This CD is part of RCA Victor's extensive but erratic introduction to jazz series. Glenn Miller had so many hits that it would be impossible to fit them on just one CD. Strangely enough, three of the 15 numbers included on this release ("When You Wish Upon a Star," "Moon Love," and "King Porter Stomp") were not big sellers, making the title a bit ...
While the title alone would seem to invite criticism, it's a justified tag, as this 20-track collection rounds up some pretty serious contenders. Kicking off with Glenn Miller's "Chattanooga Choo Choo," Benny Goodman's "Stompin' at the Savoy," and Duke Ellington's "Take the 'A' Train," the set includes signature tunes from Woody Herman, Artie Shaw ...
In conjunction with documentary filmmaker Ken Burns' ten-part 2000 PBS special, Columbia/Legacy and Verve teamed up to issue a special series of reissues covering much of the history of 20th century jazz. The central release of this program is the five-CD box set Ken Burns Jazz: The Story of America's Music, its 94 selections covering the history ...
In conjunction with documentary filmmaker Ken Burns' ten-part 2000 PBS special, Columbia/Legacy and Verve teamed up to issue a special series of reissues covering much of the history of 20th century jazz. The central release of this program was the five-CD box set Ken Burns Jazz: The Story of America's Music, which was augmented by no less than 22 ...
At its best, Swing Kids fills the listener with the relentless passion, sensuality, and joy that is swing music. Not tapping your feet or dancing to the material presented is nearly impossible. Unfortunately, composer James Horner also fills the album with moody orchestral music that takes away some of the momentum. Still, the best cuts are so ...
This four-CD set is a first in Frank Sinatra's Columbia Records discography: a box set that encompasses his Columbia solo sides with his work for Tommy Dorsey and Harry James, plus live broadcast sides up through 1952. It may also perplex some potential purchasers, especially those who already have the 12-CD Sony/Legacy Columbia Years set -- which ...
The Benny Goodman library hasn't been well treated by RCA-BMG, especially in the area of mid-priced compilations -- there were too many reissues done in the late '80s and early '90s, before the advent of 20-bit and 24-bit mastering and other high-resolution digital formats, that really make a difference on those old analog masters. The result is a ...
World War II and big-band pop-era compilations are released almost as regularly as Christmas albums, and the glut has caused more harm than good; it seems any good ones are quickly swallowed up by the racks full of short, ill-advised, uninformative collections. Though any single label could never do justice to the war years, with a little clever ...
Alto saxophonist Charlie Parker was instrumental in tipping jazz over from the swing genre, which was predominantly a dance music, to bop, which aspired to art, an intellectual dance if you will, and consequently Parker was a huge purveyor of the mid-'40s sea change that began to alter the way audiences approached jazz, and pop music in general. ...
There have been many compilations of Spike Jones' music, but few have been better than RCA's 1999 collection, Greatest Hits. Over the course of 20 tracks, all of Jones' best-known songs are presented in their best-known versions, including "Leave the Dishes in the Sink, Ma," "My Old Flame," "Der Fuehrer's Face," "The Sheik of Araby, "William Tell ...
Songs That Got Us Through WW2, Vol. 2 collects more early-'40s pop favorites like Dinah Shore's "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To," Roy Rogers' "San Fernando Valley," and Johnny Mercer's "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe." More overtly war-themed songs such as Buddy Johnson & His Orchestra's "When My Man Comes Home," Louis Jordan's "Ration ...
This double-CD set should not be confused with the similarly named mid-'90s, 47-song compilation from BMG, which was good in its time but is outclassed by this entry in Sony Music's (now Sony BMG's) Essential series. Wisely ignoring a by-release-date-order approach, producer Barry Feldman has instead opted for a track lineup that, plain and simple ...
Greatest Hits is a brief collection of Tommy Dorsey's best-known songs, including "Marie," "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You," "The Song is You," and 15 other tracks. It's certainly not a complete collection, but it offers a nice cross-section of Dorsey's biggest hits and, in the process, it functions as a good sampler for novices and casual fans. ...
One of at least seven entirely different compilations that brandish the word "Essential" in their titles, this double-disc anthology of 40 classic swing performances actually does convey the essence of Benny Goodman, and is therefore highly recommended. The recordings, most of them cut in the Victor and Columbia studios between 1934 and 1945, are ...
The Fabulous Swing Collection offers 19 classic swing hits from the likes of Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Fletcher Henderson, Charlie Barnet, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Benny Goodman, and Artie Shaw. There's nothing rare on the compilation, so it's not necessary for collectors, but it's not a bad sampler for casual listeners who want these hits ...
Released in 1996, Proper Box 97 contains 99 sides recorded under the leadership of master drummer Chick Webb beginning with the session of March 30, 1931 and ending with a recording made live at the Southland Cafe in Boston on May 4, 1939, a little over a month before he succumbed to spinal tuberculosis at the tender age of 30 (his last words ...
In the Christmas Mood features the Glenn Miller Orchestra performing a variety of holiday favorites. Featured performances include "Sleigh Ride," "Silver Bells," "Jingle Bells," and "Frosty the Snowman," in addition to 35 others. This is a lengthy album, spanning the distance of three discs. The third disc is noteworthy because it features an ...
At first glance, a CD of jazz tracks handpicked by comedian/actor Billy Crystal may seem an odd bird. However, given that Crystal's uncle, Commodore Records founder Milt Gabler, produced most of the cuts included here, it actually makes more sense than many similar-themed albums with tracks picked by musicians. Thanks to the family connection, ...
The War, directed by Ken Burns, was a seven-part documentary series broadcast on PBS television in 2007, focusing on the experiences of American soldiers in World War II. Much popular music of the period was heard on the soundtrack, as was some music specifically composed and recorded for use in the film. This four-CD set, with the full title The ...
A two-disc set of American popular music from 1941 to 1945, We'll Meet Again compiles many of the era's biggest love songs, all informed by the war experience. Performers include Bing Crosby, the Mills Brothers, Benny Goodman and the Ink Spots. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Benny Goodman's January 16, 1938, Carnegie Hall concert is considered the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history: jazz's "coming out" party to the world of "respectable" music, held right in that throne room of musical respectability, Carnegie Hall. The 1950-vintage three-album set from the concert only solidified its ...
With cooperation from the Verve and Columbia Legacy catalogs, the Ken Burns Jazz series on CD individually spotlights the musical excellence of 22 jazz originators whose careers and influence are explored in Burns' PBS documentary Jazz. Even though alto saxophonist Charlie Parker didn't record as much material as other legends in this series, it's ...
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