Trumpeter Louis Smith made only two records for Blue Note, but both of them are great! This set's arguably his most famous – because of a rare uncredited appearance by Cannonball Adderley, working here under the "nom de date" of "Buckshot La Funke" – and blowing with a power that beats most of his other Mercury sessions of the late 50s! But the real credit here should go to Louis Smith – who's got a sense of power and command that should have made him one of THE trumpeters of the 50s – an emerging young talent to stand alongside Lee Morgan, Nat Adderley, and other post-Fats Navarro/Clifford Brown talents on the instrument. Smith sparkles throughout with a mix of soul and modernism we really love – and an earthy way of blowing the horn that doesn't always reach its goals, but which draws even more energy from its ability to try! The rhythm section on the album's also very tight – with Art Taylor on drums, Doug Watkins on bass, and either Tommy Flanagan or Duke Jordan on piano – and tracks include "Ande", "Brill's Blues", "South Side", and "Val's Blues". CD

Trumpeter Louis Smith made only two records for Blue Note, but both of them are great! This set's arguably his most famous – because of a rare uncredited appearance by Cannonball Adderley, working here under the "nom de date" of "Buckshot La Funke" – and blowing with a power that beats most of his other Mercury sessions of the late 50s! But the real credit here should go to Louis Smith – who's got a sense of power and command that should have made him one of THE trumpeters of the 50s – an emerging young talent to stand alongside Lee Morgan, Nat Adderley, and other post-Fats Navarro/Clifford Brown talents on the instrument. Smith sparkles throughout with a mix of soul and modernism we really love – and an earthy way of blowing the horn that doesn't always reach its goals, but which draws even more energy from its ability to try! The rhythm section on the album's also very tight – with Art Taylor on drums, Doug Watkins on bass, and either Tommy Flanagan or Duke Jordan on piano – and tracks include "Ande", "Brill's Blues", "South Side", and "Val's Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

Trumpeter Louis Smith made only two records for Blue Note, but both of them are great! This set's arguably his most famous – because of a rare uncredited appearance by Cannonball Adderley, working here under the "nom de date" of "Buckshot La Funke" – and blowing with a power that beats most of his other Mercury sessions of the late 50s! But the real credit here should go to Louis Smith – who's got a sense of power and command that should have made him one of THE trumpeters of the 50s – an emerging young talent to stand alongside Lee Morgan, Nat Adderley, and other post-Fats Navarro/Clifford Brown talents on the instrument. Smith sparkles throughout with a mix of soul and modernism we really love – and an earthy way of blowing the horn that doesn't always reach its goals, but which draws even more energy from its ability to try! The rhythm section on the album's also very tight – with Art Taylor on drums, Doug Watkins on bass, and either Tommy Flanagan or Duke Jordan on piano – and tracks include "Ande", "Brill's Blues", "South Side", and "Val's Blues". CD

Recordings from 1947 by Barry Ulanov & His All Star Metronome Jazzmen, with Fats Navarro on trumpet, John LaPorta on clarinet, Charlie Parker on alto, Allen Eager on tenor, Lennie Tristano on piano, Billy Bauer on guitar, Tommy Potter on bass, and Buddy Rich on drums, with Sarah Vaughan on vocals; plus three tunes recorded in 1948 at the Royal Roost by Tadd Dameron & His Orchestra with Allen Eager and Wardell Gray on tenor, Curley Russel on bass, and Kenny Clarke on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

A nice selection of late 40s work by a few groups, collected by Savoy as a kind of introduction to the bebop movement, a look back at the early days of bop. Kai Winding and his quintet, featuring Allen Eager on tenor and Shelley Manne on drums, lead off the set with four tracks including "Mr. Dues" and "O-Go-Mo". From there tenor sax man Brew Moore's quartet, featuring Jimmy Johnson on bass and Stan Levey on drums, contribute four tracks including "Blew Brew" and "More Brew". Eddie Lockjaw Davis rounds out the set, with a group that features Fats Navarro on trumpet and Al Haig on piano. His four tracks include "Spinal" and "Red Pepper". LP, Vinyl record album

A nice selection of late 40s work by a few groups, collected by Savoy as a kind of introduction to the bebop movement, a look back at the early days of bop. Kai Winding and his quintet, featuring Allen Eager on tenor and Shelley Manne on drums, lead off the set with four tracks including "Mr. Dues" and "O-Go-Mo". From there tenor sax man Brew Moore's quartet, featuring Jimmy Johnson on bass and Stan Levey on drums, contribute four tracks including "Blew Brew" and "More Brew". Eddie Lockjaw Davis rounds out the set, with a group that features Fats Navarro on trumpet and Al Haig on piano. His four tracks include "Spinal" and "Red Pepper". CD

Music from Coleman Hawkins & His Orchestra, the Tiny Grimes Quintet, the Dizzie Gillespie Sextet, Charlie Parker's Reboppers, the Stan Getz Quartet, the Bud Powell Trio, the Miles Davis All Stars, Fats Navarro, Art Blakey's Messengers, Thelonious Monk, Ella Fitzgerald, and more. CD

20 tracks, includes Dizzy Gillespie, James Moody, Stan Getz, Lucky Thompson, Fats Navarro, and many more. CD

24 songs from Billy Eckstine, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Boyd Raeburn, Ray Brown, Dexter Gordon, JJ Johnson, Fats Navarro, Serge Charloff, Stan Getz, Charlie Ventura, and George Wallington. CD

A well-done package that celebrates the key contributions that Savoy Records made to the field of jazz on record – as the New Jersey company was one of the first to record the new wave of bebop in the late 40s, and quickly unleashed the music of Charlie Parker and his contemporaries on a host of famous 78rpm singles at the time! This set features many of those key 78 recordings, but focuses on their presentation in a series of 10" LP releases that Savoy did in the early 50s – vinyl packages that compiled the earlier shellac sides into a more durable format – and presented the key efforts that the label made in helping bebop get out of the clubs and onto the turntable! As with other Craft Records packages, the presentation is great – and really upgrades other reissues of the material with great sound, notes, and artwork that really live up to the contents within. 2CD set features new mastering of the material, alongside notes and photos – with classic material recorded under the leadership of Milt Jackson, Leo Parker, Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, JJ Johnson, Charlie Parker, Kai Winding, Allen Eager, Budd Johnson, Fats Navarro, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Roy Porter, and Serge Chaloff! CD

The roots of modern jazz never sounded this great before – and this is the first time ever that all the early bop recordings by Savoy have been properly brought together in one place! Savoy was one of the most important labels to record the early bop pioneers – and had a dedication to the music that begin in 1945, and moved well into the 50s – as the label captured some of the brightest young stars who'd go onto shape a generation! Almost all of this material was originally issued just as 78rpm singles – then later scattered and repackaged in a confusing way – although many tracks here also never made it into the LP or CD generation, either. The folks at Mosaic have worked incredible magic to correct that error – and have pulled together a stunning 10CD package that finally presents this amazing legacy of music in its proper form – complete with notes and session details that were never given in later years, too. There's way too much here to list in this space – but the set features dates recorded under the name of Dexter Gordon, Fats Navarro, Stan Getz, JJ Johnson, Sonny Stitt & Kenny Dorham's Bebop Boys, Allen Eager, Kai Winding, Ray Brown, Eddie Davis, Serge Chaloff, Kenny Hagood, Leo Parker, Tadd Dameron, Teddy Reig, Brew Moore, Milt Jackson, Kenny Clarke, and Gil Fuller – all with groups that are filled with equally hip and important musicians too. We love Mosaic all the time – but with a collection of 78rpm material, they really knock it out of the park – and do us, and the jazz history books, a mighty big favor! CD