Worthy of audiophile treatment. Not every Christmas tune meets that high standard. But each song on this SACD, with each song chosen by Acoustic Sounds owner and CEO Chad Kassem, sound better than it ever has before. These are some of the most familiar - and well-recorded - Christmas tracks ever. We feel we're bringing you a record that you and your family will enjoy every year forevermore. These truly are The Wonderful Sounds Of Christmas. From the peaceful solemnity of Harry Simeone Chorale's "The Little Drummer Boy" to the festive spirit of Jose Feliciano's "Feliz Navidad," The Wonderful Sounds Of Christmas brings you the very best examples of holiday songs ever recorded. With wonderful music in abundance, this Christmas compilation offers a celebration of the season's most joyous and cherished songs. Truly, Christmas has never sounded better!

Stan Kenton's 1952 Orchestra was a very interesting transitional band, still performing some of the complex works of the prior Innovations orchestra but also starting to emphasize swing. This CD contains the rather pompous "Prologue" and Bill Holman's complex "Invention for Guitar and Trumpet" (starring guitarist Sal Salvador and trumpeter Maynard Ferguson) but also Gerry Mulligan's boppish "Young Blood" and Bill Russo's features for trumpeter Conte Candoli ("Portrait of a Count"), trombonist Frank Rosolino ("Frank Speaking") and altoist Lee Konitz ("My Lady").

In 1961, John Coltrane made his very first record for the Impulse label and signed, on this occasion, an album unique in his rich discography because it is the only one that the saxophonist has ever recorded with a big band: "Africa/Brass".

When one thinks of Stan Kenton's 1951 music, it is of his huge Innovations Orchestra which sported a full string section and played very advanced works. However later in the year Kenton cut back to a conventional 19-piece band, a unit that was only together six months and made few studio recordings. This collector's CD features the all-star orchestra broadcasting from the Hollywood Palladium and it is particularly interesting to hear the unit interpreting some of Kenton's earlier hits. With such distinctive soloists as Maynard Ferguson, Shorty Rogers, Milt Bernhart, Art Pepper and Bob Cooper (plus a couple of vocals by Jay Johnson), the highlights include fresh versions of "Machito," "Eager Beaver," "Collaboration," "Painted Rhythm" and "Intermission Riff."

Recorded in performance at Carnegie Hall, New York City, November 20, 1976.
Featuring Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Joe Lovano, Jimmy Rowles, Billy Bauer, Conte Candoli, Jim Pugh and many others.

This two-CD set (a reissue of an earlier two-LP set plus six previously unreleased numbers) brings back a memorable Carnegie Hall concert that both features and pays tribute to Ella Fitzgerald. The great singer is joined on a few numbers by a Chick Webb reunion band that has a few of the original members (plus an uncredited Panama Francis on drums). Although the musicians do not get much solo space (why wasn't trumpeter Taft Jordan featured?), the music is pleasing. Fitzgerald performs three exquisite duets with pianist Ellis Larkins and then sits out while the Jazz at the Philharmonic All-Stars romp on a few jams and a ballad medley. Trumpeter Roy Eldridge's emotional flights take honors, although tenorman Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and trombonist Al Grey are also in good form. Fitzgerald comes out for the second half of the show and sings 14 numbers with guitarist Joe Pass (including a pair of tender duets) and the Tommy Flanagan trio.

After years of big band experimentation, Stan Kenton seemed to settle into a more grounded groove on 1956's In Hi-Fi. To his credit, Kenton did keep things swinging before, even in the midst of high brow bombast like the string-laden, 39 piece Innovations in Modern Music orchestra and numerous jazz meets Stravinsky projects. This uncanny balance of flow and brains came out of Kenton's own tempered direction and fine contributions by the likes of arranger Pete Rugolo, trumpeter Shorty Rogers, alto saxophonist Art Pepper, and singers Anita O'Day and June Christy. Thanks to a seamless mix of dazzling charts and liberal doses of Lunceford and Ellington-inspired swing, the marriage certainly works on Kenton in Hi-Fi…

Gerry Mulligan was only 19 in 1946 when he joined Gene Krupa's band, playing a bit of alto and tenor sax, but primarily serving as an arranger. But the Verve LP Gene Krupa Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements wasn't made until 1958, long after Mulligan went out on his own. Although there are solo features built into the framework of each piece, Mulligan was quite confident in his ability to showcase the entire band as well. Mulligan's "Disc Jockey Jump" became a hit for Krupa, though it wasn't recorded until after he left the band. The vague liner notes fail to identify any of the musicians in Krupa's big band, which includes Jimmy Cleveland, Hank Jones, Barry Galbraith, Kai Winding, and Phil Woods, though Woods' alto sax solos are easily identifiable to his fans…

The Don Ellis Orchestra really came into its own during the period covered by this CD (1966-1967), playing perfectly coherent solos in ridiculous time signatures. At the time, the band consisted of five trumpets, three trombones, five reeds, piano, three basses, two drummers, and three percussionists. "Barnum's Revenge" has the ensemble playing a satirical brand of Dixieland in 5/4, "Orientation" goes back and forth between 7/8 and 9/8, and "Upstart" is in 11/8 (three and two-thirds beats to the measure!). Somehow everything swings with Ellis, Ira Schulman (on tenor and clarinet), Dave Mackay (on piano), and Tom Scott (on saxello) being the main soloists. In addition to the original six selections (recorded at the Pacific Jazz Festival in 1966 and at Shelly's Manne-Hole in 1967), there are five additional cuts, including an alternate version of "Freedom Jazz Dance." Fun music.

The ultimate Rat Pack cocktail! Take one part Frank, one part Sammy and one part Dino, add the best of their legendary 1962 run at the Villa Venice, THEN add a DVD presenting the only known filmed performance of the Rat Pack, recorded in 1965 at the Kiel Opera House in St. Louis and *never before released*.
Live and Swingin' is undoubtedly for those who already own some of the guys' worthier recordings. Oh, but the guys? Frank, Dean, and Sammy (or, as Jackie Mason had it on The Simpsons, "the Candy Man!") For most anyone who cares, though, this is a must-buy item: a slightly edited version of the 1962 Villa Venice tapes along with a DVD that preserves a rarely seen, full-length serious/funny/anarchic Rat Pack performance from '65. (For sentimentalists' sake, it was taped on Tina Sinatra's 17th birthday; she makes a brief appearance onstage with the fellas.) All kidding aside, the trio makes with the serious singing ' though perhaps those who came to hear Sammy get through an entire mini-set without interruption will want to go elsewhere, as his partners' shtick barely allows him to finish a line, much less a song. Sinatra aficionados will find the DVD indispensable, as he paws his way through a mellow version of "My Kind of Town" (benefit location "St. Louis"!) and "Fly Me to the Moon." –Rickey Wright

The Big Band Swing Express invites you to Get Aboard and experience "The Big Band HITS you've never heard before. All of the tracks are original compositions from the late Ken Farrar that were never released until now. Everything you like about Big Band music is represented here from the soft intimate melody of Sweetwater to the finger-snapping toe-tapping hot swinging sounds of the Big Bands best.

On the occasion of Charlie Parker's 100th birthday in 2020, “Bird Lives” opens, produces and records a new, orchestral view of his music. Played by one of the best big bands in Europe, arranged by Magnus Lindgren and John Beasley and with a squad of top-class guests, some of whom have received Grammy Awards, such as Joe Lovano, Chris Potter, Miguel Zenon, Tia Fuller and many more.

Trumpeter Maynard Ferguson leads his big band in a fiery date recorded in 1958, not at the Newport Festival but in New York. He was playing no-holds-barred, straight-ahead jazz at this time, and doing it with gusto. The band included Bill Chase in his pre-fusion period, Slide Hampton, and Carmen Leggion, and had a good mix between veterans and emerging youngsters.

The Casa Loma Orchestra was a popular American dance band active from 1927 to 1963. From 1929 until the rapid multiplication in the number of swing bands from 1935 on, the Casa Loma Orchestra was one of the top North American dance bands. With the decline of the big band business following the end of World War II, it disbanded in 1947. However, from 1957 to 1963, it re-emerged as a recording session band in Hollywood, made up of top-flight studio musicians under the direction of its most notable leader of the past, Glen Gray. The reconstituted band made a limited number appearances live and on television and recorded fifteen LP albums for Capitol Records before Gray died in 1963.

Imaginary Visions is the visionary new album from Grammy-nominated conductor and composer Miho Hazama, featuring The Danish Radio Big Band – one of the leading jazz ensembles in Europe. For Miho, this album represents a new era as part of a growing and blossoming international career.