Buddy DeFranco plays tunes associated with Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw – but in a completely different way than before – with a wider-open swing for the 50s! The work here is all small combo, not big band – and there's a free-flowing groove that's totally great – a sound that carries echoes of the earlier years, but which comes across with that modern inflection to swing that made Buddy's years at Verve so great. Few players could come up with a balance of modes as great as this – and on the 2 sessions in the set, DeFranco's clarinet is caught alongside trumpet from either Don Fagerquist or Ray Linn, tenor from Georgie Auld, vibes from Victor Feldman or Larry Bunker, piano from Jimmy Rowles or Carl Perkins, guitar from Barney Kessel, bass from Leroy Vinnegar or Joe Mondragon, and drums from Stan Levey or Milt Holland. Second volume is a 2CD set – with 22 titles that include "Don't Be That Way", "After You've Gone", "Flying Home", "Soft Winds", "Limehouse Blues", "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes", "I Surrender Dear", "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise", and "All The Things You Are". CD

With Joe Cohn on guitar, Albert Dailey on piano, Geroge Duvivier on bass, and Ronnie Bedford on drums. CD

Titles include "Pyramid", "Monogram", "Cable Car", "Gold Nugget Sam", "From Here To Eternity", and "Punkin". LP, Vinyl record album

Older tunes, redone beautifully by Buddy DeFranco – in a sweetly open-ended style that makes the album one of his best for Verve! The album was done in 2 different sessions – one with Ray Linn on trumpet, Jimmy Rowles on piano, and Barney Kessel on guitar – the other with George Auld on tenor, Don Fagerquist on trumpet, Victor Feldman on vibes, and Carl Perkins on piano. Buddy's on clarinet throughout, playing with a lean, clean line that's a great link between older uses of the instrument, and some of the modern tones coming from Jimmy Giuffre in the 50s. Tracks are relatively open-ended and easygoing, and titles include "More Than You Know", "Wholly Cats", "Night & Day", "I Surrender Dear", and "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes". CD

Putte Wickman and Buddy DeFranco on clarinet, Claes Crona on piano, Hans Backenroth on bass, and Petur Ostlund on drums. CD

Wonderful work from Buddy DeFranco – one of the few jazz musicians who can make us love the clarinet in the post-swing years! Buddy plays with a wonderful style that's got plenty of bop – a great hard edge in the group that you might not expect, but which comes through brilliantly once you hear the rhythm work from Kenny Drew on piano, Milt Hinton on bass, and Art Blakey on drums! Tracks have a nice open and easy going flow – and titles include "Show Eyes", "Left Field", "Ferdinando", and "Bass On Balls". CD

Classic mid 50s jazz takes on Gershwin! As the title indicates, the session features Buddy DeFranco and Oscar Peterson – but the real guy we wanna thank here is arranger Russ Garcia! Unlike some of the other Verve "soloist with the Peterson Trio" albums of the 50s, this one is more of a shared effort that has Buddy and Oscar both acting as soloists over larger backings directed by Garcia. Russ takes a lot of cues from Ralph Burns on the session – and like Burns on earlier Verve recordings, he sets things up so that the orchestrations never overwhelm the players – and instead simply augment their moods and shade in the colors of the tunes. We especially like Peterson in this format – as he was so often recorded heavily in trio format – but DeFranco is great too, snaking out over the top of the strings with a lean and angular tone on clarinet. Players include Herb Ellis, Ray Brown and Bobby White, augmented by wind & strings. Titles include "S Wonderful", "Strike Up The Band", "I Wants To Stay Here", "Someone To Watch Over Me", "I Was Doing All Right", "I Got Rhythm", "The Man I Love", and "It Ain't Necessarily So". LP, Vinyl record album

Great lost work by Buddy DeFranco – rare Verve sides recorded with Sonny Clark that show a whole new side of the clarinetist! Forget what you might think about his playing – because these tracks have a tight swinging boppish groove, and Clark's piano work makes the whole thing move nicely, without some of the hoke of other DeFranco sessions. The set (now out of print) has a total of 4CDs, and is filled with mostly master takes, plus a few unreleased tracks – and Sonny even plays a bit of organ too! Includes material that was originally on the albums Jazz Tones, In A Mellow Mood, Odalisque, Autumn Leaves, A Compendium Of Jazz, Cooking The Blues, Sweet & Lovely, and Anatomy Of Improvisation. Titles include "Cable Car", "Monogram", "Mine", "Titoro", "Sonny's Idea", "Cooking The Blues", and "Minor Incident". Great stuff! CD

A beautiful Buddy DeFranco album from the 70s – one that really shows a lot of change in his style since his better-known sessions of the 50s! The album's got Buddy using the clarinet in different ways than before – with snakier lines, and more exotic tones that get past the straighter swing of his roots – a cool style that almost seems inspired by new sounds coming from reedmen like Tony Scott at the time. Victor Feldman plays piano on the date, and also uses some electric keys too – and other group members include John Chiodini on guitar, Victor Sproles on bass, and Joe Cocuzzo on drums. Titles include the extended "Threat Of Freedom" suite, plus "Free Fall", "Free Sail", and "Yesterdays". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes the albums Buddy De Franco, The Artistry Of Buddy De Franco, Pretty Moods, Buddy De Franco & Oscar Peterson Play George Gershwin, Buddy De Franco Wailers, Mr Clarinet, Buddy De Franco & The Oscar Peterson Quartet. CD

With Jerry Coleman on drums. CD

Classic mid 50s jazz takes on Gershwin! As the title indicates, the session features Buddy DeFranco and Oscar Peterson – but the real guy we wanna thank here is arranger Russ Garcia! Unlike some of the other Verve "soloist with the Peterson Trio" albums of the 50s, this one is more of a shared effort that has Buddy and Oscar both acting as soloists over larger backings directed by Garcia. Russ takes a lot of cues from Ralph Burns on the session – and like Burns on earlier Verve recordings, he sets things up so that the orchestrations never overwhelm the players – and instead simply augment their moods and shade in the colors of the tunes. We especially like Peterson in this format – as he was so often recorded heavily in trio format – but DeFranco is great too, snaking out over the top of the strings with a lean and angular tone on clarinet. Players include Herb Ellis, Ray Brown and Bobby White, augmented by wind & strings. Titles include "S Wonderful", "Strike Up The Band", "I Wants To Stay Here", "Someone To Watch Over Me", "I Was Doing All Right", "I Got Rhythm", "The Man I Love", and "It Ain't Necessarily So". CD features 2 bonus tracks: alternate, slightly longer takes of "I Want To Stay Here" and "Someone To Watch Over Me". CD

A great reunion of Buddy DeFranco and Oscar Peterson – two players who recorded together famously for Verve in the 50s, working here on an 80s date under the supervision of old Verve head Norman Granz! The setting here is even more loose and laidback than in the 50s – that mellow Pablo Records mode that seems to bring in a lot more feeling to the players than some of their dates for other labels at the time – and Buddy's lost none of the charm in his tone, playing the clarinet with a soulful swing that's almost more like an alto sax at times! Other players include Joe Pass on guitar, Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass, and Martin Drew on drums – and titles include "Summer Me Winter You", "Llovisna", "By Myself", "Joy Spring", "All Too Soon", and "Hark". CD

Terry Gibbs on vibraphone, Buddy DeFranco on clarinet, Herb Ellis on guitar, Larry Novak on piano, Milt Hinton on bass, and Butch Miles on drums. CD

Terry Gibbs on vibes and Buddy DeFranco on clarinet – with Tom Ranier on piano, Dave Carpenter on bass, and Gerry Gibbs on drums. CD

Terry Gibbs on vibes, Buddy DeFranco on clarinet, Herb Ellis on guitar, Larry Novak on piano, Milt Hinton on bass, and Butch Miles on drums. CD

With Tatum on piano, DeFranco on clarinet, Red Callender on bass, and Bill Douglass on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

Although this set was issued in the 70s, it features some excellent rare early work by Tristano, originally recorded for Capitol in 1949. The material features a core of his early devotees – Lee Konitz, Warne Marsh, and Billy Bauer – and the selection of tracks includes 2 especially amazing tracks – "Intuition" and "Digression" – both of which were freely improvised in the studio during recording! Along with the other material in the set – "Yesterdays", "Wow", "Sax Of A Kind", and "Maironette" – the record's an essential one for any Tristano fan. The other side of the record features some slightly modernist stuff by Buddy DeFranco, and titles on that stuff include "Bird In Igor's Yard", "Extrovert", and "Aishie". LP, Vinyl record album

With Ray Santisi on piano, Johnny Chiodini on guitar, Mike Richmond on bass, and Randy Jones on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

Buddy DeFranco plays tunes associated with Artie Shaw – but in a completely different way than before – with a wider-open swing for the 50s! The work here is all small combo, not big band – and there's a free-flowing groove that's totally great – a sound that carries echoes of the earlier years, but which comes across with that modern inflection to swing that made Buddy's years at Verve so great. Few players could come up with a balance of modes as great as this – and DeFranco's clarinet is caught alongside trumpet from Ray Linn, guitar from Barney Kessel, and piano and harpsichord from Jimmy Rowles! CD

A great "birth of the cool" album from Capitol – a 10" record that brings together some key recordings from that pivotal jazz year of 1949! Titles include "Imagination" by a large group with Bill Harris in the lead on trombone; "Wow", "Marionette", and "Yesterdays" from a great Lennie Tristano group with Warne Marsh on tenor, Lee Konitz on alto, and Billy Bauer on guitar; "Boplicity" by Miles Davis with JJ Johnson and Lee Konitz; and "Penthouse Serenade", "Extrovert", and "Good For Nothin Joe" by a quintet with Buddy DeFranco on clarinet and Teddy Cohen on vibes. LP, Vinyl record album

Lesser known early-to-mid 50s orchestra work by the Count, featuring Wardell Gray on tenor sax, Buddy Defranco on clarinet, Clark Terry, and Buddy Rich on drums. This Japanese release features 14 fairly short pieces, most barely hit the three minute mark, and finds Basie at the height of the swinging 50s. Tracks include "Neal's Deal", "Bluebeard Blues", "The Golden Bullet", "I'm Confessin", "One O'Clock Jump", "Little White Lies", "Tootsie", "Howzit", "Nails", and "Little Pony". LP, Vinyl record album

Really beautiful duets – featuring John Horler on piano, and British reed great Tony Coe on clarinet – a fantastic player who gets one of his best showcases in many years on this set! Coe is fantastic here – blowing the clarinet with the dexterity of some of the best postwar American players – like Buddy DeFranco or Jimmy Giuffre – but with an understanding of more modern tonal elements, which are then blended with a sensitivity that's amazing – that great "second chapter" sort of sound that Coe developed during his fantastic work for the French Nato label from the 80s onwards. Even familiar tunes sound pretty incredible in the setting – and titles include "Re Person I Knew", "Body & Soul", "Some Other Autumn", "Piece For Poppy", "Around In Three", and "Dancing In The Dark". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful work from Jimmy Giuffre – and a key album in the development of his spare sound of the late 50s! The record features Jimmy on clarinet – as you'd guess by the title – but this is no hokey set of Benny Goodman or Buddy DeFranco-type tunes. Instead, Giuffre's using the clarinet in a way that predates 60s modernist styles – working in washes of sound and color that explore the instrument like few other players had even imagined at the time. The backing differs from track to track – as "So Low" features only a tapping foot behind Giuffre's clarinet, "Deep Purple" has backing on piano, and others like "The Sheepherder", "Quiet Cook", and "The Side Pipers" feature some larger group backing, often with no piano. LP, Vinyl record album

A great look at the work of bassist Scott LaFaro – a revolutionary talent in jazz, but one who was taken from us all too soon! LaFaro's probably best known for his work with Bill Evans – he was a key part of Evans' trio for a few short recordings – but he's also represented here in a variety of settings you might not expect – mostly west coast sessions, and with a variety of players that's stunning! As with other El Records sets, there's a nicely unbridled approach to the way the music is put together – summed up in the detailed booklet within – and the 3CD set features 39 tracks in all – with LaFaro playing in groups led by artists who include Ornette Coleman, Pat Moran, Stan Getz, Bill Evans, Tony Scott, Buddy DeFranco, Marty Paich, John Lewis, Cal Tjader, Hampton Hawes, Herb Geller, and Booker Little – all giants who really made the best use of LaFaro's talents. CD

Famous jam session material – with work by Cootie Williams, Harry Edison, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis on trumpets; JJ Johnson, Bill Harris, and Jack Teagarden on trombone; Charlie Parker and Johnny Hodges on alto; Billy Bauer on guitar, Buddy DeFranco on clarinet, Lennie Tristano on piano, and many others! LP, Vinyl record album

Includes 65 tracks by Kenny Burrell, Joe Pass, Oscar Peterson, Roy Eldridge, Coleman Hawkins, Chet Baker, Count Basie, Buddy DeFranco, Fred Astaire, Stan Getz, Lester Young, Dinah Washington, Mel Torme, and more. CD

A very cool little concept set – one that perfectly illustrates the jazz wars at the end of the 40s! Jimmy McPartland represents the "hot jazz" side, and Dizzy the "cool" – although the Gillespie approach is more bop than actual "cool jazz" – but you get the point! Each track has McPartland's group doing a trad version, then Dizzy's doing a bop version – and titles include "Indiana", "How High The Moon", "Muskrat Ramble", and "Battle Of The Blues" – each done in trad and bop takes. Other players include Don Elliott, Max Roach, Buddy DeFranco, Edmond Hall, and Vic Dickenson – and the recording appears to be live. LP, Vinyl record album

All Star sessions with Charlie Parker, Charlie Ventura, Harry Carney, Buddy DeFranco, Lennie Tristano, Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Navarro, Shelly Manne, Kai Winding, JJ Johnson, Rex Stewart, Johnny Hodges, Miles Davis, and more! LP, Vinyl record album

An array of late 40s/early 50s live peformances from Charlie Parker – including his well-known broadcast from the Finale Club in LA, plus material from 4 other locations! The Finale tracks are from 1946, and feature a group with Miles Davis on trumpet and Joe Albany on piano – on titles that include "All The Things You Are", "Blue N Boogie", "Anthropology", and "Ornithology". Next are 5 more from New Brunswick, NJ in 1950 – with players who include Jimmy Knepper on trombone and Al Haig on piano – on tracks that include "Parker's Mood", "Indiana", "S'Wonderful", and "I May Be Wrong". Next are two from the Valencia Theater in 1952 – with Bill Harris on trombone and Buddy DeFranco on clarinet, on the titles "Ornithology" and "Cool Blues". Two more follow from the Waldorf in 1949 – "Barbados" and "Anthropology" – with Kenny Dorham on trumpet and Lucky Thompson on tenor. Last up are 4 more titles that include "Body & Soul", "Ornithology", and "Cherokee" – recorded in 1946 at NBC in LA – with Benny Carter on alto on one number, Willie Smith on another, and rhythm from a group that includes Nat King Cole on piano and Oscar Moore on guitar. CD

A well-titled collection of work from Bud Powell – one that brings together a host of different bop-tinged sides, all from different points in his career! The first half of the set features a vintage 1948 broadcast from the Royal Roost – featuring Powell's piano in a larger group that includes Benny Harris on trumpet, JJ Johnson on trombone, Lee Konitz on alto, Budd Johnson on tenor, Cecil Payne on baritone, and Buddy DeFranco on clarinet – quite a lineup of heavyweight horn players, making for a flavor that's different than some of Bud's usual trio dates. Titles include "Perdido", "52nd Street Theme", "Ornithology", "I'll Be Seeing You", and "Jumping With Symphony Sid". Next up are a handful of 1959/1960 Parisian recordings with Pierre Michelot on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums – showing a more modern Powell than before, on titles that include "Blues In The Closet", "Confirmation", and "Now's The Time". Last is a batch of 4 live tracks recorded in Edenville, France – in 1964, shortly before Powell's death. Johnny Griffin joins the trio on a version of "Hot House" – and other titles include "Salt Peanuts", "Lady Bird", and "I Remember Clifford". CD

Dizzy really shone in settings like this – working with some of his most able peers, running easily through bop and swing material, and never making a single player feel unwelcome as he outblew them all! The 2LP set features the tune "Jam Blues", recorded in 1953 with a group that includes Ben Webster, Johnny Hodges, Roy Eldridge, Flip Phillips, and Jacquet – plus three more side-long titles ("Funky Blues 2", "Stompin At The Savoy (parts 1 & 2)", and "Lullaby In Rhythm"), recorded in 1954 with a group that includes Roy Eldridge, Buddy DeFranco, Flip Phillips, Herb Ellis, and Oscar Peterson. LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful work from Jimmy Giuffre – and a key album in the development of his spare sound of the late 50s! The record features Jimmy on clarinet – as you'd guess by the title – but this is no hokey set of Benny Goodman or Buddy DeFranco-type tunes. Instead, Giuffre's using the clarinet in a way that predates 60s modernist styles – working in washes of sound and color that explore the instrument like few other players had even imagined at the time. The backing differs from track to track – as "So Low" features only a tapping foot behind Giuffre's clarinet, "Deep Purple" has backing on piano, and others like "The Sheepherder", "Quiet Cook", and "The Side Pipers" feature some larger group backing, often with no piano. LP, Vinyl record album

Rare live work from Billie Holiday – mostly from the early 50s, but not issued until a few years after her death – in a well-done package from United Artists! The tunes were mostly recorded under the supervision of Leonard Feather – and come from two different German tour dates – one with Carl Drinkard on piano, Red Mitchell on bass, and Elaine Leighton on drums – the other with a larger group that features Sonny Clark and Beryl Booker on piano, Red Norvo on vibes, Buddy DeFranco on clarinet, and Jimmy Raney on guitar! The second set features longer tracks with a bit more improvisation – a nice treasure from these key years of Billie – on titles that include "Lover Come Back To Me" and "Billie's Blues". The trio sides are a bit more straight, but still plenty great – with titles that include "Blue Moon", "All Of Me", "My Man", "I Cover The Waterfront", and "I Cried For You". LP, Vinyl record album

Rare live work from Billie Holiday – mostly from the early 50s, but not issued until a few years after her death – in a well-done package from United Artists! The tunes were mostly recorded under the supervision of Leonard Feather – and come from two different German tour dates – one with Carl Drinkard on piano, Red Mitchell on bass, and Elaine Leighton on drums – the other with a larger group that features Sonny Clark and Beryl Booker on piano, Red Norvo on vibes, Buddy DeFranco on clarinet, and Jimmy Raney on guitar! The second set features longer tracks with a bit more improvisation – a nice treasure from these key years of Billie – on titles that include "Lover Come Back To Me" and "Billie's Blues". The trio sides are a bit more straight, but still plenty great – with titles that include "Blue Moon", "All Of Me", "My Man", "I Cover The Waterfront", and "I Cried For You". LP, Vinyl record album

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

An incredible document of a key genre in 50s jazz on record – the jam session tradition, recorded beautifully for Verve records by the legendary Norman Granz! The idea of a jam session was nothing new at the time, of course, but it was mostly a live phenomenon – known to players from concerts and club dates, or presented on vinyl by Granz, in his celebrated Jazz At The Philharmonic sessions. These dates mark a move into the studio by Granz – one that captures the same sort of energy and unique pairings of musicians that went down in the live sessions, with the added benefit of studio technology to make the work sound even clearer, and more intimate. The 5CD set brings together all 9 Jam Session albums – packaged beautifully in a slipcase with original album cover art, and a full 72 page booklet on the musicians, sessions, and titles included. Players include nearly everyone who might have worked for Verve in the 50s – Benny Carter, Charlie Parker, Johnny Hodges, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Buddy DeFranco, and countless others – and titles include "Jam Blues", "Funky Blues", "Apple Jam", "Blues For The Count", "Jamming For Clef", "Rose Room", "Blue Lou", and "Lullaby In Rhythm" – all in very long versions! CD

Lesser known early-to-mid 50s orchestra work by the Count, featuring Wardell Gray on tenor sax, Buddy Defranco on clarinet, Clark Terry, and Buddy Rich on drums. This Japanese release features 14 fairly short pieces, most barely hit the three minute mark, and finds Basie at the height of the swinging 50s. Tracks include "Neal's Deal", "Bluebeard Blues", "The Golden Bullet", "I'm Confessin", "One O'Clock Jump", "Little White Lies", "Tootsie", "Howzit", "Nails", and "Little Pony". LP, Vinyl record album

An easy-going, openly-swinging set from British reedman Sandy Brown – long live tracks that feature lots of deft clarinet work from Sandy, plus some tightly swinging rhythms from a combo that includes Ray Crane on trumpet, Brian Lemon on piano, Phil Bates on bass, and Mike Scott on drums! There's certainly trad roots to the music, but the execution is much more bop-inflected overall – especially given the long tracks that allow plenty of room for solo work – which almost gives the record the feel of a Buddy DeFranco appearance in a Verve Jam Session! Titles include "Splanky", "In The Evenin", "I Got It Bad", "Royal Garden Blues", and "Roll Em Pete". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful work from Jimmy Giuffre – and a key album in the development of his spare sound of the late 50s! The record features Jimmy on clarinet – as you'd guess by the title – but this is no hokey set of Benny Goodman or Buddy DeFranco-type tunes. Instead, Giuffre's using the clarinet in a way that predates 70s modernist styles – working in washes of sound and color that explore the instrument like few other players had even imagined at the time. The backing differs from track to track – as "So Low" features only a tapping foot behind Giuffre's clarinet, "Deep Purple" has backing on piano, and others like "The Sheeherder", "Quiet Cook", and "The Side Pipers" feature some lrger group backing, often with no piano. CD