a rookie player himself…”it was the directness of what he did that made such an impression on me…..he swung straight ahead……….he has ……….pure heart”. “Mr Swing - Harry Edison” using the same personnel as The Swinger, Jimmy Forrest tenor, Jimmy Jones piano, Freddie Green guitar, Joe Benjamin bass and Charlie Persip on drums, we find “Sweets” in a more informal setting than his usual hot swinging mood………..”uncomplicated and plenty of room to solo”. “Gee Baby Ain’t I Good To You” …………take a look at that line up…….Sweets himself, Ben Webster, Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Barney Kessel, Herb Ellis and Alvin Stoller on drums. The relaxed mood continues with Webster displaying an ever richer sound with his tenor. The plus comprises seven of nine tracks from the album “Sweets”. As named by Lester Young, Sweets pretty much takes full ownership of this set, arranging all the selections and writing six of them. Let’s finish with our last quote from the Sweets album………….“Sweets Edison does have a readily identifiable sound…….a powerful, virile, insinuating sound that is one of the most interesting around today………one which will be fresh when all the ephemeral cult sounds have been forgotten”.
All three albums have been digitally re-mastered for probably the finest ever sound quality!
Track Listing CD1: 1-8: ‘Songs For Swingers’
1. Swinging At The Copper Rail
2. Outer Drive
3. Swingin’ Along On Broadway
4. Night Train
5. Mean To Me
6. Buckini
7. Moonglow
8. Sunday
9. You Can Depend On Me from Duke Ellington and The Buck Clayton All-Stars At Newport
10. Newport Jump from Duke Ellington and The Buck Clayton All-Stars At Newport
11. In A Mellotone from Duke Ellington and The Buck Clayton All-Stars At Newport
12: ‘Buck Meets Ruby’
12. I Can’t Get Started
Track Listing CD2: 1-3: ‘Buck Meets Ruby’
1. Love Is Just Around The Corner
2. Just A Groove
3. Kandee
4-8: ‘Harry Edison Swings Buck Clayton’
4. Memories For The Count
5. Come With Me
6. Critic’s Delight
7. Oh How I Hate To Get Up In The Afternoon
8. It All Depends On You / Charmaine / How Long Has This Been Going On / Makin’ Whoopee
9. Royal Garden Blues from The Newport All-Stars
10. Sunday from The Newport All-Stars
11. Dinah from The Newport All-Stars
12. Deed I Do from The Newport All-Stars
Buck Clayton first came to prominence when he joined Count Basie’s orchestra in 1936 and henceforth grew in stature to become one of the pre-eminent trumpet players of his generation. For our three fine selections let’s get a flavour of our hero and his music by quoting a few lines from the original sleeve notes of the albums. “Songs for Swingers” …………………”all the writing is by Buck………Buck’s trumpet style is synonymous with good taste………his arrangements which are lucid and direct and always so constructed as to permit swinging interpretations”. “Buck Meets Ruby”…………………”although his technique and range are unlimited, Buck Clayton is one trumpet player who has performed with taste and warmth………it’s Ruby Braff’s trumpet which gives this album that quality of excitement only rarely found in jam sessions”. “Harry Edison Swings Buck Clayton”………………… “Harry is playing with greater finesse and originality than in the Basie days ………The pairing of Harry and Buck brings back some of the happiest memories in Jazz”. The pluses include one LP side of “Duke Ellington and The Buck Clayton All-Stars At Newport” recorded in 1956 as a result of Buck’s best selling Columbia jam sessions leading to his invitation by Newport to put an all star band together …………………“these Clayton performances are different from his studio dates because of the greater heterogeneousness of this small ensemble ……… The Hawk (Coleman Hawkins) was in unusually strong form”………… and side one of “The Newport All-Stars” recorded three years later in 1959. Buck is again invited to jam at Newport and here brings with him three veteran players for a unique marriage of styles. Buck and Vic Dickinson from the Count Basie Kansas City school and Pee Wee Russell and Bud Freeman from the Chicago gang……….”all are playing as great and as wonderful music as they have ever played in their long careers”.
All three of the selections are hard to find on any format and have been digitally re-mastered for probably the finest ever sound quality!
By Post to:- The Woods, Sussex House, 17a High Street, Bognor Regis,
West Sussex PO21 1RJ
(If you haven’t got an order form please just use your own stationery)
We are happy to take orders by phone (we are here Mon - Sat 9.00am - 5.30pm),
you can dial either 01243 827712 or 01243 842615
By Fax on:- 01243 842615
Via e-mail to:- thewoodstcdc@yahoo.com
All items subject to availability.
Our lists are correct to the best of our ability but - owing to the vagaries of time, record companies and even us on occasion - may be subject to change. If any details on a disc you order have changed since a list was posted on the site then we shall notify you before supply. To enable us to offer as many titles as possible at the best price, not all titles can be kept in stock. Upon receipt of your order we special order any items not in stock and forward them as soon as they are obtained. We send on items as they are ready, we do not delay your order by waiting until it is complete before sending.
