The Benny Goodman Sextet - Featuring Charlie Christian

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 54:28

Size: 124.7 MB

Styles: Big Band, Swing, Guitar jazz

Year: 1989

Art: Front

[3:14] 1. Flying Home

[3:14] 2. Stardust

[3:10] 3. Memories Of You

[2:27] 4. Soft Winds

[2:48] 5. Shivers

[2:47] 6. Ac Dc Current

[2:57] 7. I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)

[3:15] 8. The Sheik Of Araby

[2:49] 9. Poor Butterfly

[2:58] 10. I Surrender, Dear

[3:11] 11. These Foolish Things

[2:52] 12. Good Enough To Keep (Air Mail Special)

[3:14] 13. Breakfast Feud

[3:22] 14. I Can't Give You Anything But Love

[2:34] 15. Gilly

[3:30] 16. On The Alamo

[2:41] 17. Gone With What Draft

[3:16] 18. A Smo-O-O-Oth One

Clarinet, Leader – Benny Goodman; Electric Guitar – Charlie Christian; Georgie Auld - Sax (Tenor); Artie Bernstein - Bass; Dudley Brooks, Johnny Guarnieri, Fletcher Henderson, Ken Kersey - Piano; Nick Fatool, Harry Jaeger, Jo Jones, Dave Tough - Drums; Lionel Hampton (Guest Artist) - Vibraphone; Cootie Williams - Trumpet. All tracks recorded in New York, from October 1939 to March 1941.

Over the course of Benny Goodman's career, the stars often lined up right and he found himself working in tandem with someone every bit as talented as he, whether it was Bunny Berigan, Fletcher Henderson, Harry James, Gene Krupa, Lionel Hampton or Teddy Wilson. For a brief period after most of the above had left his employ, Goodman hooked up with guitarist Charlie Christian and the jazz world was never the same. Christian played in the big band and his "Solo Flight" was one of the first big-band staples built around the then new electric guitar, but his best work came with a handful of finely wrought gems as a member of Goodman's sextet. Sharing solo space with Goodman and Hampton, Christian gave the electric guitar a place in the music on sides like "Flying Home," "Air Mail Special," "Stardust" and "AC-DC Current," where his instrument seems to be bursting with ideas and ceaseless invention. Along with sides by Eddie Lang and Django Reinhardt's Hot Club of France, these are the recordings that made jazz guitar history. ~Cub Koda

Featuring Charlie Christian

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Etta Jones - The Complete 1944-1960 (2-Disc Set)

Etta Jones' Early Srudio Recordings In Their Entirety Include Two Original Albums As Well As 27 Rare Titels Including 25 Which Were First Released As 78/45 Rpm Records. Both CD's Have Been Remastered With The Greatest Care.

Album: The Complete 1944-1960 (Disc 1)

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 68:29

Size: 156.8 MB

Styles: Jazz vocals

Year: 2011

[4:21] 1. Yes Sir, That's My Baby

[3:50] 2. Don't Go To Strangers

[4:03] 3. I Love Paris

[5:53] 4. Fine And Mellow

[3:42] 5. Where Or When

[3:51] 6. If I Had You

[3:44] 7. On The Street Where You Live

[3:45] 8. Something To Remember You By

[3:15] 9. Bye Bye Blackbird

[4:40] 10. All The Way

[2:40] 11. Sweethearts On Parade

[2:29] 12. You Call It Madness But I Call It Love

[2:44] 13. Mountain Greenery

[2:15] 14. Don't Worry 'bout Me

[1:51] 15. S'posin

[2:22] 16. I Thought About You

[2:48] 17. I'm Gonna Lock My Heart And Throw Away The Key

[1:54] 18. Since I Fell For You

[2:21] 19. When I Fall In Love

[2:52] 20. White Cliffs Of Dover

[2:59] 21. People Will Say We're In Love

The Complete 1944-1960 (Disc 1)

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Album: The Complete 1944-1960 (Disc 2)

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 74:25

Size: 170.4 MB

Styles: Jazz vocals

Year: 2011

Art: Front

[2:56] 1. Salty Papa Blues

[2:57] 2. Evil Gal Blues

[2:34] 3. Blow Top Blues

[2:48] 4. Long, Long Journey

[2:46] 5. You Ain't Nothin' Daddy

[2:47] 6. So Tired

[2:49] 7. Solitude

[2:44] 8. I May Be Wonderful (But I Think You're Wrong)

[2:39] 9. Man Wanted

[2:58] 10. Blues To End All Blues

[2:36] 11. Among My Souvenirs

[2:42] 12. Mean To Me

[2:28] 13. Osculate Me, Daddy

[2:45] 14. My Sleepy Head

[2:46] 15. I Sold My Heart To The Junkman

[2:59] 16. The Richest Guy In The Graveyard

[2:34] 17. Ain't No Hurry Baby

[3:15] 18. What Ev'ry Woman Knows

[2:57] 19. Overwork Blues

[2:51] 20. Misery Is A Thing Called Moe

[2:25] 21. This Is A Fine Time

[2:36] 22. One Night In Trinidad

[3:01] 23. Stop

[2:52] 24. One O'clock Jump

[2:26] 25. Kisses All Night Long

[2:11] 26. I Got A Feeling

[2:50] 27. Moolah! Moolah!

The Complete 1944-1960 (Disc 2)

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Roberto Magris Europlane - Check-In

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:41
Size: 132.0 MB
Styles: Contemporary jazz
Year: 2005
Art: Front

[ 7:15] 1. I Remember You
[12:26] 2. Blues For My Sleeping Baby
[ 9:32] 3. African Mood
[ 6:17] 4. Luci Lontane
[ 5:23] 5. What Blues
[ 5:57] 6. Why Did I Choose You
[ 7:23] 7. I Concentrate On You
[ 3:24] 8. Che Cosa C'e'

Tony Lakatos--Saxophones; Michael Erian--Saxophones; Roberto Magris; Robert Balzar--Bass; Gabriele Centis--Drums; Fulvio Zarfet--Congas.

Roberto Magris's Check-in began its life as a self-produced recording reviewed earlier in these pages. Now with a new label sponsorship and distribution, this fine recording may find its larger audience. Magris is a pianist born in Trieste, Italy in 1959. Beginning his professional career in the late '70s, Magris went on to front several notable jazz combos, including Europlane (the jazz project from Central European Countries under the sponsorship of INCE-CEI Central European Initiative), the Roberto Magris quartet/quintet/orchestra, Dma Urban Jazz Funk and Alfabeats Nu Jazz.

Check-in finds the versatile Magris leading a nominal quintet fronted by saxophonists Tony Lakatos and Michael Erian. The two saxophonists kick off the festivities with a swinging contrapuntal duet introducing the Schertzinger/Mercer standard, "I Remember You. For almost two blissful minutes, the two saxists weave around one another in brilliantly traded eights, hinting at the melody, but never giving it away until closing the introduction in unison before the entire band comes in. Magris proves the superb comping pianist as he allows the reeds full reign. At least until the pianist solos and Magris spins out Monk notes without the dissonance. His time is quirky and never allows the listener's attention to wander elsewhere.

Conveniently positioned after this introductory salvo is the lengthiest piece on the disc, the minor blues, "Blues for My Sleeping Baby, which is a darkly lilting lullaby. All soloists turn introspective and the results are a light, flowing perfume of melody; this is no "Birk's Works. This highlights the impression that the Italian brand of jazz is always spiced con brio. Magris's approach for the remainder of the disc is seated firmly in the mainstream, while exerting a heady free spirit. His solos are always a surprise, with no predictability whatsoever. The pianist proves to be the most provocative soloist, throwing serrated lines through the expert comping of his rhythm section. He illustrates this best on the original compositions, such as, "African Mood and "What Blues.

The sonics have also improved with Magris's move to a label. The piano is sharp and well-defined. The cymbals are crisp and sharply demarcated. The bass is expansive. This is a thrilling release that, from start to finish, should satisfy the stingiest of listeners! I heartily recommend Check-In. ~C. Michael Bailey

Check-In

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Gil Evans - Priceless Jazz Collection

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:46
Size: 130.0 MB
Styles: Progressive jazz
Year: 1998
Art: Front

[ 5:09] 1. Where Flamingos Fly
[ 5:49] 2. Push De Button
[ 3:10] 3. Cheek To Cheek
[15:31] 4. La Nevada
[ 2:58] 5. Trav'lin' Light
[ 4:04] 6. Cocoanut Sweet
[ 4:10] 7. The Bilbao Song
[ 2:51] 8. Aren't You Glad You're You
[ 3:49] 9. Savannah
[ 4:16] 10. Sunken Treasure
[ 4:54] 11. Napolean

One of the most significant arrangers in jazz history, Gil Evans' three album-length collaborations with Miles Davis (Miles Ahead, Porgy and Bess, and Sketches of Spain) are all considered classics. Evans had a lengthy and wide-ranging career that sometimes ran parallel to the trumpeter. Like Davis, Gil became involved in utilizing electronics in the '70s and preferred not to look back and re-create the past. He led his own band in California (1933-1938) which eventually became the backup group for Skinnay Ennis; Evans stayed on for a time as arranger. He gained recognition for his somewhat futuristic charts for Claude Thornhill's Orchestra (1941-1942 and 1946-1948) which took advantage of the ensemble's cool tones, utilized French horns and a tuba as frontline instruments, and, by 1946, incorporated the influence of bop. He met Miles Davis (who admired his work with Thornhill) during this time and contributed arrangements of "Moon Dreams" and "Boplicity" to Davis' "Birth of the Cool" nonet. After a period in obscurity, Evans wrote for a Helen Merrill session and then collaborated with Davis on Miles Ahead. In addition to his work with Davis (which also included a 1961-recorded Carnegie Hall concert and the half-album Quiet Nights), Evans recorded several superb and highly original sets as a leader (including Gil Evans & Ten, New Bottle Old Wine, and Great Jazz Standards) during the era. Among the albums he worked on in the '60s for other artists were notable efforts with Kenny Burrell and Astrud Gilberto. After his own sessions for Verve during 1963-1964, Evans waited until 1969 until recording again as a leader. That year's Blues in Orbit was his first successful effort at combining acoustic and electric instruments; it would be followed by dates for Artists House, Atlantic (Svengali), and a notable tribute to Jimi Hendrix in 1974. After 1975's There Comes a Time (which features among its sidemen David Sanborn), most of Evans' recordings were taken from live performances. Starting in 1970 he began playing with his large ensemble on a weekly basis in New York clubs. Filled with such all-star players as George Adams, Lew Soloff, Marvin "Hannibal" Peterson, Chris Hunter, Howard Johnson, Pete Levin, Hiram Bullock, Hamiet Bluiett, and Arthur Blythe among others, Evans' later bands were top-heavy in talent but tended to ramble on too long. Gil Evans, other than sketching out a framework and contributing his keyboard, seemed to let the orchestra largely run itself, inspiring rather than closely directing the music. There were some worthwhile recordings from the '80s (when the band had a long string of Monday night gigs at Sweet Basil in New York) but in general they do not often live up to their potential. Prior to his death, Gil Evans recorded with his "arranger's piano" on duets with Lee Konitz and Steve Lacy and his body of work on a whole ranks with the top jazz arrangers. ~bio by Scott Yanow

Priceless Jazz is a good midline sampler of highlights from Gil Evans' recordings for MCA and GRP. Although this isn't a definitive collection, it offers representative material to make this a good introduction to these recordings for curious listeners on a budget. ~Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Priceless Jazz Collection

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