Chet Baker Big Band
Artist: Chet Baker
Community Score: 6.00

Releasing an entire album under the moniker Chet Baker Big Band is a bit of a misnomer, as only the first four sides actually incorporate an 11-person configuration. The remaining tracks from the long-player feature a slightly smaller nonet configuration. Among the luminaries joining Baker (trumpet) and participating in the big-band arrangements... Read More

Gerry Mulligan in Paris, Vol. 1
Artist: Gerry Mulligan

Formerly available in piecemeal fashion, this CD (and Vol. 2) has all of the music recorded at baritonist Gerry Mulligan's Paris concerts of June 1954. This particular unit (with valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer, bassist Red Mitchell and drummer Frank Isola) was one of Jeru's finest for his own wit, swing and cool-toned creativity were matched by... Read More

Popo and Art Pepper
Artist: Shorty Rogers

The recording quality is not the greatest on this 1980 LP but the very early session by the Lighthouse All-Stars is both historic and quite listenable. Trumpeter Shorty Rogers teams up with altoist Art Pepper, pianist Frank Patchen, bassist Howard Rumsey and drummer Shelly Manne for his own "Popo" (a blues that was Shorty's theme song) plus nine... Read More

Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster
Artist: Gerry Mulligan

The swing and bop start right here on this legendary 1959 session between baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan and tenorman Ben Webster. The opening track, Billy Strayhorn's "Chelsea Bridge" is lush and emotional and truly sets the tone for this album. With Jimmy Rowles on piano (his intro on "Sunday" sounds like a ragtimer like Willie "the Lion"... Read More

Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster - 2 CD REISSUE
Artist: Gerry Mulligan
Reunion with Chet Baker
Artist: Gerry Mulligan

The Gerry Mulligan Quartet of 1952-53 was one of the best-loved jazz groups of the decade and it made stars out of both the leader and trumpeter Chet Baker. Mulligan and Baker had very few reunions after 1953 but this particular CD from 1957 is an exception. Although not quite possessing the magic of the earlier group, the music is quite... Read More

Herbie Harper Sextet
Artist: Herbie Harper

Trombonist Herbie Harper's fifth and final session as a leader in the 1950s is an excellent outing that also features the little-known tenorman Jay Core, guitarist Howard Roberts, pianist Marty Paich, bassist Red Mitchell and either Frank Capp or Mel Lewis on drums. Core and Capp contributed an original apiece and the sextet also plays five... Read More

The Four Brothers Sound
Artist: Jimmy Giuffre

On this interesting LP, Four Brothers Sound refers to the four overdubbed tenor saxes Giuffre uses throughout the session. The effect is similar to that achieved by Bill Evans on his similar effort, Conversations With Myself. The chief differences between the two might be this: where Evans layered wholly different improvisational lines to the... Read More

Moonlight in Vermont - 1991 REISSUE
Artist: Johnny Smith

All of guitarist Johnny Smith's most important recordings are on this definitive CD reissue. The talented guitarist (who always featured a very attractive tone and a relaxed style) had a major hit with "Moonlight in Vermont," thanks in large part to tenor saxophonist Stan Getz (who is heard on seven of the selections), and Smith was quite... Read More

MJQ: 40 Years
Artist: The Modern Jazz Quartet

To celebrate The Modern Jazz Quartet's 40th anniversary as a group, Atlantic came out with an attractive four-CD box set that has selections (programmed in chronological order) that cover the group's long career. Most of the selections come from the Atlantic catalog although they have leased a few numbers owned by other labels and, with the... Read More

The Mastersounds in Concert
Artist: The Mastersounds

Having recorded several popular albums of show tunes that sold fairly well, the Mastersounds had an opportunity in 1959 to stretch out on a live album, which unfortunately has been long out of print. On four standards, a three-song ballad medley, and "Two Different Worlds," the quartet (consisting of vibraphonist Buddy Montgomery, pianist Richie... Read More

Lee Konitz Meets Jimmy Giuffre
Artist: Lee Konitz

This unusual two-CD set not only reissues the original LP of the same name but three other rare Verve LP's from the 1950's. Altoist Lee Konitz (on "An Image") is showcased during a set of adventurous Bill Russo arrangements for an orchestra and strings in 1958, pops up on half of Ralph Burns' underrated 1951 classic Free Forms (the most... Read More

The Easy Way
Artist: Jimmy Giuffre

Jimmy Giuffre's small-group recordings of the late '50s and early '60s are renowned for his lyrical tone and intimate chamber jazz settings. Joined by frequently collaborator Jim Hall on guitar and bassist Ray Brown (who easily settles into the mellower atmosphere far removed from his many recordings with Oscar Peterson), Giuffre primarily... Read More

Playboys
Artist: Chet Baker

These Halloween 1956 sides originally appeared as Playboys in 1961 on Pacific Jazz. Myth and rumor persist that, under legal advice from the publisher of a similarly named magazine, the collection would have to be retitled. When the CD version of the same material was issued in the early '90s, it had been accurately christened Picture of Heath... Read More

Chet Baker in New York
Artist: Chet Baker

This audiophile CD is a straight reissue of an Original Jazz Classics CD that is also very much available. Trumpeter Baker performs with a quartet/quintet including pianist Al Haig, bassist Paul Chambers, drummer Philly Joe Jones and (on four of the seven selections) tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin. Highlights of this decent if not essential... Read More

The Complete Pacific Jazz Recordings of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet with Chet Baker
Artist: Gerry Mulligan

Baritonist Gerry Mulligan's pianoless quartet of 1952-1953 with trumpeter Chet Baker was one of the most popular groups of the period and an influential force on West Coast Jazz. Mulligan's interplay with Baker looked back toward the collective improvisation of Dixieland but utilized up-to-date harmonies. This four-CD set overlaps with a... Read More