Johnny Hodges side by side

Swing Music

The swing music craze was just one aspect of a larger context at work.

Swing Music

It was a spirit that burst wide open in America between late 1934 and through 1936 and fed a whole vocabulary of cultural change. A fresh and urgent sense of modernism, inspired by new rules of motion and design, touched the work of the best young musicians, painters, sculptors, film makers, industrial designers like some invisible hand – in fact, every important creative center of popular culture.

To wit, as swing music began sweeping the country on NBC, the first Budd Zephyrs went into service and bullet-like DC-3’s replaced the boxy Ford tri-moters in aviation. Through 1935 and 1936 streamlining influenced everything from vacuum cleaner design to the Johnson’s Wax Building. The first Flash Gordon movies were released in April 1936. And the next month, as Benny Goodman wrapped his precedent-shattering six months in Chicago, Santa Fe launched America’s first diesel streamliner, the Super Chief.

All were expressions of a new futuristic physics of motion that promised the lean velocity and organic perfection of a bird in flight. What the machine age had wrought in the realm of function, artists were now shaping into a series of self-consciously aerodynamic illusions that implied movement even when standing still. The sleek, legato flow of swing music was an independent but direct extension of that modernistic sensibility into music. – John McDonough

BENNY CARTER
3,4,5 SMALL GROUP SESSIONS
A previously unissued trio session with Teddy Wilson and Jo Jones, a quartet date with Don Abney, George Duvivier and Louis Bellson and three tunes from a quintet date with Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown and Bobby White , all from the fall of 1954, form this 19-track program. The spotlight is on Carter’s exquisite alto saxophone.

BENNY CARTER
SWINGIN THE TWENTIES

Two giants Benny Carter and Earl Hines kick back and explore twenties material on this relaxed, swinging 1958 session with Leroy Vinnegar and Shelly Manne. 

CHARLIE CHRISTIAN
ELECTRIC
This unique collection starts with, in incredibly good sound that eclipses all previously issues, the incredible September 24, 1939 Minneapolis jazz session with jazz legend Charlie Christian, Jerry Jeriome, Frankie Hines and Oscar Pettiford. Thirteen features various radio broadcasts by the Benny Goodman Sextet featuring Christian, Lionel Hampton and Fletcher Henderson or Johnny Guarnieri on piano.

CHARLIE CHRISTIAN
AFTER HOURS
Jam sessions from Minton’s and Monroe’s in 1941 by Christian, Dizzy Gillespie, Don Byas, Joe Guy and others. The first of Jerry Newman’s location recordings to be issued. Christian’s extended guitar solos on these early swing-to-bop jams are outstanding!

BUCK CLAYTON
BUCK & BUDDY
This 1961 quintet date feature Buck and fellow-Basie-ite Buddy Tate with Sir Charles Thompson on piano, Gene Ramey on bass and Mousey Alexander on drums for some wonderful, relaxed swing.

BUCK CLAYTON
GOIN’ TO KANSAS CITY
Reedman-vibist-arranger Tommy Gwaltney assembled this nine-piece band around Buck Clayton and Dicky Wells with Charlie Byrd and John Bunch among the cast. The jazz music of Kansas City in the ’30s is celebrated with versions of lesser-known gems by Wells, Basie, Jay McShann, Bennie Moten and Mary Lou Williams.

BUCK CLAYTON & BUDDY
BLOW THE BLUES
A soulful, relaxed blues date by Buck and fellow-Basie-ite, Texas tenor man Buddy Tate with Sir Charles Thompson on piano, Gene Ramey on bass and Gus Johnson on drums.

BUCK CLAYTON
THE ESSENTIAL
These treasured ’50s mainstream swing recordings, produced by John Hammond, emphasize quality solos rather than pyrotechnics. Sidemen include Mel Powell, Vic Dickenson, Earle Warren, Buddy Tate and Ruby Braff.

EDDIE LOCKJAW DAVIS
VERY SAXY
Lockjaw’s quartet with Shirley Scott, George Duvivier and Arthur Edgehill is joined by Coleman Hawkins, Arnett Cobb and Buddy Tate for five incredible and exciting performances  by masters of swing and blues. This is an historic meeting of four of the truly great big-toned swing tenor men.

DUKE ELLINGTON
INTIMACY OF BLUES
Duke Ellington, the underrated pianist, recorded this jazz record in Los Angeles with Aaron Bell and Sam Woodyard. He plays three standards and introduces eight new compositions. 

DUKE ELLINGTON
PIANO IN FOREGROUND
Half of the disc features a wonderful 1967 octet with jazz musicians Cat Anderson, Lawrence Brown, Johnny Hodges, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney, Ellington, John Lamb and Rufus Jones performing Strayhorn’s title tune and 5 marvelous Ellington pieces that comprise “The Combo Suite.”  The balance of these small group sides were recorded in 1970 and range from new pieces like “Noon Mooning,” “Rockochet” and “Tippy-toeing Through The Jungle Garden” to classics like “All Too Soon.”  Gonsalves and Lawrence Brown and the principal soloists and Ellington experiments with various combinations, sometimes using two bassists or adding Wild Bill Davis on organ.

BENNY GOODMAN
COMPLETE SMALL GROUP
All 49 masters plus 18 surviving alternate takes from Benny Goodman’s seminal `30s trio and quartet sessions for Victor have been newly transfered and presented in chronological order in this definitive 3-CD set. The 1935-37 group with Teddy Wilson, Lionel Hampton and Gene Krupa occupy the first two CDs. Martha Tilton and Ziggy Elman guest on “Bei Mir Bist Du Shoen”. The 1938-39 sessions on CD 3 include Hampton, Wilson or Jess Stacy, Dave Tough and John Kirby. Includes the original versions of “Moonglow,” “China Boy,” “Runnin’ Wild,” and “Lady Be Good.”

BENNY GOODMAN
COMPLETE CAPITOL TRIOS
In the late thirties, Benny Goodman’s trio with Teddy Wilson and Gene Krupa was the first integrated group to tour the United States.  It was also a great musical vehicle for Goodman’s and Wilson’s impeccable improvisations.  When Goodman signed with Capitol in 1946, one of his first projects was a reunion with Teddy Wilson that resulted in ten superb performances including “After Hours,” “All I Do Is Dream Of You” and “Stompin’ At The Savoy,” and another trio session that same year with Goodman’s then regular pianist Jimmy Rowles.  In 1954, Benny recreated many of his greatest hits on “Goodman in Hi-Fi” and used the brilliant Mel Powell to record such trio classics as “There’ll Be Some Changes Made,” “Rose Room” and “What Can I Say After I Say I’m Sorry.”

COLEMAN HAWKINS
THE GENIUS OF
The father of the tenor saxophone displays his genius on 12 standards, accomapnied on this excellent October 16, 1957 session by Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown and Alvin Stoller.

COLEMAN HAWKINS
AT EASE
A relaxed 1960 session by this great tenor saxophonist with supported by the superb rhythm section of Tommy Flanagan, Wendell Marshall and Osie Johnson. The focus is on standard ballads and Hawk is in excellent form.

COLEMAN HAWKINS & BEN WEBSTER
ENCOUNTERS
Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster in a wonderful 1957 session with Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown and Alvin Stoller. Rarified music by master.

EARL HINES
A MONDAY DATE
This live 1961 sextet recording from The Birdhouse in Chicago with Eddie Smith, Jimmy Archey, Darnell Howard, Pops Foster and Earl Watkins revisits such classics as “West End Blues,” “Caution Blues” and “Clarinet Marmarade” with Hines in superb form.

EARL HINES
PLAYS ELLINGTON
Recorded for Master Jazz Records over four sessions between 1971 and 1975, these solo piano recordings allow us to eavesdrop on one master studying another. Hines tackles tunes he knew well and tunes learned for the sessions with pure mastery. All 30 performances are gathered on this 3-CD set.

EARL HINES
BLUES & THINGS
This 1967 session for Master Jazz finds Hines’s working quartet with Budd Johnson joined by Jimmy Rushing for four songs. A warm, swinging session by musical giants.

JOHNNY HODGES
USED TO BE DUKE
In 1954, still on hiatus from the Ellington orchestra, Hodges led his strong little band on this album with trumpeter Shorty Baker, trombonist Lawrence Brown, baritone saxophonist Harry Carney, bassist John Williams, drummer Louis Bellson, either Call Cobbs or Richie Powell on piano and either Jimmy Hamilton or John Coltrane on tenor. Simply great small group swing by one of the lyrical masters of jazz music.

JOHNNY HODGES
SIDE BY SIDE
This jazz record contains three more tunes from the Ellington-Hodges “Back To Back” session and 6 others by a septet that features Ben Webster and Billy Strayhorn.

JOHNNY HODGES
PASSION FLOWER
The absolute cream of this alto saxophonist’s many Victor and Bluebird recordings with Duke Ellington in the `40s. It includes the 1940-41 small-group sides originally issued under Hodges’s name with Cootie Williams or Ray Nance, Lawrence Brown, Harry Carney, Duke Ellington, Jimmy Blanton and Sonny Greer  and big band classics from Ellington’s pace-setting organization.

GENE KRUPA
DRUM BATTLE
This 1952 Carnegie Hall JATP concert features the Gene Krupa Trio with Willie Smith and Hank Jones, the amazing “Drum Battle” between Krupa and Buddy Rich and an all-star version of “Perdido” with Ella Fitzgerald, Roy Eldridge, Charlie Shavers, Benny Carter, Willie Smith, Flip Phillips, Lester Young, Oscar Peterson, Barney Kessel, Ray Brown, and both drummers.

GENE KRUPA
GENE KRUPA & BUDDY RICH
This 1955 studio get-together reads like the JATP all-stars. Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Illinois Jacquet, Flip Phillips, Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis and Ray Brown complete the band.

JAY MCSHANN
GOING TO KANSAS CITY
Pure Kansas City jazz from the masters. McShann is joined by saxophonists Buddy Tate and Julian Dash, bassist Gene Ramey and drummer Gus Johnson for this easy, swinging session that includes “Blue And Sentimental,” “Doggin’ Around,” “Hootie’s Ignorant Oil” and “Moten Swing.” A 1972 Master Jazz session.

RED NORVO
MODERN RED NORVO
The first eight tracks on this collection comprise Norvo’s 1944 Comet date with Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Flip Phillips, Teddy Wilson, Slam Stewart and J.C. Heard or Specs Powell. The remaining 33 tracks are from the Discovery sessions by the great 1950-51 trio with Tal Farlow and Charles Mingus that swung incredibly hard despite the absence of a drummer. Many of the songs are heard in two takes because it was a recent discovery that many of the original singles had shorter different takes than the later LPs. This trio was one of the greatest small groups in jazz history.

HOT LIPS PAGE
AFTER HOURS
Live 1940-41 sessions at Jerry Newman’s home and Minton’s Playhouse with Thelonious Monk, Tiny Grimes, Herbie Fields and Joe Guy. Although recorded on a portable disc player, the music far outweighs the sonic imperfections.

DJANGO REINHARDT
FIRST RECORDINGS!
12 of the original 1934-35 Ultraphone recordings by the Quintet of the Hot Club Of France with Stephane Grappelli including “Dinah,” “Avalon,” “Lady Be Good” and “Smoke Rings.”

DJANGO REINHARDT
SWING ’39
The 1939 edition of the Quintet Of The Hot Club Of France with master and alternate takes from French Decca 78s. The group was reaching its pinnacle at this juncture and the tandem of Reinhardt and Grappelli are shown here with fascinating alternate takes on “Jeepers Creepers”, “Japanese Sandman” and “My Melancholy Baby” plus 14 others.

DJANGO REINHARDT
DJANGOLOGY
The marathon 1949 sessions in Rome by Django and Stephane Grappelli produced an amazing body of music inlcuding originals from their Hot Club Quintet days. Twenty-three of the best performances have been gathered on this newly remastered CD.

GEORGE RUSSELL
STRATUS SEEKERS
This 1962 sextet with Don Ellis, Garnett Brown, Paul Plummer, Steve Swallow and Pete LaRoca includes an amazingly tranformed version of Charlie Parker’s “Au Privave” and a powerful, haunting arrangement of “You Are My Sunshine” with Sheila Jordan added.

PEE WEE RUSSELL
JAMS IN SWINGVILLE
Two relaxed, wonderful 1961 all-star jam sessions by swing masters. The personnel on the first one is Joe Newman, J.C. Higginbotham, Jimmy Hamilton (who also arranged), Hilton Jefferson, Coleman Hawkins, Claude Hopkins, Tiny Grimes, Wendell Marshall and Bill English. The personnel on the second is Joe Thomas, Vic Dickenson, Pee Wee Russell, Al Sears (who also arranged), Buddy Tate, Cliff Jackson, Danny Barker, Joe Benjamin and J.C. Heard.

P. RUSSELL
JAZZ ORIGINAL
Twenty-two selected Commodore masters and alternate takes featuring choice solos from this most iconoclastic clarinetist. These tracks are drawn from sessions by Eddie Condon, Muggsy Spanier and Wild Bill Davison as well as Russell’s own

ARTIE SHAW
COMPLETE GRAMERCY FIVE
The 8 sides from 1940 with Billy Butterfield, Al Hendrickson and Johnny Guarnieri and the 7 sides from 1945 with Roy Eldridge, Dodo Marmarosa and Barney Kessel. Small-group swing at its best.

ART TATUM
GROUP MASTERPIECES VOL 7
Clarinetist DeFranco’s chops and harmonic knowledge go head to head with Tatum on this inspired quartet session by kindred spirits. Red Callender is on bass and Bill Douglass is on drums.

ART TATUM
GROUP MASTERPIECES VOL 8
This relaxed session finds the piano virtuoso matched with the warm, concise tenor saxophone of Ben Webster. Every track is a gem. “My One And Only Love” is a masterpiece. Red Callender is on bass and Bill Douglass is on drums.

BEN WEBSTER
KING OF THE TENORS
Two 1953 dates with Oscar Peterson, joined by Harry “Sweets” Edison and Benny Carter.

BEN WEBSTER
SOULVILLE
Best known for its aptly named title tune, this 1957 date with Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown and Stan Levey has a healthy helping of magnificent ballads like “Time On My Hands,” “Where Are You” and “Ill Wind.”

BEN WEBSTER
SEE YOU AT THE FAIR
This 1964 quartet album with Hank Jones and Roger Kellaway alternating on piano is an absolute gem with gorgeous versions of :”Someone To Watch Over Me”, “The Single Petal Of A Rose” and “Our Love Is Here To Stay.”

LESTER YOUNG
COMPLETE ALADDIN
This set includes the magnificent 1942 trio session with Nat Cole, the Helen Humes session (with a newly discovered instrumental), and all seven small-group sessions led by Young between 1945 and `47. These sessions, which spawned such classics as “D.B. Blues” and “Jumpin’ With Symphony Sid”, include Vic Dickenson, Willie Smith, Joe Albany and Roy Haynes among the sidemen.

LESTER YOUNG
TRIO WITH NAT KING COLE & BUDDY RICH
The second great collaboration of Lester Young and Nat Cole (the first was on Aladdin) took place in 1946 with Buddy Rich on drums. This release  also resurrects the very rare 1943 Dexter Gordon session with Harry Sweets Edison and Nat King Cole Trio.

LESTER YOUNG
PRES AND TEDDY
This marvelous collaboration with Teddy Wilson features the world-class  support from Gene Ramey and Jo Jones on 6 beautiful standards.

LESTER YOUNG
OSCAR PETERSON TRIO
This 1952 session, originally issued as two 10″ LPs, captures Pres in all his lyrical beauty on 13 timeless standards, accompanied by Oscar Peterson, Barney Kessel, Ray Brown and J.C. Heard.

LESTER YOUNG
LAUGHIN’ TO KEEP FROM CRYING
This wonderful 1958 septet date with Sweets Edison, Roy Eldridge and Hank Jones includes two clarinet features by this tenor master.

LESTER YOUNG
COMPLETE SAVOY
The first disc covers Young’s 1944 sessions with the Johnny Guarnieri sextet, a big band of Basie-ites led by Earle Warren and Lester’s quintet featuring Basie himself. The second CD jumps to 1949 for a studio session by his sextet with Jesse Drakes, Junior Mance and Roy Haynes and a live 1950 Chicago performance with Drakes, Kenny Drew and Jo Jones.

LESTER YOUNG, ELRIDGE, EDISON
LAUGIN
This wonderful 1958 septet date with Sweets Edison, Roy Eldridge and Hank Jones includes two clarinet features by this tenor master.

LESTER YOUNG
COMPLETE SAVOY-2
The first disc covers Young’s 1944 sessions with the Johnny Guarnieri sextet, a big band of Basie-ites led by Earle Warren and Lester’s quintet featuring Basie himself. The second CD jumps to 1949 for a studio session by his sextet with Jesse Drakes, Junior Mance and Roy Haynes and a live 1950 Chicago performance with Drakes, Kenny Drew and Jo Jones.