Artist: Tommy Dorsey & Jimmy Dorsey

Brothers Up In Arms, 2007-06-27
The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra was something of a misnomer, because the younger Tommy was effectively the boss, and the arguments that situation engendered led to he and Jimmy going their separate ways in 1935. This set includes recordings from their joint venture, but concentrates for the most part on the peak recordings each achieved thereafter in his own right. The result enables us to appreciate a variety of moods, from sweet and sentimental to outright jazz, spanning a period of some eighteen years. Jimmy tended to place more emphasis on the vocals, but Tommy made up for lost time when he lured the young Sinatra away from Harry James. This is an excellent compilation, beautifully remastered, and at an unbelievable price. However, it's now been replaced by the Essential Collection of the Dorsey Brothers, exactly the same format, but repackaged.

Artist: Jack Teagarden

JAZZ LEGEND'S TRIUMPHS, 2004-03-29
This triple set celebrates the career of the admired musician during his most productive period from 1928-1947. With warmly unique trombone style heavily influenced by the blues but mixed with a hint of Dixieland, Teagarden set the standard for all his contemporaries. By occasionally adding vocals, his personality developed in a similar way to Louis Armstrong. His links with many band formations and musicians; Goodman, Eddie Condon, Paul Whiteman, Joe Venuti, Coleman Hawkins and Bobby Hackett: singers - Lee Wiley, Hot Lips Page, Johnny Mercer amongst them: songs, I'VE GOT A RIGHT TO SING THE BLUES, THE SHEIK OF ARABY, THAT'S A SERIOUS THING and ST LOUIS BLUES, provide just a few clues to what is contained amongst the 72 tracks which never fails to entertain and boasts great sound quality.

Artist: Vic Dickenson

The good-natured, avuncular, mildly eccentric trombone of Vic Dickenson is one of the enduring delights of jazz. He cloaked the bold imagination and sly wit of his solos in a kind of amiable bumbling which fooled no-one and merely added to their delight. These 10 longish tracks (originally the LPs Vic Dickenson Showcase Volumes 1 and 2), date from 1953 and 54. They take the form of a jam session, each number made up simply of theme, solos and theme. It is a perilous format and only the best jazz musicians can bring it off successfully on record. Fortunately the cast here is magnificent: clarinettist Edmond Hall, Ruby Braff and Shad Collins alternating on trumpet, pianist Sir Charles Thompson, guitarist Steve Jordan, bassist Walter Page, joined for five tracks by his old Basie colleague, drummer Jo Jones, and for the remainder by Les Erskine. The material consists mainly of standards, well-worn but not threadbare, such as "Russian Lullaby" and "Old Fashioned Love". The mood is relaxed and the swing mellow. This is as close as we are every likely to come to eavesdropping on a bunch of swing-era masters playing purely for their own delight. --Dave Gelly
Vic Dickenson Showcase, 2009-12-10
This was the title of the original double vinyl issue. Great stuff! However there are two titles missing from the LP issue. Pity they couldn't have found room for them.

Artist: Tommy Dorsey

Artist: Frank Sinatra, Tommy Dorsey Orchestra

Frank Sinatra had yet to escape the artistic shadow of Bing Crosby when he sang Crosby's self-mocking "Learn to Croon" as part of a 1940 Dorsey-band broadcast medley. (As for Our Gang's Alfalfa, who also essayed the tune, he never did escape.) Learn to Croon collects more Dorsey-Sinatra performances from the trove that produced its companion volume, It's All So New! Unburdened by that CD's load of amateur-song-contest submissions, Croon focuses instead on Sinatra-Dorsey-Jo Stafford "Memory Medleys" and some hot ensemble band work. A sweet, swinging, amusing look back at the days of Sinatra's very early stardom. --Rickey Wright

Artist: Tommy Dorsey

Artist: Bill Harris With Ben Webster and Jimmy Rowles

Artist: Jack Teagarden

class jazz, 2008-03-07
jack teagarden is a jazz star up there with louis armstrong.his singing , playing and backing on clarinet by henry cuesta are a pleasure to listen to.one for the music library.enjoy.

Artist: Dorsey Brothers

With all the splashy advertising and glossy press brouhaha to divert attention from the music to the concept, the question remains--can these boys actually sing? Yes they can, is the answer, and there are some things they do quite beautifully. Their own three-part a cappella arrangement of "Danny Boy" is simple and emotionally effective, and Matthew Gilsenan's plain performance of "The Quiet Land of Erin" to a solo harp accompaniment is gorgeous. The singers mostly perform in a warm but plain style that avoids operatic tics or vocal excess, but when the music veers into power-ballad territory (which it frequently does) they tend to fall back on the necessary tenorial technique to negotiate the higher passages--and the fact that the music is often not as good as their ability to sing it is revealed. Still, if you liked the theme music to Titanic there's plenty here to keep you amused. --Warwick Thompson
The Celtic Tenors, 2003-11-16
Quality of CD: clear, clean sounds
Voice Quality: Absolutely heavenly.
Choice of lyrics: Brilliant
General: Fantastic voices and great harmony.
Waiting for third album to be available.