Maynard Ferguson's blowing full steam ahead here - working with an octet that's heavy on horn parts, but in a richly creative way! Ferguson nicely shows off some of his best influences from the 50s large group scene in LA - and gets some key help on the record from Bill Holman, who wrote almost all the tracks on the date, and no doubt arranged most of the material too. Holman's horn isn't heard on the set, but other players are equally great - and include Bob Gordon on baritone, Georgie Auld on tenor, Herb Geller on alto, Milt Bernhart on trombone, and Conte Candoli on trumpet - supported by a rhythm section that features Ian Bernhard on piano, Red Callender on bass, and Shelly Manne on drums. As usual for the Emarcy years, Maynard plays a host of instruments - trumpet, bass trumpet, and valve trombone.

Very Truly Yours was released in 1955 and was the first album that Jimmy Scott recorded for the Savoy label. After spending the better part of a decade singing in ensembles, first with Lionel Hampton and then with the New Orleans bandleader Paul Gayten, Scott was poised to make a name for himself as a solo artist. These dozen songs, executed with a small jazz combo supporting him (including Charles Mingus on bass), find Scott in beautiful voice, confidently investing himself in well-chosen covers as well as some of his own great originals. From the opening number ("Imagination"), it's clear that you're hearing a rare and expressive voice.

This set features two sizzling horns mingling in a decidedly frenetic dance contest. These songs hop and bounce with enduring vitality. A definite coolness exists within the searing solos of the two trumpet kings as they empty their lungs, executing mind-spinning, scale-like passages and high notes, and there's a palpable sense of competition as they take turns performing their acrobatic brass-work. They can both propel notes from their horns like nobody's business, yet their tonal and stylistic differences create two distinct elements within the music. Bassist Ray Brown's tempos provide a cool structure for the flurries of notes the trumpets cast forth. Some of the most poetic moments from these 1954 recordings are when their collaboration intertwines them within the passages, but their supercharged blowing naturally finds a subtler ground and tact when they come together in a musical braid work that's no less affecting than their solos.

This limited-edition CD, featuring Stan Getz, J. J. Johnson, John Lewis, and Gunther Schuller, presents one of the earliest examples of Third Stream jazz. Written especially for this release are new notes by Gunther Schuller. Recorded March 14, 1955 in NYC. Of the five compositions that were recorded for this album, three were specifically commissioned by Mr. Norman Granz for this date. The remaining two, "Django" and "The Queens Fancy", were older compositions of John Lewis that were specially orchestrated by Mr. Gunther Schuller for this session. The Modern Jazz Society Presents a Concert of Contemporary Music is an album of music composed by John Lewis and arranged and condducted by Gunther Schuller which was originally released on the Norgran label. Allmusic awarded the album 3 stars. The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album a "Crown" of recommended jazz recordings.

One of Art Farmer's pivotal mid 50s sides - recorded in the company of altoist Gigi Gryce, a great player and a budding young arranger who helped Farmer really formulate the best side of his sound! The tracks are lyrically modern - but still have a nice dose of soul in them - a wonderful blend that really sets the stage for the move that Art was making away from earlier trumpeters in jazz - into that hip territory that was neither too cool, nor too overblown - and which would almost be known as "Farmer-like" in years to come! The album features Gryce and Farmer in 2 different groups - one with Horace Silver on piano, Percy Heath on bass, and Kenny Clarke on drums - the other with Freddie Redd on piano, Addison Farmer on bass, and Art Taylor on drums.

Avid Jazz presents three classic Duke Jordan albums plus including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered double CD. “Trio & Quintet”; Flight To Jordan” and “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” plus 4 tracks from “Do ItYourself Jazz: Volume 1”.
Our featured man Duke Jordan is featured on the first four tracks from our first selection from the Jazz Laboratory Series “Do It Yourself Jazz: Volume 1” playing alongside Gigi Gryce on alto sax, Oscar Pettiford on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums. For “Trio & Quintet” Duke is joined for the Trio by Percy Heath on bass and Art Blakey on drums. For the Quintet recordings he is again joined by Heath and Blakey but with the addition of Cecil Payne on baritone sax and Eddie Bery on trombone…

Tenor Stan Getz and valve-trombonist Bob Brookmeyer made a mutually beneficial team. Although they had not played together all that much in 1954 (Brookmeyer had left Getz's band earlier in the year to join the Gerry Mulligan Quartet), the strong musical communication between the two horns during this set is obvious. Eight of the ten selections are from a live concert (with pianist John Williams, bassist Bill Anthony, and drummer Art Mardigan) while the final two numbers (on what was originally a pair of LPs) were cut in the studio the following day with the same personnel except that Frank Isola was on drums. Highlights of this cool-toned bop music (which, in addition to the solos, has many exciting ensembles) include "Lover Man," "Pernod," "Tasty Pudding," and "It Don't Mean a Thing."

This LP has one of trumpeter Shorty Rogers' finest small group sessions of the 1950's. Rogers, Jimmy Giuffre (on clarinet, tenor and baritone), pianist Pete Jolly, bassist Curtis Counce and drummer Shelly Manne are the epitome of cool on a well-rounded and consistently interesting set. Highlights including "Isn't It Romantic," "Trickleydidlier," "Not Really The Blues" and Rogers' "hit" "Martians Go Home."

In the 1950s, tenor-saxophonist Ben Webster was at the peak of his powers. His musical personality really featured two separate emotions: harsh and tough on the faster pieces and surprisingly warm and tender on the ballads. Webster uses the latter voice throughout this set. On all but four of 20 selections, Ben is backed by a string section arranged by Ralph Burns (except for "Chelsea Bridge" which was arranged by Billy Strayhorn) and, although clarinetists Tony Scott and Jimmy Hamilton and pianists Teddy Wilson and Hank Jones are heard from, the focus is otherwise entirely on the great tenor. The final four numbers, which matches Webster with Wilson in a stringless quartet, also stick to ballads. Music that is both beautiful and creative.

Chet Baker’s Quartet with Russ Freeman was one of the best combos of its time. The May 9, 1954 concert at Ann Arbor took place at the city’s Masonic Temple, and was originally issued as Jazz at Ann Arbor. Presented here is the Ann Arbor concert in its entirety, along with, as a bonus, five quartet sides recorded by Chet in a Paris studio in 1955 during his first European tour, among them another version of the classic "Lover Man".

In the '50s, the party line among New York jazz critics was that hard bop was the "true faith" and that cool jazz was lightweight and unemotional. But Miles Davis knew better. The trumpeter (whose Birth of the Cool sessions of 1949-1950 proved to be incredibly influential) was smart enough to realize that cool jazz and hard bop were equally valid parts of the house that Charlie Parker built, and he had no problem working with cool jazzmen one minute and hard boppers the next. Recorded for Charles Mingus' Debut label in 1955, Blue Moods is an excellent example of cool jazz.

The debut recording session of the Adderley brothers, saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley and trumpeter Nat. Given the shining star of recognition that Cannonball achieved in his short life, it's amazing that the brothers' first date would be with Nat as leader. And the band on this record is, well, stellar, even for that time in 1955: Paul Chambers on bass, Horace Silver on piano, and Roy Haynes on drums. Issued in the Desert Island Discs series by Verve, this is truly one of them. It's a hard, post-bop date that features a quintet of excellent players having a good old time in the studio. All tunes are by the Adderley brothers, who, at this time, were free to exploit their own identities (Cannonball had yet to be saddled with his "new Bird" status, since Charlie Parker had been dead less than six months)…