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An interesting tribute to the passing of pianist Eddie Costa – mostly because the overall feel is much more in a soulful hardbop mode, quite different than the modern and chamber sides that Costa cut during the 50s! Side one features work by the Clark Terry quartet – with Terry on trumpet, Dick Hyman on piano, Art Davis on drums, and Osie Johnson on bass – and side two features and even better group led by Coleman Hawkins – with Hawk blowing in that great late solo style of his, alongside players that include Sonny Clark, Roy Haynes, and Chuck Israels. Tracks on the album are all long and intimate – mellow, but soulful, with plenty of interesting solo space. Titles include "The Simple Waltz", "Just You Just Me", "I'm Confessin", and "Things Ain't What They Used To Be".

The cover of this one makes it look like a no-name leaderless session, but this one actually features some great work by some very hip players! Half the album features vibist Teddy Charles leading a group of modernists that includes Hal McKusick, Frank Socolow, Bill Russon, Bob Brookmeyer, Mal Waldron, and Donald Byrd – on tracks that have a bluesy base, but a bit of an edge to them. The other half features Manny Albam leading a combo with Al Cohn, Teo Macero, Art Farmer, Bill Evans, Phil Woods, and Eddie Costa. The session was done to showcase the talents of 4 of the best modern arrangers of the late 50s – Manny Albam, Bill Russon, Teo Macero, and Teddy Charles – all of whom contribute some great charts to a set of tracks that includes "Swinging Goatsherd Blues", "East Hampton Blues", "Blues In The Night", "Night Crawlers", and "Blues For Amy".

Rare stuff from John Coltrane! The album features Trane playing tenor on only 4 of the album's 8 tracks – making it kind of surprising that they used his name in the title – but the album is a lesser-known batch of large group recordings that offer an interesting early chapter in his career! The main force behind the album is arranger Harry Tubbs – possibly not a name that's as sexy as John Coltrane, hence the billing – but a worthy leader for the date, given the quality of the music. Many of the other players here are small combo heroes who can also shine brightly in bigger groups – such as Donald Byrd and Art Farmer on trumpets, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Al Cohn on baritone sax, Eddie Costa on piano and vibes, and Oscar Pettiford on bass – plus Rolf Kuhn, making an early American appearance on clarinet. Coltrane gets in some nice, but short moments on the date – but the bigger charm is the full ensemble work – on titles that include "She Didn't Say Yes", "Turtle Walk", "At Home With The Blues", "Seabreeze", and "Love & The Weather".

One of the few albums as a leader from Mighty Mike Cuozzo – a tight tenor player with a great sort of 50s swing! The set's the kind of no-nonsense, well-blown effort you might expect from Sonny Stitt or Seldon Powell at the time – tunes that pack in plenty over a relatively short space – really transformed by Mike's deft talents on the tenor, with a surprising degree of soul in the mix as well! Rhythm is by Eddie Costa on piano, Vinnie Burke on bass, and Nick Stabulas on drums – and the whole thing's got the solid feel of a lost Roost session. Titles include "Blue Jeans", "Bounce For Mike", "Ten AM", "Lover Man", and "That Old Feeling".

An obscure session that was nearly lost, because it was issued on a cheapo label – but which features some really great work from Coleman Hawkins! The format is small combo, with long tracks that really open up – and Hawk is blowing in that fantastic mode that he began to use a lot around the end of the 50s. His tone is incredible – at once deep and soulful, but also touched with some raspiness and a bit of a biting reed approach – almost a bit of Sonny Rollins at times, with a sound that really makes us want to listen to more work from this fruitful (and overlooked) time in Hawk's career! Players include Thad Jones on trumpet, Eddie Costa on piano and vibes, George Duvivier on bass, and Osie Johnson on drums – and titles include "Bean In Orbit", "Stalking", "Moodsville", and "Hassle".

Massive later music from Coleman Hawkins – a date that might be easy to overlook, given the unassuming package – but one that really features that newfound mix of modernism and soul that graced the later years of Hawk! The setting is a bit unusual, but that's part of the charm – as Hawkins' tenor comes into play with the trumpet of Thad Jones, piano and vibes of Eddie Costa, bass of George Duvivier, and drums of Osie Johnson – a group who are mostly easygoing, and really let Coleman take the lead – although Jones gets in a few great moments too! Titles include "Cloudy", "Almost Dawn", "Stake Out", "Cross Town", and "Shadows".

A great album that Brit tenor giant Tubby Hayes recorded on a trip to the U.S. during the early 60's. The set's a great batch of hard bop tracks recorded during the same time that Epic was doing great stuff like the Dave Bailey LPs, or some of the Charlie Rouse solo records. Dave Bailey's on drums, Horace Parlan's on piano, Clark Terry plays trumpet, and Eddie Costa plays vibes. The LP is magnificent, and perfectly captures Hayes' genius on the tenor in a way that few of his other recordings ever do. Tracks include "Pint Of Bitter", "Opus Ocean", "Soon", and "You For Me".

One of the few small group sessions from vocalist Betty Roche – a singer who was known for her work with Duke Ellington, but who sounds even better in this setting! Betty's got a style that's warmly raspy – a bit more edge than some of the cooler vocalists on the Bethlehem label at the time, but still backed with a group that's slightly modern – in keeping with other dates on the label. The combo features Eddie Costa on vibes, Donn Trenner on piano, Conte Candoli on trumpet, Whitey Mitchell on bass, and Davey Williams on drums – all grooving gently with Betty on a set of tracks that includes "Take The A Train", "Something To Live For", "All My Life", "All Too Soon", "You Don't Love Me Any More", "Go Away Blues", and "September In The Rain". Japanese CD features 3 bonus alternate takes.

A surprisingly nice little set from Clark Terry – featuring arrangements by Oliver Nelson, and a pretty nice little group that includes Budd Johnson on tenor and Eddie Costa on vibes and piano. The material appears to be lifted from the musical All American – by the team of Charles Strouse & Lee Adams – although the notes, and certainly not the title, don't do much to indicate this. The best part of the set is Nelson – who manages to, here as always, take any sort of material and give it a really strong swingin – bouncing it up with a lot of soul, and creating plenty of space for some strong breakout solos. Titles include "What A Country", "Same Language", "The Fight Song", "Nightlife", and "It's Fun To Think".

Guitarist Sal Salvador made few albums as a leader during his day – but all of them are a treat, especially this one! The set's a mid 50s outing that features Sal's guitar in a quartet with Eddie Costa on piano and vibes – and grooving in a lightly swinging style that has some traces of east coast chamber jazz of the time, but which also displays Salvador's unique fascination with tone, sound, shape, and color! Salvador has a way of approaching the electric guitar that's like few other players in jazz – sometimes coming on full swing, other times laying back and letting the strings and their sounds shape the progression of tunes on the set. Titles include "Salaman", "I Love You", "Handful Of Stars", "Frivolous Sal", "Tangerine", "You Could Swing For That", and "All The Things You Are".

Wonderful 50s work from guitarist Sal Salvador – a record that features some great work by Phil Woods on alto sax! Given that Sal often recorded in a small combo mode that usually highlighted his guitar in the lead, the presence of Woods is really a nice surprise here – especially since Phil's at that key early point in his career, when he was playing with a raspy edge that could really add a lot to a session! The players here shift a bit from track to track – and Woods is on 7 of the album's 11 tracks – joined on some of the best by Eddie Bert on trombone and Eddie Costa on vibes. Titles include "Joe & Me", "Carioca", "Delighted", "I've Got A Feelin", "I Hadn't Anyone Til You", and "Took The Spook".

A great lost date from the wonderful Gigi Gryce – a set that features the altoist in an sextet, but often swinging with a looser vibe than on some of his better-known albums from the 50s! There's a mix of soulful and modern here that's not unlike the Art Farmer/Benny Golson Jazztet – both players of Gryce's same postwar generation, and coincidentally recording for Mercury at the same time. Although the groove here is definitely different – less emphasis on the bottom, and more on the top – not just Gryce's wonderfully raspy alto, but also the trumpet of Richard Williams too. All other players are great as well – and Eddie Costa brings in some sweet vibes – in a lineup that also features Richard Wyands on piano, and either Reggie Workman or George Duvivier on bass, and either Walter Perkins or Bob Thomas on drums. Tracks include "Reminiscing", "Gee Blues Gee", "Blue Light", and "Night In Tunisia".

A treasure trove of rare work from reedman Gigi Gryce – one of the most important talents of the 50s, presented here in a range of unissued sides from the best years of his career! The CD's overflowing with amazing material – some live dates, and some unissued studio material as well – all done in that perfect second period style of Gryce's career – the point when he moved past the tighter modernism of early years, and really opened up with this amazingly soulful sound! His alto work is impeccable – unlike anyone else we can think of on the instrument – very focused and crisp, yet wonderfully warm and human as well – with support on most numbers from excellent sidemen Richard Williams on trumpet and Richard Wyands on piano – two players who always seemed to drive Gigi onto new heights! Material includes 4 tracks from a 1961 Birdland broadcast – also with Eddie Costa on on vibes – then 2 more from a 1961 recording session also with Costa. Then there's 6 more cuts from an unissued 1960 session – and all three of these feature Williams and Wyands. The set's rounded out by material from a 1957 Signal Records party – featuring a group with Cecil Payne on baritone sax and Duke Jordan on piano. All cuts have been lovingly remastered, with the usual great sound we love from Uptown – and the set features 70 minutes of music, 18 tracks that include "Blues In Bloom", "Down Home", "A Premonition Of You", "Dancing The Gigi", "I'll Walk Alone", "Sonor", "All The Things You Are", "Man Of Moods", and "Movin".

Mr & Mrs Jazz – and their cool cousins too – given that the combo also features some sublime tenor sax from JR Monterose, in addition to vocals from Sue and piano from Ralph! The set's a much harder-edged date than you might guess from the cover – and Sharon's approach to arrangements is a bit more dynamic than later work with Tony Bennett – swinging in a cool Bethlehem way, but given a great punch from the instrumentation – which also includes vibes from Eddie Costa and guitar from Joe Puma! Sue Sharon's a pretty nice singer, and appears on about half the tracks – the others are instrumentals – and titles include "That Goldblatt Magic", "Mynah Lament", "Just You Just Me", "Nothing At All", "Hugette Waltz", "A Nightingale Can Sing The Blues", and "A Trout No Doubt".

The complete recordings done by John Coltrane for Bethlehem Records – mostly cut during December of 1957, and issued on the albums The Winner's Circle and Art Blakey Big Band! Both albums were a bit unusual for the label – in that The Winner's Circle was sort of a blowing/jam session type record, cut with some of the big poll winners of the year, but with shorter tracks than the usual Prestige-styled set of that nature. The lineup includes Donald Byrd, Al Cohn, Eddie Costa, Oscar Pettiford, and Philly Joe Jones – and Coltrane's a bit buried in the group, but gets out some nice licks from time to time. The second set of tracks was recorded for a unique big band session led by Art Blakey – featuring a core group with Coltrane, Donald Byrd, Walter Bishop Jr, and Wendell Marshall on some tracks – plus a larger lineup on a number of others. The CD brings together a whopping 27 tracks from these sessions, including some great alternate takes – and titles include "Midriff", "Tippin", "The Outer World", "The Kiss Of No Return", "Pristine Take", and "Oasis" – a previously unreleased track!

Jazz from the heart of the cold war – not actually recorded in Moscow, but featuring a bunch of hip players on their return from a tour of the Soviet Union – a historic moment in which west met east, with some groovy jazz in the offing! Apart from the tenor of Zoot Sims and alto of Phil Woods, the record also features flute and alto from Jerry Dodgion, trombone from Willie Dennis, trumpets from Markie Markowitz and Jimmy Maxwell, and piano from Eddie Costa – and the set features arrangements from Al Cohn on tracks that hit the 5 minute range – tight at the top, with breakaway solos, as you might hear during some of the Cohn/Sims sides for RCA during the 50s! Titles include "Let's Dance", "Mission To Moscow", "The Sochi Boatman", and the obligatory "Russian Lullaby".

A pair of overlooked gems from trumpeter Clark Terry – back to back on a single CD! On Everything's Mellow, things are mellow indeed – and that fact makes the record one of Terry's greatest from the 60s! The obscure session features Clark blowing in the laidback style of Prestige's Moodsville imprint – almost a swing-based, Verve-styled mode that makes for some really great tunes. Terry plays both trumpet and flugelhorn on the session – working through really restrained readings of tunes that include "The Simple Waltz", "Out In The Cold Again", "Among My Souvenirs", and "In The Alley" – and the rest of the players on the session include Junior Mance on piano, Joe Benjamin on bass, and Charlie Persip on drums. All American is a surprisingly nice little set from Clark Terry – featuring arrangements by Oliver Nelson, and a pretty nice little group that includes Budd Johnson on tenor and Eddie Costa on vibes and piano. The material appears to be lifted from the musical All American – by the team of Charles Strouse & Lee Adams – although the notes, and certainly not the title, don't do much to indicate this. The best part of the set is Nelson – who manages to, here as always, take any sort of material and give it a really strong swingin – bouncing it up with a lot of soul, and creating plenty of space for some strong breakout solos. Titles include "What A Country", "Same Language", "The Fight Song", "Nightlife", and "It's Fun To Think".

One of the best ever records from Twennynine – produced and arranged by Lenny White & Larry Dunn – jazzy modern soul at it's dawn of the decade finest! Twennynine With Lenny White is way at the front of the pack of a lot of the 80s groove elements to follow in its wake – with popping basslines, heavy bass pedals, compressed guitar riffs and a really insistent overall groove! The record's got a pretty straight R&B feel, but thanks to White's nice production, there's a lot of good fusion elements in the mix – which raises the album a step above, and makes it groove nicely. The group features keyboards by Skip Anderson, doing a great job stepping in for Don Blackman, with lead vocals by Tanya Willoughby, synths by Larry Dunn, percussion by Paulinho De Costa, guitar by Eddie Martinez, bass by Barry Johnson and others. Titles include "My Melody", "Kid Stuff", "Fancy Dancer", "Slip Away", "We Had To Break Away", and "Love & Be Loved".

The title reads like a typo, but the album's a great set of smooth fusion from Freddie Hubbard – self-produced, and almost a summation of all the styles he'd mastered in the 70s! The session's never too over the top or too ambitious – just features Freddie working with a hip group in a laidback setting – blowing lean and mellow lines that almost take him back to his best CTI funk. The group features Billy Childs on keyboards, Hadley Caliman on tenor and flute, and some guest work by George Duke and Paulinho Da Costa – on titles that include "Skagly", "Rustic Celebration", "Happiness Is Now", and "Cascais".

Wow! Here's some really wonderful live material from Vince Guaraldi during a peak period of both productivity and creativity – and working in an excellent quartet setting during a two week engagement at the Old Town Theatre in Los Gatos, CA, in October of 1967! The period is quite notable – in the fall of '67 Vince had recently finished up his time at Fantasy Records and was preparing to record for Warner – keeping up a busy performance schedule and fearlessly spanning styles, putting his passionate, exuberant style of piano into each piece. This 2CD package features a pair of nearly 40 minute sets with longish takes on some great material – passionate, energetic and engaging performances of great Guaraldi originals "Nobody Else", "Cast Your Fate To The Wind" and "Linus & Lucy", an inspired, unpredictable version of Bobbie Gentry's "Ode To Billie Joe" and an equally creative take on "Elenore Rigby", plus Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Once I Loved" and other great tracks like "Going Out Of My Head", "Theme From The Movie 'Exodus'" and "Autumn Leaves". The group features Eddie Duran on guart, Andy Acosta on bass and drums by Al Coster.