5 comments about Live at the Village Vanguard.

1. Although Marsalis may not be on the "cutting edge" here, I hear little that is routine or pedestrian on these discs. I hear fine arrangements of jazz standards and creative original compositions (e.g., Black Codes, Citi Movement). The recordings and audio quality are excellent. I especially enjoy the sonorities provided by the 4-horn front-lines in these septets. Most of these Amazon reviews are very positive, and deservedly so. Great talents in every field always have their detractors, and Marsalis is certainly no exception. My only real "complaint" is that Wynton does talk a bit too much--he tends to do this in his live shows, but it's all in good fun, and you never feel slighted musically. I've owned these discs for several years now and still listen to them a lot.



2. It's appropriate that ounce per ounce this 7 CD set is a barn burner of a value for the amount of original music provided. That said, Mr. Marsalas is the Wal-Mart of Jazz, good value of low to moderate quality items with a little bit of everything on show. Everything except intensity, improvisation any interesting playing. At best the 3 bands don't muff their parts & stay tightly focused. But I can't really take it for Jazz; every note seems preordained, laid-out in a light meaningless groove & I never feel anyone ever takes off & flies, leaving the rest of the players scrambling to catch up.
   Instead a well trained group of musicians provide archeological coverage of what jazz must of sounded like when it was alive.
   I started listening to Jazz at 11 years of age with no encouragement from anyone. My first album ever was "Monk's Dream" I still love that album today & it brings back rich memories of learning to appreciate an obscure musical dialogue.
   Marsalas never puts me in mind of anything more daring then a Jackie Gleason alum.
   Here are two examples of what I mean; the "drum solo" 10 min. in on Uptown Ruler is unbelievable pallid & of no interest. I don't like drum solos but may a good drummer has sucked me in against my will. Now the next track , "Down Home with Homey" (really that title says it all about how generic this music is) has a bass solo about 90 seconds in that sound like the guy is just plucking the strings till the ensemble comes to his rescue. Compare this to any of many Charlie Haden discs on his own or with Ornette Coleman & I think you'll see the difference between these 3 bands & what the best Jazz is like. I mean there are good moments (Wynton does a few good trumpet licks, the players strike a real groove at times) on this set, it is 7 discs, but the overall effect is really a turn-off. Even at 20 bucks it barely seems worthwhile. Three stars for value, one star for the tunes.



3. Many people, and critics, says that the best Wynton's perfomance recorded was "Live at Blues Alley"... but after when you listen this set box, your will change your opinion. I will see play to Wynton in three times ( one in septet and two with the Jazz Lincoln). Wynton with your Jazz Orchestra is very good... but in septet or octet is superb. In this set this is the kind of combo. Several tracks are played in spledid way. One o these records is ( alone) one masterpiece: the record number five. The sound is perfect: you feel stay into the Village Vanguard, and all the crew plays very ,very well, standards, or the Wynton's themes. From me is one of the best buy ( also the set is very cheap) in many time, because the music is of high voltage. And is a pleasure listen seat and very near of you to the Wynton's crew. After of listen the records ( or one session... for example) you feel that this evening, or this morning was in Village Vanguard with the group in a super sesssion of pure jazz. Please buy the set!



4. I know Wynton is not exploring the unknown space here but it is good old fashion good time music and its accessible. For the price it is one of the best bargains out there. Plus there will always a place for classic jazz. This is music for the heart and the roots. I went to college in New Orleans and I will always consider it my alma mater. Love Wyton and his family along with the Nevilles.



5. This is easily the most underrated CD of all time. When I received this CD I was blown away. The solos, the leads, everything was great.
   
   Buying this 7-CD set for 30 bucks made me feel like a thief. Most people who gave this CD a bad rating can't get over what Wynton said about Miles Davis. They are both great and enjoying Marsalis doesn't take anything away from Miles Davis.
   
   Wynton Marsalis is the greatest living jazz musician and one of the best ever and he proves it with this CD. It is a must buy for all jazz fans and all trumpet players.

5 comments about Bing! His Legendary Years, 1931 to 1957.

1. Bing - The Legendary Years
   Review
   
   This is the only disc, or set of discs, I own where I can say I love every selection on every disc. I can't even say that about Elvis. More about Elvis later...
   
   A bit about how I came to this set of CDs. I grew up with White Christmas, the song and the movie. I occasionally heard another song by Bing Crosby, and I always loved his voice. I got on a kick over the last year or so of picking up some of the singers my parents listened to while I was growing up - Andy Williams, Robert Goulet, Dean Martin, et al. I came across this 4 CD set on Amazon, read the reviews and added it to my wish list. It sat there for many months until I decided one day to just bite the bullet and buy it. I can now say it is worth every penny!
   
   I put on CD 1, and it didn't sound like the Bing I knew. So I stopped it and put on CD 2. That sounded more like Bing. As I was listening, I remarked to my husband how Bing's voice was almost completely absent of any vibrato, and how he seemed to have two different voices - a chest voice and a head voice. He reminded me of Elvis that way, and I became convinced that Elvis must have grown up listening to Bing Crosby. I felt that Bing was Elvis's vocal predecessor.
   
   I started reading the excellent booklet that came with the set and read about the earliest tracks of the CD, so I went back to CD 1 and listened to the whole thing. What a revelation! Here was young Bing, and I was very surprised to hear a very rapid vibrato on a lovely tenor voice, with only occasional glimpses of the deeper baritone he later became famous for. There were times I could swear I was listening to Dean Martin! Again, I figured Dean must have grown up listening to Bing Crosby.
   
   In the booklet, Will Friedwald talked about how important the words were to Bing. I wasn't really sure what he meant until my husband, who was discovering Bing with me, commented that he bet that Bing was difficult to accompany as he sung in almost a "singspiel" voice, a kind of talk-like singing. Then I realized that the cadences Bing used in singing were the cadences one would use in speaking those words. Ah, now I understood Friedwald's comments, and also understood that this is why Bing comes across in such an easy, casual, pleasant-to-listen-to and utterly delightful manner.
   
   Once I was over all the analysis (I admit to being something of a student of the human voice, it fascinates me), I sat back and listened to all four discs and by the time I was done, I was just in love with everything about them. Bing, his beautiful voice and easy delivery, the beautiful music, the peek into a bygone era where the term "political correctness" hadn't been conceived of, and where music was just plain fun! I only wish there were more discs in the set! Well I'll just have to find some more!



2. Harry Lillis Crosby began life in Tacoma, Washington on May 3, 1903, and kicked off his career as a singer when he and his partner, Al Rinker, were hired by Paul Whiteman in 1926, subsequently joining with Harry Barris to form The Rhythm Boys. After splitting from the Whiteman band in 1930, he scored his first hit singing on his own in 1931 with I Surrender Dear while with Gus Arnhelm's orchestra. That led to a CBS radio contract and the rest, as they say, was history.
   
   From then until his untimely death in October 1977 while golfing in Spain he would chalk up no less than 310 hit singles, even making what then passed for the R&B and Country charts six and two times respectively from 1942 to 1952, and adding five more to the Adult Contemporary (AC) charts after they were formed in 1961.
   
   His last, in fact, came in 1997 when the venerable 1947 version of White Christmas scored yet again, this time at # 26 on the AC charts. The # 1 selling single of all time, he first recorded it in 1942 and that version was a perennial hit every Christmas season until 1947 when, with the master virtually worn out, it was re-made using the same orchestra and backing singers but better recording techniques (it was so well done the second time that it's a;most impossible to discern the difference). Altogether it has sold close to 31 million, accounting for 10% of the estimated 300 million records sold [not counting his LPs and EPs]. Also not to be missed is his first version of Silent Night, Holy Night, done in 1935.
   
   As you can well understand, not even this magnificent 4-CD box set and its 101 selections can put a dent in the wealth of songs he recorded and left for posterity. In putting this together producers Andy McKaie and Steven Lasker chose to present three previously-unreleased selections, and these are to be found at: Disc 2 - track 13 which contains one of his many legendary and hilarious "blow ups" in the midst of a recording and which became an "under-the-counter" bootleg sale for years thereafter; Disc 3 - track 15 as well as rehearsal glimpses at tracks 9 and 12; Disc 4 - track 2.
   
   His musical backing reads like a Who's Who of contemporary bands and includes the likes of Georgie Stoll, Victor Young, Xavier Cugat, Jimmy Dorsey, Vic Schoen, Morris Stoloff, Bob Haggart, The Les Paul Trio, Lyn Murray, Woody Herman, brother Bob Crosby and, of course, John Scott Trotter, who backed the vast majority of his hits. Vocal collaborations involve The Andrews Sisters, Louis Armstrong, Jane Wyman, Mel Torme, The Ken Darby Singers, Al Jolson, and Road picture partner and long-time friend Bob Hope.
   
   All this is detailed in the extensive discography of the contents contained in the 67-page booklet, which includes the names of many of the noted musicians playing with the bands listed. Extensive and fabulous liner notes are provided by Will Friedwald, author of Jazz Singing [1992, Collier Books], and there are loads of great pictures, including a centre-fold colour shot of Bing, one of first wife Dixie Lee, several of his sons, numerous record album/poster reproductions, etc. etc.
   
   Just a magnificent collection covering but a portion of the career of a man ranked as the # 1 artist in Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954 book, and who received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1962.



3. Box sets and greatest hits compilations are the audio equivalent of a Whitman's Sampler; there's a lot to choose from and you may not like everything in it. Those compiling box sets face the challenge of what to include and exclude which is complicated when the artist has as lengthy and prolific a career as Bing Crosby. Suffice to say it would be hard to get any two Crosby fans to agree on a track listing as they'll differ on interests such as which era, which genre, which styles, and other issues. Most of what's included here are some of his better known tracks from 1931 to 1957; his most productive years and a pretty broad span of time! There certainly are tracks here I'd exclude and others I'd have like to seen included, but "His Legendary Years" is a good survey of Bing as an artist during his years with the Brunswick and Decca labels, albeit an incomplete one. And like the Whitman's Sampler there's enough here to give you an idea of what you like and can pursue elsewhere. The recordings were re-mastered and sound much better than other re-re-releases and the accompanying booklet provides a nice amount of information on Bing and his career. A great starting point!



4. All I can say is "Wow!" This is, hands down, the bes documentary made on the inimitable Mr. Crosby. There is an abundance of little-known film footage of Bing which really enhances the presentation. They include fan footage of Crosby at the horse races at Del Mar and Santa Anita and some behind the scenes footage of Hope and Crosby at charity events, on the Paramount lot and playing golf. There isn't a great deal of actual clips from Bing's movies pre-1950, which is a trifle disappointing. There is virtually no clips of him singing life, except a brief clip of him in London, entertaining the troops in 1944 and some stuff from 60's-70's TV shows like Flip Wilson.

   The interviews are interesting, though not terribly revealing. Rosemary Clooney has the most depth and explains Bing's notorious reticence and distance from other people. She says he relaxed more in later years with his second family. Kathryn Crosby is also shown, though her remarks on Bing are short and she says little new. None of his children from his marriage to Dixie or Kathryn is interviewed. We are thankfully spared commentary from Gary Crosby and the "Bing beat his kids" angle is not focused. There's too much emphasis on Bing's later life, probably because they can pad the story with clips from various 60's TV shows. I'd have liked to see more material on his early career with the Rhythm Boys, Whiteman and the Philco radio show, but the program is a solid effort. If you're a Crosby fan, you'll find much to praise here.




5. I bought this set some ten years ago, when I was a budding Bing fan, fearful that I might regret having dropped so much coin on an artist I wasn't thoroughly familiar with. After sampling a few tracks on each of the four discs, however, I realized there would be no buyer's remorse with THIS purchase.

   If you want to familiarize yourself with Bing Crosby, this is the perfect primer, covering his most prolific and influential years as the world's most popular entertainer. "Prolific" is the key word here. You can't not like Bing Crosby's music, because he masterfully interpreted so many genres that there's literally something for everybody. Popular Standards, Jazz, Country & Western, Hawaiian, Folk, Irish, Christmas Carols, Gospel, even Light Opera - he sang them all as though they were the reason for his existence. And it didn't hurt that he had one of the most appealing voices in the history of recorded sound. This package offers an enticing cross section of that incomparable versatility.

   The attractive and entertainingly informative booklet by the eminent popular music historian Will Friedwald (author of Stardust Melodies) complements the set perfectly.

   Be careful - purchasing this collection could start you down the road to full-fledged Crosby fanaticism, as it did me. Now THAT runs into money!

5 comments about The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books.

1. The reason why you won't find a single review that gives this collection less than five stars is because this is just a stunning, amazing, extremely satisfying collection of music. The greatest music composers and lyricists of our time, each represented and sung by one of the great female jazz vocalists of ALL time, combines to make 16 CD's of classic jazz. I hemmed and hawed over buying this because of the price and bodaciousness of the collection, but with The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings: Eighth Edition (Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings) making Ella singing Cole Porter one of its core collection selections, I wasn't sure I should buy just the Cole Porter portion, or if I should buy the whole giant set. I feared buying just the Cole Porter and being wowed and then having to kick myself for not buying the set, but I also feared buying the whole set and being stuck with 10, 12, or, God forbid, 16 CD's I was hardly going to listen to. I leapt in and bought the whole set, and I think it was worth every dollar. Jazz music collector's MUST have this whole set. Yes: MUST! Casual jazz fans and plain old good music lovers might get by with just certain portions, but trust me and the other thirty some odd reviewers who gave this five stars: You simply will not be disappointed with anything in here and this provides hours and hours of great jazz listening you, your loved ones, party guests, and people passing by while washing your car, will appreciate and enjoy.



2. Ella Fitzgerald's interpretations of Great American Songbook gems by Arlen, Gershwin, Porter, Duke Ellington, Rogers and Hart, Mercer, and Kern are timeless. Her impeccable phrasing, sense of humor, and chameleonlike ability to inhabit a song, whether sultry or playful, is teamed with tight orchestrations and flawless remastering on The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Songbooks on Verve.
   
   I first became interested in the American Songbook when my cousin gave me a copy of Rod Stewart's It Had to Be You... The Great American Songbook. My collection quickly expanded to include all of Frank Sinatra's early works on Brunswick with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey and his Columbia works (1942-1953) and 1940s songbook collections by Jo Stafford, Doris Day with Les Brown, and Peggy Lee with Benny Goodman. I first purchased several of Ella Fitzgerald's songbook CDs individually (Gershwin, Porter, and the best of Berlin), and was looking to purchase her Duke Ellington songbook, which retails for about $30. As a member of BMG Music Club, the entire Complete Ella Fitzgerald Songbooks was $89, so I opted for the box set even though I already owned five of the CDs.
   
   The 16 CDs are housed in a compact fabric-covered box in individual slipcases (for single CDs) and small cardboard boxes with the original LP artwork and reproduction LP liner notes. My only gripe is the cramped quarters; I switched the CDs to jewel cases for easier access, since it's a pain to constantly have to eject all the cardboard slipcases in search of one CD. The liner notes come in a small fabric-covered hardcover book.
   
   You'll find well-known and oft-recorded hits such as Night and Day, Blue Skies, I Got Rhythm, and I Got It Bad, but there are lesser-known gems that are equally entrancing, such as the dreamy, nostalgic My Heart Stood Still(Rogers and Hart), or her starry-eyed The Way You Look Tonight, with its soft sweep of strings and mellow piano. There are even spirited renditions of Wizard of Oz songs such as Over the Rainbow and Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead. Ella's jazzy, punchy delivery on Ding Dong is a satirical, big band romp.
   
   The Duke Ellington discs (three in all) were as stellar as I'd dared to hope; tight backing, Ella's dead-on scat singing that lets her jazz it up more than on the "canonical" standards. Rockin' in Rhythm features Armstrong-style muted trumpet, a pounding "Indian" bassline, and an extended scat melody. Ella's take on I'm Beginning to See The Light is much more playful and sultry than earlier recordings by Jo Stafford and other 40s singers of her ilk.
   
   Ella imbues each song with its own magic, bringing a sparkle to even the most tired of covers. The execution is flawless and the sound is timeless. Each time I listen I discover some new nuance, a turn of phrase here, a cleverly punctuated passage there. If you only buy one box set of standards, this should be in your library.



3. Yes, I know it's expensive. But hey, it's well worth the money! This CDs feature THE greatest singer of all time at her prime, singing some of the best songs in history. 16 hours of music and not a single mediocre song - you couldn't possibly regret buying this album.



4. There truly aren't words enough to describe the quality of this set in every aspect.The packaging is superb.The liner notes are impressive. It is the complete song book recordings made famous by Ella all in one place. Over 15 hours of pure magic ! I have always agreed with all the praise given Ella concerning her "jazz voice" , with all the scat singing and improvisational interpretations of songs , but I have always felt that her "pop" singing was under-appreciated in the grand scheme of things. This set will make anyone reassess her talent. A great voice is a great voice. What is really impressive is that Ella was obviously just as comfortably adept at singing in either style. A remarkable release.



5. Better than I hoped for. Well worth the money though I did think about it for a while due to the cost.If you like Ella and classic songs by some of the greatest songwriters of the twentieth century this is the perfect collection.

3 comments about Her Greatest Hits.

1. The cd's I ordered were so poorly packaged by the seller that all of the plastic cases were smashed to pieces upon arrival. Everything had to be returned for a refund -- which I trust I will receive soon. I still do not own the music that I tried to buy. This could have been a successful transaction if the seller had simply wrapped the cd's in bubble-wrap.



2. What else can be said, particularly the GI's who had it right, what memories Jo left with us to furthermore remember our romantic past!



3. This is a great 4 CD set. I am really enjoying her songs of the 1940s and 1950s. You can actually hear the words to the songs, and they are generally about love or caring about positive human relationships. The instrumentals of the "big band" era are also very good.

5 comments about America's #1 Band: The Columbia Years.

1. I don't have to tell anyone how great these tracks are. How does one guy get all 16 of the greatest swing musicians in the world into one band? This set has some Great surprises: Live sides, and rare alternates, like "It's The Same Old South", (a different take than the version on the vinyl "Superchief")
   
   I have several of these on the ARC/Columbia family of labels (Vocallion, Brunswick, Okey, etc.) both 78s and Lps. and have been trying and failing to replace them with decent CD copies. COLUMBIA FINNALLY GOT IT RIGHT!. This set is a pleasure, and for once, it sounds great! You will NEVER be dissapointed with this purchace.
   
   Now if Columbia would refund everybody's money for the unlistenable versions of these tunes they issued on the "Essential" series, and the "This Is Jazz" series etc., we could use it to replace our copies of the Armstrong Hot Fives that they had previous butchered, or the Bix, ...it goes on .....



2. A welcome addition in a lovely box with all the beauty of great sound,a 90 page book, a great disc of live material/broadcasts makes this a needed addition to any Basie lover..I also have the Columbia's Essential collections spanning 3 discs but this here is a needed bonus and is still not a substitute for those under rated discs put out earlier...Such a prolific man deserves royal treatment and does some justice to the earlier output..but obviously other reviewers will give you more detail as to songs selection and musicians I just wanted to add appreciation..



3. This is a truly great package which you will find yourself listening to again and again. As others mentioned, the four discs here cover several of Basie's bands, so what you get is not simply 90 songs from a single band, which would get quite boring no matter how great any individual band was, but rather choice cuts from different bands of different size and composition over a twenty year period. The result is four discs each with their own distinct sound, each providing a different snapshot of the evolution of swing under Basie.
   
   While historians might object, the arrangement of the songs is great too from the standpoint of a pure listening experience, with the first two discs being Basie's smaller groups, and the latter two being the larger Count Basie Orchestra. While the Orchestra is the most famous of these bands, and is outstanding in its own right, the best material here is from the small groups. The sound is less polished than it would become years later, but there's a raw energy to the Basie Octet that can't be matched.
   
   The sound throughout the package is amazing. Full bass, minimal hiss, and not tinny. If only all music from this era could be remastered so well.
   
   This is fun music, not the over-intellectualized jazz that sends people from the room. Well worth the investment if you want an overview of swing at its best.



4. This is the best these sides have sounded ever, period. It is really a treat to hear the early Basie band with Lester Young in all its glory. The sound restoration on some of these tracks is just unbelievable, I had to check the linear notes to make sure these were the 1940 recordigs, because they sounded so different to the muddy/scratchy sound I grew used to. The linear notes alone are worth the price of this box set. And one full disc of most unreleased live tracks, many with Lester Young and Billie Holiday? You do the math. Many people, i am not included, are waiting for the full Columbia sessions remastered, but for me, this is what I have been waiting many years. The track secuence is annoying, I still cant understand why not doing it chronological, but its just a minor flaw.



5. This is a swell 4-CD box set that covers all of Basie's studio work for the Columbia label, from 1936-51, working in a variety of configurations, from small combos to the full-on Basie Orchestra, including several songs with Basie backing up Billie Holiday, and plenty of other vocal tunes featuring Basie regulars Helen Humes and Jimmy Rushing. This collection also marks the first time Columbia has officially delved into the wealth of live transcription performances and radio broadcasts featuring the Basie band... This material was previously the sole province of various European collector labels; Sony shows it's able to do this material up right, with meticulous scholarship and great sound quality. Doubtless, many of the sniffier jazz scholars will find some reason or another to pooh-pooh this collection, but for us regular folks, it's mighty tasty. Recommended!

3 comments about Yes Indeed.

1. I was too young to appreciate Jo Stafford's music or to know much about her, but I always loved the song "I'll Be Seeing You" without knowing who had sung the version that I loved. In recently searching all of the versions on iTunes, I learned that it was Joe Stafford's version that I had remembered and it was the best by far. That made me begin searching for other songs by her and I ordered this album. It is the best album set I have ever owned, because out of 100 songs, there are very few that I do not appreciate - primarily up tempo numbers - with the far majority being outstandingly beautiful songs. When I was young I thought that Barbra Streisand was the greatest female singer, because she had such a strong voice, now I believe she cannot compare to Jo Stafford: who was reputed to have a perfect pitch, enabling her to sing songs that no one else could carry, and an amazing vocal range, while also projecting an exceptional warmth and a personality in her voice that Barbra Streisand is lacking. Jo Stafford and Doris Day recordings have convinced me that the best singing voice is not the loudest voice. The amazing thing about this album is that I had thought that all of the really great old standards were still being sung today, or at least had been rerecorded by Barbara, and that only the inferior songs have been forgotten. Was I wrong. There are many songs on this album I have never heard of before, like "Manhattan Serenade, Trouble in Mind, If I ever love Again, How Sweet You Are" that are just amazingly good, at least when sung by Jo Stafford. These are songs that should have become old standards, because they are as good or better than the ones that have. There are also other songs that I never liked very much, like "Embraceable You" and "Some Enchanted Evening," that are amazingly good when sung by Jo Stafford. The last one I associated with strong male operatic voices and excessive theatricality, sort of a male version of Barbra Streisand, never expecting that I would come to really like the song when delivered with more subtlety, warmth, and personality. This album has convinced me that when singing operatically from the diaphragm with great volume it becomes almost impossible to project warmth, subtlety, and personality -- while those latter attributes, along with always singing perfectly on key, are what make Jo Stafford's music so truly exceptional.



2. Although I understand those who appreciate the songs Ms Stafford made popular in the fifties, it is her singing of the great standards that I find immensely appealing - it is this combination that provides the reason this 4CD set is well worth the investment.
   In the forties, the "cool" style of female singing reached its apex I believe, along with the domination of the strong female roles in cinema often in FILM NOIR. Such singers as Ms Christy and Ms O'Day kept a distance from the material, even adopting an ironic stance to the lyrics. This "distancing" had its own appeal, and its own sexiness, as we knew that she knew that we knew it's just a song. Although, Ms Stafford is not a stylist of the same level as either of those two singers, she too maintains a distance but has also a "sweeter" voice tinged with a touch of melancholy. But in such songs as AMOR, AMOR and THE TROLLEY SONG
   the songs seem written for her. With so many great songs, this collection is a bargain.



3. Jo was one of the best singers of her generation, and this box clearly demonstrates that. All the 26 tracks available on the Capitol collectors series CD are included here, plus 73 other tracks, all mastered to the highest quality.
   
   The set covers Jo's entire period with Capitol, so it starts with a few songs featuring Jo as lead singer of the Pied Pipers doing typical big band stuff, but the remaining tracks all feature Jo as solo singer, with an occasional duet. Besides including all the essential hits and a few lesser ones, there are many great covers of classic songs which Jo sings brilliantly. The track listing says it all.
   
   Long ago and far away, I love you, It could happen to you, Candy, Trolley song, There's no you, That's for me, Symphony, Day by day, The things we did last summer, Temptation, Feudin' and fightin', Serenade of the bells, Some enchanted evening, Whispering hope, Ragtime cowboy Joe and No other love, all American top ten hits for Jo, are among the hits included here.
   
   If you enjoy this and you'd like more of Jo's music, I recommend the compilation Jo Stafford on Capitol, which has very little overlap with what's here, and which contains most of the lesser hits that were omitted from this set. I also recommend Jo's fifties music, for which the strongest compilation is Columbia hits collection. If you like the Pied Pipers tracks, there is a compilation just focusing on that music. Jo is well served by CD releases, although there are still some treasures yet to be released on CD.
   
   If you haven't got any of Jo's music, I suggest starting with the Columbia hits collection, then you can decide how much of her forties music you want. If you only want the big hits, the Capitol collectors series will be enough, but if you enjoy it a lot, this is the one to buy - it's about double the price, but has nearly four times as many tracks.

5 comments about The Best of the Columbia Years: 1943-1952.

1. Reading through the other reviews, there is nothing much I can add to the superlatives directed at this compilation of the work, at Columbia Records, of a man who can arguably be described as the greatest vocalist of the 20th Century. However, I notice too that the only two 3-star reviews to date have drawn a disproportionate number of negative votes, almost as if it's regarded as sacrilege by some to even dare cast a negative light on any compilation of Frank Sinatra songs. Well, I can see their point to some degree.
   
   A large part of my 5-star assessment relates to the near-flawless sound quality and the packaging, 4 discs contained in a book-like 5.5 x 10 inch case which also presents a 68-page booklet divided as follows: Introduction by Nancy Sinatra; At the Heart Of American Music by Daniel Okrent; The Essence Of Axel - An appreciation by Will Friedwald; Sinatra Standards by Roy Hemming; The Art Of Recording by Charles Granata; Sinatra In Transition by Will Friedwald; Frankly Speaking - personal recollections by Dave Mann and Matt Dennis; Here's To The Band - Orchestral personnel listing - New York and Hollywood; Alphabetical Song Title and CD location; Discography. Sprinkled throughout are some 78 rpm/vintage poster and advertisement reproductions and many candid photographs, including one delightful shot with a very young Nancy.
   
   As to the music contained herein, well, they do call it The Best Of The Columbia Years 1943-1952 after all, and when a collector like myself sees the term "best" - especially from that pre-LP era - they are thinking those songs that became national hits, since that was the whole idea behind popular 78 rpm releases, i.e., "sell as many as we can and get as much air and jukebox play as we can."
   
   And since, in the 1943 to 1952 period, Ol' Blue Eyes registered some 87 hits for Columbia, one might think that a 97-track box set so-titled would contain most, if not all, of those hits. But when you look closely you find that just 39 of those charted songs are here!
   
   Now, I can readily understand the producers selecting items that, while never actually hits for Frank, or perhaps were among his more modest chart entries, are nevertheless regarded as among his finest performances at Columbia, Standards such as April In Paris, Body And Soul, Always and She's Funny That Way (none of which charted), and I've Got A Crush On You (# 21), All Of Me (# 21), Autumn In New York (# 27), and The Birth Of The Blues (# 19 in late 1952 and his last Columbia hit), all of which were modest entries at the time.
   
   But it's definitely misleading to some to have just 42% of the contents legitimate hits in an album titled "The Best Of." Especially when no less than 14 TOP 10 hits were omitted: All Or Nothing At All (# 1 in 1943 with Harry James); You'll Never Know (# 2 in 1943 and the A-side of a record that included Close To You, a # 10 that IS included here); Sunday, Monday Or Always (# 9 in 1943); I Couldn't Sleep A Wink Last Night (# 4 in 1944); You'll Never Walk Alone (# 9 in 1945); Don't Forget Tonight Tomorrow (# 9 in 1945); All Through The Day (# 7 in 1946); The Coffee Song (# 6 in 1946); That's How Much I Love You (# 10 in 1947); I Believe (# 5 in 1947 as the A-side to Time After Time, a # 16 which IS included); So Far (# 8 in 1947); The Hucklebuck (# 19 in 1949); Goodnight Irene (# 5 in 1950); One Finger Melody (# 9 in 1950); and Castle Rock (# 8 in 1951).
   
   What I would dearly love to see is a follow-up volume in the exact same format containing those and other missing hit singles. In the meantime, if you just enjoy the music of this legend, regardless of the title, you will definitely NOT be disappointed. It's a gem in that regard.



2. Frank Sinatra, son of a fireman, dropped out of high school as a senior to pursue a career in music. At 20, Frank Sinatra started out singing with the Hoboken Four, then as a singing waiter, but had his eye on bigger fish. In 1939 he signed with trumpeter and bandleader Harry James (The Complete Recordings Nineteen Thirty-Nine). The next year, he left to join Tommy Dorsey's band as vocalist (The Song Is You), until he set out for a solo career with Columbia Records in 1943. These early years were previously available on the excellent (and now-out-of-print) box set The Song Is You and the single CD reissue of The Complete Harry James and Frank Sinatra. However, a new Sony box set, A Voice in Time: 1939-1952, combines this pre-Columbia Brunswick material with Sinatra's Columbia gems and airchecks. If you're looking for a more complete portrait of early Frank, you're better off buying the new A Voice In Time release.
   
   The Columbia Years, 1943-1952
   
   Frank signed with Columbia in 1943, although the groundwork had already been laid for his first solo album The Voice of Frank Sinatra with several Cole Porter recordings in 1942 (arranged by Axel Stordahl). Throughout the mid-1940s, Sinatra appeared in numerous films and radio series. The Best of the Columbia Years conveniently lists songs by the film that they appeared in; nearly all of the Great American Songbook composers make appearances, including Gershwin, Berlin, Rogers and Hammerstein, Porter, Kern, Arlen, and Mercer.
   
   By the early 1950s, Sinatra was increasingly at odds with Columbia head Mitch Miller, who relied on having his stars record silly novelty songs to boost ratings. Miller was also in favor of overdubbing, where the technically exacting Sinatra preferred recording with a live band and backup singers. Miller's demands that Sinatra record the truly awful "Mama Will Bark" (thankfully omitted here), and his perception that Sinatra was already a washed-up teen idol, led to Sinatra's switch to Capitol Records in 1953, where he had the last laugh on Miller (and the rest is music history).
   
   The original Frank Sinatra: The Columbia Years: The Complete Recordings was a massive twelve-CD, 285-track epic collection of Frank's entire Columbia catalog (hideous novelties included). This four-CD, 97-track distillation offers the highlights, including many memorable original recordings (as opposed to later Capitol and Reprise rerecordings) of seminal American Songbook classics such as Night and Day, All of Me, You Do Something To Me, Where or When, How Deep is the Ocean, etc.
   
   Packaging
   
   The Best of the Columbia Years comes in at least two versions: a longbox, and a more compact, traditional four-CD set in a slipcase. I own the longbox version. Two CDs are stored vertically on the front and back plates, and the nearly 70 pages of liner notes are full of rare photographs of Frank and family, essays by Sinatra expert Will Friedwald, orchestra personnel listings, alphabetical song listings, and a discography.
   
   It's clear that this was a labor of love, and it is a collection to be treasured, especially since the original Complete Columbia Recordings has been out of print for several years. The sound quality is impeccable, the songs themselves are a reflection on a simpler time long past, and the liner notes are full of personal recollections and trivia. Buy this while you still can; it's worth twice as much!



3. "Frank Sinatra was like the Mount Everest for a songwriter: if you got Frank to do one of your songs, it was done right." ~ Antonio Carlos Jobim ~
   
   This is *the* most comprehensive CD package I've ever came across in all Sinatra recordings. It's a 4-CD set consisting of his best recordings from Columbia Records from 1943 thru 1952, which includes ninety-seven songs, most are rare recordings and some alternate takes. With the package is a very detailed and informative booklet of 76 pages that documents Frank Sinatra's fruitful tenure at Columbia Records. The introduction was written by his celebrated daughter, Nancy Sinatra, who singled out the most outstanding quality of her father, his honesty - "honesty that comes through in the lyrics, in the music, in everything that he does. It's that feeling that enables him to take for example, a Sammy Cahn lyric - with Sammy's deepest, most profound feelings - and make it understood by everybody. That's the mark of a great communicator, and not many people are able to do that sort of thing in the honest way he does!"
   
   The booklet offers a chock-full of goodies such as photos of Sinatra with some of the musicians involved in these recordings -- mini photos of music sheets, album covers and single records; photos of songwriters Irving Berlin, Jonny Mercer, Rodgers & Hart, George & Ira Gershwin, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn; alphabetical song titles and CD location listing; a discography; a complete orchestra personnel listing in New York and Hollywood studios; brief information on arrangers Heinie Beau, Sy Oliver, Ray Conniff and Percy Faith; and the following interesting articles.
   
   1. At The Heart of American Music by Daniel Okrent, Managing Editor of Life Magazine
   2. The Essence of Axel by Will Friedwald, Author
   3. Sinatra Standards by Roy Hemming, Classic Pop Historian
   4. The Art of Recording by Charles Granata, Author, Sinatra Historian and Archivist
   5. Sinatra In Transition - an appreciation by Will Friedwald, Author
   6. Frankly Speaking - interviews and personal recollections by Dave Mann and Matt Dennis, Composers
   
   One thing I admire about Frank Sinatra besides his many musical virtues was his deep sense of gratitude, he always gave credit when it's due especially to people whom he had worked with. And these are his thoughts: "I consider myself among the luckiest people in the world to have been able to make a career out of what I love to do - interpret wonderful music." It's a common knowledge that Sinatra's bright career started at Columbia and he declared that it was a "rare opportunity and a treasured gift having the opportunity to immerse himself in the talents of people like Axel Stordahl, the Gershwins, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Alec Wilder and Nat King Cole" while he was at Columbia Records. In addition, his pianist Stan Freeman commented that he only remembers Sinatra as "being very aware of what he wanted, and getting it! If he thought a flute or oboe part should be left out on one session, he would say so. He didn't have to take charge, but nominally he was in charge - and everybody knew that. He was always very pleasant, never any tantrums or anything."
   
   Listening to these CDs gives me a touch of nostalgia that takes me back in time when I was growing up and constantly hearing these same songs played repeatedly by my late parents. These are the original recordings and I guess Sinatra's renditions are more subdued and reserved as opposed to the second or even third recordings. In my opinion, there is that element of restraint in the way he interpreted them as compared to his passionate performances in the succeeding years from 1953 thru the last years of his recording career. But don't get me wrong, I still consider these CDs five-star materials. They are truly remarkable and the songs that stand out and the most wonderful from this set are as follow.
   
   Disc 1
   "Close To You," "If You Are But A Dream," "Stormy Weather," "Embraceable You," "Where Or When," "All The Things You Are," "Dream," "If I Loved You," "Someone To Watch Over Me," "You Go To My Head," "These Foolish Things," "Day By Day," "Put Your Dreams Away" and "I Should Care."
   
   Disc 2
   "Always," "Mam'selle," "Time After Time," "Try A Little Tenderness," "Full Moon And Empty Arms," "Begin The Beguine," "They Say It's Wonderful," "That Old Black Magic," "Five Minutes More," "The Things We Did Last Summer" and "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry."
   
   Disc 3
   "My Romance," "If I Had You," "Stella By Starlight," "But Beautiful," "All Of Me," "Night And Day," "The Song Is You," "S'posin'," "What'll I Do?," "Fools Rush In," "I've Got A Crush On You," "It All Depends On You" and "Some Enchanted Evening."
   
   Disc 4
   "You Do Something To Me," "When You're Smiling," "Nevertheless," "The Birth of the Blues," "Should I Reveal?" and "I Could Write A Book."
   
   This is Axel Stordahl's greatest contribution to Sinatra's rise to stardom. He was called the "Father of Modern Vocal Orchestrations" for his exceptional arrangements on most of the tracks. Nelson Riddle once said that Stordahl was his favorite arranger/conductor. He was Sinatra's very first conductor and musical director. He was described by Will Friedwald as "the man who helped popular music's greatest vocalist lay the foundation for his entire career."
   
   I agree with another great Sinatra arranger who was also very impressed with the works of Stordahl, Don Costa, when he said; "Nobody wrote ballads as pretty as he did until many years later when Nelson Riddle came along. I think he was really the "Daddy" that people began to learn from in the sense of writing orchestrations. He was really the most prolific of his time."
   
   Here's to the magic of wonderful music courtesy of Sinatra and his great orchestrators/arrangers in these recordings: Axel Stordahl, Sy Oliver, Heinie Beau, Ray Conniff, Norman Leyden, Mitch Miller, George Siravo, Alec Wilder, Jeff Alexander, John Guarnieri and Percy Faith. And not to mention the special contributions of his guest musicians: Nat King Cole (piano "Sweet Lorraine"), Johnny Hodges (alto sax "Sweet Lorraine"), Coleman Hawkins (tenor sax "Sweet Lorraine"), Dinah Shore (duet "My Romance"), Felix Slatkin (violin "Always") and Ray Charles Singers ("I'm A Fool To Want You").
   
   The songs in these CDs are the very same songs that launched the bright career of the Chairman of the Board. These are the original recordings that speak of simple elegance and honest-to-goodness interpretations devoid of any technical tricks.
   
   To any serious Sinatra collector, this is an essential add-on.
   
   "I adore making records. I'd rather do that than almost anything else." ~ Frank Sinatra ~



4. As though to help his biographers, Frank Sinatra's musical career can be separated into clear-cut, chronological periods: the Tommy Dorsey years, the Columbia years, the Capitol years, and the Reprise years. These four CDs comprise the best of the Columbia Record years. The first is my favorite because of my familiarity with so many of the lyrics and songs, and the fourth segues nicely into the swinging and saucy style Sinatra adopted when he signed with Capitol Records (a sweet, nostalgic world-weariness alternating with a swinging, in-your-face sexiness, sometimes on the same record).
   The maturing, confident Sinatra of the Columbia years in the '40s and early '50s reveals a resonant and deepening voice (compared to the Dorsey years) that combines with a gentleness and tenderness that had to appeal not only to bobby-soxers (whose younger sisters, seduced by early rock, would not find the Sinatra of the Capitol years ten years later anywhere as appealing) but also to their mothers and older sisters who, lonely keeping the home fires burning, were waiting for husbands and lovers to return from war. Anyone who remembers the '40s with anything approaching fondness will find memories forcefully stirred, and those who know those heady times only second- or third-hand will be equally stirred by a musical master whose style and command of the standards matched Bing and Perry's and perhaps, for strength and intimacy, even surpassed theirs.



5. In comparison to his Capitol and Reprise years, Frank Sinatra's tenure at his first label, Columbia, is unfairly forgotten about by most. And at first glance, it's easy to see why, as artistically, it's easily his weakest period. There's nothing on here as memorable or as artistically impressive as, say, "I've Got You Under My Skin", and Frank's voice had not yet matured into the rich, provocative instrument it would become, nor had be begun to work with arrangers as talented as Nelson Riddle or Don Costa (though Axl Strodahl more than holds his own).
   
   That being said, the 97 tracks featured on "The Best Of The Columbia Years" are nothing to sneeze at. This is Frank in all his youthful glory. His voice isn't as resonant or raw as it on his later recordings, but his way of interpreting a song properly like no other past or present is in full bloom.
   
   For the most part, the songs are on the slower side of things, which for me is excellent. To hear Frank's voice in such a youthful, intimate manner is simply a thrill. It makes songs like "Close To You", "If You Are But A Dream", "The Things We Did Last Summer" and many others sound all the more endearing and passionate. Of course, the album does swing in many instances, and those tracks work just as well.
   
   Many of the songs here (such as, "Someone To Watch Over Me", "Put Your Dreams Away", "Nancy", "Where Or When", "Oh, What It Seemed To Be", "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry", "All Of Me", "Night And Day" and especially "One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) were perfected at Frank's latter recording labels, without these, the excellent in their own right originals, as the foundation for those wonderful later renditions, it's unlikely those later versions would have been half as good (though I'm amazed at the striking difference between the lackluster 1947 version of "One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)" and the masterful 1958 rendition, as they're almost two completely different songs).
   
   The sound quality is fantastic despite some distant static, and the booklet and overall packaging are boh simply magnifcint. This a an absolute must have that all Sinatra fans should snatch up without hesitation.

5 comments about Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band.

1. First, thanks to those who have shared their thoughts on the sound quality of this set in reviews and/or review comments. I've had the set for about 5 days now and would like to add what I can. Disclaimer: I'm no audio engineer and a couple others here seem far more knowledgable in all this than I am.
   
   1. The distortion many are complaining about, especially on Jack the Bear, was present on the early Blanton-Webster set as well. I've had the privilege of direct comparisons between a few songs. The difference is, on the old set it was buried under layers of sucked out frequencies and No-Noise and therefore less noticeable but at GREAT expense to the music. (A lot of folks here know how abysmal the old set sounds.) So, I very much agree with reviewer Comic Online that the source of the distortion/harshness in this set is not a result of the remastering, but a result of the condition of the actual masters, be them damaged or what have you.
   
   2. The sound on this set really is AMAZING. The music is alive, the air is open, the dynamics are powerful. I also want to acknowledge the quality of bass on this release. It's powerful and tight. This remastering does Blanton a true service. Yes, the occasional distortion and harshness in the high frequencies in this set is a shame and it may take you some of the first day of listening to adjust, but given what the context seems to be, it's either that or the kind of sound on the old Blanton-Webster set.
   
   3. I disagree that the sound "gets better" on discs 2 and 3. I find nothing wrong with the sound to begin with and hear no discernable differences as the set plays on. Of course, if the harshness of Jack the Bear catches you off guard with it being the 2nd track of the 1st disc, I guess it's easy to think the set "gets better" sound-wise as it goes on, seeing as no other tracks match the very forward harshness that Jack the Bear exhibits.
   
   4. The box design is cheap and not very durable. Cardboard CD sleeves. It gets the job done, though. I'd just move your discs to a few open jewel cases. Be sure to remove your CDs from the cardboard sleeves by applying a small amount of pressure inward to the top and bottom of the sleeve and letting the CD slide itself out instead of grabbing and pulling it out, else the CD surface will drag across the cardboard and possibly result in some minor surface scratches on your shiny, brand new CD(s). Not cool!



2. Like so many others have complained about I have to agree the packaging is perfectly horrible. I finally gave up the ghost, even after having attempted to use packing tape to hold the flimsy cardboard box together, and put them into plastic jewel boxes. The sound restoration however makes it worth purchasing. As others have said disk one is very uneven. Fortunately it is only a few of the tracks, sadly one of them is Jack the Bear, truly what were they thinking, did anyone ever listen to it before they went into production? Jack the Bear is plagued with what sounds like very bad clipping, it crackles during the louder passages. The rest of the tracks that are not plagued with the extremely poor restoration work are extremely fine as are the other two cd's. The clarity, the sense of space around the instruments, the dynamic range and the pitch are sensational compared to any of the other recordings from this particular grouping of Duke Ellington Orchestras. There is some surface hiss on most of the recordings but that goes with this territory, it never gets in the way of the music in my opinion, I would rather have a small almost invisible background of hiss and have the high ends rather than have the dead, muffled sounding recordings put out by Bluebird. Even though this is still not a perfect re-issue this music is far too important to allow a few bad tracks, and a ridiculous package to ruin what is otherwise a sensational release.



3. I find some of the negative reviews a bit unfair. If you don't like the mastering job, that's one thing. You are absolutely entitled to not enjoying the way it sounds. But many reviewers are writing things they have no knowledge about. I've read several reviews where they insist that the mastering engineers "screwed up" or "could have done a better job." How do you know? Unless you're an audio engineer, sitting with the original masters in your high-tech studio (good luck on getting those originals), then you really have no way to know if they could have done better.
   
   Also, i'm so sick of this balderdash about "greedy music companies" putting out so-called "shoddy" products. Remember, it's not one guy with an office full of cash that's making these things. It's a team. People that make the horrible box designs are more into...box designs. And yes, most box designs on old jazz music is atrocious. There are dozens of different designs, and most are very poorly done (Billie Holiday's Complete Columbia box might be the worst.) The people that set the price are the numbers crunchers. But the people who actually select and master the music are people who love the music themselves. These engineers genuinely put out what they feel is quality material, because they love the music, and want it to sound as good as they feel they can make it. They have no say in box design or price. They don't get paid by how many they sell. They get paid for the job they performed. So, blast the art designers if you think the boxes suck (and they do), and the execs if you think the price is too high. But remember, the music itself is mastered with much care.
   
   Ok, that all having been said, i can totally understand how someone might find some of the music on here a bit too shrill for their ears. It does take some getting used to. But as one reviewer indicated, you do get used to it, and then you start to hear more of the music. With all other releases, including newer imports, they do sound less shrill, and more pleasing and warm, but so much of the bang, zap, and energy of the music is also removed, and consequently sounds lifeless and dull. To some people, that might be better. It's really all a judgment call. What's important to you? If you're willing to sacrifice the life and power of the music, because you don't like the distortion at the high end, then don't get this set. BUT, if you want to hear as much of the music as possible, as close to it sounded in the studio when it was recorded (and yes, with some unfortunate distortion, too), then this is the set you need.



4. Some reviewers have stressed bad sound quality on the first CD. That's certainly not the case with my copy. Indeed, all three CD are crisp. I even tried turning up the volume very high (I have massive speakers) and there was no distortion, fuzz or any other problems. So it may be that some CDs of this collection were defective, mine certainly wasn't.
   
   The music is well orchestrated. The Blanton-Webster combo is a very good good, and this coming from someone who isn't a major enthusiast of Ellington or big bands. But this CD really made me curious to look further into this genre. There are a few lyrical pieces, but the selections are mainly instrumenal. While Blanton was innovative on the bass, he continued to primarily use the instrument for accompaniment rather than the lyrical role that the likes of Patitucci, Carter, Pedersen, and Vitous gave to it.



5. I think this was the best band Duke ever had, and the best CD's available by Duke. I also think the restoration and remastering are superb. While the sound quality of the first disc isn't as good as the other two, it's still very good. The claims of harshness and of being unlistenable are ridiculous. Yes, there is hiss, but that situation is better than sucking the life out it by using excessive noise reduction. The sound quality of the second and third discs are the best I've heard from the early forties. They are incredible.
   
   If you agree that leaving some hiss is preferable to killing the high end and the ambiance of a recording, then you'll appreciate what they did here. Personally, I wish all the reissues of old recordings such as these, were of this calibre.

5 comments about The Complete Blue Note Recordings.

1. There's jazz piano, then there's Monk jazz piano. And there's jazz recordings, then there's Blue Note jazz recordings. Put the two together and you get this fascinating, fun, educational, enjoyable 4-CD set. I wish I had bought this earlier in my jazz education, because this covers such a long time span and so many different types of recordings, that I really learned a lot from it. Many songs I had never attempted to play on the piano became possible for me, because I had Monk's frame to work within. The book that accompanies the CD's is very thorough and covers everything from what the recording sessions were like, to the technicalities of the recordings themselves. My favorites are the standards where Kenny Hagood sings, evoking the "bridge" that Monk was soon to form between "classic" jazz and "Monk" jazz. Of course, all of Monk's now famous tunes are here too. The recordings themselves are very clean and clear, which I really like, and there is a wide variety of styles covered on the different discs. I was very satisfied with this set, and I go back to it pretty often. If you're a fan of jazz, especially jazz piano, I'm sure you will too.



2. Definitive versions of classic compositions such as Epistrophy, Misterioso, 'Round Midnight and many others, these recordings from Monk's first studio sessions as a leader are some of the most magical and inspiring music ever recorded. The fourth (live) disc is more of a bonus and should not be held against the rating. The sound quality of the three main discs is excellent for its time and actually adds to the mysterious mood. Essential listening.



3. It's bebop, but it's Monk. He runs his fingers down the keyboard alot, & yet it gasses me every time. Milt Jackson is featured prominently. It may be early Bags, but...



4. If you care about jazz at all, then you know Monk is one of the greats, the necessary ones, a great American artist. And this is Monk's most important period, when he confounded the world with his sound and vision. His later period on Riverside produced a lot of great playing, but this set documents the revolution, and you must have it.

   The music, the tunes speak for themselves, but what is so important here is the freshness. You are hearing the musicians grapple with Monk's work for the first time, some take naturally to it, others don't, but the tension is an important part of the experience. And you are also hearing his work as all listeners did for the first time, right off his first Blue Note LPs.

   Yes, the sound quality on the live set with Coltrane is poor, but a complaint about that is meaningless. The gig was recorded on a cheap tape deck with no professional quality or intent, and the set is what it is, a find, never intended as a record. But the music comes through all the same, better to be with it than without it.




5. but the Riversides are more important and in far better sound. Unless you are a completist (as I am), I would say get "Genious of Modern Music, II" only. It contains the best dates from this set. Then spend the rest of the money that you saved on "Brilliant Corners", "Monk's Music", and "Himself" on Riverside. With that, you will have a great collection of classic Monk.

5 comments about Mos' Scocious : The Dr. John Anthology.

1. I don't how he does it, but he does. Ya can't remain depressed when he's plumking around, all over in fact, the piano.



2. This is a great collection to get, especially if you don't have many of Dr John's solo CD's already. On 2 CD's you get 39 tracks covering his career from the recordings with Ronnie Barron (tracks 1 & 2) all the way up to 1989.
   
   Dr John is one the most important New Orleans musicians alive and this collection covers the many varied styles of his career. Naturally the sound quality of the earliest recordings, which date from 1959 are a little rough, that may be the age or it may be what was intended.
   
   Stylistically there's huge variety here:
   The Voodoo sound (Gris Gris etc)
   Prof Longhair (Tipitina, Memories of Prof Longhair)
   Early 70's New Orleans Funk (Right Place Wrong Time, Life)
   Rock n Roll (I Wanna Rock)
   Solo Boogie Woogie Piano (Honey Dripper)
   Big Band influenced Jazz (Makin' Whoopie, Accentuate The Positive, More Than You Know)
   
   And that's without discussing the very early tracks which are a very eclectic bunch. Look at the credits for example on Storm Warning (1959). Allen Toussaint - Piano, Alvin Tyler - Sax, Melvin Lastie - Trumpet. This is already a core of very important New Orleans musicians, so you shouldn't be put off by the early tracks!
   
   The CD's come with an excellent booklet, which gives you biographical information, as well as much background information on the recordings themselves. By the way track 15 'Opening' is not in the collection (hence no sample).



3. Rhino has done it again. Excellent selection of material, terrific booklet. This 2 disc anthology tracks the development of one of our greatest eccentrics, from the impenetrable swamp voodoo origins all the way through to top 40 favorites. The funny thing about Dr. John is that he's a horrible singer, a just good pianist, and a good songwriter. But the whole is so much more than the sum of the parts. Surprisingly catchy and musical. Not one false note (except Rickie Lee Jones on Makin' Whoopee). Check out the Honeydripper, Sahara, and Memories Of Professor Longhair. The most wonderful thing about Dr. John is his love of NOLA music, and all he's done to keep it alive. Plus, with the possible exception of a Vegas showgirl, no entertainer has ever looked quite so smashing in feathers. Avoid single disk samplings and go for this. Get yourself a beignet and a cup of chicory coffee. Mos' Scocious!



4. This is another Rhino extravagance with the usual witty and revealing liner notes best served with an artist like Dr. John who has had such a rich history. This collection spans the 30 years between 1959 to 1989 covering his early greaser days through his trippy 60's into the voodoo drenched 70's and 80's. If you feel you only need to own one Dr. John album, make sure this is the one.



5. Forget the single discs, and shell out for this anthology. Dr. John just ain't a "greatest hits" kinda guy anyhow. Dig this set and you will get schooled in a number of musical styles - jazz, funk, cajun/zydeco, and voodoo. Highlights include the wicked 5/4 vamp "Black Widow Spider", the parading foot-stomper "Mardi Gras Day", the creepy "Zu Zu Mamou", and the smile-inducing "Wash Mama Wash". And when the Meters check in on disc 2, well... forget about it. YOU CAN'T SHUT DA FUNK UP!!! Mac gives piano lessons on three solo instrumentals from the early 80's, and a set of standards closes things on a classy note.