Jazz: The Definitive Performances (1999)

About this title: To commemorate the end of the century, Sony Music assembled the gargantuan 26-disc box set Sony Music 100 Years: Soundtrack for a Century. The title was imposing, as was the idea behind it -- to chronicle the life of the oldest record label in the music industry. To be clear, Sony Music has not existed for 100 years, but the heart of its catalog, Columbia Records, was founded early in the 20th century. Sony acquired Columbia and its various subsidiaries in the late '80s, purchasing one of the richest catalogs in pop history, as the box set proves again and again. Sony realized that most ... read more

Tracks:

1. (Back Home Again In) Indiana [MacDonald/Hanley]
2. St. Louis Blues [Handy]
3. Dippermouth Blues [King Oliver]
4. The Stampede [Henderson]
5. Wild Cat Blues [Waller/Williams]
6. Singin' the Blues (Till My Daddy Comes Home) [Conrad/Lewis/Robins]
7. West End Blues [King Oliver/William]
8. Tiger Rag [DaCosta/Edwards/LaR]
9. God Bless the Child [Herzog/Holiday]
10. Lester Leaps In [Young]
11. Flying Home [Goodman/Hampton/Rob]
12. I Can't Get Started [Duke/Gershwin]
13. It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) [Ellington/Mills]
14. 9:20 Special [Engvick/Warren]
15. Let Me Off Uptown [Evans/Bostic]
16. 'Tain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It) [Oliver/Young]
17. Four Brothers [Giuffre]
18. Nica's Dream [Silver]
19. So What [Davis]
20. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat [Mingus]
21. Take Five [Desmond]
22. It's All Right with Me [Porter]
23. Straight, No Chaser [Monk]
24. Searching (Pleading for Love) [Allen/Ellington]
25. Sanctuary [Shorter]
26. Meeting of the Spirits [McLaughlin]
27. Watermelon Man [Hancock]
28. Birdland [Zawinul]
29. The Artist in America [Coleman]
30. 'Round Midnight [Hanighen/Monk/Willi]
31. Steppin' Out With My Baby [Berlin]
32. A Thousand Autumns [Marsalis]
33. Freedom Is in the Trying [Marsalis]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.