Artist: Bunny Berigan

Essential, with some strange omissions, 2010-02-10
There are no less than 124 titles on this most generous of Berigan compilations. Some strange choices and a few lamentable omissions however make me detract one star. The five discs span the years 1931-1937 (up to his first session as a regular bandleader for Bluebird, whose recordings are covered on a number of Classics discs, now probably hard to come by). Not included are any of his sides with Hal Kemp, Frank Trumbauer or Gene Gifford, whereas all four Glenn Miller sides, all the Red Norvo octet sides and a number of perhaps less interesting Chick Bullock sides are (all of which are readily available elsewhere).
We do get a plethora of other artists however, the Dorsey Brothers and the Boswell Sisters taking pride of place. We also find Bunny's complete pre-Bluebird recordings under his own name, as well as a number of titles which Bunny recorded with Adrian Rollini, Red McKenzie, Bud Freeman, Mildred Bailey and fellow hard-drinker Dick McDonough (the latter's titles in much better sound quality than the McDonough CDs on Bill Hebden's label). There is a wealth of great music here in excellently remastered sound quality (said to be by JRT Davies, but I couldn't find confirmation of this in the booklets or on the discs themselves). Recording dates and personnel are listed, but no record labels (just matrix numbers) or composer credits. The liner notes are not particularly well written or informative, but the music speaks for itself.
The prices that are currently being asked for this set are absolutely rediculous; I waited for more than a year before one offer of £ 35 came along, which I snapped up immediately. It was certainly worth it.

Artist: Coleman Hawkins, Henry Allen

Artist: Buck Clayton

Artist: Harry James

Excellent value for money, 2004-03-19
This is a great album to play in the car to de-stress those rush hour journeys. Also to play in the background when friends come over. The astounding trumpet playing will make you smile; it is happy, upbeat, and above all, very cool.

Artist: Frankie Laine

Artist: Roy Eldridge

Not so Little Jazz, 2008-06-01
Comprehensive overview of the most significant part of a rich career - to say the least. This 4 CD collection starts with Roy's very first recording in 1935 (with Teddy Hill's big band), and ends with some of his choisiest work from the 50's. The booklet is very informative; it has some fine pictures and complete dates and personell listing. Also; it tells the story of Eldridge's career prior to his first recordings.

Sound quality is fine and music is, well, perfect.

Naturally, I already have some of the tracks in Teddy Wilson, Billie Holiday, Gene Krupa or Fletcher henderson collections, but this is still great.
There are some of the best swing combos I have ever heard in this collection, Roy's work in France is marvelous, there are the incredible "Metronome All stars" (on "St. Louis Blues" in two tempos...) with great Billy Eckstine, Lester Young, Terry Gibbs, Kai Winding and others... Big band tracks lag behind a bit (even Henderson, influntial as he was, doesn't fare well when compared to Krupa's, Eldridge's or Hawkins' combos represented here). But, the big band sides are still good or very good swing music.

Contributions of Coleman Hawkins, Chu Berry, Benny Goodman, Oscar Peterson, Gene Krupa, Israel Crosby (on Teddy Wilson's rightly famous "Blues in C sharp minor"), Don Byas, Buddy Tate and others are great but I would particularly like to recomend the Paris tracks, particularly those with Claude Bolling (duos: "Wild man blues" and "Fireworks"). These are marvelous reworking od Armstrong-Hines classics...

All swing and classic jazz fans should get this music on this or any other collections
Comment

Artist: Roy Eldridge

Artist: Buck Clayton

Artist: Harry James, Doris Day

The 1950 film Young Man With A Horn has a special place in the iconography of jazz as the first full-scale Hollywood treatment of the jazz musician as tortured genius, with Kirk Douglas first essaying the role he would later perfect as Vincent van Gogh in Lust For Life. Though the film was based very loosely on the life of Bix Beiderbecke, his introspective music was jettisoned in favour of more conventional, flamboyant, bravura trumpeting (suggesting Bunny Berigan as an alternative model for the self-destructive hero). At the time, Doris Day was making the transition from band singer to a specialist in "good girl" movie roles and she does a fine job on the film's torchy standards, especially "With A Song In My Heart", singing with a clear, distinctive voice that is so unaffected that it seems like a conduit for a songwriter's intentions. Harry James brings his rhythmic drive and sparkling technique to the soundtrack's hybrid of swing and 1920's jazz, while his gorgeous sound is most striking on the lush, frankly Gershwin-inspired "Melancholy Rhapsody". --Stuart Broomer

Artist: Roy Eldridge

One of the tracks on this compilation, "Willow Weep For Me", comes originally from an LP entitled The Strolling Mr Eldridge, which is perhaps the most inappropriate title ever given to a jazz album. Impulsive, emotional, fiery--these terms were applied to Roy Eldridge's trumpet playing throughout his long career. It is difficult to imagine this ebullient character strolling for more than a few paces without breaking into a run. He was also a vastly eclectic player, equally at home with a big band, a quartet, a string orchestra and even a Dixieland outfit, all of which are represented here. The big band is the briefly re-formed Gene Krupa Orchestra, with which Eldridge sings and plays "Let Me Off Uptown", his old feature duet with Anita O'Day. Oscar Peterson figures prominently among the small groups, including a rare appearance playing the Hammond organ, while Eldridge and his Central Plaza Dixielanders test that venerable musical form to destruction and beyond. The only thing missing from this excellent compilation of 1950s Eldridge is an example of his long musical partnership with his friend Coleman Hawkins--but there are plenty of those elsewhere. --Dave Gelly