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Not Kai's usual jazz work, but one of his excellent Verve easy jazz albums from the 60s. The format is simple, but sublime – as Kai's smooth trombone glosses over the top of arrangements of mid 60s pop, easy, and bossa tunes. Kai penned the charts himself, and players include Jerry Dodgion, Romeo Penque, Hubert Laws, Grady Tate, Jerome Richardson, Ron Carter, Joe Beck, and Bill Watrous. Kind of like the early days of CTI, before the A&M years! Titles include "Time", "Man & A Woman", "Amor Em Paz", "Lugar Bonito", "Time For Love", "Mini Skirt", and "Amy's Theme".

One of the best sessions cut by Kai and JJ during the 50's, and a good live session with a lot looser feel than some of their studio sessions – which tend to be a bit restrained. The rhythm section features Dick Katz, Al Harewood, and Peck Morrison – but the main solos are held by Kai and JJ. 6 tracks "Funnybone", "Cornerstone", "Lullaby Of Birdland", "Vista", "Birdland Festival" and "Bone Of Contention".

A cool quintet session from the great trombonists JJ Johnson and Kai Winding – one that really lets their twin horns soar free together – with only a bit of light backing to spur them on! The group's got a great rhythm section – with Dick Katz on piano, Al Harewood on drums, and either Milt Hinton or Wendell Marshall on bass – and the format is simple, but wonderful – as Kai and JJ step out tightly on the leads, then trade solo lines with effortless easy – almost in the way a jazz vocal harmony group might at the time! The pair recorded often together, but this set's still one of their greatest – and titles include "Stolen Bass", "Out Of This World", "Gong Rock", "Lope City", and "That's How I Feel About You". CD features a whopping 7 alternate takes of tracks on the album, too!

Rare 50s recordings, brought together in a nice 70s package with detailed notes!

Some of the coolest work Kai Winding ever recorded – two very odd albums, back to back on a single CD! Soul Surfin is hardly the trombone jazz outing you might have guessed from Kai's famous work with JJ Johnson – and instead, an electrified set that's got plenty of cool 60s touches! Winding does play trombone, but the group also features lots of guitar from Kenny Burrell, electric piano from Paul Griffin, and ondioline from Jean Jacques Perry – who really gives the whole thing a cool sort of watery sound – making the guitar and trombone sound wonderful together! Burrell's at his boldest too – almost surf-ish in parts – and titles include the album's hit version of "More", plus "Gravy Waltz", "China Nights", "Pipeline", "Sukiyaki", "Tube Wall", "Sinner", and "Hearse Ride". Mondo Cane 2 is a sweet return of the cool sounds that Kai Winding cut on his Soul Surfin album – not really jazz, but a wicked hybrid of groovy 60s modes – set to larger orchestrations this time around, but still featuring some great ondioline from Jean Jacques Perry! Perry's instrument is really unique – gliding out here in ways that make the instrumental tunes cross over to worlds that Winding might never have touched before – augmented by great arrangements from Claus Ogerman, Charlie Calello, Billy Byers, and Winding himself! The set features guitar from Les Spann – and titles that include "Python", "Mondo Cane #2", "The Gospel Truth", "Warm", "Theme From The Medic", "The Struggle", and "Portrait Of My Love".

A very different album than usual for trombonist Kai Winding – one that has him blowing along with some great backing vocals! The set's got an incredibly groovy feel – hardly what you'd expect, given Winding's bop roots – but a real gem overall in the best sweet 60s Verve mode! There's still plenty of Winding trombone in the lead – but the larger arrangements are what get our ear, amazingly directed by Kai with a sweetly snapping sort of feel, and often featuring vocals by the mixed male/female group The Prevailing Winds! There's a great sound here that's somewhere in between 60s soundtrack modes and Sunshine Pop – and titles include "April Showers", "Half A Crown", "I Will Wait For You", "Here's That Rainy Day", "Watermelon Man", and "Dinner For One Please James".

Sanctified, indeed – and just the kind of record to show why Slide Hampton was unlike any of his trombone-playing contemporaries! The set's got a tightness and punch that's really unique – not the compact quality of JJ Johnson and Kai Winding, but also not the hardbop of Curtis Fuller either – instead king of a rousing approach to jazz trombone that really makes Hampton the kind of the soul jazz approach to the instrument! Slide's working here with a cool octet that has the focus of a group half their size – a really well-chosen lineup of young, hip players that includes George Coleman on tenor sax, Hobart Dotson and Richard Williams on trumpets, Larry Ridley on bass, and additional trombone from a y oung Charles Greenlee! Titles include "El Sino", "Ow", "Milestones", and the stormin' title cut "Somethin Sanctified".

Gene Krupa and Gerry Mulligan – hardly a pairing that we would have thought of – but one that works surprisingly well here, and which showcases Mulligan's increasing fascination for larger group settings! The album features Gene on drums with a set of players that include Kai Winding, Urbie Green, Phil Woods, Hank Jones, and Barry Galbraith – but the real star of the set is Gerry, who's not playing here, but conducting the larger group of jazz players through charts that are all his own, and which display the same love of fluid ensemble horn parts that he used in his own smaller combo work. There's a lot more brass in the mix than you'd usually get from Gerry – which gives the album a bit more of a Krupa kick – and Gene also gets some nice space to show himself on drums. Titles include "Yardbird Suite", "Margie", "Bird House", "The Way Of All Flesh", "Disk Jockey Jump", "Birds Of A Feather", and "Mulligan Stew".

A surprisingly nice jazz album from Frankie Laine – one that makes great use of his famous vocals, alongside trumpet from Buck Clayton, trombones from JJ Johnson and Kai Winding, and tenor from Budd Johnson!

Beautifully icy vocals from the amazing Chris Connor – the kind of record that set a new standard for vocal jazz back in the 50s! The session's a small group one – with Chris singing intimately alongside backing from Herbie Mann on flute and tenor, Kai Winding and JJ Johnson on trombones, Joe Puma on guitar, and Ralph Sharon on piano – all lightly arranged to allow Connor's vocals prime placement in the record, while shading in the spaces with some nicely modern colors. Titles are mostly familiar, but wonderfully transformed into Connor's own personal statements – and tracks include "Ridin High", "It's All Right With Me", "Someone To Watch Over Me", "All Dressed Up With A Broken Heart", "All This & Heaven Too", "Trouble Is a Man", "Blame It On My Youth", and "The Thrill Is Gone".

A huge batch of work from the great JJ Johnson – material that includes 14 tracks recorded for Savoy as singles in the late 40s – plus the full Jay & Kai 10" album from 1954! The singles were all recorded in 1946, 1947, and 1949 – and they already mark Johnson as one of the most inventive trombonists of his generation – a player working with none of the hoke of earlier eras, and with a clean, modern sound that's almost like that of a bop trumpet at times. Players on these dates include Cecil Payne or Leo Parker on baritone sax, Bud Powell or Hank Jones on piano, Sonny Rollins on tenor, and Max Roach on drums – and titles include "Coppin The Bop", "Jay Jay", "Mad Bebop", "Jay Bird", "Boneology", "Down Vernon's Alley", "Riffette", "Yesterdays", "Audobon", "Don't Blame Me", and "Goof Square". The remaining 8 tracks on the CD are from a 1954 10" album – titled Jay & Kai, with a lineup that's a bit different than the full Savoy album of that name. The core group here is quite unusual – as it features Johnson and Kai Winding as twin-trombone co-leaders, plus Charles Mingus on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums – with either Billy Bauer on guitar on 4 tracks, and Wally Cirillo on piano on 4 others. The use of guitar without piano is especially inventive, and really highlights the modern inflections of the two trombonists – and titles include "Blues For Trombones", "Lament", "The Major", "Reflections", "Coop", and "Blues In Twos".

Genius, pure genius! If you've ever wondered why folks think Stan is so great, check out this landmark set of postwar modern swing tunes – some of the most groundbreaking work of its generation, and proof that there was still a lot of room to grow within the big band format. June Christy provides some icy vocals on a few numbers, and other strong players on the set include Vido Musso, Boots Mussulli, Kai Winding, Eddie Safranski, and Shelly Manne. Arrangements are by Pete Rugolo, Gene Roland, and Stan – and titles include "Artistry In Bass", "Artistry In Percussion", "Fantasy", "Come Back To Sorrento", "Soothe Me", "Opus In Pastels", and "Artistry In Bolero".

A mighty tribute to one of the greatest soundtrack composers of the 50s and 60s – served up in a host of jazz and vocal gems from the equally mighty Universal catalog! Most of the numbers here are from the 60s, and showcase Mancini at his jazziest – the period from Peter Gunn onward, when it seemed like every tune Hank touched turned to gold – and became a great jumping-off point for expression in a wide variety of musical styles. The 18 track package features some gems we've never seen reissued before, plus more familiar tunes that sound even better in this ultra-hip setting – and together, the tracks are a tremendous testament to the genius of Mancini at a time when he was working at his fullest potential. Titles include "Sally's Tomato" by Cal Tjader, "Wait Until Dark" by Walter Wanderley & Margie Dotson, "Peter Gunn" by Art Healie & The Electric Saxophone, "Days Of Wine & Roses" by Dizzy Gillespie, "A Shot In The Dark" by Shirley Scott, "Nothing To Lose" by Claudine Longet, "Moon River" by Billy Eckstine, "Shadows Of Paris" by Elsie Bianchi, "Baby Elephant Walk" by Bert Kaempfert, "Experiment In Terror" by Kai Winding, "Charade" by Johnny Hartman, "Slow Hot Wind" by Sarah Vaughan, "Bird Brain" by Quincy Jones, and "Two For The Road" by Gunter Kallmann Choir.

Beautifully icy vocals from the amazing Chris Connor – the kind of record that set a new standard for vocal jazz back in the 50s! The session's a small group one – with Chris singing intimately alongside backing from Herbie Mann on flute and tenor, Kai Winding and JJ Johnson on trombones, Joe Puma on guitar, and Ralph Sharon on piano – all lightly arranged to allow Connor's vocals prime placement in the record, while shading in the spaces with some nicely modern colors. Titles are mostly familiar, but wonderfully transformed into Connor's own personal statements – and tracks include "Ridin High", "It's All Right With Me", "Someone To Watch Over Me", "All Dressed Up With A Broken Heart", "All This & Heaven Too", "Trouble Is a Man", "Blame It On My Youth", and "The Thrill Is Gone".

An excellent little collection – one that shows that the Chicago-based United Records label cut vocal work to match the best New York indies in the 50s! The tunes here are mostly jazz, but have some of the harder edges that you'd guess from United's R&B work too – and the singers are all wonderfully top-shelf – a fair bit of names you might not know at all, which makes the package a real revelation to our ears – mixed with rare recordings by a few others, including the first sides ever from Della Reese! Backings are great – tight and jazzy, often with a strong element of bop – and titles include "Never To Cry Again" and "Fallen" by Bixie Crawford, "Until I Fell For You" by Vanita Smythe, "I Can't Forget" and "Somebody Will Understand" by Terry Timmons, "How Deep Is The Ocean" and "A Fool Was I" by Helen Fox with Jimmy Coe, "Mays' Haze" and "Old Mill Stream" by Betty Mays with JJ Johnson & Kai Winding, "Please Wait For Me" by Debbie Andrews, and "Yes Indeed" and "Blue & Orange Birds & Silver Bells" by Della Reese with Jimmy Hamilton.

A totally great package that looks at the important first releases on Impulse Records – done in a beautiful Hip-O Select style that's as graphically compelling and rich in detail as the original gatefold LPs on Impulse! The package is a 10" hardcover book, with 4CDs inside – and an 84 page, full-color booklet with notes on the label, essays from Creed Taylor, session photos, and more great details – incredibly lavish, and put together to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Impulse! The CDs contain the first 6 important records on the label – JJ Johnson & Kai Winding/The Great Kai & JJ, Kai Winding/The Incredible Kai Winding Trombones, Ray Charles/Genius + Soul + Jazz, Gil Evans/Out Of The Cool, Oliver Nelson/Blues & The Abstract Truth, and John Coltrane/Africa Brass. Plus, the set also features a wealth of rare material too – previously unreleased tracks by the Africa Brass Rehearsal Band with Cal Massey – "Laura (rehearsal)", "Nakatine Serenade (slow version)", and "The Damned Don't Cry (rehearsal version)" – plus other Coltrane rarities that include "Africa (alt)", "Africa (first version)", "The Damned Don't Cry", "Greensleeves (alt)", and "Song Of The Underground Railroad". The set also features a mono single version of "One Mint Julep" by Ray Charles, and "Sister Sadie" by Gil Evans.