U.K. Telegraph: 100 Best Jazz Recordings (Pdf)
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4 Jelly Roll Morton: grace of amuch smaller group. Volumes 1-5 (JSP 1926- Sevendecades later,this music 1930) deleted still sounds fresh minted. Jelly Roll wasapool-shark, 11 Billie Holiday&Lester hustler and pimp, but also the Young: AMusical finest pianist to come out of Romance (Columbia 1937- Telegraph NewOrleans and the first great 57) £5.86, RRP £8.99 composer/arranger in jazz, Holiday’s voice and Young’s above all in these recordings. saxophone made awonderfully 5 JohnnyDodds: compatible musical couple, both 100 DefinitiveDodds (Retrieval wry,tender,vulnerable and 1926-7) £10.76, RRP £11.99 beautiful. This compilation 18:33:52; Skirling and insistent in the contains some of their most upper register,plumyand fluid delightful encounters, plus one in the lower, Dodds’s clarinet poignant reunion. 2009 wasamong the most 12 DjangoReinhardt and e compelling voices to emerge Stéphane Grappelli: 03, b st from NewOrleans. Swing from Paris (ASV 6 Louis Armstrong: The 1935-39) £6.84, RRP £8.99 Nov Complete Hot Fiveand Reinhardt’s Roma guitar and Hot SevenRecordings Grappelli’s lilting violin both draw (Columbia 1925-9) deleted on European musical traditions, The Old Testament of jazz in but fuse with American jazz in a Date: j which the youthful Louis combination that is propulsive, Armstrong emergeslikea filled with joie de vivre and is a prophet, filled with powerand just irresistible. mm); z glorious eloquence. His example 13 BennyGoodman: At z influenced almost all of 20th- Carnegie Hall 1938 century popular music. (Columbia 1938) deleted recordings 7 Fletcher Henderson: This renowned concert marked 311.00 ILLUSTRATIONS JiM FLORa Tidal Wave (GPR 1930) the arrival of big-band jazz as x From Ella to Billie, Coltrane to Ellington, NewOrleans £9.78, RRP £10.99 the major form in popular music. With performances such as It also includes aspontaneous to newworld… To mark the start of the London Jazz Down South Camp Meetin’ masterpiece in the piano (included on this), Henderson’s improvisation by Jess Stacy Festival, Martin Gayfordselects the heart-stopping, band led the way to the big era. on Sing, Sing, Sing. hellzapoppin’ music no fanshould be without He also employedsome of the 14 Fats Waller: The Best best soloists in NewYork, of Fats Waller (RCA ecorded jazz is still under acenturyold, butin 1 King Oliver: King Coleman Hawkins 1929-42) deleted Format:(230.00 alittle overnine decades an enormous quantity Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band: among them. Waller wasamaster Rof music has amassed.To absorb and assess even The Complete Set (1923- 8 Duke pianist in the asubstantial proportion of it requires alifetime of listening. 24) Retrieval, £12.72, RRP Ellington: driving Harlem What follows is astrictly chronological roll-call of £14.99 Masterpieces style known as acknowledged jazz masterpieces, together with –itis Listen through the dim and 1926-1949 ‘stride’, but he was hoped –some outstanding performances that will be less distant acoustic sound –the (Proper Box25) also agreat spirit: familiar even to adedicated fan. It’sworth noting that early first great series of jazz £16.62, RRP £16.99 carefree, insouciant ORa jazz, and agreat deal of the classic middle period, too,is recordings –and youwill It’s impossible to choose and Falstaffian. FL nowout of copyright and sometimes available in a encounter the intricate and from the cornucopia of 15 Lionel Hampton and MEs Ja bewildering variety of permutations.The reissues noted joyous sound of NewOrleans at magnificent explorations of his Orchestra: 1938-9 F aremerely suggestions. its absolute peak. mood and tone-colour that (Classics) £10.76, RRP EO TaT 2 Bessie Smith: Complete Dukerecorded between the late £10.99 Es The London Jazz Festival runs from this Fridayuntil Recordings (FrogVols 1-8 Twenties and the mid-Forties. Hampton, the first vibes THE © This compilation has manyof virtuoso, wasthe leader on ; November 22 at venues throughout the capital. Call 020 1923-33), deleted OM 7324 1880 or visit www.londonjazzfestival.org.uk for Bessie Smith’s recording of the the best. some of the most infectiously further information Twenties –accompanied by 9 Spike Hughes &Benny high-spirited small-group jazz ORa.C JiMFL such musicians as Louis Carter: 1933 (Retrieval) recordings of the swing era y to Armstrong, James PJohnson £10.76, RRP £10.99 featuring various star soloists. TEs up uR Howtobuy these CDs forupto30% off and the sweet-toned trumpeter The British arranger produced 16 Coleman Hawkins: CO 30% Joe Smith –have amatchless some of the most beguiling Body and Soul: The discount ORBis; The Telegraph CD Shop is offering manyofthe CDs stateliness of delivery and arrangements of the early Complete Victor 1012CC-RVUSJ-1-081109-A012C-XX.pdf; on these pages at aspecial discounted price. monumental vocal strength. swing era, performed in New Recordings 1939-56 Call 0844 871 1519 MaNN/C 3 Bix Beiderbecke: Bix York with magnificent solos (RCA)deleted or visit telegraph.co.uk/top100jazz BETT &Tram (JSP 1926-29) from Carter,Coleman Hawkins, Hawkins wasthe first to make The choices marked ‘deleted’ can be purchased or downloaded through the following websites: Amazon.co.uk, £16.62, RRP £17.99 and the trombonist Dicky Wells. great jazz on the tenor ORBis; amazon.com, play.com, the bebopshop.com, discovery- Beiderbeckewas the doomed 10 Count Basie: The saxophone and the first master iON/C Document: records.com; or listen at last.fm Scott Fitzgerald of music. But Original American Decca of the romantic ballad, never CT Terms &conditions Please add 99p p&p per order (call foroverseas postagerates). Fax LLE 01634 832234. Lines areopen 8am-6pm, MondaytoFriday; 10am-4pm Saturdayand beforethe whisky killed him, he Recordings (MCA 1937-39) moreopulently than in his 1939 CO Sunday. Calls cost no morethan 3p per minute from BT landlines (other networksmay vary). introduced anew mood into jazz deleted performance of Body and Soul. sCH Please makecheques payable to ‘The Telegraph’ and send order with payment to: Top100 uT Jazz CDs, Telegraph Music, PO Box2000, Rochester ME1 1TA. Please allow21daysfor –romantic, wistful –onthese Basie’s big band had a 17 SidneyBechet: Jazz delivery.Products arepurchased from, and your contract is with, NMP Ltd not Telegraph N-DE Media Group Limited. performances with the propulsivebeat, acluster of Classics Vols 1&2(1939- TO saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer. great soloists and the easy 51) deleted HuL | 12 | SEVEN | 08.11.09 | telegraph.co.uk seven About the artist:how Jim Flora made jazz come alive ames (Jim) Flora, who drew the wonderful Jillustrations on these pages, created caricatures of jazz legends forColumbia and RCAVictor Records in the Telegraph Forties and Fifties. He lavished album sleevesand print ephemerawith outrageous portraits of jazz giants Louis Armstrong, Gene Krupa, Bing Crosby, BennyGoodman and dozens of their swing and bop-erabrethren. Florareduced these immortals to farcical creatures, with fried-egg eyes, bedspread-pattern skin tints and bonus limbs. ‘I had no idea of likeness at all,’heonce said. ‘I alwaysthought that the 18:24:02; musicians did their thing and it wasmyturn to do my thing.’ Flora(1914-1998) left alegacyofpaintings, sketches, woodcuts and illustrations reflecting this passion forjazz. He recalled aFifties episode: ‘I spent four hours 2009 sketching aDukeEllington recording session. Dukeand Billy Strayhorn were working on atune and couldn’t getitright. Theywould write, then call in the band 03, –who were reading or smoking cigarettes –and the band would play, but it wasn’t right. After four hours, theyhad not recorded one sound. In the end theyrecorded Nov this newpiece and it wasfabulous. And Ihad abunch of sketches.’ Together with BarbaraEconomon, Ihave compiled three anthologies of Flora’s album covers, bizarrewoodcuts and curiously sinister fine art. His work can be viewedand purchased atJimFlora.com and at jimflora.blogspot.com. Date: IRWIN CHUSID mm); Bechet, aclarinettist and anew sensibility into big-band 23 Thelonious Monk: 27 Ella Fitzgerald: asummation of the musical soprano saxophonist, had, to swing –inshort, he invented Genius of Modern PureElla (1950-54) tradition of his nativetown, agreater extent than anyother musical cool. His early Music Vols I&2 deleted Kansas City. performer,that mixtureof recordings, mostly on here, (Blue Note, Ella’s voice wasata 32 The Jazz Messengers: 311.00 arrogance, elation and power remain extraordinarily fresh. 1947-52) Vol1 peak of creamy At the Café Bohemia Vols x known as the ‘rooster crow’. 20 Charlie Christian: The £8.80, RRP perfection when I&2(1955) Vol1£9.78, RRP 18 Jelly Roll Morton: The Genius of the Electric £8.99, Vol2 she made these £9.99, Vol2£9.78, RRP £9.99 Library of Congress Guitar (SonyLegacy1939- £8.80, RRP £8.99 sides with only Drummer Art Blakey led the Recordings (Rounder 41) deleted On these early the dulcet piano Messengers, asort of elite 1938) deleted Christian had atantalisingly sessions Monk gives the accompaniment of Ellis academyofmodern jazz, Jelly Roll’s reminiscences, brief career during which he impression of reinventing music, Larkins: asuperb recital through manyincarnations – spoken, sung and playedinto effectively introduced anew slightly different from the way it of American popular song. none moreimpressivethan this amicrophone areaunique instrument –the electric wasbefore; each piece is tart, 28 Sarah Vaughan: early quintet version, stretching Format:(230.00 autobiographyinsound – guitar –into jazz and a compressed and abit startling. Complete Recordings out at aNew York club. colourful, outrageous, boastful, distinctivestyle, punchyand 24 Miles Davis: Birth of with CliffordBrown (Lone 33 CliffordBrown/Max beautiful and apiece of declamatory.Every note he the Cool (1948-50) £10.76, Hill 1954) deleted Roach: At Basin Street Americana to rank with playedwas memorable. RRP £12.99 With an opera-singer’s range (Emarcy 1956) £9.78, RRP Huckleberry Finn. 21 Charlie Parker: The Bebop wasfast and hot.