Features Ella Fitzgerald on vocal performances of "April In Paris", "Party Blues", and "Every Day I Have The Blues" – with Count Basie backing. Also features a jam session version of "Billie's Bounce" – with Art Blakey, Charles Mingus, Tal Farlow, Zoot Sims, and others – and a solo piano take on "Lady Fair" by George Wallington. LP, Vinyl record album

... 78 RPM, Vinyl record

Includes three tunes from a 1945 session by the Capitol International Jazzmen, with Bill Coleman on trumpet, Buster Bailey on clarinet, Benny Carter on alto, Coleman Hawkins on tenor, Nat King Cole on piano, Oscar Moore on guitar, John Kirby on bass, Max Roach on drums, and Kay Starr on vocals; four tunes by the Metronome All Stars from 1947 and 1951, with sidemen that include Dizzy Gilletpie, Buddy DeFranco, Flip Phillips, Nat King Cole, Buddy Rich, Miles Davis, Max Roach, and others; and a side's worth of material from Louis Bellson's Just Jazz All Stars from 1952, with Clark Terry, Juan Tizol, Wardell Gray, Billy Strayhorn, and others. LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

One of those Metronome classics from a time when the Swedish jazz scene was really catching fire! The set features a full complement of work from the great American trumpeter Benny Bailey – who was making big waves on the Scandia scene at the time – plus work from Ake Persson on trombone, Bjarne Nerem on tenor, Rune Ofwerman on piano, Lennart Jansson on baritone, Rune Gustafsson on guitar, Arne Domnerus on on alto, and Torbjorn Hultrantz on bass. Arrangements are by Melba Liston on many tracks too! 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

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

Heady work from the German scene of the late 60s – one of the key albums by the first incarnation of Amon Duul, who grew out of the underground commune of the same name! The set's got a loose, almost improvised feel – with some long tracks that definitely make you feel like you're dropping in on the band as they jam together in the studio, mixed with shorter numbers that still somehow manage to convey the same sort of energy, but in a smaller space! Production is nice and open – with some of that murky current of darkness that would come to reign in the Krautrock scene a few years later – and titles include "Mama Duul Und Ihre Sauerkrautband Spielt Auf", "Bitterlings Verwandlung", "Der Garten Sandosa Im Morgentau", and "Ein Wunderhubsches Madchen Traumt Von Sandosa". LP, Vinyl record album

Nice bit of funky fusion from these 2 German brothers. Rolf plays electric clarinet on this session, and it sounds nice and sharp next to his brother's organ and alto solos. Volker Kreigel's playing guitar, and at this point, he's still playing with a lot of tightness, and less of the rock-like playing that marred some of his later work. The set was recorded in Hamburg, in 1968, and released in the 70's by Claude Delcloo on one of his French labels. Includes the cuts "Night Time Girl", "Going West", "Rocking Chair To The Moon", "I'm A Jew", and "Getting The Point". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A nice album compiling of some of the less-collected work by Clifford Brown – 1953 recordings done in Europe for the Metronome and Vogue labels, recorded with a great larger group. Sides feature Brown working with Quincy Jones, Gigi Gryce, Anthony Ortega, Juimmy Cleveland, and others alongside Parisian and European players that include Henri Renaud and Pierre Michelot. The set features 9 tracks in all – with a couple of multiple takes, and titles include "Brownskins", "Keeping Up With Jonesy", "Bum's Rush", "Chez Moi", "All Weird" and "No Start No End". LP, Vinyl record album

Even at this early point in their career, the Modern Jazz Quartet were plenty proud of their relation to and reception in Paris – almost rubbing their international fame in the faces of other American combos with the title and cover of this record! The set's still got the quartet at their crisp early best – before any of the sometimes too academic or too serious tones of later sides – and tracks are mostly shortish, ringing out with especially nice vibes from Milt Jackson. Titles include an early reading of the title cut "Concorde", plus an extended "Gershwin Medley", and the tracks "All Of You", "I'll Remember April", "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise", and "Ralph's New Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

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 collection of greatest hits, plus work with Sarah Vaughan and the Metronome All Stars, with 30 tracks over 2 LPs! LP, Vinyl record album

Nice stuff from the early days of the MJQ – recorded back when Kenny Clarke was still playing drums with the group, and giving them a bit more of a bottom! One side of the record features material recorded from one of the quartet's first sessions – in late 1952, with the tracks "La Ronde", "Vendome", and "Rose Of The Rio Grande". The rest of the record features material by Jackson's group with Horace Silver on piano, Percy Heath on bass, Kenny Clarke on drums, and the obscure Henry Boozier on trumpet. That material's a bit more bop-oriented, and titles include "Opus De Funk", "Buhania", and "Soma". LP, Vinyl record album

Reissue of a rare Teddy Charles album that also featured Booker Little and Booker Ervin. The album features the inventive vibist caught live in New York at a Metronome sponsored gig featuring Mingus alums Mal Waldron, Booker Ervin and Booker Little. The set includes one expansive Charles original, "Take Three Parts Jazz", a Little original "The Confined Few", Ervin's "Scoochie" and Waldron's "Cycles", along with a few standards. The music is fantastic, and is a mix of modernist modal themes with rich soul jazz playing. Ervin and Little are fantastic, and their sharp edgey sounds are a perfect contrast with Charles' moody vibes. Very little of Teddy Charles' work, which ranged from introspective avant garde pieces with Jimmy Giuffre to more swing based collaborations with Mingus, has been documented, this piece showcases his New Directions Quartet in a unique setting, with inspired guests. LP, Vinyl record album

With selections by Coleman Hawkins, Illinois Jacquet, Lucky Thompson, Kenny Clarke, Charlie Ventura, Metronome All Stars, Count Basie, and Dizzy Gillespie. LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album