Smith & Co

It’s generally accepted that Bird was at his peak during the years he recorded for Savoy, certainly this was the period that he exerted the greatest impact on jazz, and jazz musicians, so the larger part of this collective comes from those years, leading up to his last session in September 1948. “Lover Man” is possibly still Parker’s most misconstrued recording, done in Los Angeles for Dial Records in July 1946, seen as the worst and the greatest recording of his career, depending on the side of the fence one sits. He was in a great deal of distress when he recorded it, strung out from a lack of his needed heroine, some refer to the sheer beauty of his pain, whilst Parker himself hated the recording so much, he wanted the masters tapes burnt. The “Charlie Parker with Strings” album is only represented by one track on this selection. Although by far the best selling title during his lifetime, it was thought important to show how beautiful and skilful Parker’s playing was, but it was also decided that these recordings didn’t fit the “bebop” definition as wholly as his work with smaller jazz ensembles.

The early part of Miles Davis’ recording career was dominated by his inclusion in Charlie Parker’s line up, and so they share a great number of bebop’s finest moments. It was decided not to repeat those selections made on the Charlie Parker CD in the same series, although Davis’ contribution to these tracks should not be underestimated. Instead we have chosen to take a more daring route through Davis’ bebop years. The 1957 Capitol album “The Birth Of Cool” is featured in full – a record that was complied by Capitol retrospectively from Davis’ sessions for them in 1949 and 1950, when they had signed him as a bebop act. Whilst the eventual release reflected the most important move that Davis made towards his own independence, and sent signals towards what he would fully form into “cool jazz” in the mid 1950’s, the recordings sit comfortably amongst the bebop idiom. The second disc is more audacious, as it highlights the direction that Miles Davis took bebop music in the early 1950’s, when it was all but proclaimed dead. Davis, and his invited guests, eventually invented “hard bop”, which had its routes so firmly set in bebop tradition that his early 1950’s recordings deserve to be examined. Indeed the recordings Miles Davis made for “Prestige” in the first half of the 1950’s are seen by many, as his greatest triumph.

The very first date regarded as a “bebop” recording session was for Coleman Hawkins on February 16, 1944, wanting to play the music that he heard, he decided to get in “some of the cat’s that are playing it”. The recognised spokesman for bebop was Dizzy Gillespie, and “Woody For You” was improvised there and then on that recording date. Dizzy’s musical partnership with Charlie Parker was the bedrock of the bebop scene, and is well represented, and when presented with choices of a track recorded at different times with different line ups, this compilation has leaned towards recordings including Diz and Bird. Indeed two significant recording dates are given in full – firstly the concert at Carnegie Hall on September 29th, 1947 (billed as Dizzy And His Orchestra and Ella Fitzgerald), which overnight made bebop a respectable musical form and June 6th, 1950 when bebop was all but dead, Norman Granz reunited Dizzy and Bird for their final recording date together.
Like Parker, indeed pre-Parker, Gillespie recorded with strings. Whilst his solos bring a bebop element to the recordings, we have not included any tracks, as it was judged that there were better examples of true bebop.

Seen by many as the greatest trumpet virtuoso of his time, Clifford didn’t live long enough to be defined by any other form of jazz than bebop. Although bebop was over in the eyes of the purists by the time of his death in June 1956, his entire recording career had only spanned (with the exception of playing trumpet for Chris Powell And The Five Blue Flames in 1952) the three years from his first recording session in June 1953. This recording span can be divided up into two halves, the first for Blue Note records and the second for EmArcy, although his output was more substantial for the latter label, which he joined in August 1954. We have divided the tracks amongst the two labels accordingly, concentrating on his instrumental work, and ignoring the favoured populist sessions with Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan and Helen Mirrell on vocals. Also, we have not included any recordings from the Clifford Brown with Strings sessions of January 1955. One last note, we have included his final performance in his home town of Philadelphia, recorded only two hours before the fatal car crash that deprived jazz of such a gifted performer.

With a couple of omissions of tracks that Monk committed to tape more than once in the same sessions, this bebop compilation serves as a complete anthology of his recorded output between 1947 and 1954. Monk spent the first part of that period recording for Blue Note, where he produced his ground breaking “Genius Of Modern Music” album, and then in 1952 he moved to the Prestige label. Also omitted were the two tracks recorded in July 1948 with Kenny Hagood on vocal, as we decided to stick firmly to Monk’s instrumental genius. Also, for the sake of including several shorter tracks, the giant “Friday The Thirteenth” (ten and a half minutes worth) recorded on the (Friday) November 13th 1953 date was left out, as well as “I’ll Follow You” from his last date for Blue Note on May 30th, 1952, “Locomotive” from the May 11th, 1954 date, and “Blue Monk” from September 22nd date of that same year.

One of the Legendary Blues men who sowed the seeds of the British pop explosion of the 60’s by influencing a new generation of musicians in the U.K. It was only after the 2nd. world war, or becauseof it, that Europeans were introduced to the sound of ‘race’ records (as they were then known in the States,) and realised there was more to music than lush orchestras and Crooners. Suddenly it seemed that not everything had to be honey sweet and acceptable to your parents. There was Rhythm and Blues - music with balls! The rest is history and some legendary names have been left with us, none more so than Robert Johnson.

Eric Clapton has never made a secret of the influence that Robert Johnson had on him in his formative years and has now paid him the ultimate accolade of releasing an album comprised entirely of his songs entitled “Me and Mr. Johnson”.
Time to remind the people of how good Robert Johnson really was, so with a tongue in cheek nod to Eric’s release, here is an album featuring nearly all of the limited material the late great bluesman recorded in his short life. On this CD there are 29 tracks of which the first 11 tracks are all titles covered by Eric Clapton on his latest album, and the last 5 tracks are Bonus alternative takes of several of the tracks on already featured on the CD.

Only eleven 78’s were ever released by Robert Johnson in his life time which was cut short by a jealous husband who had him poisoned. Not only was he a brilliant musician, but his good looks made him a lady killer supreme for which he paid the ultimate price. Born in 1911 he died on August 16th. 1938.
For more info on Robert Johnson visit www.deltahaze.com

Experience the best in blues with this 2 disc, 34 track collection. From the current hot artists in this field such as Susan Tedeschi and Joan Osborne, through to the greats from the past such as Taj Mahal and Bo Diddley, “A Walk on the Blues Side” is the ultimate blues experience spanning the many generations of blues. The line up reads as a who’s who of the music business with English artists Robert Palmer, Spencer Davis, Alexis Korner and a very young Robert Palmer standing tall with Stateside names like the Band, Leon Russell and Edgar Winter not to mention The legendary bluesmen such as Eric Gales, Willie Kent, Robert Cray, and Koko Taylor.
At first glance you might not associate all the artists featured on this double set with the blues, but as you will hear they were all they can all play the blues and were undoubtedly influenced by this music in their formative musical years.

In 1977 Bob Dylan told an interviewer, " I still listen to the same old black and blue blues. Guys like Tommy McLennan, Lightnin' Hopkins, Big Maceo, Robert Johnstone, Fred McDowell and Gary Stewart". Dylan also played harmonica on a Big Joe Williams recording session in N.Y. He also recorded songs from Blind Lemon Jefferson, Bukka White and Blind Willie Johnson on his first album.!

Possibly the greatest white exponent of the blues ever has to be Eric Clapton. Through the Yardbirds, Bluesbreakers and Cream, Clapton established himself as the foremost bluesman in the U.K. whilst never losing sight of the fact that it was thanks to the great blues artists of America that he was inspired to develop his playing style.

Janis Joplin started her career trying to emulate the big open notes and shaped simple phrasing of Bessie Smith, but later switched to a more rhythmic style after having heard Otis Redding at the Monterey Pop Festival.

The Rolling Stones took their name from a Muddy Waters song and recorded their first American album " 12x5" at the legendary Chess Studios in Chicago. Just on a note of interest; they recorded 15 songs in 2 days including Bobby Womack's  "It's all over now", their first U.S. hit!

With Jimmy Page on guitar Led Zeppelin couldn't help but be inspired by the blues. The Yardbirds, out of which Zeppelin more or less evolved, was heavily influenced by the blues and having included Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck in the line-up at various stages proved to be the learning ground for what can probably be considered the 3 best British blues guitarists to date.

Bernard Stanley Bilk, better known as Acker, was born in Pensford, Somerset on January 28th., 1929 and his early love of Jazz, especially that of early New Orleans, led him in the direction of learning to play the clarinet and to offer up some lusty vocals, possibly slightly influenced by Louis Armstrong. Of the four British Trad Jazz giants featured in this series, Acker Bilk was possibly the most commercially successful. With hits like “Stranger on the Shore” and “Aria” he graced the charts around the world on several occasions and in his latter day would almost be termed ‘middle of the road’, but this 2 CD collection gives you Acker at his Jazz best. These early recordings give us some of the best and purest work that he recorded, although there would still be a few years after the recordings on these CD’s before he went ‘commercial’!

Ken Colyer, bandleader, trumpeter, guitarist and vocalist was born in Great Yarmouth in April 1928 and is today regarded as the 'Father' of New Orleans Jazz in Britain, being known affectionately as 'The Guv'nor'. One of the great adventurers, Ken disappeared to New Orleans as you can read in the sleeve notes and joined Chris Barber briefly on his return to the UK, before going on to form his own band. At this period he not only played New Orleans traditional jazz, but was also heavily involved in the skiffle movement. However, the lure of jazz was eventually to prove too strong for Ken and he went on to become one of the four legendary British Jazz bands of the fifties.

This double CD, in contrast to other material on the market, is the definitive collection of Ken Colyer’s best jazz work from the immediate  post war period up to 1958. Undoubtedly the greatest
Trad - Jazz period in the UK, this double set, beautifully mastered, will appeal not only to the jazz aficionados, but also to the broader public who still remember the post war years with a nostalgic gleam in their eyes.

Chris Barber was born in Welwyn Garden City in 1930. His early years saw him learning to play forceful, but subtle and highly disciplined trombone, as well as very solid double bass. With a natural ability for composing and arranging, as well as a flair for leadership, Barber formed his first band in 1948, recording early on in 1951 for Carlo Krahmer's Esquire label as Chris Barber's Washboard Wonders. In March 1953 Ken Colyer returned from his legendary visit to New Orleans and was offered the leadership of the Barber band, which he accepted. However, this was only due to last a matter of months as Barber and Colyer had a different agenda as to how Jazz should be played and presented. Colyer left and reformed, whilst the band became Chris Barber’s Jazz Band once again, bringing in Pat Halcox on trumpet in 1954. With Monty Sunshine on clarinet, Lonnie Donegan on banjo, guitar and vocals, Jim Bray on bass and Ron Bowden on Drums, this would come to be regarded as the classic Barber Band.

This double CD, in contrast to other material on the market, is the definitive collection of Chris Barber’s best work from the immediate post war period up to 1958. Undoubtedly the greatest
Trad - Jazz period in the UK, this double set, beautifully mastered, will appeal not only to the jazz aficionados, but also to the broader public who still remember the post war years with a nostalgic gleam in their eyes.