Lionel Frederick Cole was an American jazz singer and pianist whose recording career spanned almost 70 years. He was the brother of musicians Nat King Cole, Eddie Cole, and Ike Cole, father of Lionel Cole, and uncle of Natalie Cole and Carole Cole.

In this final recording with pianist Michel Petrucciani, saxophonist Grossman's usually more extroverted tendencies are willingly sublimated in order to play more romantically inclined mainstream jazz. Many of the tunes are ballads, embellished by Petrucciani's languid or forceful pianistics, while solid bassist Andy McKee and drummer Joe Farnsworth keep the flickering flame alive with their steadying rhythms.
Of course the fire has to be stoked on occasion, and Grossman really digs in on the Sonny Rollins evergreen "Why Don't I?" It's perfectly played, a flawless uptempo swinger with head nodding, bluesy elements. Contrasting easy swing with double timed tenor on "Don't Blame Me" shows Grossman as riled up as he gets on this date…

Following up his 2000 tribute to guitarist Django Reinhardt, Chasin' the Gypsy, saxophonist James Carter pays homage to iconic jazz singer Billie Holiday on Gardenias for Lady Day. Perhaps never before has the jazz iconoclast balanced so perfectly his "big top" avant-garde leanings with his more pinstriped traditionalist aesthetic. This is a beautiful album that revels as much in classic melody as it does in Carter's most torrid saxophone "skronk." Although the album largely succeeds on Carter's virtuosic performance, it gains most of its character from the deft and unpredictable orchestral arrangements of Greg Cohen and fellow Detroiter Cassius Richmond. In particular, Richmond brings a cinematic quality to the album with his treatments of "Sunset," "I Wonder Where Our Love Is Gone," and "Gloria" that breathe and swell, rubbing dramatically against Carter's muscular sound…

AVID Jazz here presents three classic Ben Webster albums plus including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD. '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.

During one of his many tours of Europe, Lionel Hampton assembled a group of all-stars for this 1956 studio session, adding a number of top European players to his regular group. The vibraphonist has the lion's share of solos, dominating the 11-plus-minute interpretation of "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" and showing off a bit with his unique style of playing piano on several selections, including a romp through "Regina's Drag" (which is the same as "12th Street Rag"). "New Saint-Louis Blues" is just an updated version of W.C. Handy's signature tune, with a vocal by Hampton and sassy muted trumpet by Ed Mullens. This date might have been a bit more memorable with more solo features for the vibraphonist's sidemen, but it is hard to overpower one of the greatest jazz showmen of all time.

The European Jazz Trio, comprising Marc van Roon on Piano, Frans van der Hoeven on bass and Roy Dackus on drums has been recording and performing since 1995, when it released a CD of Beatles' songs in fresh arrangements. On each album, the trio has taken songs in every style, shape and color, and has given them a jazz interpretation. For the trio "Jazz" means to have the freedom to combine and mix styles, melodies, sounds and rhythms to create something fresh and surprising.

This five-LP box set (which has been reissued on CD) contains nearly all of Stan Getz's classic bossa nova sessions, five wonderful yet diverse LPs (Jazz Samba, Big Band Bossa Nova, Jazz Samba Encore, Stan Getz/Laurindo Almedia, and Getz/Gilberto). The cool-toned tenor is heard on his groundbreaking collaboration with guitarist Charlie Byrd (which resulted in the best-selling "Desafinado"), is showcased with a big band arranged by Gary McFarland (introducing "No More Blues" and "One Note Samba"), stars in recordings with guitarists Laurindo Almeida and Luiz Bonfa, and is heard at the famous meeting with composer/pianist Antonio Carlos Jobim, guitarist João Gilberto, and singer Astrud Gilberto, which resulted in the major hit "The Girl From Ipanema." This essential set finishes off with three previously unissued performances from a 1964 Carnegie Hall Concert, concluding with a remake of "The Girl From Ipanema." These recordings stand as proof that it is possible for good music to sell.

This aptly named set was recorded on November 28, 1972, in Barcelona, Spain. Although many of Ben Webster's European sessions suffered when compared to his American ones, this outing is one of the exceptions, due in no small part to the fluid piano work of Tete Montoliu. Supported by a rhythm section of Eric Peter on bass and Peer Wyboris on drums, both Webster and Montoliu have plenty of room to breathe, and the result is a wonderful and pleasant set highlighted by the opening track, "Ben's Blues," and an easy, elegant version of "Sweet Georgia Brown." Webster's trademark breathy tenor sax tone is in full supply here, but the real revelation is Montoliu, who proves to be a marvelous jazz pianist, making Gentle Ben somewhat of an overlooked gem.

4CD Box Set. 72 tracks featuring Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Chet Baker, Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson, Claude Thornhill, Nat King Cole, Charles Mingus, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Lester Young, Louis Armstrong, Eartha Kitt, Julie London, Art Pepper and many, many more…

One can sympathize with Freddie Cole's plight. The younger brother of Nat King Cole, Freddie has spent most of his life in his brother's shadow, even though Nat died in 1965. The problem is that Freddie is also a pianist/vocalist and sometimes performs similar material. In fact, the title of this CD is a bit absurd, since Cole is heard playing in the same type of group that Nat made famous (a trio with guitarist Ed Zad and bassist Eddie Edwards) and his repertoire includes such songs as "Home Fried Potatoes," "To Whom It May Concern," "The Best Man," and a ten-minute, six-song "Nat Cole Medley." Add to that such originals as "He Was the King" and "I'm Not My Brother, I'm Me," and one is not allowed to forget for a moment that Freddie was Nat's brother. Actually, Freddie has an older and raspier voice (which is natural, since he has outlived Nat) and his piano style is more tied to 1950s jazz (such as Red Garland) than to swing. This fairly definitive CD from Freddie Cole does give one a strong sampling of his talents.

On More Music, master organist Joey DeFrancesco, who has long supplemented his keyboard virtuoso with his skilled trumpet playing, here brings out his full arsenal: organ, keyboard, piano, trumpet and, for the first time on record, tenor saxophone. More Music offers up ten new DeFrancesco originals, brought to life by a scintillating new trio with fellow Philadelphia organist and guitarist Lucas Brown and gifted drummer Michael Ode.

The best jazz groups are made up of kindred spirits, but the rare family band has something more – an intuitive feel for each other that goes beyond words and gestures to a kind of bred-in-the-bone telepathy. The 3 Cohens are that sort of uncommon collective, a trio of siblings – tenor saxophonist/clarinetist Anat Cohen, trumpeter Avishai Cohen and soprano saxophonist Yuval Cohen – whose sense of improvisational interplay is both uncannily fluent and wonderfully, infectiously warm. In Tightrope the group digs deep to explore this connection in an unaccompanied setting. Stellar guests Fred Hersch, Christian McBride and Jonathan Blake individually add their voices to the conversation.

Bernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, United States. He discovered his affinity for jazz music at a young age and began drumming at the age of two. He began playing jazz in 1937, working with acts such as Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie, and Harry James. From 1942 to 1944, Rich served in the U.S. Marines. From 1945 to 1948, he led the Buddy Rich Orchestra. In 1966, he recorded a big-band style arrangement of songs from West Side Story. He found lasting success in 1966 with the formation of the Buddy Rich Big Band, also billed as the Buddy Rich Band and The Big Band Machine. Rich was known for his virtuoso technique, power, and speed. He was an advocate of the traditional grip, though he occasionally used matched grip when playing the toms. Despite his commercial success and musical talent, Rich never learned how to read sheet music, preferring to listen to drum parts and play them from memory.

Recorded at the same Village Vanguard sessions that resulted in Since We Met, this posthumous collection (first put out in 1981 and later reissued on CD) features pianist Bill Evans, bassist Eddie Gómez, and drummer Marty Morell playing material that was passed over for release at the time - some of the songs were overly familiar, while others were works in progress. But even though the results fall short of classic, they should interest Bill Evans collectors; highlights include remakes of "Re: Person I Knew," "Alfie," "T.T.T. (Twelve Tone Tune)," and "34 Skidoo."

Wynton Marsalis, ever the protagonist and explorer, brings his love of the spoken word and the adolescent relations of the male and female persuasion during He and She, a collection of instrumental mainstream jazz pieces with poetry as preludes. Inspired by the tone of the Jon Hendricks epic Evolution of the Blues Song, Marsalis uses math equations, the sun and the moon, and the budding affection of youth to frame his music - mostly jazz waltzes - into thematic conclusions based on getting along, and why the genders think differently. New pianist Dan Nimmer is a welcome addition to the quintet, while drummer Ali Jackson really shines and reliable saxophonist Walter Blanding asserts his increasing powers…