CD-Charts Position 31
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People Time

CD-Charts > Music > Bebop
by: Stan Getz, Kenny Barron

Release Date March 03, 1992
Massively recommended. These were Getz's final recordings, three months before his death. A duo performance is never easy. The increased workload must have put tremendous strain on his health but you would never know from listening to this exquisite live double CD. Fourteen tracks, culled from four consecutive nights at the Cafe Montmartre in Copenhagen, show Getz at his most
majestic. The wonderful Kenny Barron on piano shows complete empathy with Getz, and the interplay between them is perfect. This is exemplified by the ballad 'First Song'. It is a total masterpiece.

CD-Charts Position 32
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The Shearing Piano

CD-Charts > Music > Bebop
by: George Shearing

Release Date June 04, 2001
This gem is a lucid, intelligent and romantic twenty-track take on American standards which far surpasses expectations.

I got the album on the cheap, and the fact that no-one else on Amazon had reviewed it coupled with its absence in most jazz encyclopedias (supposedly not in the top tier of Shearing releases) made me think I'd acquired a cruise-ship easy listening CD full of filler... However, although some of the moods do lean towards cocktail music, this release is a studied and beautiful interpretation of the American songbook. I would liken this to third stream rather than easy listening - note Shearing's quotations of Rachmaninov and Satie - and would wholeheartedly recommend it to fans of Bill Evans and of romantic classical ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 33
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West Coast Jazz

CD-Charts > Music > Bebop
by: Stan Getz

Release Date May 25, 1999
This gem is a lucid, intelligent and romantic twenty-track take on American standards which far surpasses expectations.

I got the album on the cheap, and the fact that no-one else on Amazon had reviewed it coupled with its absence in most jazz encyclopedias (supposedly not in the top tier of Shearing releases) made me think I'd acquired a cruise-ship easy listening CD full of filler... However, although some of the moods do lean towards cocktail music, this release is a studied and beautiful interpretation of the American songbook. I would liken this to third stream rather than easy listening - note Shearing's quotations of Rachmaninov and Satie - and would wholeheartedly recommend it to fans of Bill Evans and of romantic classical ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 34
Average Rating:

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Ella and Oscar [European Import]

CD-Charts > Music > Bebop
by: Ella Fitzgerald/Oscar Peterson - "Listen" takes you to an Ellington disk

Release Date November 14, 2006
Ella and Oscar, and nine classic songs. Almost 45 minutes of Ella`s wonderful vocals wrapped around Oscar`s sensitive piano playing(or vice-versa?)Sometimes it`s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins,such is the exquisite interweaving of voice and piano.On four tracks they are assisted by bassist Ray Brown. They don`t make them like this anymore!The new 20 bit remastering is first class. A classic for your collection,and absolutely timeless.

CD-Charts Position 35
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Genius of Modern Music Vol.1: Remastered

CD-Charts > Music > Bebop
by: Thelonious Monk

Release Date August 13, 2001
This first volume of recordings is an essential purchase for any Jazz fan capturing Thelonious Monk in the very early days of be-bop, playing many of his most famous tunes.

Recorded in October and November 1947 in New York City, the album features the following musicians:
Thelonious Monk - Piano
Art Blakey - drums,
Gene Ramey, Bob Paige - bass
Idrees Sulieman, George Tait - Trumpet
Danny Quebec West, Sahib Shihab - Alto Sax

Baring mind the age of the recordings the sound quality is remarkably good and of course Monks distinctive compositions and playing dominate proceedings. Of the non-Monk tunes perhaps the best are his versions of Gershwins "Nice Work..." which he takes to another place ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 36
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Blues on Bach

CD-Charts > Music > Bebop
by: Modern Jazz Quartet

Release Date September 23, 2002
This is the coolest record I've ever heard: it can sooth you no matter how wound up you get.

The Modern Jazz Quartet, playing keyboards, vibraharp, double-bass and percussion have produced this little album of nine separate tracks. Each track is based on a tune, mostly from the works of Bach (though there are a couple of new ones), which is developed into about single length. They capture completely in spirit what the composer Bach has come to mean to a modern audience - both the serenity and the emotional depth.

I'm sure I've heard these tracks more than once as movie scores (or at least the scores were heavilly influenced by them).

The only annoying detail is the occasional use of sleigh bells, which can be a ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 37
Average Rating:

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The Best of the Modern Jazz Quartet

CD-Charts > Music > Bebop
by: Modern Jazz Quartet

Release Date November 15, 1991
Reviewer: Alejandra Vernon "www.avernon.com" (Long Beach, California) - See all my reviews

There is an elegance and streamlined purity to this marvelous compilation of cuts from two albums. Three tracks are from "Together Again", recorded in 1984: # 2, "Connie's Blues" and # 6, "Echoes" both by Milt Jackson, and # 7, bassist Percy Heath's "The Watergate Blues".
Four tracks have been culled from "Topsy: This One's for Basie" recorded in 1985: # 1, "Valeria" and # 3, "Le Cannet", both by John Lewis, # 4, Jackson's "Reunion Blues", and # 5, the great theme song from the film "The Boy with Green Hair" and hit for Nat King Cole, "Nature Boy" (Eden-Ahbez), here featuring a simple but luminous rendition by Jackson.

This ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 38
Average Rating:

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Compact Jazz: Modern Jazz Quartet Plus

CD-Charts > Music > Bebop
by: The Modern Jazz Quartet

Release Date October 25, 1990
Reviewer: Alejandra Vernon "www.avernon.com" (Long Beach, California) - See all my reviews

There is an elegance and streamlined purity to this marvelous compilation of cuts from two albums. Three tracks are from "Together Again", recorded in 1984: # 2, "Connie's Blues" and # 6, "Echoes" both by Milt Jackson, and # 7, bassist Percy Heath's "The Watergate Blues".
Four tracks have been culled from "Topsy: This One's for Basie" recorded in 1985: # 1, "Valeria" and # 3, "Le Cannet", both by John Lewis, # 4, Jackson's "Reunion Blues", and # 5, the great theme song from the film "The Boy with Green Hair" and hit for Nat King Cole, "Nature Boy" (Eden-Ahbez), here featuring a simple but luminous rendition by Jackson.

This ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 39
Average Rating:

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An Evening at...

CD-Charts > Music > Bebop
by: Mel Torme and George Shearing

Release Date July 01, 1988
If I was granted one chance to travel back in time, I'd be sitting in the audience at a Tormé/Shearing gig. I think the collection of Mel & George recordings on Concord should have a mention in any history of 20th century music. Two artists, and they really are artists, at the top of their game with boundless enthusiasm for 'The American Songbook'. One of the things I've always loved about these guys is that they seem unable to play one song at a time - one or two more usually sneak in and spotting the lines stolen from other songs is great fun. Of the half-dozen albums they made together, this is one of the more informal, and the recording quality is excellent. Every number is top-notch, but the opening mix of 'Just One of Those Things' and 'On ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 40
Average Rating:

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Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas

CD-Charts > Music > Bebop
by: Kenny Burrell

Release Date October 21, 2003
If I was granted one chance to travel back in time, I'd be sitting in the audience at a Tormé/Shearing gig. I think the collection of Mel & George recordings on Concord should have a mention in any history of 20th century music. Two artists, and they really are artists, at the top of their game with boundless enthusiasm for 'The American Songbook'. One of the things I've always loved about these guys is that they seem unable to play one song at a time - one or two more usually sneak in and spotting the lines stolen from other songs is great fun. Of the half-dozen albums they made together, this is one of the more informal, and the recording quality is excellent. Every number is top-notch, but the opening mix of 'Just One of Those Things' and 'On ... Read More: