A rare bossa session by Wanderly – recorded early in his career in Brazil, and issued here in the US by World Pacific. It's as tight a batch of bossa organ grooves as any of Wanderley's best albums from the 60's – and he's playing with a larger lineup than usual, which adds a lot to the sound, and the group's got Bolao on sax and flute, and Heraldo Do Monte on guitar. All the cuts have Wanderley's trademark firey organ sound, and the titles include "Samba In Japan", "Sad Samba", "Samba Da Minha Terra", "Samba Novo", and "Samba De Bossa". Nice stuff, and a very groovy album of bossa organ! LP, Vinyl record album

A collection of work from one of the biggest bands on the scene in Sao Tome & Principe years ago – combo who rocked the small island nation with a great blend of West African modes and more tropical sounds! The guitar work is often very lively, and percolating strongly with the rhythms – which themselves maybe have a bit more punch than usual, almost hitting funky drummer moments at times – while the larger ensemble top the sound with these gently cascading horn parts that have the same unified feel as the vocals! Given that the group never got much circulation at the time, and that some of the cuts here were only issued on cassette, the well-done collection is a great addition to our ever-growing knowledge of sounds from this part of the globe – served up on titles that include "Saozinha", "Vence Vitoria", "Carambola", "Ple Can", "Zun Zon Pedelelu", "San Tome Plodozu", "Pedlelo", and "12 De Julho". LP, Vinyl record album

A great introduction to one of the hippest big bands of the 70s – a duo who did for the jazz ensemble mode in their decade what Kenny Clarke and Francy Boland did in the 60s! Tracks include "Studio J", "Quadrille, Anyone", "Kogun", "First Night", and "Road Time Shuffle". CD

Notable sidemen include Francy Boland and Bobby Jaspar – titles include "Summertime", "Chet", "Just Duo", "Tasty Pudding", "In A Little Provincial Town", and "These Foolish Things". CD

A fantastically hard bossa nova jam led by the legendary Milton Banana – a man not only known as Joao Gilberto's favorite drummer, but also as one of the architects of bossa nova drumming and percussion! The album is full of non-stop drums and piano grooves, and it's a mostly uptempo treat all the way through. Milton B tipples his way across the tops of the drums in an amazingly light fashion, yet still manages to kick on the rhythm all the way through. The hard piano sound and Milton B's beats and rhythms made this album a legend – and really cleared the way for so many great bossa albums to come. Amazing! 12 tracks including "Aruanda", "Ora Bolas", "Encanto Triste", and "Improviso", "A Resposta", "A Resposta". LP, Vinyl record album

Hard-swinging work from trombonist Mike Barone – heard here on a really cooking big band session from the late 60s! We'll be honest in saying that we know little of Barone's work in this format, but we can say that after hearing the CD we're mighty big fans – because his way with a large group arrangement is totally great – very much filled with the best energy that was bubbling through the re-structured bigger bands of the time. There's a Clarke-Boland punch to most of the tunes in the set – providing strong solo showcases for players that include Tom Scott on tenor, Med Flory on alto, Lou Ciotti on tenor, Mike Wofford on piano, Gary Barone on trumpet, and Mike himself on trombone. Titles include "Deedle Dydle", "Flupp", "By Candlelight", "Put Your Arms Around Me Honey", "Juss Messin Around", and "Tumbling Tumbleweeds". CD

A great little session from Luiz Bonfa – one that features a hip core combo mixed with slightly larger backings – all in a groove that really stands out from other mainstream bossa albums of the 60s! Bonfa's acoustic guitar is set up here with Jerome Richardson on flute, Don Payne on bass, and Helcio Milito on drums – all working in a sound that's lightly touched with occasional bits of strings or woodwinds from Hal Mooney – never too much to over-sweeten the music, and often in ways that underscore the bluer, sadder tones in the music. Bonfa contributed to me great original tunes to the record that really stand out – numbers that include "Avocado", "Moonlight In Rio", "Embolada", "Her Face", "Dream Girl", "Sambalero", and "Zomba" – all of which make the record stand out from other familiar bossa tunes of the time. LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic group from the Dutch scene of the 60s – one that's crucially overlooked, but has the same rich sound as the Clark Boland Big Band of the time! The quality here rivals the best MPS/Saba large ensemble albums of the period – ultra-hip arrangements that really bring in complex tones and colors, while the group also grooves with lots of modern elements in the rhythms – with long tracks than enough space for soloists to really stretch out on their own. Players include Harry Verbeke on tenor, Theo Loevendie on alto and soprano sax, Piet Noordjik on alto and soprano, Herman Schoonderwalt on alto and baritone, Toon Van Vilet on baritone and tenor, Cees Small on valve trombone, Cees Slinger on piano, Jacques Schols on bass, and John Engels on drums! LP, Vinyl record album

A smoking twin-tenor session for MPS – one that reunites the mighty talents of Johnny Griffin and Eddie Lockjaw Davis! The album was done as an offshoot of both players' work for the Clarke Boland Big Band at the time – and the set was not only produced by CBBB impresario Gigi Campi, but also features a core rhythm trio from that ensemble – Francy Boland on piano, Jimmy Woode on bass, and Kenny Clarke on drums! Tracks are nice and long, and have a sound that really shows the evolution of both players since their famous recordings of the early 60s – tones that are even more modern and edgey at points, served up with a fire that hasn't died at all – and set loose on rhythms that move past the usual grooves you might have expected from their American sessions together. Titles include "Tin Tin Deo", "Jim Dawg", "Gigi", "When We Were One", and "Again N Again". CD

A smoking twin-tenor session for MPS – one that reunites the mighty talents of Johnny Griffin and Eddie Lockjaw Davis! The album was done as an offshoot of both players' work for the Clarke Boland Big Band at the time – and the set was not only produced by CBBB impresario Gigi Campi, but also features a core rhythm trio from that ensemble – Francy Boland on piano, Jimmy Woode on bass, and Kenny Clarke on drums! Tracks are nice and long, and have a sound that really shows the evolution of both players since their famous recordings of the early 60s – tones that are even more modern and edgey at points, served up with a fire that hasn't died at all – and set loose on rhythms that move past the usual grooves you might have expected from their American sessions together. Titles include "Tin Tin Deo", "Jim Dawg", "Gigi", "When We Were One", and "Again N Again". LP, Vinyl record album

A killer hardbop session from the early years of MPS/Saba Records – and one of the boldest statements on record from the mighty American reedman Nathan Davis – then residing in Europe, and really making some great waves on the scene! As with so many of the best Saba gems, the record has a way of taking Blue Note/Prestige Records inspiration, and pushing it with a fresher sensibility picked up overseas – elements of spiritual and modal jazz in the mix, served up by Davis on tenor, flute and soprano – in a wonderful combo that also features Carmell Jones on trumpet – with Francy Boland on piano, Jimmy Woode on bass, and Kenny Clarke on drums – that ultra-hip rhythm section who opened up so many Gigi Campi productions! The album's a prize in the collection of any serious jazz collector – and titles include "The Hip Walk", "Train Of Thought", "B's Blues", and the nice groover "That Kaycee Thing". CD

A killer album – one of Duke Ellington's best from the later years! The record features excellent writing from Duke – in a Latin mode, obviously, but touched with these incredible orchestrations that bring all sorts of weird twists and turns to the grooves, yet still manage to keep everything swinging nicely! The result is a rare album of brilliance – one that's vaguely similar to the Clarke Boland Big Band's Latin Kaleidoscope album, but with a genius that's all it's own. The album's got all the modernist touches of late Duke – but man, it also swings like a mofo, and with a really groovy sound – and the great Paul Gonsalves brings some wonderful solo work to the entire session. Titles include "Oclupaca", "Chico Cuadradino", "Eque", "The Sleeping Lady & The Giant Who Watches Over Her", and "Brasiliance". CD

A killer album – one of Duke Ellington's best from the later years! The record features excellent writing from Duke – in a Latin mode, obviously, but touched with these incredible orchestrations that bring all sorts of weird twists and turns to the grooves, yet still manage to keep everything swinging nicely! The result is a rare album of brilliance – one that's vaguely similar to the Clarke Boland Big Band's Latin Kaleidoscope album, but with a genius that's all it's own. The album's got all the modernist touches of late Duke – but man, it also swings like a mofo, and with a really groovy sound – and the great Paul Gonsalves brings some wonderful solo work to the entire session. Titles include "Oclupaca", "Chico Cuadradino", "Eque", "The Sleeping Lady & The Giant Who Watches Over Her", and "Brasiliance". LP, Vinyl record album

What happens when Art Farmer and Phil Woods get together? Some pretty magical music – and a set that's quite different than most of their other 60s recordings! The session is a special date – put together by Clarke-Boland Band impresario Gigi Campi – with Farmer's flugelhorn and Woods' alto backed by a very cool French rhythm trio – which features Martial Solal on piano, Henri Texier on bass, and Daniel Humair on the drums! The group's a bit more modern than some of Art's usual combos, which makes for really surprising results, and often a much harder sound – one that matches the growing intensity of Woods during this part in his career. The tracks are long and openly grooving – and titles include "Blue Bossa", "Watch What Happens", "Blue Lights", "Sunrise Sunset", and "The Day After". LP, Vinyl record album

Funky funky Maynard – and a sweet set of electric big band jazz that's got plenty of nice moments! The album features a core rhythm group that really goes to town – jamming in sort of a Clarke-Boland sort of way, with lots of propulsive changes that create a full-on and often funky groove – as Maynard and other horns blow like mad over the top, sending the album into screaming, soaring grooves that almost never let up. The record was Maynard's first US effort in a long time – and was produced by Teo Macero with a very electric-conscious sound that further enforced the hipness of the music! Titles include "Pochahontas", "Awright Awright", "Nice N Juicy", "SOMF", and "Mother Fingers". LP, Vinyl record album

A full package of work from the mighty Bill Holman – 2CDs worth of music – including three full albums plus bonus tracks! First up is material from the 1957 Coral album The Fabulous Bill Holman – a record that's got a maturity of expression that pushes Holman way past his Kenton years! The tracks are all larger ensemble ones, arranged and partially written by Bill, and played by the group in a broad chromatic style that's very nice – certainly Kenton-esque, but with a style that's somehow a bit more personal. Players include Charlie Mariano, Herb Geller, Richie Kamuca, Conte Cantoli, Stu Williamson, and Holman himself – and titles include "Evil Eyes", "You & I", "Bright Eyes", and the extended "The Big Street" – a great 17 minute tune! Next Is In A Jazz Orbit – a set that has Holman in a great mode that bridges the large group styles of the swing years and the changes in big band sounds that would take place in the 60s – and he's almost prefacing the style of the Clarke Boland Big Band by writing charts here that pack a real punch on the ensemble passages, yet which also rely very strongly on breakaway horn solos to tear up the tunes! The strength of the players is a key factor in the success of the album – as soloists include Frank Rosolino, Jack Sheldon, Herb Geller, Richie Kamuca, and Holman himself – on titles that include "Kissin Bug", "You Go To My Head", "Far Down Below", "Aura", "Theme & Variation #2", and "No Heat". Bill Holman's Great Big Band is a session from 1960 that has Bill Holman still sitting nicely at the top of the west coast large group format from the 50s! As with previous dates of this nature, Holman's got a way around the charts that few can match – a way of swinging the whole ensemble strongly, yet never in ways that are cloying, commercial, or cliched. All the right players find a space for expression – and the lineup includes Richie Kamuca and Bill Perkins on tenor sax, Frank Rosolino on trombone, and Conte Candoli on trumpet – all players who really sparkle nicely when they step out from the larger group. Titles include "Stereoso", "Shadrack", "Quickstep", "Aura", "The Moon Is Blue", "June Is Busting Out All Over", and "Spinuet". CD features 10 more bonus tracks – tunes from Holman's Kenton Presents sessions for Capitol in 1954 – octet material done with Don Fagerquist, Bob Eneveldsen, and Stu Williamson providing full brass support on trumpet and trombones – while Holman, Herb Geller, and Bob Gordon cut some broader lines themselves on saxes. Tunes are all great originals by Holman – extremely inventive in both melody and structure – with titles that include "Sparkle", "Tanglefoot", "Song Without Words", "Cousin Jack", "Back To Minors", and "Jughaid". CD

A wonderful showcase for the arranging talents of Bill Holman – one that steps off with a more straightforward and swinging style than some of his work of the time for the Stan Kenton group! Holman here is in a great mode that bridges the large group styles of the swing years and the changes in big band sounds that would take place in the 60s – and he's almost prefacing the style of the Clarke Boland Big Band by writing charts here that pack a real punch on the ensemble passages, yet which also rely very strongly on breakaway horn solos to tear up the tunes! The strength of the players is a key factor in the success of the album – as soloists include Frank Rosolino, Jack Sheldon, Herb Geller, Richie Kamuca, and Holman himself – on titles that include "Kissin Bug", "You Go To My Head", "Far Down Below", "Aura", "Theme & Variation #2", and "No Heat". CD

With Pete Johnson on piano, JC Heard and Jack Parker on drums, Al Hall and Abe Bolar on bass, Jimmy Shirley on guitar, Albert Nicholas on clarinet, Ben Webster and Budd Johnson on tenor, Hot Lips Page on trumpet, JC Higginbotham and Clyde Bernhardt on trombone, and Don Stovall on alto. LP, Vinyl record album

Hard swinging big band material from Sweden – a great little set that features the big band of Harry Arnold arranged by Quincy Jones! Quincy was spending a lot of time in Sweden during the mid 50s – bringing with him a host of great players that would soon become big names on the European scene – the biggest of whom was Benny Bailey, who plays some good solos here with a mostly-Swedish group that includes Arne Domnerus, Bengt Hallberg, Ake Persson, and Bengt-Arne Wallin. The style of the work, and its trans-Atlantic jazz orientation, is a direct precursor of later work by the Clarke-Boland Big Band – of whom Bailey was a big part – and the titles all swing nicely, with plenty of room for breakout solos! Titles include "The Midnight Sun Never Sets", "Doodlin", "Room 608", "Quincy's Home Again", "Brief Encounter", and "Meet Benny Bailey". LP, Vinyl record album

One of our favorite Woody Shaw albums from his later years – and an album that's got the same joyous spirit and free soaring feel of his best 70s work on Muse – really soaring with a sense of life and freedom in a really great way! The core group on the album is the Tone Jansa Quartet – led by European reedman Jansa, and working in a space that's quite similar to that of Shaw's backing groups on previous sessions – strong modal currents in the rhythms, and with Tone's work on soprano, tenor, and flute turning out to be a great partner for Woody's trumpet! Jansa wrote all the tunes on the set, and gave them a soaring feel that we really love – just the right mix of introspection and exploration found on classic Shaw sessions like Little Red's Fantasy or Lovedance. Titles include "Midi", "Boland", "Call Mobility", "River", and "May". LP, Vinyl record album