So dubbed because these three sessions -- two from early 1949, one from March 1950 -- are where the sound known as cool jazz essentially formed, The Birth of the Cool remains one of the defining, pivotal moments in jazz. This is where the elasticity of bop was married with skillful, big-band arrangements and a relaxed, subdued mood that made it ...
The Very Best of Julie London offers an extensive overview of London's recording career with 50 selections she cut for Liberty Records between 1955 and 1969. The tracks are not newly remastered for the most part, but are taken from EMI's series of import two-fers and the domestic reissues Ron Furmanek and Bob Norberg produced in the early '90s. ...
Along with Kind of Blue, In a Silent Way, and Round About Midnight, Sketches of Spain is one of Miles Davis' most enduring and innovative achievements. Recorded between November 1959 and March 1960 -- after Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley had left the band -- Miles teamed with British arranger Gil Evans for the third time. Davis brought Evans the ...
Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz called on pianist extraordinaire Vince Guaraldi and his trio to compose and perform music that would reflect the humor, charm, and innocence of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the entire Peanuts gang for their 1965 Christmas TV special. It was a perfect match: Guaraldi strings together elegant, enticing arrangements ...
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 ...
First released on LP in 1980, this compilation concentrates upon bite-sized samples from Vince Guaraldi's Fantasy catalog. Naturally, Fantasy includes famous tunes like "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" and "Linus and Lucy," but there are also some superb sleepers ("Star Song," Jobim's "Outra Vez") that display Guaraldi's wonderful melodic gift, and ...
Simply a grand and eloquent performance put together by Verve records highlighting the best years of Ella Fitzgerald -- that sassy, charming legendary singer in jazz. The Best of the Songbooks features a captivating lineup of some of jazz's greatest composers and arrangers. It is here that Fitzgerald records and sings songs of Cole Porter, Richard ...
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 ...
Using Anita Day as starting point -- but eschewing many of her scat-song histrionics in favor of pure tonal power and melancholic shading -- June Christy honed her singing skills with Stan Kenton's band before going solo in the '50s. Christy's relatively accessible vocal approach and blonde good looks eventually helped her gain success with such ...
Only a fraction of the sacred music written by Dave Brubeck has been recorded for commercial release; this commissioned piece marks the first time that one of his religious works has been recorded in its entirety in concert. With longtime manager Russell Gloyd conducting the Cathedral Choral Society Chorus & Orchestra and his regular quartet, ...
The first jazz vocal LP ever released on Atlantic Records, Chris Connor's self-titled album is one of her best (among considerable competition). Connor's coarse, throaty tone, sweet phrasing, and unerring rhythm were peaking during the late '50s, and the results are delightful tweaks of the standards "Anything Goes" and "Almost Like Being in Love. ...
Tomes are available annotating the importance of this recording. The musical and social impact of Miles Davis, his collaborative efforts with Gil Evans, and in particular their reinvention of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess are indeed profound. However, the most efficient method of extricating the rhetoric and opining is to experience the ...
R. Carlos Nakai has been at the forefront of Native American artists since the mid- to late '80s (around the time of release of this CD). On Earth Spirit, his acoustic reveries are direct and true. Each of the 15 compositions comes from Nakai's heart and goes to listeners' hearts. Two of the compositions are for the "eagle's bone whistle," the ...
This 1954 studio date, a self-titled album recorded for Emarcy, was later reissued as Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown to denote the involvement of one of the top trumpeters of the day. Vaughan sings nine intimate standards with a band including Brown on trumpet, Herbie Mann on flute, and Paul Quinichette on tenor, each of which have plenty of ...
Although it is not obvious from the cover of this 1997 CD, all 12 selections from Chet Baker's Pacific Jazz period are currently available elsewhere (although a few are only on Mosaic limited-edition box sets). The material is almost random and is not programmed in chronological order. Baker takes vocals on five numbers, including three from a ...
Depending on the mood you're in, this compilation album will make you dream, smile, or cry a nostalgic tear. It is a typical Windham Hill sampler: wistful, joyful, lush, and lovely. Most songs stick with piano or string instrumentation, and none of them could ever be classified as up-tempo. A few of the tracks, including "The Gift" and "Sung to ...
Sanctuary: 20 Years of Windham Hill is an excellent sampler of the new age label's history, featuring all of their most famous artists, as well as most of their best-known music. It's an excellent way to become acquainted with the label's history, and it also encapsulates everything Windham Hill was about. ~ Rodney Batdorf, All Music Guide
Originally entitled Jazz Impressions of a Boy Named Charlie Brown, this is an important album not only because it is Guaraldi's first Peanuts soundtrack, but also because the music heard here probably introduced millions of kids (and their parents) to jazz from the mid-'60s onward. Actually, this music is the score for a documentary on the Peanuts ...
This very enjoyable CD for the first time gathers together all of the music recorded at this timeless session. Tenor-saxophonist Stan Getz is joined by pianist Oscar Peterson, guitarist Herb Ellis and bassist Ray Brown for a well-rounded set filled with appealing standards, three Getz originals (two of which are blues) and a fine ballad medley. ...
Canyon Trilogy represents a return to the simplicity of Carlos Nakai's earlier albums such as Changes and Journeys. There are no additional instruments here, no rattles, and no chanting, just his haunting flutes, either solo or multi-tracked. The "trilogy" in the title refers to the three sections of the tape -- "Dawn's Mirage," "Dreamscapes," and ...
Banjo player supreme Béla Fleck and bassist Edgar Meyer make for a fascinating and daring duo, and they appear to be at their best live, as this esoteric disc shows. While there are plenty of original compositions from both pens, they also tackle several pieces by Bach, a wonderful Henry Eccles sonata, and some Miles Davis -- gadding about all ...
This fine club date features guitarist Jim Hall in Toronto with two of the top Canadian jazzmen, bassist Don Thompson and drummer Terry Clarke. The interplay between the three players is sometimes wondrous, and although the five selections are all familiar standards (such as "'Round Midnight," "Scrapple From the Apple" and "The Way You Look ...
For fans of the innumerable Charlie Brown/Peanuts television specials, Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits is a true goldmine, providing an album's worth of previously unreleased material by pianist Vince Guaraldi, written and recorded for various specials over the years. Brand new, yet instantly familiar, Guaraldi's effortless combination of childlike ...
As Gerald Heard's liner notes point out, it's difficult to decide whether Chet Baker was a trumpet player who sang or a singer who played trumpet. When the 24-year-old California-based trumpeter started his vocal career in 1954, his singing was revolutionary; as delicate and clear as his trumpet playing, with a similarly bright and vibrato-free ...
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