Big Band Collection

Big Band Collection

ASIN: B000005NL4

Track Listings
Disc: 1

1. Jeepers Creepers - Louis Armstrong

2. Tiger Rag - Jimmy Dorsey

3. Sophisticated Lady - Duke Ellington

4. Harlem Nocturne - Charlie Barnet

5. Let's Dance - Benny Goodman

6. Begin the Beguine - Artie Shaw

7. Night and Day - Artie Shaw

8. Opus One - Tommy Dorsey

9. One O'Clock Jump - Count Basie

10. When the Saints Go Marching In - Louis Armstrong

Disc: 2

1. What Is This Thing Called Love? - Artie Shaw

2. Ain't Misbehavin' - Duke Ellington

3. My Heart Belongs to Daddy - Artie Shaw

4. I Want the Waiter (With the Water) - Chick Webb

5. Flat Foot Floogie - Count Basie

6. Bijou - Woody Herman

7. Old Rocking Chair - Louis Armstrong

8. Caldonia - Woody Herman

9. I'm Just Wild About Harry - Jimmy Dorsey

10. Just a Gigolo - Louis Armstrong

Tracks:

Don't Be That Way - Benny Goodman & His Orchestra
In The Mood - Glenn Miller & His Orchestra
Opus One - Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra
Cherokee - Charlie Barnet & His Orchestra
Non Stop Flight - Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
Casa Loma Stomp - Glen Gray & His Orchestra
Take The 'A' Train - Duke Ellington & His Famous Orchestra
Marie - Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra
Minnie The Moocher - Cab Calloway & His Cotton Club Orchestra
American Patrol - Glenn Miller & His Orchestra
All God's Chillun Got Rhythm - Bunny Berigan & His Orchestra
Back Bay Shuffle - Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
Cotton Tail - Duke Ellington & His Famous Orchestra
A String Of Pearls - Glenn Miller & His Orchestra
Boogie Woogie - Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra
Swingin' Uptown - Jimmie Lunceford & His Orchestra
Mary Had A Little Lamb - Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
Flying Home - Charlie Barnet & His Orchestra
Sing, Sing, Sing (With A Swing) Parts 1 & 2/Christopher Columbus - Benny Goodman & His Orchestra

Customer Reviews:

Single Time Swing.......2007-05-29

This is jitterbug. The title SWING is confusing. There is East Coast swing, West Coast swing, etc. This is big band swing. Only for limited use in teaching swing.

Best I've Heard.......2002-07-11

I purchased several swing collections previously and they all had poor quality audio - they had not been cleaned up from the original recordings. This CD is MUCH cleaner and makes for an enjoyable experience.

Entertaining, but some tracks don't belong here.......2002-04-07

The main problem with this CD is the coupling of great tracks with fairly awful ones.

On the great side, you have Benny Goodman's rollicking "Don't Be That Way" and a song destined to kill live in "Sing Sing Sing." Tommy Dorsey's beautiful "Opus One" and lively "Boogie Woogie." Duke Ellington's signature "Take The 'A' Train." Artie Shaw's bouncing "Back Bay Shuffle." Glenn Miller's theme for jitterbuggers, "In The Mood."

Then there are the disappointments. The whitebread "Casa Loma Stomp" by Glen Grey. The cringe-inducing "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm" by Bunny Berigan. The extremely silly "Mary Had A Little Lamb" by Fletcher Henderson, which is especially disillusioning to hear when one considers that Henderson supplied a good many of Benny Goodman's hard swinging band arrangements!

We can at least be thankful that Kay Keiser and Hal Kemp didn't show up on this disc.

Swing Revival Met "Fabulous"-ly On RCA Big Band Set.......2001-01-14

RCA's "Fabulous Swing Collection" was released to exploit a national big band revival craze, led by groups like Cherry Poppin' Daddies and Brian Setzer's Orchestra and in full swing (pardon the pun) in 1998. That revival has cooled but this generous (19 songs, 65 minutes) set remains among the era's better one-disc compilations (all songs from RCA family labels) for now third-generation fans.

It may not have been all the classics revivalists danced to; two swingin' Louises (Prima and Jordan) recorded their jump, jive and wailin' big band tunes for Capitol and Decca Records, respectively. But many of the era's signature tunes are represented, sounding surprisingly warm in analog sound: Glenn Miller's anthemic "In The Mood," "String of Pearls," and "American Patrol," Benny Goodman's hard, wild swinging "Sing, Sing, Sing" (heard recently and famously in a cookie commercial but better in Goodman's 1938 Carnegie Hall concert), Cab Calloway's 1933 "Minnie The Moocher," which he performed nearly a half-century later in the first "Blues Brothers" film and here does in full-throated youthful yodel.

You also get seminal sides from Charlie Barnet ("Cherokee"), Tommy Dorsey ("Marie," "Opus One"), and Duke Ellington ("Take The 'A' Train," "Cotton Tail"). While these songs swing sweeter than 1998's martini-and-cigar crowd might have liked, "Fabulous" may well be among the few big band CDs a new fan would need. Longtime fans have these classics on the artists' original LPs (or more studious sets like Columbia's "16 Most Requested Big Band Themes") and can probably swing past it.

Good names but lacking energy.......2000-08-24

It has a good selection of songs but some of the songs are not performed with as much energy as I've heard on other CDs. Some of the songs are also slower versions of songs I love, like "In the Mood" and "Minnie the Moocher". Not a very good lindyhop CD.

20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Charlie Parker

Average customer rating:

Charlie Parker's #1 Record in his short 35 year legacy!

20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Manufacturer: Verve
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Bebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

Contemporary Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

Verve | Verve Music Group | Specialty Stores | Music

4-for-3 Jazz | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 Pop | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
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Kind of Blue
The Essential Charlie Parker
Best of Miles Davis & John Coltrane
The Very Best of John Coltrane
Charlie Parker: A Studio Chronicle 1940-1948

ASIN: B0002M5T5M
Release Date: 2004-08-24

Tracks:

The Bird
Repetition
Just Friends
Bloomdido
K.C. Blues
Star Eyes
She Rote
My Little Suede Shoes
Loverman
Autumn In New York
Now's The Time
Confirmation

Customer Reviews:

Charlie Parker's #1 Record in his short 35 year legacy! .......2006-02-12

Charlie Parker will always be the greatest saxaphone player who ever lived. This CD is a fine example of why he is regarded as the best(and always will be). This the REAL DEAL people, the REAL DEAL. In 2004, Charlie Parker became one of the many stars to get a compilation in the 20th Century Masters The Millenium Collection CDs. Read on for further details.

The Millenium Collections (except for Johnny Cash and George Jones volume 1) are always great. They remaster the tracks 24.bit so the sound is awesome. Charlie Parker's compilation is cool, just like he was.

In this CD, you get several tracks you can't find easily. Among them are Autumn In New York and the underrated gem Just Friends. Both of which (in my view) are true hits. It's a shame they haven't included these 2 tracks of The Bird on other Best-ofs.

Charlie Parker has recorded on several record labels such as Dial, His Masters Voice, Savoy and more. In 1959, 4 years after his death, Verve remastered them and started releasing Charlie Parker vinyls on the Verve label. This CD is a fine example only it sounds a heck of a lot better! And when you're looking for the best-sounding Charlie Parker CD out there, this CD takes the cake. You can tell just by listening to Amazon.com Music Samplers.

Overall this CD is highly reccommended! If you liked this one, here are some others you may like:

The Complete Charlie Parker: 1950
The Essential Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker Ken Burns JAZZ Collection

All of those are classic Parker CDs. But in terms of sound and finding the CD that will appeal to the casual and hard core fans alike, this one is the one to pick.

Highlights for me: 'K.C. Blues' and 'Just Friends'. BEST CHARLIE PARKER CD OUT IN THE MARKET!

Charlie Parker (August 29, 1920-March 12, 1955). Enjoy!!!

Average customer rating:

Slow down..
Fun dance collection
El Rey Del Timbales
"The Palladium: Where Mambo Was King" * (N.Y.C. Palladium, 1950's+&/or -) . . .
One of the best Tito Puente CDs available

Oye Como Va: The Dance Collection
Tito Puente
Manufacturer: Concord Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Cuba | Caribbean & Cuba | International | Styles | Music

General | International | Styles | Music

General | Latin Music | Styles | Music

Latin Pop | Latin Music | Styles | Music

Salsa | Latin Music | Styles | Music

Mambo | Latin Music | Styles | Music

Big Band | Latin Music | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Latin Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
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King of Kings: The Very Best of Tito Puente
Salsa, Merengue, Mambo!
20 Anniversary of the NY Salsa Festival: 1975-1995
Salsa Fresca! Dance Hits of the '90s
100% Azucar!: The Best of Celia Cruz con la Sonora Matancera

ASIN: B000003OZA
Release Date: 1997-09-02

Tracks:

Mambo King
Mambo Gallego
Chang
Mambo Diablo
Ode To Cachao
Maria Cervantes
Machito Forever
Picadillo A Lo Puente
Tito's Colada
Delirio
Oye Como Va
Ran Kan Kan
El Rey Del Timbal

Customer Reviews:

Slow down.........2006-05-03

Looking at the others reviews I sincerely think you were too much generous or you don't know the music of Tito. I bought this CD and I was desapointed for the lack of energy authenticity by the quality of the arrangements.
This is not a bad CD but the oldies are FAR BETTER.

Fun dance collection.......2006-02-25

This collection is a lot of fun percussion with typical Latin mambo beats. It's got enough variety to keep you interested but it's still pretty easy listening. A fun addition to anyone's dance collection.

El Rey Del Timbales.......2005-08-24

The name fitted him perfectly. No one has ever and will ever record music the way he did. His style was one of a kind. Many may copy him, but they will never match him. This album is truly wonderful. Latin jazz is wrapped up with him. He makes you want to just get up and dance!

"The Palladium: Where Mambo Was King" * (N.Y.C. Palladium, 1950's+&/or -) . . ........2005-08-04

In my view there is no more joy-filled, sensual,
life-affirming pop-music t h a n the best of
Afro-Cuban/Latin Jazz . . when playing M a m b o !
The multi-layered rhythms never tire ear or mind . .
a n d demand attention to the musical genuis that
creates and improvises at such high levels of excellence.
Underscored . . when performed 'at the speed of light.'
It can be a 'religious experience!'
A sun-filled 'goose-pimply' one.
Welcome to one c.d. that captures this spirit.
With a sound quality as up to date as last evening's
concert.
Tito "takes no prisoners" in this one.
One 'cannot-go-wrong' in placing t h i s c.d.
within your collection!
My best to the best within . . .
- Richard Tuft.
(...)
* Title of a Bravo cable t.v. documentary,
home-recorded in Fall of 2002.

***** *****

One of the best Tito Puente CDs available.......2001-05-17

This is easily one of the best Tito Puente CDs availabe. A compilation of some of Tito's best songs, these versions inspire awe and intense dancing. In addition, the notes by Joe Conzo succinctly detail Puente's life from the beginning of his musical career (or at least by the time Tito was 13 ... ), Tito's influences, playing with Machito, to the Navy in WWII, to the Palladium era and beyond.

Even just the mention of the infamous and influential Palladium establishes the authenticity of the biography, the music and the album. Within the New York Mambo scene, abundant reference is still made to the Palladium, both to the music and the dancing (which cannot exist without each other). Conzo notes that "Ran Kan Kan" was first recorded in 1949 -- a fact that many of the people 'in the know' today are not familiar with.

This CD is so good that for a while, it was the first thing I wanted to hear in the morning and the last music I wanted to hear at night. Don't miss this one!

Thanks go first and foremost to the creators and second to those who chronicle the music, the musicians and the culture. The growth in this art achieved by the next generation will only be possible because they learned from you.

Let's Dance, Vol. 5: Modern Collection (Michelle)
Average customer rating:

good beats to dance to

Actually, this is 3 and a half stars

Superb CD for both Listening & Dancing

Best ballroom

Excellent Dance Music

Let's Dance, Vol. 5: Modern Collection (Michelle)
Columbia Ballroom Orchestra
Manufacturer: Denon Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music
Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Contemporary Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
General | Pop | Styles | Music
General | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music
Orchestral Pop | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music
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Let's Dance! : The Best Of Ballroom Foxtrots & Waltzes

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The Fabulous Ballroom Collection

Rhumba

Let's Dance, Vol. 1: Invitation to Dance Party

ASIN: B0000034ON
Release Date: 1994-01-04

Tracks:

Around The World
Fly Me To The Moon
Charade
La Rosita
El Amanecer
Michelle
Autumn Leaves
Summertime
Moonlight Serenade
This Masquerade
Nocturne
Top Of The World
Sing
Liebestraume
Mozart: Concerto For Piano And Orchestra
Le Professionnel
Amazing Grace
Tango Notturno
Blue Tango
Felicia
Yapeyu
El Huracan
Wonderland By Night
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
St. Louis Blues
'S Wonderful
A Walk In The Black Forest

Customer Reviews:

good beats to dance to.......2007-04-12

As a beginning ballroom dancer, I was happy with this album, with samples of lots of different types of songs, with easy-to-follow beats. I would recommend it for some of the more basic ballroom dances -- waltz, tango, foxtrot. The songs are a little boring, but that's okay, because the point for me was just to provide some variety in backdrop music as I'm trying to learn the steps.

Actually, this is 3 and a half stars.......2007-04-04

Lots of good instrumental dance music at a very reasonable price. This is full orchestra dance music and the strings often carry the melody line. The beat, provided by plucked bass or bass guitar, is easy to hear. The cover lists the appropriate dance and the tempo (bpm). The tempos are appropriate to the suggested dance, with the exception of tracks 23, 24, and 25. I suggest foxtrot for tracks 23 and 24. Track 25 works with West Coast Swing. Oh, and track 14 (Liebesträume) has some slightly sour strings.

Here is the title, duration, suggested dance, and tempo:

Around the world, 2:27 Waltz, 30
Fly me to the moon, 2:28, Waltz, 30
Charade, 2:27, Waltz, 30
Rosita, La, 2:13, Tango, 33
Amanecer, El, 2:12, Tango, 33
Michelle, 2:26, Foxtrot, 30
Autumn leaves, 2:28, Foxtrot30
Summertime, 2:28, Foxtrot, 30
Moonlight serenade, 2:28, Foxtrot, 30
This masquerade, 2:26, Foxtrot, 30
Nocturne, 2:26, Foxtrot, 30
Top of the world, 2:08, Quickstep, 52
Sing, 2:05, Quickstep, 52
Liebesträume, 2:29, Waltz, 30
Mozart's concerto for piano & orchestra, 2:29, Waltz, 30
Professionnel, Le, 2:32, Waltz, 30
Amazing grace, 2:27, Waltz, 30
Tango notturno, 2:44, Tango, 33
Blue tango, 2:13, Tango, 33
Felicia, 2:11, Tango, 33
Yapeyu, 2:12, Tango, 33
Huracan, El 2:12, Tango, 33
Wonderland by night, 2:03, Foxtrot, 28
Smoke gets in your eyes, 2:07, Foxtrot, 28
St. Louis blues, 3:05, WCSwing, 28
S'Wonderful, 2:05, Quickstep, 52
Walk in the Black Forest, A, 2:03, Quickstep, 52

Superb CD for both Listening & Dancing.......2003-12-12

I DJ for Social Ballroom dancing here in Peterborough Ontario and am always on the lookout for new music. This and the other Columbia Ballroom Orchestra CDs that I have just received (5 in number) are superb. The music is in strict tempo for dancing and the songs are ones that all my dancers can relate to and sing along with. I just hope there are more Columbia Ballroom Orchestra CDs around that I can get my hands on.

Best ballroom.......2001-07-01

Best music for ballroom dancing, great arrangements, never boring. Latin songs esp. good. Wish they would put out more albums.

Excellent Dance Music.......1999-05-05

This CD is professionally recorded and very enjoyable to listen to. It's perfect to practice your dancing skills. The music is grouped in 3 or 4 of the same dance so that you can practice a particular type of dance several times in a row. I highly recommend this CD, along with Let's Dance - Latin Collection(see review).

Average customer rating:

how fun this cd is you must discover for yourself
BSO-LIVE
The Ultimate Collection
Brian Stezer Orchestra: Ultimate Collection, Recorded Live
Crank up the volume and close your eyes baby!

The Ultimate Collection: Recorded Live
Brian Setzer Orchestra
Manufacturer: Surfdog Records Ada
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Live Albums | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Live Albums | Jazz | Styles | Music

Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

Contemporary Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

Retro Swing | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | R&B | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Rockabilly | Oldies & Retro | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Live Albums | Rock | Styles | Music

Roots Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Jump Blues | Blues | Styles | Music
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13
The Dirty Boogie

ASIN: B0002476CY
Release Date: 2004-07-13

Tracks:

Intro
James Bond Theme
Hoodoo Voodoo Doll
Good Rockin' Daddy
Your True Love
My Baby Only Cares For Me
Brand New Cadillac
Sittin' On It
Ghost Radio
(Every Time I Hear) That Mellow Saxophone
Rumble In Brighton
Route 66
Rock This Town
As Long As I'm Singin'
Honky Tonk

Tracks:

Hawaii Five-O
This Cat's On A Hot Tin Roof
Dirty Boogie
Jumpin' East Of Java
Drive Like Lightning (Crash Like Thunder)
Caravan
I Won't Stand In Your Way
Mystery Train
Gene & Eddie
Sleepwalk
Stray Cat Strut
Jump Jive An' Wail
Pennsylvania 6-5000
Gettin' In The Mood
Get Me To The Church On Time
Rock This Town

Album Description

This live, double disc collection is the first and only compilation package on the market. It spans Setzer's entire 25 year career, from the Stray Cats to the Brian Setzer Orchestra, and includes the hits "Rock This Town", "Stray Cat Strut", "Rumble In Brighton", "I Won't Stand In Your Way", and Grammy Award winning songs such as "Jump Jive An' Wail", "Sleepwalk", and "Caravan".

Customer Reviews:

how fun this cd is you must discover for yourself.......2005-09-28

I cannot describe how energetic and fun these two discs are from beginning to end. your collection will be greatly enhanced if you get this. it is kind of big band rock, it rules, and it has all the songs that Setzer is famous for on it. just go get it right now!

BSO-LIVE.......2005-09-03

AS IS THE NORM WITH BRIAN SETZER, THERE IS NO LACK OF ENERGY. YOU CAN NEVER GET ENOUGH OF THIS UPBEAT, TOE TAPPING MUSIC THAT REMINDS YOU OF MUSIC LIKE GOD INTENDED IT - AS OPPOSED TO THE "RAP CRAP" OF TODAY.

The Ultimate Collection.......2005-08-22

I'd like to say I've listened to this, but it was a gift for someone else. However, since my son is a fan, I'm sure he loves it!

Brian Stezer Orchestra: Ultimate Collection, Recorded Live.......2005-08-05

I was a Stray Cats' fan back in the day, and liked the song that was used in the GAP commercial, and wanted to get this 2 disk set after hearing part of it on classic rock. Definitely worthwhile, and it's not a real greatest hits, but each disk is from a concert, the first at Montreal at the start of the tour, the other at Tokyo at the end of their tour in the early 90's. A good combo of Stray Cats hits, older songs (Route 66, Get me to the Church on Time). Great use of horns to supplement a rocking sound. A great addition to my collection!

Crank up the volume and close your eyes baby!.......2004-11-17

There is NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING like the BSO live in concert, but this collection is as close as you can get to the absolute bliss, power, and pure adrenaline of BSO in person.

It is also a chance to experience the growth and polishing of the band over the years. Disk One seems to have a slightly odd sound mix and is a little rough around the edges. I don't recall that from the concert, but memory fades with age...and it was just such a thrill to see and hear people make such amazing music! Thank you Brian!!!

I do, however distinctly remember the Phoenix concert that was similar to Disk Two...and this is pretty darn close. Brian's musical and vocal talent is truly a gift. It is reproduced beautifully with all of the highs, lows, growls, and yodels! Bernie Dresel is amazing as usual. He is the king of drummers and has some great features on Disk 2 that will confound and bewilder anyone who understand what it takes to produce that percussion.

Since you can't buy a lifetime of live BSO concerts (too bad), buy this collection. It is a totally different experience than the studio albums and worth every cent!

Average customer rating:

Fabulous Big Band CD Review
where's the big band?!
Overall a very good primer to the big band sound of the 40s.

Fabulous Big Band Collection
Various Artists
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Dance Pop | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Swing General | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

Contemporary Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

Vintage Dance Bands | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

Swing Jazz & Big Band | Compilations | Jazz | Styles | Music

1950s | By Decade | Pop | Styles | Music

The Fabulous Swing Collection
The Only Big Band CD You'll Ever Need
Songs That Got Us Through WWII
An Anthology of Big Band Swing (1930-1955)
Big Band Magic: The Sound of the Fabulous Forties

ASIN: B000003FS7
Release Date: 1998-02-10

Tracks:

Opus One - Tommy Dorsey And His Orchestra
Begin The Beguine - Artie Shaw And His Orchestra
Pennsylvania 6-5000 - Glenn Miller And His Orchestra
Jivin' The Vibes - Lionel Hampton And His Orchestra
Tippin' In - Erskine Hawkins And His Orchestra
It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) - Duke Ellington And His Orchestra
One O'Clock Boogie - Count Basie And His Orchestra
Sing, Sing, Sing - Benny Goodman And His Orchestra
Cherokee - Charlie Barnet And His Orchestra
This Love Of Mine - Tommy Dorsey And His Orchestra
Take The 'A' Train - Duke Ellington And His Orchestra
And The Angels Sing - Benny Goodman And His Orchestra
In The Mood - Glenn Miller And His Orchestra
Four Brothers - Woody Herman And His Orchestra
Concerto For Clarinet - Artie Shaw And His Orchestra

Customer Reviews:

Fabulous Big Band CD Review.......2006-08-21

An excellent music , high quality sound , I will buy a new CD from Amazon soon.
Horia

where's the big band?!.......2003-08-30

The reviwes that I read on the site were so good, but when I got the CD there were only 4 fast moving songs! I was very disapointed! This music is the best of all times! It's supost to be fun and moving fast enough to tap your foot to. I'm actuly wondering if the swing CD would be better than this one.

Overall a very good primer to the big band sound of the 40s........1998-10-11

The Fabulous Big Band Collection (like its companion CD The Fabulous Swing Collection) lives up to its billing and its spiffy cover art, providing in just over an hour a great primer to the big band sound of the '40s.

The one jarring note, and my one criticism, is that the Woody Herman selection "Four Brothers," was recorded some 30 years after every other song on the CD, during a sort of big band revival, and the sound quality is dramatically different from every other track. The piece does swing, but surely they could have found a recording of this piece, or any of a number of great recordings by Herman's Herds from the '40s, and the result would have been a much more homogeneous sound for the disc.

With that said, I would still highly recommend it. It's a great intro, and even if you already have an extensive big band collection, you'll find cuts not so commonly found on compilations, such as "Tippin' In" by Erskine Hawkins, "Jivin' the Vibes" by Lionel Hampton, or Duke Ellington's unusual treatment of "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got that Swing)" make this disc well worth a listen.

Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Dizzy Gillespie
Average customer rating:

Excellent

Best of the Bunch by Jazz' Foremost Entertainer

Solid Comp, but not the Best

A good introduction to Dizzy Gillespie

I wish I could have given this CD 4 1/2 stars

Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Latin Music | Styles | Music
Bebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music
General | Jazz | Styles | Music
Latin Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Contemporary Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
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Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Duke Ellington

Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Thelonious Monk

Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Benny Goodman

ASIN: B000050I3P
Release Date: 2000-11-07

Tracks:

Pickin' the Cabbage (with Cab Calloway & His Orchestra)
Disorder At The Border (with Coleman Hawkins & His Orchestra)
A Night In Tunisia (with Boyd Raeburn & His Orchestra)
Salt Peanuts
I Can't Get Started
Dizzy Atmosphere
Groovin' High
Things To Come
One Bass Hit, No. 2
Manteca
Bloomdido
Tin Tin Deo
Birk's Works
The Eternal Triangle
No More Blues (Chega de Saudade)
Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac

Amazon.com

Although Dizzy Gillespie was one of the great architects of modern jazz and its most famous personality, his trumpet style has rarely been imitated successfully. His high-speed runs, twisting phrases, and upper-register leaps are just too difficult to duplicate. This collection begins by placing Gillespie in the big swing bands in which his career began, his complex arrangements and advanced harmonic imagination gradually heralding the coming of bop. There are superb versions of some of his most famous anthems, like "A Night in Tunisia" and "Salt Peanuts," and meetings with altoist Charlie Parker, co-leader of the modernist revolution. Gillespie successfully translated the bop idiom to a big-band format, and his magnificent but short-lived bands are heard on the surging "Manteca" and "Birk's Works." His creative range is apparent--from the gorgeous "No More Blues," from his early discovery of bossa nova, and from his famous gospel parody, "Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac." While his formats would change, it's the Gillespie trumpet that's central here, an instrument capable of both rocketing invention and muted, insinuating sweetness. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews:

Excellent.......2001-11-23

As with a lot of the Ken Burn's series of cds, this was my first real exposure to the music of Dizzy Gillespie. This album covers many different record labels through the years 1940 to 1967, and showcases his many different styles. From small groups to big band, his interest in latin music, as well as his terrific sense of humour, as witnessed in the fun "Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac". The 12 page booklet includes photos of Diz and an interesting essay. Recommended.

Best of the Bunch by Jazz' Foremost Entertainer.......2001-03-19

Thanks to the interest kindled by the Burns series (how curious that the canonical, "party-line" jazz history delivered by Burns and Marsalis has led to their demonization by poorly read, self-appointed critics), I've been collecting these anthologies as preparation for teaching jazz history. Thus far, this Gillespie collection is the most satisfying--more consistent than the Armstrong, more representative than the Ellington, more musically engaging than the Goodman. I'm tempted to say that it's not merely a good introduction to Diz' recorded output but an adequate complete holding for most listeners--the notable omission being the famous "Jazz at Massey Hall" date which included Bird, Bud, Mingus and Max.

Unlike Miles, who exercised calculated control over his recording projects and chose "sidemen" with a watchful eye to both their creative and "image" value, Dizzy was laid-back and even careless about his ensembles and recording projects, frequently appearing as a sideman himself on the sessions of lesser musicians. As a result, it's much harder to think of an essential album by Diz than it is by Miles, Duke, Coltrane, or Bill Evans.

In fact, Diz could be regarded as a more genuine "entertainer" than either Louis or Miles. The latter two were clearly aware of their "image" (in his bio Miles mentions Orson Welles as one of his main influences) and consciously worked on "acting out" the persona they knew audiences had come to expect. Diz, on the other hand, was simply having fun--a great artist, perhaps the premier trumpet player in the history of jazz, in "spite of" as well as because of his always playful temperament and childlike approach to music and life. His recorded career is literally "all over the place," but Burns has done a creditable job of selecting and consolidating isolated moments that document the man as well as the artist.

Diz' star arguably declined after the fifties whereas Miles' continued to ascend. I predict that the passage of time will even things out, enabling us to see the irrepressible John Birks as a supreme "player" of the language we call jazz. Its possibilities--even within the parameters of so-called "bebop"--are infinite, variable, serendipitous--fully available only to the personal consciousness of an inimitable human being whose approach to life might justify a nickname like "Dizzy."

Solid Comp, but not the Best.......2001-03-18

Of course, no jazz musician can pack the energetic wallop that Dizzy could. His trumpet can only be described as HOT, and hearing his music makes you think of people dancing their legs off with garbage cans burning all around and smoke in the air. This man's music has LIFE in it. Unfortunately, the REAL energy to Dizzy is in his Latin Jazz work, and a more complete compilation of that style would be the Compact Jazz series. Ken Burns' collection here is more versatile, but just not as lively as Dizzy's music can be. Proceed with caution.

A good introduction to Dizzy Gillespie.......2001-03-16

There are far better compilations of Dizzy Gillespie, but unfortunately many of them go in and out of print at an alarming frequency. Only "The Complete RCA Victor Recordings" from six years ago manages to be a great, comprehensive Diz collection that has also stayed in print. This new Ken Burns CD does a great service in collecting some of Diz's greatest recordings and putting them in once place. Once again, we have such essential gems as "I Can't Get Started," "One Bass Hit No. 2," and "Things To Come" widely available in great sound. One wishes that a few tracks like "Ray's Idea" would be included, but perhaps Burns felt it would have shifted too much focus on the 40's. That's too bad because while the later tracks are good, Diz hit an amazing, early peak in the 40's and early 50's that is just monumental (despite some absent gems, the 40's output still takes up half the disc). However, these discs were targeted more towards new-comers, and as introductions, they do a stand-up job.

A bit of information on sound quality: Some have complained about the sound, which shouldn't be surprising as a majority of people buying these CD's aren't used to listening to music this old. Coming from 78 rpm discs, they certainly pale next to analogue tape recordings, and do take some getting used to. However, I should point out that the 78 rpm discs are given a fantastic remastering job here. The engineer, Kevin "in-joke for a middle name" Reeves, makes the bold choice of forgoing any noise reduction. As a result, the older, 78 rpm sourced tracks sound rather noisy, but they have a warmth, fullness, and dynamic range that is stunning compared to some of the CEDAR and NoNoise processed discs of recent years (if you can, compare the Charlie Parker collaborations here with the CEDAR processed ones on the new Parker box set: the difference is amazing). Not all the tracks were mastered from original source material, though, but they still sound great because of minimal tinkering done on them.

I wish I could have given this CD 4 1/2 stars.......2001-02-04

This is a great collection of music, and a wonderful reflection of the hard work and careful choices involved in the inclusion of material in the Ken Burns "Jazz" collection. I originally bought this CD thinking it worth the money for just "Salt Peanuts," "A Night in Tunisia," and "Manteca." Instead, I have come to appreciate much more of Dizzy Gillespie's music, and jazz music in general. A great CD for anyone interested in Jazz.

Average customer rating:

It'd be a GREAT collection IF...
Two and a half hours of Spike Jones

Essential Collection
Spike Jones & His City Slickers
Manufacturer: West End
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Swing General | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

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Spike Jones - Greatest Hits
(Not) Your Standard Spike Jones Collection
Let's Sing a Song of Christmas
The Best of Spike Jones
Fonk

ASIN: B000I2KPHI
Release Date: 2006-09-25

Tracks:

Hawaiian War Chant
My Old Flame
Chloe
Der Fuehrer's Face
Little Bo-Peep Has Lost Her Jeep
The Jones Laughing Record (Introducing The Flight Of The Bumble Bee)
Laura
Drip, Drip, Drip (Sloppy Lagoon)
The Glow-Worm
Red Wing
I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
And The Great Big Saw Came Nearer And Nearer
Liebestraume
Leave The Dishes In The Sink, Ma
Our Hour (The Puppy Love Song)
By The Beautiful Sea
(I'm Forever) Blowing Bubble Gum
Love In Bloom
Behind Those Swinging Doors
None But The Lonely Heart (A Soaperetta)
The Covered Wagon Rolled Right Along
Cocktails For Two
My Pretty Girl
Hotcha Cornia (Hotcha Chornya) (Russian Folk Songs)
Popcorn Sack

Tracks:

Cocktails For Two
Ill Barkio (Il Bacio)
You Always Hurt The One You Love
The Blue Danube
I Dream Of Brownie With The Light Blue Jeans
Hotcha Cornia (Hotcha Chornya) (Russian Folk Songs)
Down In Jungle Town
MacNamara's Band
That Old Black Magic
I Kiss Your Hand Madame
William Tell Overture
As Times Goes By
Old MacDonald Had A Farm
My Two Front Teeth (All I Want For Christmas)
Serenade To A Jerk
Siam
Mother Goose Medley
I Wanna Go Back To West Virginia
Jones Polka
The Man On The Flying Trapeze
Barstool Cowboy From Old Barstow
Clink, Clink, Another Drink
People Are Funnier Then Anybody
Toot Toot Tootsie, Goodbye
Holiday For Strings

Customer Reviews:

It'd be a GREAT collection IF..........2007-02-23

Disc 1 would play.

I've ordered this set twice...from different vendors...and both times, Disc 1 would NOT load, would NOT play...on ANY CD machine or computer at home or at work. Try it if you want but make sure the seller has an easy return policy.

I'll give it 1 star for disc 2, which was fine. But I really wanted "Popcorn Sack" and that's on disc 1.

Two and a half hours of Spike Jones.......2007-01-27

This double-CD set contains 50 tracks, representing Spike's output from 1941 to 1947. Most of the tracks (40) are from Spike's RCA Victor records; the rest (10) are from military-issue "V-Discs." You'll find Spike's biggest hits, and some very obscure stuff as well (such as the weak "My Pretty Girl"). Curiously, two of the songs are duplicated from disc #1 to disc #2.

I'm amazed at how the noise from the original 78 rpm records has been totally removed. The trade-off is that sometimes the sound is a bit bassy, or even "hollow" (like an MP3 file with a low sample rate). On the other hand, some of the other tracks are very good. (This is probably the best master of "Chloe" I've heard.) But here's a good decision: None of the tracks have ADDED any sound to the original recordings, such as reverberation or "stereo" effect.

The album notes are brief, perhaps rehashed from Wikipedia. But the song credits (soloists and composers) are thorough.

The band picture on the front cover was taken in 1957, 10 years after the latest recording session in this set.

Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Charlie Parker

Average customer rating:

but the sound!
Excellent single-disc collection
Fly with The Bird!
good godfrey, clean this up!
great music, horrible sound

Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Bebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

Contemporary Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
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Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Dizzy Gillespie
Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: John Coltrane
Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Thelonious Monk
Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Duke Ellington
Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Count Basie

ASIN: B000050I3S
Release Date: 2000-11-07

Tracks:

Sepian Bounce (with Jay McShann & His Orchestra)
Salt Peanuts
Hot House
KoKo
Anthropology
Now's The Time
Ornithology
Yardbird Suite
Lover Man
Relaxin' At Camarillo
Embraceable You
Scrapple Form The Apple
Parker's Mood
Just Friends
Star Eyes
Confirmation

Amazon.com

Charlie Parker is one of the legendary figures of jazz, a musician whose troubled life and creative genius have inspired works like Clint Eastwood's film Bird. As this collection demonstrates, though, the legend could never be larger than the art. Parker was simply one of the two or three greatest improvisers ever to play jazz. He created solos of unmatched harmonic and rhythmic subtlety at tempos few musicians could even negotiate. This selection provides a unique single-CD introduction to Parker's work, touching on his earliest recordings with the blues-based Kansas City band of Jay McShann and the early collaborations with Dizzy Gillespie that marked the dawn of bop. The period of Parker's greatest creativity was brief, and it spanned several record companies--Savoy, Dial, and Verve--all of them represented here. Among the masterpieces are the slow blues of "Parker's Mood" and the stunning "Just Friends," with Parker's liquid alto cascading brilliantly over a small string section. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews:

but the sound!.......2007-06-16

Wonderful selection of tracks, but the reviewers who commented on the sound quality are correct, it's unbearable. LOUD hissing. I have 35 year old Parker LPs that sound better. I was swayed to buy it by the many positive reviews. I was wrong, the sound guys were right.

Excellent single-disc collection.......2006-10-22

It would be a shame to go through life with only one CD of Charlie Parker music, but an even greater shame to own none. So if you're standing on the brink of deciding whether to buy this, get it! As of this writing it appears to be the single best and broadest overview of Parker's work available on a single disc. (Though if you want to spend a bit more, get the 4-disc set "Boss Bird" on Proper Records, here at Amazon).

This disc is a fine overview of Bird's career, going all the way back to his days with the Jay McShann in Kansas City and extending into the end of his career in the early 50's. It also contains one of the single most moving and poignant recordings in the history of jazz, "Lover Man," recorded in LA when he was so strung out on booze and drugs he coud hardly move, much less play.

There are some complaints here about sound quality; from what I can tell this CD is up to the standards of 40's and 50's jazz recordings -- this is what you get. If they apply more sound reduction, you end up losing the music.

Again, a great place to start.

Fly with The Bird!.......2005-08-23

Here's a good introduction to the music of the amazing Charlie Parker. It begins with a recording Parker made as a member of Jay McShann's orchestra then continues through his all-too-brief career with some essential recordings he made for Savoy, Dial and various labels produced by Norman Granz (which were later reissued on the Verve label).
No individual CD can contain all of Parker's most important recordings but this one scans The Bird's years as a recording artist better than any other single-CD collection.
If you're looking for one CD that will introduce you to the artistry of a true American musical genius, this is the one to get.

good godfrey, clean this up!.......2004-12-29

I don't know much about how they remaster and transfer music to CD's, but it sounds as if the originals were used to sweep up the studio floor and then transferred to CD. Horrible, horrible quality made me eject this CD four songs in, I just can't listen to it, so now it sits on my shelf collecting dust. It's a great collection from a true genious, but Ken Burns should be ashamed to put his name on this disc sounding the way it does. I've heard hisses and pops, but my old records sound way better than this :-(

great music, horrible sound.......2003-01-26

Ken Burns and company have assembled some classic Parker takes, but the sound quality is dismal. Yes, we know these recordings were made before the advent of tape, etc.--I don't think most people interested in Parker recordings are looking for pristine studio sound, but this is a disgrace. I have many C.P. recordings, including lots of old Verve and Savoy issues on LP--none of them sound as bad as this CD. Not just surface noise, but actual musical distortion that could have been mitigated with today's technology. I was suckered into this one by the Burns affiliation, since I had enjoyed the TV jazz series. Not a fraction of the care put into that effort was expended on the CD. There is so much Parker out there today put out with more care; I would look to the Dial and Savoy sessions, for example.

Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey - Ultimate Collection

Average customer rating:

Movies Stroy

Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey - Ultimate Collection
Tommy Dorsey & Jimmy Dorsey
Manufacturer: Jsp Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

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General | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

The Golden Years: 1938-1942
The Essential Artie Shaw
I've Heard That Song Before: Hits of Harry James
The Very Best of Benny Goodman
Platinum Glenn Miller

ASIN: B00007JQUD
Release Date: 2003-02-25

Product Description

I'm Getting Sentimental Over You

Boogie Woogie

On The Sunny Side Of The Street

Song Of India

There Are Such Things

The Hucklebuck

Marie

Imagination

I'll Be Seeing You

Opus One

This Love Of Mine

What Is This Thing Called Love

Say It

There's Good Blues Tonight

Weary Blues

Tailspin

I'll Have To Dream The Rest

Well, Git It!

Loose Lid Special

Hawaiian War Chest

Chicago

Milenburg Joys

Chloe

I Get A Kick Out Of You

Brazil

Maria Elena

Not So Quiet Please

Trombonology

Beale Street Blues

Weary Blues

At Sundown

Swing High

Swanee River

At The Fat Man's

John Silver

Night In The Sudan

Satan Takes A Holiday

Royal Garden Blues

After You're Gone

Ja-Da

After Hour Stuff

There's Good Blues Tonight

Night And Day

Basin Street Blues (With Bob Crosby)

Let's Do It (With Bing Crosby)

By Heck

Oodles Of Noodles 6 Milenburg Joys

Tangerine

Charleston Alley

Time Was

Stop, Look And Listen

Solitude (With Kay Weber)

Judy

The Spell Of The Blues (With Bing Crosby)

Fine And Dandy (With Scrappy Lambert)

Dippermouth Blues

Am I Blue? (With Irving Kaufman)

Shim Sham Shimmy

I Wished On The Moon (With Bing Crosby)

Yale Blues (With Bill Dutton)

Coquette

King Porter Stomp

I Remember You

My Melancholy Baby (With Seger Ellis)

Mean To Me (With Smith Ballew)

My Kinda Love (With Bing Crosby)

Parade Of The Milk Bottle Caps

Contrasts

I've Got The World On A String (With Bing Crosby)

Don't Be That Way

Amapola

Yours

Darktown Strutters' Ball

Green Eyes

Dolemite

Sorghum Switch

Always In My Heart

Stomping At The Savoy

All Of Me

Turn Right

Besame Mucho

Format: CD

Customer Reviews:

Movies Stroy.......2007-05-13

I enjoyed the movie. It was nice to see the two brothers again playing music.

Jazz Music:

Jazz Music

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