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Early all-jazz work from Nat King Cole – beautiful piano work, in a group with JJ Johnson on trombone, Jack McVea and Illinois Jacquet on tenor, Shorter Sherock on trumpet, and Les Paul on guitar! Tracks are long, and include "Tea For Two", "Bugle Call Rag", "Blues", and "Rosetta".

Early all-jazz work from Nat King Cole – beautiful piano work, in groups with Jack McVea or Lester Young on tenor, JJ Johnson on trombone, and Johnny Miller on bass and Lee Young on drums.

One of the first, and most famous, of Norman Granz's landmark JATP sessions – featuring an extended reading of "How High The Moon" that was a bit of jazz history itself! The session was recorded at Syria Mosque Auditorium in Pittsburgh – and featured players that include Buck Clayton, Flip Phillips, Trummy Young, Coleman Hawikins, Kenny Kersey, and Willie Smith. Titles include the extended version of "How High The Moon", and "Bellboy Blues" – as well as 2 titles from another JATP session, "Lady Be Good" and "After You've Gone" – featuring Howard McGhee, Charlie Parker, and Willie Smith.

A great little live set – ostensibly a Dizzy Gillespie performance, but with some very strong guest stars! The core of the group is Diz's great one from the early 60s – with Lalo Schifrin on piano and Leo Wright on alto and flute, and they're joined by Stan Getz, JJ Johnson, and Candido for this tasty set of three long tracks: "Kush", "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Bop 'N' Boogie".

This is the 14th in a the original 10" series of recordings at the Philharmonic. The line up on this set is pretty blistering, and includes Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young on tenor sax, William Smith on alto, Buck Clayton on trumpet, Buddy Rich on drums, Irving Ashby on guitar, Billy Hadnott on bass and Kenny Kersey on piano, all blowing nice and hard. As with others, there are just two lengthy jamming tracks: "I Surrender Dear" and "I Got Rhythm".

With Ella Fitzgerald, Harry Edison, Oscar Peterson, Zoot Sims, Al Grey, JJ Johnson, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Louis Bellson, and Joe Pass.

A Pablo Records release, but one that features material originally done during the classic Verve Records years of Norman Granz – a previously unreleased live performance by the Jazz At The Philharmonic crew! This time around, the combo's a small one – a really all-star lineup with Lester Young and Flip Phillips on tenor, Roy Eldridge on trumpet, Hank Jones on piano, Ray Brown on bass, and Max Roach on drums – all given lots of room to really open up, on the kind of long tracks that allow for plenty of solo voicing – exactly what we've come to expect from the JATP at their best! Titles include "Dre's Blues", "How High The Moon", "Undecided", and a long "Ballad Medley".

A live set with all the big players listed above – plus Willie Smith on alto, Howard McGhee on trumpet, and Arnold Ross on piano – on long jamming versions of "Sweet Georgia Brown", "Crazy Rhythm", "Blues For Norman", and "I Can't Get Started". We're not sure, but this may be the same material on Jazz At The Philharmonic Vol 2.

Includes material from two early Jazz At The Philharmonic 10" LPs – Volumes 9 and 10 – with cuts that include "Nuages", "Avalon", "Come To The Mardi Gras", "Pompton Turnpike", and "Swingin On A Star".

Heavy drums from this mighty pair – presented together on two classic albums! Burnin Beat is a drum-heavy spectacular that returns Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich to their big band roots – thanks to some hard-swinging arrangements from George Williams! The tracks are a bit shorter and done with a larger group than on some of the other Rich or Krupa sides for Verve – but there actually seems to be even more drum pyrotechnics here, possibly because the players' efforts are compressed into such a tight space! Production is a bit odd – with the drums so high in the mix that they sometimes come across with more treble than bass – but that really highlights some of the most inventive moments on the top of the kit as well. Titles include "Duet", "Perdido", "Evolution", "Night Train", and "Hawaiian War Chant". Original Drum Battle is a pretty darn great album – with a wonderful mix of JATP swing and strong-handed drumming by the leaders. The material was recorded at a Jazz At The Philharmonic show at Carnegie Hall in 1952, and although the main focus appears to be Krupa and Rich's drum work, there's actually some fantastic sax playing on the album – from both the alto of Willie Smith and the tenor of Flip Phillips, both of whom are at the height of their powers in this relaxed setting, working amazingly well around the bombastic drum pounding of Krupa and Rich. Tracks are long, and titles include "Idaho", "Flying Home", "Drum Boogie", "Drum Battle", and "Perdido".

An incredible document of a key genre in 50s jazz on record – the jam session tradition, recorded beautifully for Verve records by the legendary Norman Granz! The idea of a jam session was nothing new at the time, of course, but it was mostly a live phenomenon – known to players from concerts and club dates, or presented on vinyl by Granz, in his celebrated Jazz At The Philharmonic sessions. These dates mark a move into the studio by Granz – one that captures the same sort of energy and unique pairings of musicians that went down in the live sessions, with the added benefit of studio technology to make the work sound even clearer, and more intimate. The 5CD set brings together all 9 Jam Session albums – packaged beautifully in a slipcase with original album cover art, and a full 72 page booklet on the musicians, sessions, and titles included. Players include nearly everyone who might have worked for Verve in the 50s – Benny Carter, Charlie Parker, Johnny Hodges, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Buddy DeFranco, and countless others – and titles include "Jam Blues", "Funky Blues", "Apple Jam", "Blues For The Count", "Jamming For Clef", "Rose Room", "Blue Lou", and "Lullaby In Rhythm" – all in very long versions!

Wonderful work from Portuguese singer Maria Joao – a vocalist who's worked mostly in Europe, but who's also made some great contributions to the world of Brazilian music over the years! The backings here are more adventurous than some of Joao's straighter jazz sessions – with large orchestrations by Mario Laginha, performed by the NDR Radio Philharmonic – often with a mix of modern tones alongside the warmer elements we always expect from Maria's music. The blend is sublime – and Joao's voice is even more pretty and fragile than we remember it – and it floats over the top of these arrangements in a beautiful way. Titles include a nice remake of "Asa Branca", plus Edu Lobo's "Beatriz", and the originals "Filhotes", "Viarias Dancas", "Chao", and "Uma Casa Com Gente".