Jazz critic Will Friedwald has stated that Julie London's records were so popular in the 1950s mainly because she looked so drop-dead gorgeous on the album covers. The marketing hook behind Calendar Girl may just be the main example for those critical of London's musical career, since its sleeve has made it a prized collector's item. The famous wraparound cover depicts cheesecake shots of London posed for every month of the year, while original issues of the album included a more-than-suggestive insert photo of the singer stretched out in bed. While Friedwald's correct about London's physical beauty, he's wrong in suggesting that the vocalist didn't have the talent to go along with her looks. Like Chet Baker, Julie London had an extremely limited vocal range but she did the most with what she had, possessing a special knack for torch songs that cast her in the role of a woman constantly being destroyed by love in general and by men in particular…

Tal Farlow was one of the finest guitarists to emerge during the 1950s. The exciting trio he performs with during this record (which was recorded in a friend's apartment) also features pianst Eddie Costa and bassist Vinnie Burke. The recording quality is generally quite good and the lengthy performances of the four standards never loses their momentum, except when the tape ran out during "Let's Do It." These boppish performances (with plenty of impressive interplay by the musicians) will certainly please straightahead jazz fans.

This album is one of the cornerstones of Riverside Records' "Original Blues Classics" series. Regardless of the moniker, these sides loom large in the available works of seminal blues icons Pink Anderson and Rev. Gary Davis. Both performers hail from the largely underappreciated Piedmont blues scene - which first began to flourish in the late 19th and early 20th centuries - near the North/South Carolina state border. Anderson's seven tracks were recorded in Charlottesville, VA, on May 29, 1950 - while he was literally on the road. His highly sophisticated and self-accompanied style of simultaneously picking and sliding - accomplished using a half-opened jackknife - could pass for an electronic effect…

This 1956 record marked the beginning of the Modern Jazz Quartet's long and fruitful relationship with Atlantic Records and was one of their most inspired visits to a studio. While there had been excellent bands in the past that created a chamber-jazz genre, such as Red Norvo's trio, John Lewis's vision of a fusion of jazz and classical elements was distinctly original. It's apparent here in the controlled counterpoint of "Versailles," the extended first recording on "Fontessa," with Lewis's spare and precise piano perfectly complementing the looser swing of Milt Jackson's glistening vibraphone sound. The group mingles beautifully around Percy Heath's supple, melodic bass lines and Connie Kay's discrete and gently propulsive beat…

Avid Jazz here presents four classic Dave Pell albums including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered double CD.
The subject may be “Jazz and Romantic Places” and the locations may range from Paris to Rio but the jazz is strictly West Coast and Cool! Dave Pell on tenor sax is joined by the cream of jazz players from the Les Brown band with whom Pell had played for many years. The band having found time between their lucrative “day job” on the Bob Hope TV show to join their old band mate for the trip! For “Jazz Goes Dancing” Dave Pell writes in the original sleeve notes that for this project he was determined to create a jazz album to dance to, just like in the old dance band days…

This double disc reissue on Blue Note contains the three releases that alto saxophonist Sonny Criss did for Imperial: Jazz U.S.A., Go Man!, and Plays Cole Porter. These sessions were all recorded in 1956 at a time when Criss had honed his amazing bebop alto precision. These 34 performances contain only five of his originals and are surrounded by mainly standards. The bands consisted of solid lineups with Sonny Clark or Kenny Drew on piano; Barney Kessel on guitar; Leroy Vinnegar, Buddy Clark or Bill Woodson on bass; Larry Bunker on vibes; and Larance Marable or Chuck Thompson taking care of drumming duties. While Criss had a career that erratically spanned the '70s, these Imperial sessions (reissued in glorious mono) contained highly regarded performances of passionate blues, moving ballads, and energetic up-tempo pieces.

Vibraphonist Cal Tjader took a brief vacation from playing Afro-Cuban jazz to record this fine straight-ahead bop set. The 1956 LP matches Tjader with the underrated but always swinging pianist Gerald Wiggins, bassist Eugene Wright (shortly before he joined the Dave Brubeck Quartet), and drummer Bill Douglass. They perform four basic originals (two apiece by Wiggins and Wright) and five standards, including a swinging "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "Our Love Is Here to Stay." On this date, more than almost any other one, Tjader displays his debt to Milt Jackson's style.

Herbie Nichols is just slightly less off-kilter than Thelonious Monk, but they're in the same ballpark. Clearly, he can play a tune straight, but doesn't choose to. Each tune is full of odd pauses and note choices and rhythms that are a tiny bit off - intentionally. It's enough to make every composition interesting. It's cerebral bop, but not quite as extreme as a typical Monk tune. Max Roach on drums and either Al McKibbon or Teddy Kotick on bass provide the beat, but stay pretty much in the background. This is almost entirely Nichols' show.
The biggest surprise is "Lady Sings the Blues." Yes, that song. Nichols co- wrote it with Billie Holiday, and while it's Lady Day's version you remember, slow and soulful, Nichols' version has a life of its own. The melody is recognizable, but the pace is faster and the improvisation has a whole different, boppish feel…

Kenny Drew, with the assistance of bassist Paul Chambers (whose bowed solos are always welcome) and drummer Philly Joe Jones, explores six standards and two of his originals. Although Drew would have to move to Europe in the early '60s in order to get the recognition he deserved, it is obvious (in hindsight) from this enjoyable date that he was already a major improviser.

Lionel Hampton and his French New Sound Vol. 1 (1955). Lionel Hampton joins forces with a number of top French musicians for this 1955 studio session, reissued in Verve's Jazz in Paris series. Three of the four compositions are Hampton's, swinging tunes arranged by Christian Chevalier. The first, "Voice of the North," is primarily for the leader's matchless vibes with the rhythm section, though individual soloists are featured, including fellow Americans Nat Adderley and Benny Bailey on trumpets and David Amram on French horn, as well as clarinetist Maurice Meunier and baritone saxophonist William Boucaya. It's just Hampton and the rhythm section (pianist René Urtreger, bassist Guy Pedersen, and drummer Jean-Baptiste Reilles) for the long workout of "À la French"…

Recorded late at night in his Oakland, California, home, it was Brubeck's first full solo-piano recording and also his first all-original record, and it illustrates his marvelously elegant fusion of classical and cocktail conceptions. Brubeck understands blues and swing, but he uses these elements as tools for effect, not as default settings. Brubeck instead offers a fuller palette of emotions and ideas - playful, sober, stern, happy, pensive, cerebral. While "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke" have become standards, the album includes obscure gems such as the minisuite "Two-Part Contention," with its many tempo, mood, and stylistic turns, and the discreetly swinging "Walkin' Line," although he lapses into melodrama with "Weep No More"…

While nominally Lawrence Marable is a leader, the star is the Texas Tenor James Clay. But this 1956 LP is a classic not only because of Clay (who here was a fresh faced 20 year old) but because of presence of the always great Sonny Clark. Rounding out band is Jimmy Bond on bass and the titular leader Lawrence Marable.