“Bennett’s ability to straddle jazz and popular music was one he shared with few others. He managed to retain more of a jazz feel than either, and that’sN what Basie senses in him: a kindred spirit who is devoted to the not so very taxing business of s(w)inging the song with minimum distraction.”

10 CD box set of sixteen original jazz albums from the Godmother of female jazz, Ella Fitzgerald. Including the legendary Porgy and Bess with Louis Armstrong and milestone recordings like Ella sings Gershwin and Rhythm is My Business.

Previously Unreleased Takes from the Original 1959 Sessions.

What is there left to say about this musical, deservedly one of the most famous in the canon? Created by what lyricist Stephen Sondheim described as "a unique concatenation of people" (Leonard Bernstein, Sondheim, Arthur Laurents, Jerome Robbins), the show remains as explosively vibrant, daring, and modern as it was decades ago. Bernstein integrated Latin percussion and jazz into his electrifying score, dazzlingly translating New York's unique vitality into a musical idiom. West Side Story has been adapted for jazz and interpreted by pop and opera singers, but you owe it to yourself to check out the original version to see what the fuss was all about. This new reissue adds over 20 minutes of "symphonic dances" as well as liner notes and production photos.

Includes the albums Hum & Strum Along (1959), Mister Guitar (1959), After The Riot at Newport (1960), Teensville (1960), The Other Chet Atkins (1960), Chet Atkins Workshop (1960), Most Popular Guitar (1961) and Christmas with Chet Atkins (1961).

The debut album by the Crickets and the only one featuring Buddy Holly released during his lifetime, The "Chirping" Crickets contains the group's number one single "That'll Be the Day" and its Top Ten hit "Oh, Boy!." Other Crickets classics include "Not Fade Away," "Maybe Baby," and "I'm Looking for Someone to Love." The rest of the 12 tracks are not up to the standard set by those five, but those five are among the best rock & roll songs of the 1950s or ever, making this one of the most significant album debuts in rock & roll history, ranking with Elvis Presley and Meet the Beatles.

Cal Tjader - Tjader Plays Tjazz (1955) {Fantasy OJCCD-988-2 rel 2006}
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© 1954-55, 2006 Fantasy Records / Universal | 00025218698825 / OJCCD-988-2
Jazz / Cool / Bop / Vibes

In a change of pace, for this recording vibraphonist Cal Tjader recorded cool-toned bop without a Latin rhythm section. Half of the ten songs (mostly jazz standards) feature Tjader switching to drums (his original instrument) in a quartet also including the obscure trombonist Bob Collins, guitarist Eddie Duran and bassist Al McKibbon. Tjader is back on vibes for the quintet selections with tenor saxophonist Brew Moore, pianist Sonny Clark, bassist Eugene Wright and drummer Bobby White. He sounds right at home in both formats and the swinging quintet numbers in particular are a good reason to search for this valuable album.

Tommy Flanagan - Overseas (1957) {Prestige OJCCD-1033-2 rel 1999}
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© 1957, 1999 Prestige Records / Fantasy | OJCCD-1033-2
Jazz / Hard Bop / Piano

This studio session represents one of Tommy Flanagan's earliest dates as a leader, recorded while he was in Stockholm, Sweden. Bassist Wilbur Little and a young Elvin Jones on drums provide strong support, but the focus is on Flanagan's brilliant piano. The brilliant opener is a potent brisk run through Charlie Parker's "Relaxin' at Camarillo," followed by a faster than typical "Chelsea Bridge," which the leader playfully detours into another Billy Strayhorn composition ("Raincheck") for a moment, while also featuring Jones' brushwork in a pair of breaks. Flanagan's approach to the venerable standard "Willow Weep for Me" is steeped in blues, backed by Little's imaginative accompaniment.

Big Joe Turner - Rocks (2011) {Bear Family BCD17215AR rec 1939-1958}
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© 1939-58, 2011 Bear Family Records | BCD 17215 AR
Blues / Rock & Roll / Rhythm & Blues / Jump Blues

There is no question that Big Joe Turner rocked. He rocked harder than any jump blues bandleader, his band hitting the downbeat with a vengeance matched only by Turner’s full-throated roar. This was big-band blues in sound but not in style; it was rock & roll before there was a name for it. Bear Family’s 2011 set Rocks concentrates on his hardest-swinging R&B, leaning hard on Turner’s classic sides for Atlantic: “Roll 'Em Pete”; “Honey Hush”; “Flip, Flop and Fly”; and “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” which Bill Haley sweetened up for the first crossover rock & roll single.

Steve Lacy - Reflections - Plays Thelonious Monk (1958) {Prestige–New Jazz Japan VICJ-2186 rel 1996}
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© 1958, 1996 Prestige-New Jazz / Victor Japan | VICJ-2186 | 20bitK2
Jazz / Post Bop / Avant-Garde Jazz / Saxophone

All of soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy's early recordings are quite fascinating, for during 1957-1964, aspects of his style at times hinted at Dixieland, swing, Monk, and Cecil Taylor, sometimes at the same time. For this CD reissue (a straight reproduction of the original New Jazz LP), Lacy teams up with pianist Mal Waldron, bassist Buell Neidlinger, and drummer Elvin Jones for seven Thelonious Monk compositions. The typical standbys (such as "'Round Midnight," "Straight No Chaser," and "Blue Monk") are avoided in favor of more complex works such as "Four in One," "Bye-Ya," and "Skippy"; the sweet ballad "Ask Me Now" is a highpoint. Lacy always had an affinity for Monk's music and, even nearly 40 years later, this set is a delight.

The first of three volumes surveying surely the mightiest Gospel label of them all. Stomping, rollicking gospel music, intermingling with raw soul, searing blues, hard-rocking doo-wop and jazz, and storming R&B. Infused and incandescent with the hurting, surging indignation of the Civil Rights movement, here are twenty-four precious scorchers by giants like the Staple Singers and Jimmy Scott, alongside devastating sides by less celebrated names like the Harmonizing Five of Burlington, North Carolina, and teen-group the North Philadelphia Juniors, culminating triumphantly with slamming, sanctified versions of "Hit The Road Jack" and "Wade In The Water". Drawn from nigh-impossible-to-find 78s, sevens and LPs, hardly any of these recordings have been reissued since their first release. Presented in a gatefold sleeve, with full-size booklet; beautifully designed, with stunning, rare photographs and original Savoy artwork. Sound restoration and mastering at Abbey Road; pressed at Pallas. Co-curated by Greg Belson, compiler of Divine Disco; with deep, extensive notes by Robert Marovich, author of A City Called Heaven: Chicago and the Birth of Gospel Music (University of Illinois), and host of the award-winning radio show Gospel Memories.

Basses Loaded! is the suggestive name of this 1955 album featuring three jazz bass specialists in four numbers each. Milt Hinton needs no introduction: having started with Cab Calloway’s great band of the 1930s, Milt added his personal touch to a wide variety of musical units, both large and small, and recorded with just about every name in the field. Here he has the first four tracks, all arrangements (plus one original) by Al Cohn.

Hal McKusick - East Coast Jazz Series No. 8 (1955) {Bethelehem–Fresh Sound FSR-CD41 rel 1989}
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© 1955, 1989 Fresh Sound Records / Bethelehem | FSR-CD 41
Jazz / Cool / Bop / Saxophone / Clarinet

Hal McKusick was a fine journeyman cool-toned bop-based altoist and clarinetist on this 1955 Bethlehem studio date (reissued on CD by Fresh Sound), McKusick is accompanied by guitarist Barry Galbraith, bassist Milt Hinton and drummer Osie Johnson on a variety of straightahead tunes including seven originals by arranger Manny Albam. The music is pleasing, light and swinging.