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A triple-header of hardbop albums – a great package that features 3 Savoy Records classics from 1955, with bonus tracks and great notes too! First up is Bohemia After Dark – an excellent hardbop session from the glory days of the Savoy label – easily one of the label's key 50s... read more

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One of the first albums from guitarist Kenny Burrell as a leader – a date that has him working with players from his hometown scene in Detroit – in case you couldn't guess from the title! Kenny's style here is a bit different than on the Blue Note dates of the time – almost a bit... read more

Obscure work from Kenny Burrell – material originally issued by Muse Records, most of it with a very laidback feel – as you'd guess from the title! The original sides were produced by Helen Keane, who'd done some of Bill Evans' greatest sets – and who had a real ear for the... read more

A gracious and soulful gospel jazz effort from Don Byron – a set inspired by Thomas Dorsey and Sister Rosetta Tharpe – and he serves both proudly! The set includes a number of Dorsey compositions, plus some nice takes on traditional "Didn't It Rain", Eddie Harris's "Sham... read more

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One of the first albums from guitarist Kenny Burrell as a leader – a date that has him working with players from his hometown scene in Detroit – in case you couldn't guess from the title! Kenny's style here is a bit different than on the Blue Note dates of the time – almost a bit... read more

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Some of the earliest recorded work from trumpeter Kenny Dorham – presented here in an overstuffed set that brings together most of his appearances on the Savoy label! The core standout tunes here are 10 numbers recorded in 1946 by The Bebop Boys – a combo that featured Dorham, Sonny... read more

Some tracks feature trumpeter Sonny Dunham leading a group with Dick Wilson on tenor, Floyd Smith on guitar, Buddy Miller on alto, and Mary Lou Williams on piano – others feature pianist Joe Sullivan with Coleman Hawkins on tenor and Billy Carton on trumpet.... read more

Amazing work from the early, legendary years of Billy Eckstine – that time when he was fronting one of the hippest backing groups a vocalist could hope to have! Eckstine's voice was already becoming the stuff of legend by the time of these recordings – but thanks to contributions from... read more

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A seminal session from Curtis Fuller – one of a handful he cut for Savoy, recorded during that late 50s/early 60s period when he seemed poised to become one of the biggest trombonists in jazz! (Whatever happened? How did he cut so many records as a leader so fast, then slide back into being... read more

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Magical early work from Erroll Garner – a 10" LP featuring sides done for Savoy Records, all in that wonderfully evocative, wonderfully fluid Garner style! There's a bit less rhythmic force here than on some of Erroll's more famous work in the 50s, and most tunes have a very gentle,... read more

Excellent early material from Stan Getz – some of his first recordings ever, done when both his tenor sound and bop were in their infancy! There's a roughness here that's quite different than the Verve style of the 50s – but that's a nice change, too – and it's compelling to hear... read more

40's LP collection of some of the earlier sides that Dizzy cut for Savoy, with be bop classics like "Our Delight", "One Bass Hit", "Oop Bop Sh'Bam", "Salt Peanuts", and "Dizzy Atmosphere". The groups include players like Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt... read more

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Way more than just a Dexter Gordon album – and instead, an important historic document of the bop scene on the west coast! The 3CD set features the complete recordings from an Elks Auditorium concert in 1947 – lots of long jam session tracks that not only feature history "battles&q... read more

The near complete studio recordings done by Dexter Gordon as a leader for Savoy in the mid 40s – key 78rpm recordings that helped redefine the sound of the tenor in jazz! The material here is all strongly boppish – and presented with alternate takes on a number of the sessions, making... read more

A rarity from the bop era – hard-blowing tracks that run for a duration that's way longer than the standard three minutes of most 78rpm singles. Here, Gordon and Gray blow head to head in some of their famous "battle" sessions – working with players like Sonny Criss, Howard... read more

A pretty brave batch of covers from Macy Gray – one that covers an entire album from beginning-to-end – and not just any album, either: Steve Wonder's immortal Talking Book! It actually works really well. No one, up to and including Macy Gray herself, would try to tell you that... read more

The first entry into Savoy's amazing Hollywood Jazz Session series – and a live recording that spans both sides of the record with just one track! Wardelly Gray and Dexter Gordon go head to head in a lineup that also includes Howard McGhee on trumpet, Trummy Young on trombone, Barney Kessel... read more

A pretty obscure album by Grant Green – originally recorded in 1968, issued briefly on a small label, and then finally pressed for the larger masses during the early 70s by the Cobblestone label. Despite this checkered history, though, the album's one of Green's best small group recordings... read more

A sweet little 50s session from Hawk – recorded for the World Wide subsidary of Savoy, in a great style that has plenty of room for solo space! Tracks are long, and arranged by Billy Ver Plank – with a moody small combo mode that lets Hawkins get in plenty of those edgey bits in his... read more

Great material from the 78rpm years of Savoy Records – early singles by Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Illinois Jacquet, Ike Quebec, and John Hardee – sides that nicely skirt the worlds of bop and swing!... read more

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One of the best-known 50s jazz sessions from the Savoy label – a laidback classic that's a great illustration of the label's shift in modes after the early bop years! The setting here is relatively informal – with Milt Jackson as the ersatz leader, working almost in blowing session... read more

Nice set that brings together the best moments from Eddie Jefferson's Muse years! Eddie's one of our favorite jazz vocalists of all time – and even though he got his start in the bebop years, these 70's recordings are still fantastic stuff. In fact, they may even show him in his best light... read more

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... read more

Duke Jordan never made many albums as a leader back in the 50s – but all of them are great, including this classic set on Savoy! As you'd guess from the title, the record features Jordan in two different settings – trio and quintet – the former of which features Percy Heath on... read more

An excellent album from brother Yusef, and one that's got the haunting mix of hardbop and exotic instrumentation that made these early records so great. Yusef plays argol and flute, in addition to straight tenor, and he's backed by a Detroit group that includes Bernard McKinney on euphonium ,... read more

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In our opinion, Jack McDuff never made a bad album – and this excellent later session is proof of that statement! The album's got a horrible cover – we'll state that from the start – but it's still a great batch of soul jazz organ tracks, played tightly by McDuff, with a group... read more

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Some of the earliest material ever recorded by the Modern Jazz Quartet – early 50s sides that were originally issued as 78rpm singles, then brought together in this self-titled LP! Some of the material was first released under the name of the Milt Jackson Quartet – but featured the... read more

The pair of great pianists don't play together – but are featured on a side apiece of the record, pulled from their Savoy recordings of the 50s. The album's most notable for the work of Nichols – some of the few sides he ever cut, and along with his two Blue Note LPs, and one for... read more

One of Lee Morgan's first-ever recordings as a leader, cut way back when he was just a hip teenager from Philly with a bucketful of promise on the trumpet! The session's a crack hard bop date – with an all-star cast that includes Hank Mobley on tenor, Hank Jones on piano, Doug Watkins on... read more

Norvo may have cut some sleepy recordings in his day, but his early sides are usually all pretty great – especially this material, recorded with Tal Farlow on guitar and Charles Mingus on bass! The drum-less combination of vibes, guitar, and bass makes for an almost-exotic approach –... read more

One of the better of the many posthumous albums that Savoy issued after Bird's death. The set combines master takes and alternates of classic Parker material for the label, and includes pivotal bop tracks like "Parker's Mood", "Constellation", "Ah-Leu-Cha", "Perha... read more

An 80s issue looking back on alternate takes of seminal bop material cut by Bird for Savoy. The recordings here are all of alternate versions of those originally released by Savoy on 10"s and 78s, and feature Parker alongside Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Bud Powell and others. 16... read more

Some of the best Art Pepper work you'll ever find! This 2LP set is filled with tracks that were originally cut for Savoy Records during the time of Art's Surf Ride album for that label, but which were lost on the cutting room floor for years. Pepper's tone is fantastic – with more of an... read more

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One of a few excellent sides that Boyd Raeburn cut for the Savoy label – all of them perfect pieces of modernist swing, with a groove that should have made him a bigger player! This one's got Raeburn working with a number of different groups – and a few tracks have vocals, but most are... read more

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Some of the best material ever recorded by singer Jimmy Scott – presented as a lovely 3 disc package with copious notes, and a lot of bonus material too! The bulk of the sides were cut during the earliest years of Jimmy's career – from 1952 to 1960, all with great small group, jazz-base... read more

A late date for Woody Shaw, but a great one too – a bit more straightforward than some of his more righteous albums of the 70s, but still proof that Shaw is easily one of the greatest trumpeters of his generation! The album's got a laidback sort of feel, and features a fair bit of familiar... read more

A late date for Woody Shaw, but a great one too – a bit more straightforward than some of his more righteous albums of the 70s, but still proof that Shaw is easily one of the greatest trumpeters of his generation! The album's got a laidback sort of feel, and features a fair bit of familiar... read more

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A smoking little bop set from Sonny Stitt – recorded live at the Keystone in 1981, as sort of a "summit meeting" of horns – one that features Richie Cole and John Handy in the frontline with Sonny! The rhythm section alone is enough to cook this one up nicely – with... read more

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A rare quintet session from George Wallington – and a smoking little record we'd rate right up there with his other non-trio sides of the 50s! The set's done in that hard-edge Savoy mode of the time – relaxed and open, with lots of dark elements in the rhythms – and beautifully... read more

One of those classic 50s sessions in which a bunch of Count Basie players split off from the bigger group and do some great small combo work on their own! The album is leader-less in its billing – but only because all the players are so well tuned to each other, and have such a simpatico... read more

A 60s album that brings together sides recorded by Young in earlier years for Savoy – put together as a "memorial" album after his death. Players include Count Basie on piano, Harry Edison and Joe Newman on trumpets, Buddy Tate on tenor, and Freddie Green on guitar. Includes... read more

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