A tight small combo set that celebrates that classic moment when tenorist Illinois Jacquet was part of the band of vibist Lionel Hampton – served up here by a quartet that features the great Danny Doriz on vibes and Michel Pastre on tenor – offering up a nicely lean take on the Hampton/Jacquet sound! The combo is rounded out by some great work from Cesar Pastre on Hammond organ and drums from Didier Dorise – keeping up the father/son theme of the record – on titles that include "The Chase", "Stolen Sweets", "Whirly Bird", "Robbin's Nest", "Bottoms Up", "Seven Come Elven", "Tempo's Birthday", "Nuages", and even a version of "Isn't She Lovely" taken in an old school mode. CD

A much-needed collection of the famous Jazz At The Philharmonic performances of the 1950s – work that follows up the initial postwar run from producer/presenter Norman Granz, which helped lay the groundwork for Verve Records – but which hasn't gotten the full exposure it deserves! Unlike the 40s sessions, there's a lot of material here that never made it to CD – including tracks from the multi-record box set releases that included JATP volumes 11, 15, 16, and 17 – plus the Jazz Concert #1 album, Jazz At The Hollywood Bowl, and various Opera House sessions – and even the Lester Young Carnegie Blues record, which appeared later on vinyl! Some unreleased tracks have been added to the set too – and as with Mosaic Records at its best, this is less a reissue package than a proper presentation of material that was scattered out there in various formats – finally presented in the right order, with detailed notes, and really great sound. Artists are the cream of the crop of Verve at the time – Stan Getz, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, Herb Ellis, Buddy DeFranco, Sonny Stitt, Benny Carter, Lionel Hampton, Gene Krupa, and others – plus some non-Verve artist surprises as well! Very limited, and comes with a huge booklet of notes and performance details too. CD

French vibist Dany Doriz has been making music for many decades – as you can probably guess from the title of this set – and during that time, he's proven to be one of the most versatile musicians on his scene – able to shift between modern and trad jazz modes, hit some Lionel Hampton swinging styles, and even do some sound library material as well! This 3CD set is the first collection we've ever seen to do justice to Dany's long musical legacy – and it brings together a huge amount of work in a variety of settings – a long list of associates here that includes Claude Bolling on piano, Clark Terry on trumpet, Stephane Grappelli on violin, Manu Dibango on saxes, Sacha Distel on guitar, Rhoda Scott on Hammond, and even Lionel Hampton on vibes. Most of Dany's records never made it to our shores back in the day – and the set features lots of early material on CD 1, which runs up to the 90s – then a remaining three decades on the following two CDs – a total of 55 tracks in all, with notes in French and English! CD

Louis Armstrong is on the cover, but the set also features work from a nice mix of "friends" – other important artists from the postwar years, who help round out this collection of Holiday favorites! Louis Armstrong sings on "Christmas In New Orleans", "White Christmas", "Christmas Night In Harlem", "Winter Wonderland", "Zat You Santa Claus", and "Cool Yule" – and other tracks include "Silent Night" by Dinah Washington, "The Christmas Song" by Mel Torme, "It's Christmas Time Again" by Peggy Lee, "May Everyday Be Christmas" by Louis Jordan, "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" by Lena Horne, "Merry Christmas Baby" by Lionel Hampton, "Santa Baby" by Eartha Kitt, and "Jingle Bells" by Duke Ellington. CD