Titles include "On The Sunny Side Of The Street", "La Vie En Rose", "Lazy River", "I Surrender Dear", "When It's Sleepy Time Down South", "You Rascal You" with Louis Jordan, and "Gone Fishin" with Bing Crosby. CD

A really great collection of momentous early recordings from the Basie Band! CD

(78 RPM, Jazz) 78 RPM, Vinyl record

Nat King Cole as a leader and a sideman – incredible material from 1936-1946 – featuring the King Cole Trio, side work with Eddie Cole's Solid Swingers, Dexter Gordon, The Keynoters and The Lester Young Trio! There's a number of great tunes here with Nat singing, but also a whole bunch of recordings that shine a light on his impeccable work as a group piano player of the finest caliber, working as Nat King Cole and under some funny pseudonyms while he was recording hits for Capitol! Packaged stunningly, even by Hip-O Select Standards – essentially housing the CDs in a hardcover book of 31-pages with an essay by David Ritz, 7 3/8" square package with detailed session notes, and beautifully reproduced art work from original 78s and 10-inch LPs! Disc one features 17 tracks by the King Cole Trio with Nat singing and at the piano, with Oscar Moore on guitar and and Wesley Prince on bass: "Sweet Lorraine", "This Side Up", "Babs", "Scotchin' With The Soda", "Slow Down", "Hit That Jive, Jack" and more. Disc one also includes 5 tracks with Eddie Cole's Solid Swingers, with Nat on piano, Eddie Cole on bass, Kenneth Roane on trumpet, Tommy Thompson on saxes and Jimmy Adams on drums:" Honey Hush" (with Eddie on vocals) plus an alternate take, "Thunder", "Stompin' At The Panama" and "(Bedtime) Sleep, Baby Sleep". Last up on disc one, four tracks by the Keynoters with Willie Smith on alto, Nat as Lord Calvert on piano, Red Callender on bass and Jackie Mills on drums: "The Way You Look Tonight", "My Old Flame" and more. Disc 2 is comprised of Jazz At The Philharmonic: Los Angeles, July 1944, with collective personal including Nat as Shorty Nadine on piano and singing on "Sweet Lorraine", Shorty Sherlock on trumpet, JJ Johnson on trombone, Illinois Jacquet and Jack McVea on tenor, Red Callender on bass, Lee Young on drums, and Carolyn Richards singing on "The Man I Love". Other titles include "Blues", "Tea For Two", "Rosetta", "Bugle Call Rag", "Oh, Lady, Be Good!" and more. Disc 3 starts with 1943/44 material by Dexter Gordon's group featuring Nat on piano, Sweets Edison on trumpet, Gordon on tenor, Red Callender or Johnny Miller on bass and Clifford Owens on drums: "I've Found A New Baby", "I Blowed And Gone" and more. That's followed by Lester Young Trio material of similar vintage with Nat as Aye Guy on piano, Young on Tenor and Buddy Rich on drums: "I Cover The Water Front", "The Man I Love", "Peg Of My Heart" and more. Last, but not least, Keynoters alternate takes including "The You You Look Tonight", "Airiness A La Nat" and "I can't Believe That You're In Love With Me". (Vocalists, Jazz) CD

A cool California concert from Louis Armstrong – surprisingly intimate, despite the setting – and recorded with a less-polished feel than some of his other 50s live dates! There's a relatively spontaneous quality to the music, and the album really helps keep the spirit of the concert intact – offering up snippits of Louis' commentary, and some strong audience response as well. Players include Armstrong on trumpet, Jack Teagarden on trombone, Barney Bigard on clarinet, Earl Hines on piano, Arvell Shaw on bass, and Cozy Cole on drums – and Armstrong sings, and is occasionally joined by Velma Middleton on vocals. Titles include "My Monday Date", "Baby It's Cold Outside", "Star Dust", "The Hucklebuck", "That's A Plenty", and "Just You Just Me". CD

One of the greatest jazz soundtracks of all time! Elmer Bernstein wrote the score to Otto Preminger's chilling film version of Nelson Algren's book The Man With The Golden Arm – a sad tale of jazz, gambling, and heroin addiction on the streets of Chicago (not far from Dusty Groove, in fact!) – and in doing so, he came up with one of the first jazz soundtracks to really work strongly with a dramatic narrative. The film's striking theme is played in a number of variations, either with orchestral backing, or in small combo format by Shorty Rogers & His Giants, a crack west coast group that features work by Bud Shank, Shelly Manne, Bob Cooper, and Pete Candoli. The tracks work perfectly together as a suite of tracks, even without the images of the film – telling a tale of temptation, sadness, tragedy, and rebirth. Titles include "Clark Street", "Breakup", "The Fix", "Zosh", "Frankie Machine", and "Audition". Worth the price for the Saul Bass cover alone! (Soundtracks, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

A very unusual high-concept project from Dave Brubeck – with the man himself on piano, in a setting that features the Cinncinnatti Symphony conducted by Erich Kunzel, with voices too! LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful tribute to New York from jazz arranger Ralph Burns – perhaps one of the best of that odd postwar genre – the LP-long salute to the Big Apple! This set's got an unusual approach – great instrumentation from Burns, on a par with his more famous jazz scoring of the 50s – mixed with sound effects from all over the city – bits of voices, traffic, crowds, ships, and more – a wonderful pastiche of music and moments! LP, Vinyl record album

Early sides by Nat King Cole, recorded in the pre-Capitol years – and done in a mixture of vocal and instrumental modes, with trio backing that featured Oscar Moore on guitar and Wesley Prince on bass. The tunes are still very much solid early Nat at his best – a lightly blended mix of blues and jazz, revolutionary at the time, and still refreshing for any era! Titles include "I Like To Riff", "Call The Police", "This Side UP", "Babs", and "Are You Fer It". (Vocalists, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

Includes work with Jimmy Blythe's Owls, the Beale Street Washboard Band, and Jimmy Bertrand's Washboard Wizards featuring Louis Armstrong, and his own group the Black Bottom Stompers. 16 cuts in all. CD

(78 RPM, Jazz) 78 RPM, Vinyl record

Notable sidemen include Cootie Williams, Johnny Hodges, Tricky Sam Nanton, Barney Bigard, and Harry Carney. CD

A collection of early recordings with The Jungle Band – with "Sweet Mama", "Cincinnati Daddy", "Wall Street Wail", "Cotton Club Stomp", "Mood Indigo", "Rockin' In Rhythm", and more. LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Features "Hamp's Boogie Woogie", "Tempo's Boogie", "Bey Ba Ba Re Bop", "Two Finger Boogie" and more! (78 RPM, Jazz) 78 RPM, Vinyl record

Great early recordings from the Hampton band – the stuff that made him a legend! LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

(78 RPM, Jazz) 78 RPM, Vinyl record

(Now Sound, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

With Dan Grissom, Jimmie Lunceford, Laforet Dent, and Willie Smith on alto saxophone, Earl Carruthers on baritone saxophone, Joe Thomas on tenor saxophone, Eddie Durham, Elmer Crumbley, Henry Wells, and Russell Bowles on trombone, Eddie Tompkins, Paul Webster, Sy Oliver, and Tommy Stevenson on trumpet, Willie Smith on clarinet, Al Norris and Eddie Durham on guitar, Ed Wilcox on piano, Moses Allen on bass, and Jimmy Crawford on drums. CD

Lovely lovely work from Dudley Moore – known to most as a comedic actor, but also a heck of a jazz pianist, and head of his own groovy trio during the 60s! The tunes mix together soul jazz and bossa trio styles – all dancing together in Dud's incredibly light-touched style on the ivories – and the set's got some great original numbers – including the groover "Poova Nova", the slow stepper "Sooz Blues", and the cuts "Lysie Does It" and "Take Your Time". LP, Vinyl record album

Jazzy mambos from the Decca years of Noro Morales – titles that include "Jungle Bird", "Mambo Mono", "Shawanga Mambo", "Up & Down Mambo", "Mambo Coco", and "Que Problema". (Latin, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

A really great collection – one that offers up the earliest work by Nat King Cole – before he even recorded for Decca or Capitol! The music here was all recorded in Hollywood, when Nat was fresh on the scene – and a number of titles were never issued at all! The group features Oscar Moore on guitar and Wesley Prince on bass – and some tracks have extra vocals from Maxine Johnson. (Vocalists, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful pairing of this German pianist and American tenor star Zoot Sims – and an album that may well be the greatest that Jutta Hipp ever cut! Hipp was one of the rising stars of the German postwar jazz scene in the 50s – and although she issued other American albums in the decade for Blue Note and Decca, this side's probably the best-remembered of the bunch – thanks to the presence of Zoot, and support from a great rhythm section that includes Ahmed Abdul-Malik on bass and Ed Thigpen on drums – both of whom match the modern tones of Jutta's piano, but also give a solidly soulful Blue Note feel to the set. The group's completed by trumpeter Jerry Lloyd, who helps bring a nice sparkle to the frontline – and titles include "Just Blues", "Wee Dot", "Almost Like Being In Love", and "Down Home". CD features 2 bonus tracks – "S'Wonderful" and "These Foolish Things". CD

Classic work by Django Reinhardt – and a CD that reissues material that originally appeared on Decca 78s from the early 40s. All the work was recorded in 1939, by Django and the Hot Club Of France (which included Stephane Grappelli, Joseph Reinhardt, and Pierre Barro Ferret). Titles include "Twelfth Year", "Jeepers Creepers", "Swing 39", "Japanese Sandman", "Tea For Two", "I Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight", "Time On My Hands", and "Hungaria". CD

A seminal bit of work from Mike Westbrook – recorded back in the early years of his career, when he still had a pretty sharp edge! Like Westbrook's first few albums on Decca, this set features the British avant jazz maestro playing piano with a large ensemble of some of England's finest jazzmen – including Ray Warleigh, Alan Skidmore, Harry Beckett, Kenny Wheeler, Paul Rutehrford, and Harry Miller. Norma Winstone sings on a few tracks, bringing in her lovely voice in the way that she does on Westbrook's best albums – but overall, the set's a bit more out there and more avant than some of his earlier work, but still has the majestic cohesiveness that makes his work of the time so great. The work is one long piece, split into 9 segments. CD

Two excellent vocal albums that Louis cut for Verve – some of the best of his career, and both graced with amazing arrangements by Russ Garcia! The sound's a lot purer than some of the pop vocal albums that Louis cut for other labels, like Decca – and he both sings and plays trumpet on tracks like "When Your Lover Has Gone", "We'll Be Together Again", "You Turned The Tables On Me", "I've Got The World On A String", "Top Hat White Tie & Tails", "Home", "East Of The Sun", "Stormy Weather", and "Have You Met Miss Jones". CD

A wonderful pairing of this German pianist and American tenor star Zoot Sims – and an album that may well be the greatest that Jutta Hipp ever cut! Hipp was one of the rising stars of the German postwar jazz scene in the 50s – and although she issued other American albums in the decade for Blue Note and Decca, this side's probably the best-remembered of the bunch – thanks to the presence of Zoot, and support from a great rhythm section that includes Ahmed Abdul-Malik on bass and Ed Thigpen on drums – both of whom match the modern tones of Jutta's piano, but also give a solidly soulful Blue Note feel to the set. The group's completed by trumpeter Jerry Lloyd, who helps bring a nice sparkle to the frontline – and titles include "Just Blues", "Wee Dot", "Almost Like Being In Love", and "Down Home". LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing set – really really beautiful, and a whopping 10CDs' worth of material that Billie Holiday recorded during the 78rpm era – for labels that include Columbia, Okeh, Vocalion, Decca, and Parlophone! The package has an oversize cover, with a giant book in the middle – and the set features Holiday singing with Duke Ellington, Teddy Wilson Eddie Heywood, Benny Goodman, and her own group as well. 239 tracks in all – and a bargain at this price! (Vocalists, Jazz) CD

Pulled from his Decca, Barclay, and Blue Star sessions – other players include Stephane Grappelli, Pierre Michelot, and Joseph Reinhardt. 16 tracks total. CD

A landmark session that gathered together just about every hip British jazz and jazz/rock musician of the time – and brought them together into one super-cool orchestra of sound! Robert Fripp produced the record, and Keith Tippett is the overall music director – but the album's got a feel that's much more in the avant side of the UK jazz spectrum – particularly the trippier side of the Deram/Decca label of the late 60s – like work by Mike Westbrook or Mike Gibbs! The lineup is huge – with Elton Dean and Dudu Pukwana on alto sax, Alan Skidmore and Gary Windo on tenor, Ian Carr and Mongesi Fesa on trumpets, Mark Charig on cornet, Nick Evans and Paul Rutherford on trombone, Keith Tippett on piano, Brian Godding on guitar, Robert Wyatt and John Marshall on drums, and Maggie Nicholls, Julie Tippett, Mike Patto, and Zoot Money on vocals – plus lots of strings as well! CD

Rare 78s for Mercury, Decca, and Jazz Limited – with work by Truck Parham, Red Richards, and George Brunies! CD