Artist: Count Basie & His Orchestra/ Jimmy Rushing
Album: Count Basie & His Orchestra: Vocals Jimmy Rushing
Label: Pickwick
Year: 1990
Genre: Jazz
Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
Size: 82MB

     Artist: Chet Baker
     Album: The Best of Chet Baker Sings
     Label: Capitol
     Recording Date: Oct 27, 1953-Jul 30, 1956
     Release: 1989
     Genre: Jazz
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Time: 64:16
     Size: 96+61MB

To much of the pop (as opposed to the jazz) audience, Chet Baker was known not as an able cool jazz trumpeter, but as a romantic balladeer. The two classifications were not mutually exclusive; Baker's vocal numbers would also feature his trumpet playing, as well as fine instrumental support from West Coast cool jazzers. For those who prefer the vocal side of the Baker canon, this is an excellent compilation of his best vintage material in that mode. The 20 tracks draw from sessions covering the era when he was generally conceded to be at his vocal peak (1953-1956), and are dominated by standards from the likes of Rodgers & Hart, Carmichael, Gershwin, and Kern. Baker's singing was white and naпve in the best senses, with a quavering, uncertain earnestness that embodied a certain (safe) strain of mid-'50s bohemianism. That's the Baker heard on this collection, which contains some his most famous interpretations, including "My Funny Valentine," "Time After Time," "There Will Never Be Another You," and "Let's Get Lost." Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide.

     Artist: Lou Rawls
     Album: Best of Lou Rawls
     Label: Capitol
     Year: 1988
     Genre: Jazz, Blues, Soul
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Size: 80MB

Although they're included almost as a postscript to this gorgeous collection of jazz and gospel-inflected blues, the last three tracks on The Best Of Lou Rawls are headline news in themselves. Three previously unissued tracks featuring legendary trumpeter Dupree Bolton!!

Almost as under-recorded and unchronicled as Buddy Bolden, Dupree Bolton spent most of his adult life either with a monkey on his back or doing jail time under the USA's unenlightened drug laws. But his contributions to Harold Land's The Fox (1959) and Curtis Amy's Katanga (1963) made those albums two of the most toweringly magnificent ever to come from the West Coast.

     Artist: Lionel Hampton
     Album: Sound of Jazz:Lionel Hampton in concert
     Label: Cleo
     Year: 1988
     Genre: Jazz
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Size: 107MB

     Artist: Various Artists
     Album: Jazz Classics in Digital Stereo, Vol. 4: Hot Town
     Label: ABC
     Year: 1987
     Genre: Classic Jazz
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Time: 49:48
     Size: 92+20MB

This CD sampler in the Robert Parker series mostly features territory bands from cities other than New York, Chicago and New Orleans. Other than a selection apiece from Jimmie Lunceford (1930's "In Dat Mornin'"), Duke Ellington, Andy Kirk and Benny Moten, all of the groups are quite obscure (such as those led by Alonzo Ross, Charley Williamson, Troy Floyd and Slatz Randall), making this release of greater than usual interest although unfortunately complete sessions are not reissued. Excellent music most highly recommended to listeners who want a general sampling of early rarities. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

     Artist: Lionel Hampton
     Album: Planet Jazz
     Label: RCA Victor
     Recording Date: Oct 30, 1939-May 10, 1940
     Release Date: Aug 25, 1998
     Genre: Jazz
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Time: 54:55
     Size: 94+34MB

     Artist: Ella Fitzgerald
     Album: Best of Ella Fitzgerald: First Lady of Song
     Label: Verve
     Year: 1994
     Genre: Vocal Jazz
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Time: 58:38
     Size: 91+43MB

Comprising 16 of the 51 tracks (one-third) from the original First Lady of Song three-CD collection, this edited single disc is for those disinclined to purchase the full set or complete works. It might be advisable first to search for any full album sides of specific sessions or tributes to composers that Ella Fitzgerald had done, but this smaller compilation does contain some of her better songs, falling short of an essential greatest-hits or best-of effort. Such all-time classics as "Can't We Be Friends?," "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered," "Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin'," "Baby, Don't You Go 'Way Mad," "I Won't Dance," and "Don't Be That Way" are definitive Ella, and are included. The bargain hunter in you might find this at a good price, but saving up for the larger sets should be your aim. Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide.

     Artist: Stan Getz
     Album: First Class Jazz
     Year: 2006
     Label: EMI Music (Belgium)
     Genre: Jazz
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320 kb/s
     Size: 88+80MB



First Class Jazz is a boxset of 20 cd's with all the great jazz legends. All tracks were previously released on the labels Verve and Blue Note. It is compiled for a news paper "De Morgen" in Belgium. You can't buy them in the music store. This is the fifteenth release from the collection.

     Artist: Charles Mingus
     Album: First Class Jazz
     Year: 2006
     Label: EMI Music (Belgium)
     Genre: Jazz
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320 kb/s
     Size: 92+60MB

This is the eight release from First Class Jazz. A boxset of 20 cd's with all the great jazz legends. All tracks were previously released on the labels Verve and Blue Note. It is compiled for a news paper "De Morgen" in Belgium. You can't buy them in the music store. This is the eighth release from the collection.

     Artist: Louis Armstrong & Various Artists
     Album: Rare Batch Of Satch, A (Ain't Misbehavin')
     Label: Castle Pulse
     Year: 1961
     Release: 1996
     Genre: Jazz
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Time: 75 min
     Size: 85+81MB

In the history of jazz, Louis Armstrong towers over all others as an important musician in terms of influence and popularity. His joyous, craggy voice and crackling trumpet style virtually defined jazz in the 1920s and beyond. RARE BATCH captures Armstrong in the company of his under-recorded 1943 orchestra as well as the orchestra of Luis Russell. Taken mostly from radio shows, the sonic quality is quite good and is invaluable as a slice of Armstrong's big-band years (since Armstrong performed with mostly small groups).
21 tracks from 4 radio broadcasts of 1943 with the underrated and barely recorded Louis Armstrong Orchestra with, of course, Louis on trumpet and vocals. Louis Armstrong left us with an abundance of recored music except for his lack of recordings of his
"Grab-bag of vintage Armstrong material culled from various sessions, much of which can be found elsewhere in a more coordinated fashion and with more information as well. The music is great, but packaging and sequencing are dubious." Ron Wynn.AMG.

     Artist: George Shearing
     Album: The Story of Jazz
     Label: EMI Plus
     Year: 2000
     Genre: Jazz
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Size: 94+21MB

     Artist: Tony Bennett
     Album: The Good Life
     Label: Sony
     Year: 1992
     Genre: Vocal Jazz
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Time: 40:40
     Size: 97MB

     Artist: Sammy Davis Jr.
     Album: Sammy Davis Jr. Sings and Laurindo Almeida Plays
     Label: MMS
     Year: 1966
     Release: 1994
     Genre: Vocal Jazz
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Size: 88MB

The intimacy inherent in this collection places 1966's Sammy Davis, Jr. Sings and Laurindo Almeida Plays in a class unto itself. As he had done on the highly conceptual All-Star Spectacular in 1962 and California Suite in 1964, multi-talented entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. has created a unique and thoroughly fascinating outing. The ten selections feature Davis and Brazilian instrumentalist/arranger Laurindo Almeida, who made a name for himself as an accompanist for Carmen Miranda before delving into the decidedly American art form of West Coast cool jazz with saxophonist Bud Shank in the mid-'50s. Here, the pair effortlessly complement each other inside the very intonation and tenor of their respective crafts. Davis' incisive abilities as an emotive performer bring a pervasive dramatic quality to the wide range of material covered. When compared to fellow Rat Packer Frank Sinatra's reading of "Here's That Rainy Day," Davis' vocals lean into the song, resulting in a palpable sense of melancholia. He evokes a similar sentiment on the achingly poignant version of Cole Porter's "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" as well as the hopelessly optimistic "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows." However, the real magic woven into this collaboration is without a doubt Davis' incorporation of several significant Broadway melodies. "Where Is Love" -- taken from Lionel Bart's Oliver -- is a stunning, if not mesmerizing, interpretation. "Joey, Joey, Joey" bears an earthy closeness, offering what is arguably a defining moment as the tune transcends its place within the stage production Most Happy Fella, becoming an exceptional and exquisite ballad. - Lindsay Planer.AMG.

     Artist: Charlie Barnet
     Album: Mister Barnet's Conference
     Label: Ocium
     Recording Date: Aug 12, 1946-Jul 10, 1952
     Release Date: Jul 2, 2002
     Genre: Jazz
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Time: 66:29
     Size: 93+65MB

     Artist: Jack Jenney
     Album: Stardust
     Label: Hep
     Recording Date: Jun 15, 1937-Jan 30, 1940
     Years: 1937 - 1940, release 1996
     Genre: Jazz
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Time: 62:24
     Size: 94+78MB

Jack Jenney had a beautiful tone and was one of the most technically skilled trombonists active during the swing era. Unfortunately, he did not have much luck as a bandleader, recording 18 selections with his orchestra during 1938-40 before going bankrupt. All of the numbers are on this CD, plus three alternate takes and three songs made during a small-group date as a sideman with drummer Johnny Williams (a session which also includes trumpeter Charlie Spivak and tenor saxophonist Babe Russin). Jenney is best known for his eight-bar solo on Artie Shaw's famous version of "Stardust," but more notable is his own full-length feature on "Stardust" with his big band (two versions are on this CD), in which his technique is fully displayed. Jenney's orchestra did not have any big names -- best known are pianist Arnold Ross and clarinetist Peanuts Hucko, although drummer Gene Krupa sat in during the first session -- and its recordings alternated between well-played but anonymous swing and some typical vocal ballad features. But this perfectly realized reissue CD is easily recommended to swing collectors wanting to learn about the now-obscure trombone great. Scott Yanow, All Music Guide.