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The tenor of Eddie Lockjaw Davis makes an especially nice match for the trumpet of Harry Edison – two very different voices, coming together here with the unusual trio of Hugh Lawson on piano, Ike Isaac on bass, and Clarence Johnston on drums. Tracks include three Edison originals "Oo-ee!", "Jawbreakers", and "Moolah". The album also contains Miles Davis' "Four" and "Broadway", "A Gal In Calico", "I've Got A Crush On You", and "Close Your Eyes". CD

The sweet and the raw – the trumpet of Harry Sweets Edison and the tenor of Eddie Lockjaw Davis – brought together here in a standout small group session for Pablo! The set's got an unusual element in that it features some electric bass from Harvey Newmark – who plays in an otherwise acoustic setting, but gives the tunes maybe this light little bounce – a hint of funk at times, with a rolling element that makes the whole thing a bit different than just a rehash of the old days. Also noteworthy is pianist Dolo Coker, who plays mostly acoustic piano – with that pointed tone that was always such a unique approach – and who also handles a bit of Fender Rhodes, but in a completely different way. Even when Newmark's playing acoustic bass, he's still got a great round tone that really drives the set – and the group's completed by the excellent Jimmie Smith on drums. Titles include "Simply Sweets", "Feelings", "Opus Funk", "Lax", "Miz Kitty's Blues", and "One For The Count". CD

The sweet and the raw – the trumpet of Harry Sweets Edison and the tenor of Eddie Lockjaw Davis – brought together here in a standout small group session for Pablo! The set's got an unusual element in that it features some electric bass from Harvey Newmark – who plays in an otherwise acoustic setting, but gives the tunes maybe this light little bounce – a hint of funk at times, with a rolling element that makes the whole thing a bit different than just a rehash of the old days. Also noteworthy is pianist Dolo Coker, who plays mostly acoustic piano – with that pointed tone that was always such a unique approach – and who also handles a bit of Fender Rhodes, but in a completely different way. Even when Newmark's playing acoustic bass, he's still got a great round tone that really drives the set – and the group's completed by the excellent Jimmie Smith on drums. Titles include "Simply Sweets", "Feelings", "Opus Funk", "Lax", "Miz Kitty's Blues", and "One For The Count". LP, Vinyl record album

With Chu Berry, Lester Young, Buddy Tate, Buck Clayton, Dicky Wells, Harry Edison, and Shad Collins. CD

With Tab Smith, Buddy Tate, Lester Young, Dicky Wells, Buck Clayton, Vic Dickenson, Harry Edison and Jo Jones. CD

Seminal work from that key Basie year of 1939 – singles recorded for the Okeh and Vocalion labels – with work from Buck Clayton, Harry Edison, Dicky Wells, Lester Young, and Buddy Tate! CD

Notable sidemen include Lester Young, Herschel Evans, Buck Clayton, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Jack Washington, Earl Warrant, Jo Jones, Freddie Green, and Walter Page. CD

Duke Ellington makes a rare Verve appearance on this classic album – and works strongly in the mode of earlier sides recorded for the label by Johnny Hodges! There's a relaxed, small group feel going on here – one that's a bit different than some of the tighter Ellington work on Columbia during the 50s, and which almost paves the way for some of the more intimate piano sides that Duke would record during the 60s. In a way, Hodges is almost at the lead – given how comfortable he is here in a Verve setting – and other players include Harry Edison on trumpet, Les Spann on guitar, Sam Jones on bass, and Jo Jones on drums. The real charm, as always, is Hodges' solos, lean, mean, raspy, and soulful – and titles include "Weary Blues", "Royal Garden Blues", "Loveless Love", "St Louis Blues", and "Wabash Blues". CD

The complete master takes of Billie Holiday's years recording for Verve, Clef, and Norgran – distilled down from the much larger box set issued a few years earlier – and without all the over-repeated alternates and odd versions that made that other collection a bit frustrating! The work here is all the real deal – 6 CDs worth of tracks recorded with some of the greatest accompaniment Billie ever received in the studio – backing by players who include Charlie Shavers, Harry Edison, Tony Scott, Willie Smith, Flip Phillips, Paul Quinichette, Ben Webster, and many others – all documented here nicely in the 60 page book of notes that comes with the set! As with the Charlie Parker Masters collection, this one is very limited edition – packaged in a silver tin box and totally 100 tracks in all! CD

With Harry Sweets Edison on trumpet, Eddie Lockjaw Davis on tenor, Eddie Cleanhead Vinson on alto, Ray Brown on bass, Art Hillery on piano, and Larance Marable on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

With Harry Edison and Roy Eldridge on trumpets, Vic Dickenson on trombone, Eddie Davis on tenor, Sam Jones on bass, Freddie Green on guitar, and Tommy Flanagan on piano. LP, Vinyl record album

How can we even begin to describe the genius of Lambert Hendricks and Ross? The group was a jazz vocal supergroup that merged three talents that had already made a big name in the bebop vocalese field – Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks, and the lovely Annie Ross – and the project was an attempt to completely work the emerging vocalese style onto a full-blown jazz group. This album wasn't their first – but it was the first to really break them with the masses, and it's a vocal jazz classic if there ever was one. Backings are by the Ike Isaacs Trio, plus Harry Edison on trumpet – and titles include "Moanin", "Twisted", "Cloudburst", "Everybody's Boppin", and "Sermonette". CD

Features Harry Edison on trumpet, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Wild Bill Davis on organ, and Eddie Costa on vibes. CD

With Lionel Hampton, Harry Edison, Buddy Rich, Red Callender, and Barney Kessel. CD

A sweet little Count Basie get together – one of those small group sessions from the 70s, which made some of these later years of his career such a delight! The album's nicely relaxed – in the best Pablo Records way – almost an extension of the Verve swing modes of the 50s, when players really got to open up more on their solos – but maybe with a bit more Basie bite in the groove, too! The Count's on piano – and the group features Clark Terry and Harry Edison on trumpets, Eddie Lockjaw Davis on tenor, Budd Johnson on tenor and baritone, Freddie Green on guitar, John Clayton on bass, and Gus Johnson drums. The Green/Basie sense of rhythm is as impeccable as always – and titles include "Ode To Pres", "Basie's Bag", "Like It Used To be", "Swinging On The Cusp", and "My Main Men". CD

One of the mellower albums on the Nilva label – a session of guitar work from John Collins, a player we don't know that well, but who has a really beautiful sound on the set! The album's Collins' first (only?) album as a leader – and it features him soloing in a pretty spare setting on most numbers – working either with a trio that features Jimmy Woode on bass and Alvin Queen on drums, a duo with bassist John Heard, another trio with Heard and trumpeter Harry Edison, and even solo on one track – always with a tone that's great, and a sound that's clean, clear, and creative. One longer track – a version of "All The Things You Are" – features a quintet with Dolo Coker on piano, plus Edison, Woode, and Queen – and other titles include "Nature Boy", "Dearly Beloved", "I've Grown Accustomed To Your Face", and "Come Rain Or Come Shine". LP, Vinyl record album

A record with a sound that's a lot more understated than its title – an easygoing groove that's all Buddy all the way – clarinet in the lead, inspired by an older swing-based approach to jazz, yet still inflected with some boppish influences too – all in just the sort of open, laidback style that Verve was handling well at the time. Other players include Harry Edison on trumpet, Bob Hardaway on tenor, Jimmy Rowles on piano, Barney Kessel on guitar, Curtis Counce on bass, and Alvin Stoller on drums – on titles that include "Sunday", "Tea For Two", "Blue Lou", "Funky's Uncle", and an extended Verve-type "Ballad Medley". LP, Vinyl record album

Herb Ellis on guitar, Ray Brown on bass, Jack Hanna on drums, Plas Johnson on tenor saxophone, Harry Sweets Edison on trumpet, and George Duke on piano. CD

Late work from Ella Fitzgerald – but still pretty darn nice, and very much in the sweet small group mode she used often for Pablo Records! Norman Granz produced, so the set's still got echoes of Ella's Verve years – and players include Harry Edison on trumpet, Benny Carter on alto, Kenny Barron on piano, and Al Grey on trombone – all inflecting the tunes with some nice instrumental elements. You can definitely hear the passage of years in Fitzgerald's vocals, but that's not necessarily a bad thing – as it brings a nice degree of humanity to the record too. Titles include "My Last Affair", "Dream A Little Dream Of Me", "All That Jazz", "When Your Lover Has Gone", and "Good Morning Heartache". CD also features 2 bonus tracks – "Little Jazz" and "The Nearness Of You". CD

Beautiful Billie from the last years of her life. The material was recorded in 1956 and 1957 in Hollywood, featuring Barney Kessel, Ben Wesbster, Harry Edison, and Jimmy Rowles – all grooving nicely in small group formation. The tracks have a wonderfully fragile quality – and although standards, are still some of Billie's nicest work for Verve. Titles include "April In Paris", "All Or Nothing At All", "We'll Be Together Again", and "But Not For Me". Great David Stone Martin cover, too! CD

How can we even begin to describe the genius of Lambert Hendricks and Ross? The group was a jazz vocal supergroup that merged three talents that had already made a big name in the bebop vocalese field – Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks, and the lovely Annie Ross – and the project was an attempt to completely work the emerging vocalese style onto a full-blown jazz group. This album wasn't their first – but it was the first to really break them with the masses, and it's a vocal jazz classic if there ever was one. Backings are by the Ike Isaacs Trio, plus Harry Edison on trumpet – and titles include "Moanin", "Twisted", "Cloudburst", "Everybody's Boppin", and "Sermonette". CD

Sarah Vaughan definitely earns her divine nickname here – singing sublimely here in a warmly jazzy setting from her early years at Roulette Records! The style's a nice extension of Vaughan's best sides at Mercury – and is almost a nice back-to-basics approach, the kind of reminder that Sarah always sounds best when she's heard at her jazziest – as on this album, with arrangements and piano from Jimmy Jones, and some great trumpet lines from Harry Edison! The sound is often nicely spare and laidback – letting Vaughan's vocals really come up strongly in the mix, and flow with a tremendously natural, but creatively dynamic style that really leaves us breathless. Titles include "Have You Met Miss Jones", "Somebody Else's Dream", "What Do You See In Her", "Jump For Joy", "Ain't No Use", "I'm Gonna Laugh You Out Of My Life", and "When Your Lover Has Gone". LP, Vinyl record album

Nobody deserves the title of King Of the Tenors more than Ben Webster – as his warm soulful style influenced countless players in his day, and stil sounds pretty darn great today! This early Verve LP features some excellent small combo work by Ben, playing as the main soloist in smaller groups that include players like Barney Kessel, Ray Brown, Oscar Peterson, and Harry Edison – on swing-based tunes like "Bounce Blues", "Cottontail", "That's All", and "Jive At Six". Includes a single version of "That's All", and the unissued tracks "Poutin" and "Bounce Blues (alt)". CD

2 classic 50s sessions – on a 2LP 80s set! On the first self-titled abum, Prez plays nice easy-going solos with a combo that includes Jessie Drakes on trumpet, Gildo Mahones on piano, John Ore on bass, and Connie Kaye on drums. The style of the tracks is in a warm mellow tone, which fits perfectly with Young's sweet sweet solo style. Tracks include "Another Mambo", "Somebody Loves Me", "Rose Room", and "Kiss Me Again". Next is the Pres & Sweets album – a classic Verve pairing of two of its greatest soloists, Lester Young and Harry Sweets Edison – both recorded here in a laidback, easily-swinging session that allows both players to shine equally! Young's tenor is always a welcome addition to any set of this nature, and Edison's playing here in a gentler, relaxed mode that's a wonderful fit to the easygoing groove laid down by the rhythm section of Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, and Buddy Rich. Titles include "Mean To Me", "That's All", "She's Funny That Way", and "Red Boy Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

An all-star jam session from Montreux in 1973 – recorded in true Verve style by the great Norman Granz, Count Basie at the head of a group that includes Louie Bellson, Ray Brown, JJ Johnson, Harry Edison, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, and Zoot Sims! Tracks are nice lengthy rakes of Basie classics, with plenty of solo space – a bit tighter than a more traditional jam session, probably because the players get along so well together! 5 numbers in all, including "Doubling The Blues", "Hanging Out", "Red Bank Blues", "One-Nighter" and "Freeport Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

With Freddie Green on guitar and shaker, Cleveland Eaton on bass, Gregg Field and Harold Jones on drums. Orchestra includes Willie Cook and Harry Edison on trumpet, Sonny Cohn, Dale Carley, Frank Szabo, and Bob Summers on trumpet and flugelhorn, Mitchell Wood, Dennis Wilson, Grover Mitchell, and Bill Hughes on trombone, Eric Dixon on tenor, Kenny Hing on tenor and flute, Bobby Plater and Danny Turner on alto and flute, and Johnny Williams on baritone. CD

Beautiful work from the legendary Hoagy Carmichael – and one of the few albums to feature him singing his own work! Hoagy's name is one that you're more likely to see in the songwriting credits than in the artist slot for a record – but he's actually got a wonderful voice, one that's filled with honest, personal charms – and which has a sometimes broken-down quality that's perfect for the gentle words of his tunes. This wonderful set features Carmichael working with sublime small combo backing – players who include Harry Edison, Jimmy Rowles, and Art Pepper – working with arrangements penned by Johnny Mandel. Titles include "Rocking Chair", "Georgia On My Mind", "Skylark", "Two Sleepy People", and "Baltimore Oriole". CD

A great album, and one in which Nat King Cole returns to his roots as a jazz singer! The session differs greatly from Nat's other schmaltzy ones from the time, and it features a very "after midnight" sound – with Nat playing and singing backed only by a small combo that includes jazz greats like Harry Edison, Willie Smith, Jual Tizol, and Jack Costanzo. Plus, if that's not enough, this fab CD adds a whopping batch of extra tracks to the original LP – for a total of 18 beauties that sound perfect on a warm summer night, long after the sun has gone down. Titles include "Caravan", "Candy", "What Is There To Say", "You're Looking At Me", and "Blame It On My Youth". Great stuff! CD

Mad messed-up funk from the cool Bay Area scene of the early 70s – a set that features all these great offbeat arrangements from Clifford Coulter, who plays piano, guitars, melodica, and even Varitone guitar – and also sings a bit – in a hip lineup that features more guitar from Mel Brown, trumpet from Harry Edison and John TUrk, tenor from Plas Johnson and Bill Perkins, and drums and conga from Ron Beck – all in a style that's very different than more mainstream work on Impulse Records, and different than its spiritual modes too! "VJC", plus "Do It Now", "Yodelin' In The Whatchamaname Thang", "Ridin On Empty", and "Worry About It Later". LP, Vinyl record album

Nothing too sweet or lovely here – given that Eddie Lockjaw Davis plays with a tremendous growl on some of the best tracks on the set! Davis is a hell of a tenorist who found his biggest recording fame in the US during the 50s and 60s – but also cut some wonderful work overseas in the following decade – timeless tracks like these that show that the Lockjaw fire was alive and well, and maybe getting even a bit more room for expression in the freedom of the European scene! The album's simple, but wonderfully powerful – longish, open tracks with lots of room for Eddie to solo in a soulful way – with additional trumpet from Harry Sweets Edison, who's also at the top of his game – and great rhythms from Gerald Wiggins on piano, Major Holley on bass, and Oliver Jackson on drums. Titles include "Jim Dawg", "Meditation", "Land Of Dreams", and "The Good Life". LP, Vinyl record album

Three overseas sessions from American tenor great Eddie Lockjaw Davis! Jaws Strikes Again is a slightly different setting than some of the other 70s albums from Eddie Lockjaw Davis – in that the set was recorded for the Black & Blue label, who always liked to get a nice gritty punch out of the players they recorded! Given Eddie's legendary tone, the approach works perfectly here – on tracks that are short and focused – and which feature some mighty nice work on Hammond from Wild Bill Davis, plus guitar from the great Billy Butler, and drums from Oliver Jackson! Titles include "Jumpin With Symphony Sid", "The Man I Love", "When Sunny Gets Blue", "Candy", "After You're Gone", and "Light & Lovely". Nice Jazz 1978 is a great example of Eddie in collaboration – as Eddie Lockjaw Davis is a hell of a player on his own – but he's maybe even more amazing when he works alongside other horn soloists – who always seem to inspire Davis to bring out the boldest, mouthiest side of his horn! That tenor is alive and well, and wonderfully set up here – in five different live performances from the Nice Jazz Festival in 1978 – two with Illinois Jacquet on tenor, six with Harry Edison on trumpet, and one more with Paul Bascomb on tenor and Eddie Vinson on alto. Tracks are nice and long – that back/forth jam session style that Eddie does so well – and titles include "Rompin With JC", "Brazil", "Lover Come Back To Me", "Just Friends", "On Green Dolphin Street", and "Misty". Jaw's Blues is a nice one from the start of the 80s! Tenorist Eddie Lockjaw Davis always had a hell of a tone – and although his best-remembered dates are maybe from the 50s and 60s, the saxophonist still kept on making great records for many years to come! This album's definitely one of those – a European live recording, done in Munich, with Eddie stretching out with the sort of raspy tone that always made his early duets with Johnny Griffin such a delight – getting the sort of sensitive accompaniment here that Griff had on some of his later European dates too. The wonderful Horace Parlan is on piano, with Reggie Johnson on bass, and Alvin Queen on drums – and although it's clear that the Davis tenor solos are the main attraction, the album's a very sold group effort too. Titles include "What Is This Thing Called Love", "Jaw's Blues", "I'll Remember April", "Young Man With A Horn", and "But Beautiful". CD

Herb Ellis on guitar, Ray Brown on bass, Harry 'Sweets' Edison on trumpet, Jake Hanna on drums, Plas Johnson on saxophone, and Mike Melvoin on keyboards. CD

Great material from the sessions for Jimmy Forrest's album All The Gin Is Gone – recorded by Delmark back in their early days, and done with an underground groove that Jimmy didn't always get on record! The core group on the album features players Jimmy was working with under the leadership of Harry Edison – drummer Elvin Jones, pianist Harold Mabern, and bassist Gene Ramey – and a very young Grant Green sits in on guitar on a few of the album's best numbers. Titles include alternates of tracks from All The Gin, plus other numbers new to the set – and tracks include "Dog It", "Black Forrest", "Sunkefoal", "These Foolish Things", "You Go To My Head", "All The Gin Is Gone", and "What's New". CD also features a previously unissued take of "These Foolish Things". CD

Al Grey on trombone, Harry Sweets Edison on trumpet, Junior Mace on piano, Jerome Richardson on tenor saphone and flute, Ben Brown on bass, and Bobby Durham on drums. CD

Lionel Hampton on vibraphone, Clark Terry on trumpet and flugelhorn, Harry "Sweets" Edison on trumpet, Al Grey on trombone, Buddy Tate and James Moody on tenor saxophone, Hank Jones on piano, Milt Hinton on double bass, and Grady Tate on drums. CD

Features Frank Wess and James Moody on saxophones and flute, Gary Smulyan on baritone sax, Urbie Green on trombone, Johnny Coles and Harry "Sweets" Edison on trumpet, Herb Ellis and Kenny Burrell on guitar, and guest vocals from Ernestine Anderson and Ernie Andrews. CD

The third collection of Billie's Verve studio recordings, produced by Norman Granz. Billie's backing group includes performances by Benny Carter, Harry Edison, Barney Kessel, Jimmy Rowles, Paul Quiichette, and Wynton Kelly, and features the songs "Trav'lin Light", "April In Paris", "Lady Sings The Blues", "What's New", "Good Morning Heartache", "Sophisticated Lady", "Strange Fruit", and "God Bless The Child". LP, Vinyl record album

About as classic as you can get for Billie Holiday on Verve – a wonderfully intimate small group session, recorded with top-shelf players and a smokey torchy mood! Billie's in her later years by the time of the set, but somehow singing with even more emotion and life – working with a group that includes Benny Carter, Jimmy Rowles, Harry Edison, Larry Bunker, and John Simmons – on tracks that include "It Had To Be You", "A Fine Romance", "Gone With The Wind", "Isn't It A Lovely Day", "Ghost Of A Chance", and "Come Rain Or Come Shine". CD

A mid-60s collection of late 50s recordings featuring Gerry Mulligan – from 1958 with Stan Getz on tenor, Harry Edison on trumpet, Herb Ellis on guitar, Oscar Peterson on piano, Ray Brown pm bass, and Louis Bellson on drums, and in 1959 with Art Farmer on trmpet, Art Pepper on alto, Bill Perkins on tenor, Russ Freeman on piano, Buddy Clark on bass, and Dave Bailey on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

With Gerry Wiggins on piano, Ron Eschete on guitar, Andy Simpkins on bass, Paul Humphrey on drums, Harry Sweets Edison on trumpet, and Rickey Woodard on saxophone. CD

With Clark Terry and Harry Edison on trumpet, Kai Winding and Urbie Green on trombone, Zoot Sims on tenor sax, Budd Johnson on baritone and soprano saxes, Victor Feldman on piano, Lyn Christie on bass and Alan Dawson on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

Joe Turner on vocals – with Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Harry "Sweets" Edison, and Clark Terry all on trumpet – plus Pee Wee Crayton on guitar, Jimmy Robins on piano, Charles Norris on bass, and Washington Rucker on drums. CD

A wonderful live set from Joe Williams – recorded at Birdland, as you'd guess from the title – and done with a raw depth that surpasses much of his studio work from the time! Joe's really moving past cliche here – using his voice with a power that hadn't been heard since his sides for Savoy – and really commanding the audience with a charisma that shines through with incredible clarity. Harry Edison's leading a small group that also includes Jimmy Forrest on tenor and Ike Issacs on bass – and titles include "Teach Me Tonight", "Come Back Baby", "September In The Rain", "Roll Em Pete", and "Have You Met Miss Jones". CD features 4 previously unissued numbers too! CD

Late 40s recordings that have the Basie band getting nice and lean – but still with vocals from Jimmy Rushing, tenor from Buddy Tate and Paul Gonsalves, and trumpet from Harry Sweets Edison! CD

Herb Ellis gets a hearty helping of horns on this set – working with key performances from Jimmy Giuffre, Charlie Mariano, and Harry Edison – all of whom really round out the sound of the record! Herb's guitar is certainly at the forefront of the record, but it's sitting nicely in a lineup that features Harry Edison on trumpet and Jimmy Giuffre on tenor sax, baritone, and clarinet – plus the alto of Charlie Mariano for all of side two of the record – and rhythm by Oscar Peterson on piano and Ray Brown on bass (with whom Ellis was then working in the Peterson Trio), plus Alvin Soller on drums. Ellis' solos dominate most of the record, but they're often set in some slightly tight, freshly modern, and unfortunately uncredited arrangements that have lots of Giuffre touches – warmed up considerably by Edison's trumpet. Titles include "Pogo", "Detour Ahead", "Have You Met Miss Jones", "A Simple Tune", "It Could Happen To You", and "Ellis In Wonderland". CD

Recorded live at the International Jazz Festival Berne, with Harry Edison on trumpet, Eddie Davis on tenor, Leonard Gaskin on bass, and Oliver Jackson on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

Given Barney's touch on the guitar, you can bet that a record like this hardly could claim "not to swing" – and the session's a tight groover done in a way that clearly marks Kessel as one of the best guitar talents of his generation! The recording quality of the album is wonderful – and Kessel's right up front in the mix, often varying his tone slightly from track to track – in a way that makes for a wider voice on the session, but one that's also free from gimmicks. Other players include Bill Perkins, Jimmy Rowles, Georgie Auld, and Harry Edison – and titles include "Contemporary Blues", "Happy Feeling", "Begin The Blues", "Wail Street", "Don't Blame Me", and "Moten Swing". CD

Bassist Red Mitchell's always had a wonderfully warm sense of tone – but it seems even warmer here than usual, in a nice small combo setting with a group billed as "friends" – and who certainly come across that way on the album! There's a relaxed, easygoing vibe to the whole record – almost like you're hearing Mitchell working after hours in the back room of a club with favorite musicians – playing the kind of music they've saved for themselves, in a quartet that features Harry Edison on trumpet, Dado Moroni on piano, and Ben Riley on drums – plus vocals on two tracks from Adrianne West. Edison is wonderful in the setting, as is Moroni – and titles include "Two Moons", "Black Forest Blues", "Fair Weather", "Never Let Me Go", "Teach Me Tonight", and "The Duck & The Duchess". CD features a bonus alternate of "Black Forest Blues". CD

Features James Moody, Bobby Watson, Clark Terry, Phil Woods, Kenny Barron, and Harry 'Sweets' Edison CD

Buddy Rich is definitely wailing on this one – an open-ended all-star set that features work from Ben Webster on tenor, Sonny Criss on alto, Harry Edison and Joe Newman on trumpets, Oscar Peterson on piano, and Freddie Greene on guitar! The album features 4 long tracks – all in the best Verve relaxed jam session mode, with plenty of room for solos –and titles include "The Monster", "Sunday", "Smooth One", and "Broadway". LP, Vinyl record album

Shorty Rogers is definitely way up there with this classic album for Atlantic Records – hitting heights that even go beyond his more famous sides for RCA! The groove here is sharp, but also has room for lots of individual flavors too – thanks to different groupings of west coast players who include Bud Shank on alto, Jimmy Giuffre on baritone and tenor, Lou Levy on piano, Shelly Manne on drums, Barney Kessel on guitar, and Pete Candoli, Conte Candoli, Harry Edison, and Don Fagerquist on trumpets! Shorty himself wrote nearly all the tracks on the set – at a point at which he was really hitting his stride as a composer, doing an incredible job of mixing modern ideas and swinging jazz – as you'll hear on cuts that include "Pixieland", "Solarization", "Baklava Bridge", "March Of The Martians", "Moten Swing", and "Wail Of Two Cities". LP, Vinyl record album

Jazzier stuff than usual for Jimmy – but that's probably because he's got backing group a group that includes Gerald Wilson, Teddy Edwards, Jimmy Allen, Hampton Hawes, and Harry Edison. David Axelrod – believe it or not – was the album's producer, and although the set sounds nothing like his later work at Capitol, the quality of the session shows his care with jazz from the early days onward. Titles include "All That's Good", "There's Good Rockin Tonight", "SK Blues", "Sweet's Blues", and "When I've Been Drinkin". CD

A great later Norman Granz live production – with work by Ella Fitzgerald, Flip Phillips, Illinois Jacquet, Louis Armstrong, Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, and others! The original album is a landmark historic document, as it was the first ever live jazz album recorded at the legendary LA venue. The set opens with with the Norman Granz intro that leads to the Jam Session portion with Harry Edison, Roy Eldridge, Illinois Jacquet, Oscar Peterson, Buddy Rich, rolling nicely into material led by Art Tatum on piano, including "Someone To Watch Over Me", "Begin The Beguine", "Willow Weep For Me" and "Humoresque". From there, Ella Fitzgerald and her group dig into "Love For Sale", "Little Girl Blue", and more. The set also features a couple of great numbers by the Oscar Peterson Trio: "9:20 Special" and "How 'Bout You" – and closes with a pair of numbers featuring Ella out front of Louie Armstrong and his group. LP, Vinyl record album

Late work from the great Billie Holiday – the kind of mature set that made Verve Records such a perfect home for the singer in the 50s! Where other labels might have pushed too much to try to get Billie into more commercial, or more straightforward modes – Verve just relaxes into the kind of small combo sound that usually had the singer at her best – pairing Holiday with a great lineup that includes Harry Edison on trumpet, Ben Webster on tenor, Jimmy Rowles on piano, and Barney Kessel on guitar. The songs are short and focused – with Billie at the top of her form on familiar standards like "Comes Love", "Darn That Dream", "Body & Soul", "They Can't Take That Away From Me", and "Embraceable You". LP, Vinyl record album