Guitarist Sal Salvador made few albums as a leader during his day – but all of them are a treat, especially this one! The set's a mid 50s outing that features Sal's guitar in a quartet with Eddie Costa on piano and vibes – and grooving in a lightly swinging style that has some traces of east coast chamber jazz of the time, but which also displays Salvador's unique fascination with tone, sound, shape, and color! Salvador has a way of approaching the electric guitar that's like few other players in jazz – sometimes coming on full swing, other times laying back and letting the strings and their sounds shape the progression of tunes on the set. Titles include "Salaman", "I Love You", "Handful Of Stars", "Frivolous Sal", "Tangerine", "You Could Swing For That", and "All The Things You Are". CD

Sal Salvador was one of the 50s more accomplished modernist talents on jazz guitar – and his work ranks up there with players like Tal Farlow, or Gil Melle's great bandmate Joe Cinderella. This is Salvador's rare first album for Blue Note – only issued in a 10" vinyl format! The record features quartet and quintet material, and includes tenorist Frank Sokolow, an icy-toned genius who's never gotten his just dues. Sokolow and Salvador sound great together, and create a haunting sound that's better than anything we've heard on other Salvador records from his later years. Titles include "My Old Flame", "Get Happy", "Too Marvelous For Words", "Gone With The Wind", and "After You've Gone". LP, Vinyl record album

Sal Salvador was one of the 50's more accomplished modernist talents on jazz guitar – and his work ranks up there with players like Tal Farlow, or Gil Melle's great bandmate Joe Cinderella. This long-overdue CD brings together some of his best work from the mid 50s – by pairing one rare Blue Note 10" jazz session with another album that Salvador cut as part of Capitol's "Stan Kenton Presents" series. The Blue Note session's got some great tracks that feature tenorist Frank Sokolow, an icy toned genius who's never gotten his just dues. Other cuts (on both the Blue Note and Capitol sessions) feature Eddie Costa on piano and vibes, and titles from both include "See", "Round Trip", "Wheels", "Salutations", "Down Home", and "Yesterdays". 18 cuts in all, in a great looking package that replicates the orignal cover art! CD

Guitarist Sal Salvador made few albums as a leader during his day – but all of them are a treat, especially this one! The set's a mid 50s outing that features Sal's guitar in a quartet with Eddie Costa on piano and vibes – and grooving in a lightly swinging style that has some traces of east coast chamber jazz of the time, but which also displays Salvador's unique fascination with tone, sound, shape, and color! Salvador has a way of approaching the electric guitar that's like few other players in jazz – sometimes coming on full swing, other times laying back and letting the strings and their sounds shape the progression of tunes on the set. Titles include "Salaman", "I Love You", "Handful Of Stars", "Frivolous Sal", "Tangerine", "You Could Swing For That", and "All The Things You Are". CD

Beautiful modernist work from Kenton – one of the first albums to cull his genius together as a whole, filled with the kind of tracks that perfectly sum up his unique approach at the time! If you've ever wondered what makes Kenton so great, this is the album to begin with – as it's filled with fantastic original tunes that provide a shimmering solo showcase for work of players like Lee Konitz, Frank Rosolino, and Bill Holman. Titles include "23 N - 82 W", "Young Blood", "Improvisation", and the haunting "Invention For Guitar And Trumpet", which features Sal Salvador and a young Maynard Ferguson. LP, Vinyl record album

Guitar jazz genius from the amazing Tal Farlow – working here at the height of his powers on a classic session for Verve – a real standout album from the 50s, and one with some slightly more modern overtones than even other Farlow sessions at the time! Part of the strength of the set is the piano work of Eddie Costa – which dances nicely in between the notes, often creating the same sense of counterpoint and interplay as on Costa's excellent albums with Sal Salvador from the same period. Farlow's tone is amazing throughout – rough and pointed, yet always fluid – and titles include "Lean On Me", "The More I See You", "Stella By Starlight", "Topsy", "All The Things You Are", and "Wonder Why". CD

Beautiful modernist work from Kenton – one of the first albums to cull his genius together as a whole, filled with the kind of tracks that perfectly sum up his unique approach at the time! If you've ever wondered what makes Kenton so great, this is the album to begin with – as it's filled with fantastic original tunes that provide a shimmering solo showcase for work of players like Lee Konitz, Frank Rosolino, and Bill Holman. Titles include "23 N - 82 W", "Young Blood", "Improvisation", and the haunting "Invention For Guitar And Trumpet", which features Sal Salvador and a young Maynard Ferguson. CD adds 4 bonus tracks to the original 10" LP. CD

A brilliant example of why Eddie Bert was one of the hippest trombonists of the 50s – a player who could bridge the worlds of Stan Kenton and Charles Mingus, and always come up with a sound that was one of the freshest on his instrument! The bulk of the CD features small combo work Bert recorded for the Discovery label in 1953 and 1954 – quintet sessions done with Duke Jordan on piano and Clyde Lombardi on bass, plus other players that include Sal Salvador on guitar, Vinnie Dean on alto sax, and Joe Morello on drums. Bert's sound throughout is fluid, lean, and modern – gliding with light colors one moment, a crisp modern edge the next, and a bit of boppish inflection at others – always opening up new areas of expression for the sometimes-staid trombone, and working here at a level that matches 50s invention of better-known players on the instrument. 4 additional tracks on the CD are from a previously unissued 1959 recording with Dean on alto, Lombardi on bass, Sal Mosca on piano, and Ed Shaughnessy on drums – plus a really unique 17 minute live recording of the title track by a quartet with Bert, Jordan, Lombardi, and Osie Johnson on drums. Bert's playing on this extended track alone is worth the price of admission – but the CD features a total of 73 minutes of music in all, on 17 tracks that include "Ripples", "Conversation Piece", "Interwoven", "Little Train", "Kaleidoscope", "Around Town", "Melting Pot", "He Ain't Got Rhythm", and "Blues At Sunrise". CD

Pianist Anthony Zano recorded some small group material before – but this is a really unusual larger group recording, filled with all-star players – including Charlie Mariano on alto, Frank Socolow on tenor, Pepper Adams on baritone, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Tommy Flanagan on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, Sal Salvador on guitar, and Charlie Persip on drums – playing some nice original material by Zano! LP, Vinyl record album

A lost bit of dreamy bossa from the 60s – recorded in Brazil at the end of the decade, but unavailable to most of the world for years! The session's got a gently snapping, always jazzy approach that easily matches the best takes on the bossa coming out from Rio and LA at the time – and the album's done in a style that really makes best use of the warmly soulful piano lines of Dom Salvador, while also hitting some harder rhythms that bristle with plenty of bossa jazz energy, thanks to the presence of drummer Wilson Das Neves! Vocals are often in a mode that showcases singer Valeria, but with support from harmonies on the chorus – and the record's got a sunny sort of groove that almost reminds us of classics by Mario Castro Neves & Samba SA! Titles include "Sambou Sambou", "Ponteio", "Viola Enluarada", "Vesti Azul", "Lady Madonna", "Deixa", "Alegria Alegria", and "Retrato Em Branco E Preto". (Brazil, Jazz) CD

A fantastic double-length set – two full albums of music, essential for any fan of Brazilian jazz – or even jazz in general! First up is Esperanto – an incredible album from one of Brazil's greatest reed players of the 70s – the mighty Victor Assis Brasil – a free-thinking spirit who really took Brazilian jazz in bold new directions at the time! The record shows Victor absorbing a lot of post-Coltrane influences, and blending them with a tight approach to rhythm – laid down here by Dom Salvador on piano (and organ), Edison Lobo on bass, and Edson Machando on drums. The group is completed by Helio Delmiro on guitar, and Claudio Roditi plays trumpet on one track – but the real highlight is the amazing reed work by Brasil, which is filled with soul and warmth, plus a deep sense of exploration. The whole session was put together by Roberto Quartin in 1970 – and it's still extremely fresh today. Titles include "Children", "Gingerbread Boy", "Senegal", and "Marilia". Next is Toca Antonio Carlos Jobim – a fantastic album from this legendary Brazilian saxophonist – and one that's way different than the usual instrumental reading of the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim! The setting is less of a bossa-inspired one than a post-Coltrane mode – as Victor Assis Brasil blows alto sax, and a bit of soprano – on long, stretched out versions of Jobim compositions – often given a bit of modal energy, thanks to the group's strong piano and organ performances by Dom Salvador. The rest of the players are all great, too – Helio Delmiro on guitar, Edson Lobo on bass, and Edison Machado on drums – all players who grew up in the bossa jazz years of the 60s, but who here are set free to explore new territory by producer Roberto Quartin. The whole thing's wonderful – and titles include "Bonita", "Wave", "So Tinha De Ser Come Voce", and "Dindi". CD also features two bonus tracks – alternate takes of "Ao Amigo Quartin" and "Marilla". (Brazil, Jazz) CD

A great later effort from tenor sax giant Charlie Rouse – a record that's quite different than his 50s hardbop or his 60s modernist work with Thelonious Monk – but still pretty darn great in its own sort of way! The album features Rouse working with a larger ensemble in a batch of tracks that has a distinct Brazilian influence – not one from bossa nova, but from the more sophisticated Brazilian jazz modes of later years – particularly as the style started to pick up from some of the arranging modes used in MPB. The players here are all well-suited to the session – and include Clifford Adams on trombone, Claudio Roditi on trumpet, Dom Salvador on piano, Ted Dunbar on guitar, Amaury Tristao on acoustic guitar, Ron Carter on bass, Bernard Purdie on drums, and Wilbur Bascomb on bass – all working together in a style that's somewhat complicated, yet which has an open-ended flow, and a very joyous sensibility overall! Arrangements are by Dom Salvador and Amaury Tristao – and titles include Salvador's romping groover "On The Corner – a real jazz dance classic – plus "Sertao", "Desencontro", "Alvorada", "Natal No Interior", and "Cravo Canela". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best Paul Horn recordings of the 70s – tracks that were recorded amidst the Brazilian fusion explosion of the 70s, and which really push Horn's sound to the limit! The album features work composed by Egberto Gismonti, played by Horn, Gismonti, Dom Salvador, and Dom Um Romao with a breezy Brazilian jazz finish! The sound's a great extension of the genius that Gismonti had at the time, and takes his music into a slightly more American mode – with titles that include "Danca Das Cabecas", "Carmo", "Altura Do Sol", "Quarup", "Tango", and the great "Salvador". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible album of jazz tracks by one of Brazil's greatest reed players of the 70s – the mighty Victor Assis Brasil – a free-thinking spirit who really took Brazilian jazz in bold new directions at the time! The record shows Victor absorbing a lot of post-Coltrane influences, and blending them with a tight approach to rhythm – laid down here by Dom Salvador on piano (and organ), Edison Lobo on bass, and Edson Machando on drums. The group is completed by Helio Delmiro on guitar, and Claudio Roditi plays trumpet on one track – but the real highlight is the amazing reed work by Brasil, which is filled with soul and warmth, plus a deep sense of exploration. The whole session was put together by Roberto Quartin in 1970 – and it's still extremely fresh today. Titles include "Children", "Gingerbread Boy", "Senegal", and "Marilia", which is a bonus track that wasn't on the original LP. (Brazil, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

A deep dive into the work of pianist Raymond Fol as a leader – material that includes a number of rare broadcast tracks, and a handful of records that have Fol in the spotlight – something that didn't happen all that much, even though Raymond played on dozens of important sessions for other musicians on the French scene! The set begins with Fol's initial four track EP for Columbia, a trio date that's followed by more live recordings in Paris – then steps into an assortment of unusual dates from the late 50s – including two tracks with singer Annie Fratellini, three with trumpeter Nonzio Rotondo and tenorist Enzo Scoppa, and more trio recordings as well. CD2 features rare broadcast material from the 60s – including one title with Donald Byrd on trumpet, and six more with a septet that also includes Ivan Jullien and Roger Guerin on trumpets! The package has copious notes on Fol and his contribution to the postwar scene in Paris – and the 2CD collection features a massive 38 tracks in all, with titles that include "Hush", "Melancholia", "Scandinavian", "Lazy Lady Daisy", "John's Groove", "Tune Up", "Circeo", "Thrilling", "Oh My Lord", "Out Of Art", "Where Is Salvador", and "Little Niles". CD

Features Bireli Lagrene, Richard Galliano, Caravan Palace, Sanseverino, Henri Salvador, Stephane Grappelli, Valerie Duchateau, Dorado Schmitt, Rocky Gresset, and Sylvain Luc. CD

A fantastic album from this legendary Brazilian saxophonist – and one that's way different than the usual instrumental reading of the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim! The setting is less of a bossa-inspired one than a post-Coltrane mode – as Victor Assis Brasil blows alto sax, and a bit of soprano – on long, stretched out versions of Jobim compositions – often given a bit of modal energy, thanks to the group's strong piano and organ performances by Dom Salvador. The rest of the players are all great, too – Helio Delmiro on guitar, Edson Lobo on bass, and Edison Machado on drums – all players who grew up in the bossa jazz years of the 60s, but who here are set free to explore new territory by producer Roberto Quartin. The whole thing's wonderful – and titles include "Bonita", "Wave", "Quartiniana", and "Dindi". (Brazil, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

With Chester Thompson and Patrice Rushen on keys, Alphonso Johnson on bass, Leon Ndugu Chancler on drums, and Armando Peraza and Jose Chepito Areas on percussion. Tracks include "Spiritual", "Elegant People", "Blues For Salvador", "Goodness And Mercy", "Europa", "and "Mandela". (Rock, Jazz) CD

Don't be put off by the late date of the session, because this is an excellent album from McCoy Tyner – and one with a very spiritual groove that's clearly inherited from Coltrane! The album's based around longer compositions arranged by Tyner, and orchestrated by the great William S Fischer – with lead solos by Hubert Laws on flutes and McCoy on piano, over soaring searching backings that push onward with the same kind of soulful sound as some of Tyner's earlier Blue Note albums. Fischer, as always, manages to balance complexity with straight-ahead grooving – and the clean sound of the album is a surprise throughout! Titles include "Salvadore De Samba", "Beyond The Sun", "Fly With The Wind", and "Rolem". LP, Vinyl record album