Can't Help Swinging
Artist: Jimmy Hamilton

Jimmy Hamilton spent 25 years (1943-68) with Duke Ellington's Orchestra, gaining recognition as a technically skilled cool-toned clarinetist and an occasional (but underused) booting tenor player. His own recording projects were very infrequent and his two Swingville LPs (reissued in full on this 1999 CD) were formerly very scarce. For one of... Read More

Ultimate Anita O'Day
Artist: Anita O'Day

Verve's Ultimate series unveils a new concept in the hackneyed concept of greatest-hits collections: instead of compilation producers, these albums feature tracks selected by figures who either worked with or were influenced by the artists themselves. The results are much more than your average best-of compilations; they're closer to treatises... Read More

Live at the Blue Note
Artist: Oscar Peterson

Oscar Peterson's landmark meeting with Milt Jackson in the mid-'60s produced the very successful studio date Very Tall. They've played and recorded together on a number of occasions since then, joined by Ray Brown more often than not, but these live tracks recorded at the Blue Note are among their most satisfying sessions. Peterson continues his... Read More

Le Grand Freddy
Artist: Freddy Cole

In the jazz world of the 1990s, tribute albums were a dime a dozen--there was such a glut of them, in fact, that when yet another young Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane or Clifford Brown clone gave us yet another Cole Porter or George Gershwin tribute, it was easy to rebel. Especially frustrating was the fact that these unimaginative "Young... Read More

Blues Bop & Ballads
Artist: Scott Hamilton

Big-toned tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton leads a swinging small group session that concentrates mostly on songs that didn't receive much attention in the 1990s. "Answer Me (My Love)" is a potent ballad feature for the leader that reveals the influence of Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster, while Hamilton also has fun with lively riff tunes like... Read More

The Big Band Years
Artist: Anita O'Day

This excellent European compilation combines 21 recordings Anita O'Day made as the vocalist in Gene Krupa's Orchestra in 1941-42 and 1945, originally released on OKeh and Columbia Records, with four she made with Stan Kenton's band in 1944-45, originally released on Capitol. All the chart hits she scored with the groups are included: "Georgia On... Read More

Summer Night in Munich
Artist: Oscar Peterson

A Summer Night in Munich captures Oscar Peterson and his "NATO quartet" in a triumphant concert performance recorded July 22, 1998 at the Munchen Philharmonika. With a program of seven Peterson originals plus the Ellington-Strayhorn standard, "Satin Doll," this group cooks. "Backyard Blues" and "Nigerian Marketplace" are especially exciting and... Read More

Budd Johnson and the Four Brass Giants
Artist: Budd Johnson

This reissue of a Riverside album, which surprisingly has not yet come out on CD, is a classic. The great Budd Johnson, who takes tenor solos throughout the date and also contributes a bit of clarinet in addition to providing the arrangements, is matched with four distinctive and very different trumpeters: Clark Terry, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Nat... Read More

Today and Now
Artist: Coleman Hawkins

A very nice digital reissue of a very congenial and nicely played Coleman Hawkins Quartet release. Not always the most compelling title from the Hawkins catalog, the record at least has the virtue of both being listenable and worthy of somewhat deeper inspection. ~ Steven McDonald, All Music Guide Read More

The Genius of Coleman Hawkins
Artist: Coleman Hawkins

Genius may not be the right word, but "brilliance" certainly fits. At the age of 51 in 1957 Hawkins had already been on records for 35 years and had been one of the leading tenors for nearly that long. This CD matches him with the Oscar Peterson Trio (plus drummer Alvin Stoller) for a fine runthrough on standards. Hawk plays quite well, although... Read More

The Best of the Concord Years
Artist: Mel Tormé

For nearly 20 years, critics have been praising Mel Tormé's recordings for Concord, the label he spent the last 13 years of his career recording for, in a variety of settings. Fans of his '50s and '60s heyday, however, have often had difficulty approaching the work of Tormé's last 13 years. The Best of the Concord Years presents two hours of his... Read More