A cool session by the Swingville All-Stars – lots of long trad tracks, led by Leonard Gaskin – and featuring Yank Lawson and Doc Cheatham on trumpets, Vic Dickenson and Cutty Cutshall on trombones, and Buster Bailey and Edmund Hall on clarinets. LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal bit of early soul jazz guitar work from Tiny Grimes – a player better known for his work in an R&B vein, but an excellent jazz-based talent on this tasty session! Tiny's working here with a group that includes Eddie Lockjaw Davis on tenor and Ray Bryant on piano, in a mode that opens up the album's 4 long tracks into freely flowing vehicles for improvisation. Trombonist JC Higginbotham brings a nice "bottom" sound to the record, making for a slightly unusual frontline – and titles include "Blue Tiny", "Callin The Blues", "Grimes Times", and "Airmail Special". LP, Vinyl record album

Great long jam session tracks – pulled from the albums Coleman Hawkins/Things Ain't What They Used To Be and Coleman Hawkins/Years Ago. Features Coleman Hawkins and Al Sears on tenor, Jimmy Hamilton and Pee Wee Russell on clarinet, Hilton Jefferson on alto, and Joe Newman on trumpet. CD

Great long jam session tracks – pulled from the albums Coleman Hawkins/Things Ain't What They Used To Be and Coleman Hawkins/Years Ago. Features Coleman Hawkins and Al Sears on tenor, Jimmy Hamilton on clarinet, Hilton Jefferson on alto, and Joe Thomas and Joe Newman on trumpets. LP, Vinyl record album

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Featuring special material by all-star groups that feature Al Sears, Coleman Hawkins, and Buddy Tate on tenor – plus Hilton Jefferson on alto, Jimmy Hamilton and Pee Wee Russell on clarinet, Tiny Grimes on guitar, and Joe Newman on trumpet! LP, Vinyl record album

With Baker and Cheatham on trumpet – plus Walter Bishop Jr. on piano, Wendell Marshall on bass, and JC Heard on drums. Titles include "Good Queen Bess", "Night Train", "Baker's Dozen", and "Chitlins". CD

Not the sprawling session you'd usually get from a record with "all stars" in the title, and instead a tight small group record that features Coleman Hawkins at his later best! The setting is an outwardly trad one – recorded for the Swingville label with Joe Thomas on trumpet and Vic Dickenson on trombone – but there's a decidedly modern feel to the way that Hawk opens up the tunes – that undercurrent of darkness in his best later work, accented nicely by a hip rhythm trio that features Tommy Flanagan on piano, Wendell Marshall on bass, and Osie Johnson on drums. Titles include "Cool Blue", "Some Stretching", "You Blew Out The Flame In My Heart", and "More Bounce To The Vonce". CD

Tight swing-based material from trumpeter Joe Newman, featuring Frank Foster as a very welcome bandmate in the frontline! The rest of the group includes Tommy Flanagan on piano, plus Eddie Jones on bass and Bill English on drums. The tracks have a nice open-ended quality, with good room for grooving and solos, and lots of nice tenor from Foster. Titles include "To Rigmor", "AM Romp", "Mo Lasses", and "Loop D Loop". LP, Vinyl record album

A later session of trad revival tunes – with Allen on trumpet, plus vocals on 2 tracks, and a laidback trio that includes Lannie Scott on piano, Jerry Potter on bass, and Frank Skeete on drums. Tracks include "There's A House In Harlem", "I Ain't Got Nobody", "Sleepytime Gal", "Cherry", "Just In Time", and "Biffly Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

A 2-fer set from the 70s – with 2 great older albums from Buck & Buddy! First up is the self-titled Buck & Buddy – beautiful blowing from Buck Clayton and Buddy Tate – captured here in the relaxed, easy-going setting of the Swingville label! The album's got a lot more charm than some of Clayton's sides for Columbia – a bit more mellow, with the kind of after hours feel that lets players like these show their strongest suits on their instruments. Clayton plays trumpet, Tate tenor – and rhythm is from the trio of Sir Charles Thompson on piano, Gene Ramey on bass, and Mousie Alexander on drums. Titles include "High Life", "Birdland Betty", "Can't We Be Friends", and "Kansas City Nights". Next Is Buck & Buddy Blow The Blues – a romping little session from Buck Clayton and Buddy Tate – served up in a looser, more relaxed setting than the former's albums for Columbia, and a slightly more swing-based mode than the latter's dates for Chess! Both horn players get plenty of room to solo in the open-ended Swingville mode – Buck on trumpet and Buddy on both tenor and clarinet – and the group's a nice one too, since Sir Charles Thompson's playing piano, Gene Ramey's on bass, and Gus Johnson's on drums. Titles include "Blue Creek", "Blue Breeze", "Blue Ebony", "Rompin At Red Bank", and "Dallas Delight". LP, Vinyl record album

A key later album from alto saxophonist Benny Carter – one that has him at the helm of a largeish group, but playing with a nicely focused sort of groove! In addition to Benny's alto, the record also features tenor sax from Charlie Rouse and Coleman Hawkins, plus one more alto from Phil Woods – supported by rhythm from John Collins on guitar, Dick Katz on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Jo Jones on drums. The tunes are traditional, but have some sharper-edged modern ideas on some of the solos – and there's a nicely echoey feel to the production, which further adds to the quality of the record. The album's a bit like a Swingville session for Prestige, but has a bit more going on – and titles include "Doozy", "Blue Star", "Midnight Sun Will Never Set", and "Crazy Rhythm". LP, Vinyl record album

Candy Johnson is one of those hard-wailing tenorists who came up in the 40s – blowing strong enough to really stand out in the space of a bigger band, and really paving the way for R&B and soul jazz to come with his tight, powerful sound on the saxophone! This set brings Candy back into the spotlight after some time away from the studio – and really gives him a wonderful workout, in a trio headed by Hammond player Milt Buckner, featuring Clarence Gatemouth Brown on guitar and Michael Silva on drums. Given Brown's presence, there's some occasional blues elements in the mix – but overall, the record's got a vibe that's like some of those Prestige/Swingville sessions from the early 60s – when players from bigger groups were given a chance to stretch out in a more soulful small group setting. Johnson definitely does that here – and really wins us over with his sound – on titles that include "Freight Train", "Candy's Mood", "Jersey Bounce", "Girl From Ipanema", and "Until The Real Thing Comes Along". CD features the unissued "Tuxedo Junction", plus three more unissued alternate takes! CD

The title tells the tale on this one – as the session's a studio meeting of players all associated with Count Basie over the years – captured here in a style that's much more laidback and relaxed than the usual Basie set! Originally issued as 2 separate LPs a year apart, and both have the feel of Prestige's best work in the Swingville series. The set has an approach more in the blowing session mode, with long tracks on the album that really let each player step out in their own voice. Players include Paul Quinichette, Shad Collins, Buck Clayton, Jack Washington, Nat Pierce, Freddie Greene, Walter Page, Eddie Jones and Jo Jones. 10 numbers in all including "Rock-A-Bye Basie", "Texas Shuffle", "Out The Window", "Jive At Five", "Diggin' For Dex", "Blues I Love To Hear", "Love Jumped Out", "John's Idea", "Roseland Shuffle" and "Baby Don't Tell On Me". LP, Vinyl record album

Live and studio material from the legendary Jazz From A Swinging Era tour of Europe in 1967 – played by an assortment of all-star jazzmen that includes Buck Clayton, Earl Hines, Roy Eldridge, Sir Charles Thompson, Vick Dickenson, Budd Johnson, and Bud Freeman! The format for these tunes is really great – much more open and loose than before, in a way that's a bit like some of the Swingville recordings done by Prestige at the start of the 60s. Players are group into smaller combos for the sessions – so that there's plenty of solo room, even on the shorter tunes – and great space and sound quality that lets the instrumentalists come alive with a tremendous amount of voice and character. We're normally not big fans of this sort of set, and aren't automatically lovers of more traditional jazz – but these tracks have a really great sound that makes us completely put aside preexisting prejudice! 2CD set brings together both albums worth of studio material cut in Paris on March 12, 1967 – plus additional live material recorded from the same tour just a few weeks later. 27 tracks in all – including "Swingville", "Into The Blues Bag", "Rosetta", "Swingin The Blues", "Tres Chaud", "3D's In 2B Time", "I'll Try", "Night Cap", "Lester Leaps In", and "If I Had You". CD

Trumpeter Bill Coleman was one of many American players that made their home in Paris during the postwar years – and like many of his contemporaries on the scene, he cut some of his finest work in the city's rich sympathetic scene. This album's probably Coleman's finest – and it has a moody laidback sound that reminds us of the best albums on the Prestige Swingville label from the early 60s. No surprise that Coleman's got some strong backing by some of the Prestige crowd – including US jazz talents like Budd Johnson on tenor, Patti Brown on piano, Les Spann on guitar, and Quentin Jackson on trombone. The style of the set is a mixture of swing and hardbop – but the open-endedness of some of the tracks goes way past any easy marks that you might put on the music, pushing it into the full range of styles promised by the title. Titles include "Bill, Budd & Butter", "Afromotive In Blue", "From Boogie To Funk (part 1: the blues)", "From Boogie To Funk (part 2: the boogie)", "Have Blues Will Play 'Em" and "Colemanology". LP, Vinyl record album

2 great sessions pulled from the Swingville catalog of Prestige Records – both of which feature heavy tenor sax from the great Buddy Tate! Yes Indeed was issued under the leadership of pianist Claude Hopkins – and although it's a showcase for his skills on the keys, Buddy Tate also gets in plenty of space as well – blowing with a deep-toned tenor style that's made even better by the slight echo used in the recording! Other players include Emmett Berry on trumpet, Wendell Marshall on bass, and Osie Johnson on drums – and tracks include "Is It So", "Yes Indeed", "Willow Weep For Me", "Empty Bed Blues", and "It Don't Mean A Thing". Tate A Tate is a tightly swinging set that makes wonderful use of the tenor sax of Buddy Tate – recorded in a swing-based mode that's very much in the same spirit Verve was using with players of his vintage, but in a style that's slightly rougher around the edges! The whole thing's got a nicely echoing sound that lets Tate's tenor ring out nicely amidst small group backing from Clark Terry on trumpet, Tommy Flanagan on piano, Larry Gales on bass, and Art Taylor on drums. Tracks are a mix of shorter numbers and a few especially nice long ones – and titles include "Groun Hog", "#20 Ladbroke Square", "All Too Soon", and "Snatchin It Back". CD

A key later album from alto saxophonist Benny Carter – one that has him at the helm of a largeish group, but playing with a nicely focused sort of groove! In addition to Benny's alto, the record also features tenor sax from Charlie Rouse and Coleman Hawkins, plus one more alto from Phil Woods – supported by rhythm from John Collins on guitar, Dick Katz on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Jo Jones on drums. The tunes are traditional, but have some sharper-edged modern ideas on some of the solos – and there's a nicely echoey feel to the production, which further adds to the quality of the record. The album's a bit like a Swingville session for Prestige, but has a bit more going on – and titles include "Doozy", "Blue Star", "Midnight Sun Will Never Set", and "Crazy Rhythm". CD

One of the best soul jazz sides on the Black & Blue label – a great late 60s session from trumpeter Johnny Letman – one of a number of older American ex-patriots in Paris! Although Letman worked with Horace Henderson, Basie, and Cab Calloway, he really didn't make many recordings as a leader – but he really shines on this laidback session – blowing in a mellow and open-ended way that reminds us of some of the Prestige/Swingville sides of the early 60s. The group here includes Hal Singer on tenor, Tiny Grimes on guitar, and Milt Bucker on piano and organ – and titles include "Funky Day In Paris", "Po Man's Blues", and "On A Persian Market". LP, Vinyl record album

Two swinging killers from the great Buddy Tate – a tenor talent with a sound to transcend generations! First up is the obscure Swingville album Tate's Date – a set that has Buddy working with Pat Jenkins on trumpet, Ben Richardson on alto and baritone, and Eli Robinson on trombone – all with rhythm from Sakik Hakim on piano, Wendell Marshall on bass, and Osie Johnson on drums. The group's a bit fuller than the usual Swingville session, but Hakim's gentle approach to the piano makes for a nicely personal sort of feel here – one that touches the bolder horn passages with a good degree of sensitivity, and which pushes the group into plenty of playful riffs! Titles include "Blow Low", "Idling", "Me N You", and "No Kidding". Groovin With Buddy Tate is a very nicely grooving set from Buddy Tate – recorded in a mellow laidback way that has him soloing with room and a down-home spirit that you don't always find on some of his other albums from the time. Tate plays tenor and clarinet – and the interesting quintet includes Ronnell Bright on piano, Wally Richardson on guitar, and Roy Brooks on drums. Titles include "The Salt Mines", "A Lucky So & So","Blues For Trix", and "Overdrive". CD