Count Basie plays the piano and Joe Williams sings in his bluesy way and they are backed by a slew of musicians who include Thad Jones on trumpet, Ben Powell on trombone, Frank Foster on tenor saxophone, Sonny Payne on drums and many, many others. Frank Foster did all of the arrangements and the tracks include Williams' "My Baby Upsets Me", "Ev'ry Day", and "Please Send Me Someone To Love". CD

One of Joe Williams' standout classics from the 50s – just the sort of record that put him on top of his game at the time! The album's one of Joe's classic outings with Count Basie – one recorded for Roulette with a slightly looser, slightly rawer feel than their work together on Verve. Joe's rendition of "Everyday I Have The Blues" is a near-definitive one – tight, syncopated, and grooving in a style that stretches back to its roots, but which also steps out with a fresh sort of groove that points the way towards changes in soulful vocal styles during the 60s. Other titles work equally well in the mode – bluesy, but never hokey, all freshened up by the Basie approach of the time – and titles include "Baby Won't You Please Come Home", "Going To Chicago", "Joe Sings The Blues", and "What Did You Win". LP, Vinyl record album

Ella Fitzgerald joins the unbeatable late 50s team of Count Basie and Joe Williams – singing a bit of duets with Joe, and also letting him take the lead on his own! Players include Joe Newman and Thad Jones on trumpets, Frank Foster and Frank Wess on tenors, Freddie Greene on guitar, and Count Basie on piano! CD

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With Bob Efford on baritone sax, Monty Budwig on bass, Frank Capp on drums, Al Hendrickson on Guitar, Nat Pierce on piano, and Bob Cooper on tenor sax. LP, Vinyl record album

A record headed up by the famous Adam Clayton Powell – and which also features solo vocals by jazz singer Joe Williams, and the Stamps Baxter Quartet! LP, Vinyl record album

Blues recorded in St Louis, but with a sound that's much more rural overall – maybe no surprise, given the countless travel by Big Joe Williams on the highways of the south! The setting is lean enough to be recorded out in the field – Big Joe on these wonderfully expressive vocals and his unique nine string guitar – with support from Ransom Knowling on bass, but at a level that really just helps the tunes get this subtle groove – really letting be the shining star up front! In keeping with the title of the record, many of the tunes have themes of travel in the south – titles that include "Overhaul Your Machine", "45 Blues", "Arkansas Woman", "Four Corners Of The World", "Down In The Bottom", and "Blues Left Texas". CD

Mostly Joe on vocals and guitar – with some additional bass from Ransom Knowling on a few tracks. LP, Vinyl record album

The first-ever full length album from Big Joe Williams, despite a much longer legacy as a blues singer in the south – captured in a few different intimate settings in St Louis by the then-fledgling Delmark Records! The approach is very lean, of the sort that made the record a key statement in the folk blues revival at the end of the 50s – with Joe playing this really unique nine string guitar from two different instruments put together, and singing with this really compelling trill in his voice that marks the singer as very distinct from so many others in his generation. JD Short adds harmonica and a bit of guitar – and titles include "Mellow Peaches", "No More Whiskey", "Tailor Made Babe", "Omaha Blues", "Juanita", "Tailor Made Babe", and the interesting "Big Joe Talking" – which has Williams speaking a bit on his life! CD

The first-ever full length album from Big Joe Williams, despite a much longer legacy as a blues singer in the south – captured in a few different intimate settings in St Louis by the then-fledgling Delmark Records! The approach is very lean, of the sort that made the record a key statement in the folk blues revival at the end of the 50s – with Joe playing this really unique nine string guitar from two different instruments put together, and singing with this really compelling trill in his voice that marks the singer as very distinct from so many others in his generation. JD Short adds harmonica and a bit of guitar – and titles include "Mellow Peaches", "No More Whiskey", "Tailor Made Babe", "Omaha Blues", "Juanita", "Tailor Made Babe", and the interesting "Big Joe Talking" – which has Williams speaking a bit on his life! LP, Vinyl record album

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A late 60s session, but one that has a nicely raw vibe – just vocals and guitar from Big Joe Williams, plus guest harmonica from Charlie Musselwhite on a few cuts! LP, Vinyl record album

Rare Chicago recordings – all from the 40s, and featuring Big Joe Williams on vocals and guitar, and Sonny Boy Williamson on harmonica! Most tracks feature bass and drums, too. LP, Vinyl record album

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Includes "A Man Ain't Supposed To Cry", "Every Day I Have The Blues", "Lush Life", "Alone Together", and "Confessin' The Blues" – 18 tracks total. CD

A collection of recordings accompanied by Dale Sherman and his orchestra in 1965, The Joe Williams Trio with Harold Mabern, Herbert Brown, and Robert Thompson in 1966, and with Ray Bloch and his orchestra from 1962 through 1964. LP, Vinyl record album

With 31 tracks including "The Comeback", "Stop, Pretty Baby", "Who She Do", "Come Rain Or Come Shine", "Too Good To Be True", and "Sometimes I'm Happy". CD

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Incredible early work from Joe Williams – harder, rawer, and spookier than any of his more famous sides from the late 50s and 1960s! The album's got a style that's almost R&B in parts – and features Joe effortlessly swinging his way through a set list that includes "It's Raining Again", "Detour Ahead", "Every Day", "Blow Mr Low", "Always On The Blue Side", and the incredible "Safe Sane & Single". The recording quality is great, too – looser and rougher than some of Joe's Verve work, with a nice toothy edge! LP, Vinyl record album

A key album from a fantastic point in the career of trumpeter Chet Baker – his later years, a time when most of the world was ignoring Baker's talents, but Chet was still in a hugely creative mode, and turning out some of his freshest sounds in decades! There's a wonderful quality to the whole record – and vibist David Friedman is a key part of the sound, as he really matches the air inclinations of Chet, as the pair are backed by Buster Williams on bass and Joe Chambers on drums and percussion – a fantastic duo who only make things sound even better. 4 of the album's 6 tracks are Friedman originals – including "For Now", "Shadows", "Syzygies", and "Lament For Thelonious". CD

A key album from a fantastic point in the career of trumpeter Chet Baker – his later years, a time when most of the world was ignoring Baker's talents, but Chet was still in a hugely creative mode, and turning out some of his freshest sounds in decades! There's a wonderful quality to the whole record – and vibist David Friedman is a key part of the sound, as he really matches the air inclinations of Chet, as the pair are backed by Buster Williams on bass and Joe Chambers on drums and percussion – a fantastic duo who only make things sound even better. 4 of the album's 6 tracks are Friedman originals – including "For Now", "Shadows", "Syzygies", and "Lament For Thelonious". CD

Very fluid later work from Count Basie – a set that has that nice open-ended Pablo Records approach, but which still comes across with that brilliant Basie groove that first emerged most strongly in the 50s! Players are a mix of young and old, and the group includes Grover Mitchell and Booty Wood on trombones, Sonny Cohn and Jim Crawford on trumpets, John Williams on baritone, Eric Dixon on tenor and flute, Kenny Hing on tenor, Chris Woods on alto and flute, Joe Pass on guitar, and Cleveland Eaton on bass. Tracks are on the long side, and titles include "88 Basie Street", "Bluesville", "The Blues Machine", "Contractor's Blues", "Katy", and "Sunday At The Savoy". CD

Very fluid later work from Count Basie – a set that has that nice open-ended Pablo Records approach, but which still comes across with that brilliant Basie groove that first emerged most strongly in the 50s! Players are a mix of young and old, and the group includes Grover Mitchell and Booty Wood on trombones, Sonny Cohn and Jim Crawford on trumpets, John Williams on baritone, Eric Dixon on tenor and flute, Kenny Hing on tenor, Chris Woods on alto and flute, Joe Pass on guitar, and Cleveland Eaton on bass. Tracks are on the long side, and titles include "88 Basie Street", "Bluesville", "The Blues Machine", "Contractor's Blues", "Katy", and "Sunday At The Savoy". CD

With Joe Williams. 78 RPM, Vinyl record

Basie was getting all over the place during the 50s – and this set's a great little concert recorded in London! The album's classic Basie for Verve – with Joe Williams on vocals on 3 tracks, and a tight group that includes Thad Jones, Joe Newman, Benny Powell, Matthew Gee, and Frank Foster. Titles include "Flute Juice", "Nails", "Blues Backstage", "Corner Pocket", "Roll Em Pete", and "Well All Right Okay You Win". CD

Basie was getting all over the place during the 50s – and this set's a great little concert recorded in London! The album's classic Basie for Verve – with Joe Williams on vocals on 3 tracks, and a tight group that includes Thad Jones, Joe Newman, Benny Powell, Matthew Gee, and Frank Foster. Titles include "Flute Juice", "Nails", "Blues Backstage", "Corner Pocket", "Roll Em Pete", and "Well All Right Okay You Win". LP, Vinyl record album

Killer work from an incredibly productive (and soulful!) period in Count Basie's career – mostly recorded between 1958 and 1962! Features material from a huge number of albums – including rare tracks from some Roulette compilations and samplers, and records with Joe Williams and Maynard Ferguson too! CD

The 50s Basie band, loud and proud – recorded beautifully by Verve on the stage of the Newport Jazz Festival in 1957 – a great year, both for the group and the fest! The lineup here features Count Basie firmly at the helm on piano – with players who include Lester Young, Illinois Jacquet, and Frank Foster on tenor – plus Thad Jones and Joe Newman on trumpets – all tightly grooving on arrangements by Ernie Wilkins, AK Salim, and others – filled with plenty of Basie jumps, leaps, and vamps! Jimmy Rushing sings vocals on the track "Sent For You Yesterday & Here You Come Today" – and other tracks include "Lester Leaps In", "Swingin At Newport", "Polka Dots & Moonbeams", and "Evenin". CD also contains 5 more bonus tracks from another Verve album – Count Basie & Joe Williams at Newport, most with Williams on vocals – including "All Right Okay You Win", "The Comeback", "Roll 'Em Pete", "Smack Dab In The Middle", and "One O' Clock Jump". CD

The 50s Basie band, loud and proud – recorded beautifully by Verve on the stage of the Newport Jazz Festival in 1957 – a great year, both for the group and the fest! The lineup here features Count Basie firmly at the helm on piano – with players who include Lester Young, Illinois Jacquet, and Frank Foster on tenor – plus Thad Jones and Joe Newman on trumpets – all tightly grooving on arrangements by Ernie Wilkins, AK Salim, and others – filled with plenty of Basie jumps, leaps, and vamps! Jimmy Rushing sings vocals on the track "Sent For You Yesterday & Here You Come Today" – and other tracks include "Lester Leaps In", "Swingin At Newport", "Polka Dots & Moonbeams", and "Evenin". CD also contains 5 more bonus tracks from another Verve album – Count Basie & Joe Williams at Newport, most with Williams on vocals – including "All Right Okay You Win", "The Comeback", "Roll 'Em Pete", "Smack Dab In The Middle", and "One O' Clock In The Morning". CD

One of the high points in Basie's long career – backed by a great band that features Frank Wess, Thad Jones, Billy Mitchell, Frank Foster, Freddie Green, and vocals from Joe Williams. CD

A great collection of live material recorded during one of the high points in Basie's long career – his collaboration with arranger Neal Hefti! The band is great and features Frank Wess, Thad Jones, Billy Mitchell, Frank Foster, Freddie Green, and vocals from Joe Williams – and if that wasn't enough it also features a guest appearance by Sammy Davis Jr! CD

Plenty marvelous work from Count Basie and a whole host of longtime associates – all pulled from 50s records for the Vanguard label, most of which weren't done under Basie's leadership, but were headed by drummer Jo Jones, trumpeter Buck Clayton, and singer Joe Williams! Other players include Freddie Green on guitar, Lucky Thompson on tenor, Earl Warren on alto sax, Emmett Berry on trumpet, and Marlowe Morris on organ – and oddly, Basie doesn't even appear to be on all the tracks. That's ok with us, though – because often, small group sessions by Basie sidemen could be even more interesting than their bigger band work – as you'll hear on titles that include "Caravan", "Splittin", "Squeeze Me", "Buck Huckles", "Georgia Mae", "Lover Man", and "Shoe Shine Boy". CD

George Benson on guitar with Ben Williams on bass, Harvey Mason on drums, David Garfield on keyboards and David Garfield and Joe Sample on piano. CD

An excellent hard bop side from the late 80s, an era when the new "young lions" were getting a lot of press, and some nice recordings were being made with any eye on the future while their feet were firmly planted in tradition. This set features two players of Cindy's generation in the front line: Wallace Roney and Kenny Garrett, with some older masters filling out the rest of the group: Joe Henderson, Buster Williams and Larry Willis. The recordings are filled with energy and imaginative playing as they run through originals like "Arcane", "Late Autumn", "Dual Force" and "Mirrored Glances". CD

One of the greatest releases ever from the Okka Disk label – a legendary set that stands as a great testament to the global improvising scene that exploded in Chicago during the 90s! Back in the early years of FMP, nobody would have thought to use the name "Peter Brotzmann" and "Chicago" in the same context – but by the time of these recordings, the legendary reedman had been spending quite a bit of time in the Windy City – working strongly alongside that decade's fresh generation of improvisers, at a level that also helped Brotzmann discover new energy in his music too! The lineup here is great – both octet and tentet groups that operate in an improvising orchestra tradition – with players that include Ken Vandermark on tenor and bass clarinet, Mars Williams on tenor and alto, Jeb Bishop on trombone, Mats Gustafsson on baritone and fluteophone, Joe McPhee on pocket cornet and valve trombone, Fred Lonberg Holm on cello, Kent Kessler on bass, Michael Zerang and Hamid Drake on drums and percussion, and Brotzmann himself on tenor, clarinet, and tarogato. The set features three different live recordings, and one long studio set recorded over two days – a fantastic collection of music. Titles include "Burning Spirit (For Kazuka Shiraishi)", "Other Brothers", "Old Bottles No Wine, "Aziz", "Foolish Infinity", "Immediate Music", "Makapoor", "Foolish Infinity", "Other Brothers" and "Divide By Zero". CD

An amazing document of a unique musical moment – an entire jazz festival, virtually dedicated to Peter Brotzmann himself! The legendary Brotzmann not only curated the festival – filling it with some of his key collaborators and musical contemporaries – but he also plays on a fair bit of the titles here, too – in different groupings that reflect not only his long history in the European avant scene, but also his ties to Chicago, and his work with Japanese improvisers too! The package is wonderful – the next best thing to being at this exclusive event in person – and the set features 5CDs worth of music from the festival, with performances by Sonore (with Brotzmann, Ken Vandermark, & Mats Gustafsson), Chicago Tentet with John Tchicai, solo work by Jeiji Haino, the Hairy Bones quartet with Brotzmann and Toshinori Kondo, the Full Blast Trio, the DKV Trio, Caspar Brotzmann Massaker, and various other groupings with players who include Jeb Bishop, Joe McPhee, Mars Williams, Jason Adasiewicz, Nasheet Waits, Masahiko Satoh, Bill Laswell, and many others. CD

A fantastic testament to the genius of the transatlantic meeting that is the Peter Brotzmann Chicago Tentet – a group that manages to bridge the sometimes-unwieldy modes of the improvising orchestra, and the energy of a smaller free jazz combo! All the players seem tied together perfectly – both at an emotional level, and a musical one – so that the combination of energy is way more than the sum of its mighty parts – a real accomplishment, given that the "parts" include Ken Vandermark, Peter Brotzmann, Marts Gustafsson, and Mars Williams on reeds – plus Joe McPhee on trumpet, Jeb Bishop on trombone, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello, Kent Kessler on bass, and both Michael Zerang and Hamid Drake on drums. The set begins with a searing 37 minute piece dedicated to Robert Rauschenberg – Vandermark's "All Things Being Equal", which almost has a Mingus-like combination of structure and solo. "Images" follows, and is a more freewheeling piece – but completely wonderful too! CD

A masterful statement from the Peter Brotzmann Tentet – a large group, but one that's capable of a rich array of sounds and sentiments – maybe given best exposure here in this key recording from the prime years of the ensemble! Ten players can be a huge number, especially when improvising so much – but these guys all have ears that are beautifully tuned to each other, and which really seems to not only bring out the best in each member, but also push the whole group together with a style that none of them could have hit on their own. Reeds are handled by the heavyweight quartet of Brotzmann, Ken Vandermark, Mats Gustafsson, and Mars Williams – and other group members include Joe McPhee on trumpet, Jeb Bishop on trombone, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello, Kent Kessler on bass, and both Michael Zerang and Hamid Drake on drums. Titles include "Bird Notes", "Six Gun Territory", and "Signs" – the last of which is live. CD

Unreleased work from the glory days of the Peter Brotzmann Chicago Tentet – a legendary free jazz ensemble that's playing here at the height of their powers! The group have a vibe here that's wonderful – both as playful and as sinister as the title might imply – stretched out to a performance that's almost 20 minutes in length, and which almost has a sort of cinematic sense of dynamism at times – although still with all the unscripted energy that made the group so great. Brotzmann is in the lead on tenor, with Mars Williams on tenor and soprano, Ken Vandermark on baritone, Mats Gustafsson on alto, Joe McPhee on valve trombone, Jeb Bishop on trombone, Fred Lonberg Holm on cello, Kent Kessler on bass, and Michael Zerang and Hamid Drake on drums. The first-ever issue of this music comes in a limited one-sided record – with music on side a, and a silkscreen of Peter Brotzmann artwork on side B! LP, Vinyl record album