2 CD, 36 tracks including gems from Artie Shaw, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Chet Baker, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis and many more!

This Audiophile CD release is comprised of 22 brief performances (generally 2-2 1/2 minutes apiece) that were originally recorded as radio transcriptions (rather than commercial records). Altoist Gene Quill and tenorman Al Cohn (one of the main arrangers) are the main soloists on the big-band selections while Lawrence (on piano) is also featured in a sextet with guitarist Mary Osborne and Tyree Glenn (who doubles on trombone and vibes)…

Afro (1954). Pairing Dizzy Gillespie with Cuban arranger/composer Chico O'Farrill produced a stunning session which originally made up the first half of a Norgran LP. O'Farrill conducts an expanded orchestra which combines a jazz band with a Latin rhythm section; among the participants in the four-part "Manteca Suite" are trumpeters Quincy Jones and Ernie Royal, trombonist J.J. Johnson, tenor saxophonists Hank Mobley and Lucky Thompson, and conga player Mongo Santamaria. "Manteca," written during the previous decade, serves as an exciting opening movement, while the next two segments build upon this famous theme, though they are jointly credited to O'Farrill as well. "Rhumba-Finale" is straight-ahead jazz with some delicious solo work by Gillespie…

In honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Allman Brothers debut album, New West Records is proud to present, Big Band of Brothers: A Jazz Celebration of the Allman Brothers Band. This record is a true collection of big band jazz interpretations of Allman Brothers classics. The record features guest vocals by Marc Broussard and Ruthie Foster. Big Band of Brothers also features Jack Pearson on guitar, who has performed as a guest of the Allman Brothers Band on numerous occasions, and actually joined as a member of the band in 1997. Together with Dickey Betts, he completed the band's archetypal guitar duo for nearly 3 years. Wycliffe Gordon (of Jazz at Lincoln Center fame) is also featured as a soloist. Gordon is consistently ranked among leading trombone players in the Downbeat critics poll.

Gavin Harrison, Porcupine Tree’s drummer, has taken time out from working with King Crimson to record a contemporary jazz album, based on his love of brass arranging; using as its source material his favourite Porcupine Tree songs, melodies and leitmotifs. The result is astonishing; a kind of heavy rock Lalo Schifrin, and Gavin explains the influences behind the project in an exclusive interview here. Plus you'll hear some of the pieces on ‘Cheating the Polygraph’.

A superb selection of material here from another jazz icon: 'Back to Back' (1959) is the famous collaboration between Ellington and alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges; 'Live at The Whitney' (Recorded 1972) is a rare piano-trio date recorded at New York's Whitney School Of American Art; and 'Soul Call' (1967) is a classic big-band album recorded live at the Antibes Jazz Festival, featuring barnstorming versions of 'Caravan' and 'Skin Deep'.

This CD is quite a bit different than most audiophile releases for it contains rare rather than famous recordings. 1959's The Fourth Herd (which features an all-star group of studio musicians and Woody Herman alumni along with his octet of the time) was only put out briefly by Jazzland while the music on 1962's The New World of Woody Herman was never available commercially before; both were originally cut for the SESAC Transcribed Library and were available only to selected radio stations on a subscription basis…

Duke Ellington called his music "American Music" rather than jazz, and liked to describe those who impressed him as "beyond category. He remains one of the most influential figures in jazz, if not in all American music and is widely considered as one of the twentieth century's best known African American personalites. As both a composer and a band leader, Ellington's reputation has increased since his death, with thematic repackagings of his signature music often becoming best-sellers. Posthumous recognition of his work include a special award citation from the Pulitzer Prize Board.

In 1958 Sonny Rollins split an LP between two very different settings. On four selections he is backed by a big band arranged by Ernie Wilkins (Rollins's appearances with big bands have been quite rare through the years) including Gershwin's "Who Cares?" The flip side showcases the great tenor in a trio with bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Charles Wright including "Manhattan," one of the very few jazz versions of "If You Were the Only Girl in the World" and a brilliant unaccompanied performance of a song often associated with his idol Coleman Hawkins, "Body and Soul." Rollins excels in both of these settings, making this an easily recommended set.

As a tight, longstanding jazz ensemble, Yellowjackets has explored a universe all its own of electro-acoustic soundscapes in its nearly four-decade history. Since the band’s eponymous 1981 debut album, Yellowjackets has consistently forged ahead with innovative and challenging artistic statements. For Jackets XL, its 25th album and fourth for Mack Avenue Music Group, the band continues to stretch and reinvent itself with an exciting, full-bodied collaboration with the superb WDR Big Band of Cologne, Germany. The project combines the shapeshifting, multiple GRAMMY® Award-winning quartet with the renowned big band, re-imagining well-known band originals with dynamic new arrangements that feature twists and turns, textures and colors, moving harmonies and bold solos.

With the death of Chick Webb in 1939, his big band was temporarily without a leader. Since Ella Fitzgerald had become the orchestra's most popular attraction, she was put at its head even though she had very little to do with the music. The Webb management, musical director Teddy McRae and trumpeter Taft Jordan actually ran the show, but Fitzgerald was still virtually the only female singer (other than Ina Ray Hutton) to be the leader of her own big band during the era. The experiment would last for two years, until Fitzgerald started her own remarkably successful solo career in 1941. While most of the band's recordings after Webb's death featured Fitzgerald's vocals, the four radio broadcasts that comprise this two-CD set have the orchestra taking instrumentals on over one-third of the material…

South of the Border is an album by the David Murray Big Band released on the Japanese DIW label. Recorded in 1992 and released in 1995 the album features performances by Murray, Rasul Siddik, James Zoller, Hugh Ragin, Craig Harris, Frank Lacy, Al Patterson, Vincent Chancey, Kalil Henry, John Purcell, Patience Higgins, Don Byron, Sonelius Smith, Fred Hopkins, Tani Tabbal, and Larry McDonald, conducted by Lawrence "Butch" Morris.

The Count Basie Orchestra's initial studio album for Pablo mostly features pleasant but lightweight arrangements by Sammy Nestico. The music is quite recognizable as Basie's but the results are somewhat forgettable and predictable.

This is a true classic. Altoist Art Pepper is joined by an 11-piece band playing Marty Paich arrangements of a dozen jazz standards from the bop and cool jazz era. Trumpeter Jack Sheldon has a few solos, but the focus is very much on the altoist who is in peak form for this period…