There's a moment on Billie Holiday: The Ultimate Collection when Lester Young slips into his sax solo and the camera zooms in on Billie Holiday's face. Glistening eyes, arching brow and an uncontrollable smile reveal anticipation, awe and admiration. The pair joins an allstar cast including Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge and Gerry Mulligan among others for a 1957 CBS performance of "Fine And Mellow . Earlier, a scene from the 1947 film New Orleans portrays an exuberant Louis Armstrong bursting with delight during "The Blues Are Brewin' while the stunning, gardenia-encrusted Miss Holiday sings by his side. With ten rare performances, the DVD provides an overview of Lady Day's career and provides a glimpse into the singer's persona.

Rather than play a watered-down version of bossa nova in New York studios (which was becoming quite common as the bossa nova fad hit its peak in 1962), flutist Herbie Mann went down to Brazil and recorded with some of the top players of the style. Guitarist Baden Powell and the group of then-unknown pianist Sergio Mendes, which included drummer Dom Um Romao, formed the nucleus for this generally delightful album. Antonio Carlos Jobim himself dropped by to sing two of his compositions, including "One Note Samba," and even on the token jazz standard "Blues Walk," the music is as much Brazilian as it is jazz. This "fusion" works quite well.

Art Tatum - Portrait
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 1,8 GB | MP3 CBR 320: 1,4 GB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Past Perfect # 205460 325 | Country/Year: Germany 2001 | Genre: Jazz

They cover a mass of material from 1932 to 1953, some solo, some combos. Sound quality is decent, given the sources. Nice booklet included, along with full discography, dates, and personnel for each disc (thankfully). It's a chronology of one of the most amazing jazz pianists ever. Fully three of the discs appear to be home recordings of Art playing in lounges in 1953. Probably more Art Tatum than you'll ever want to hear!

Fletcher Henderson - A Study In Frustration. The Fletcher Henderson Story (1994) [3CD BoxSet] {Columbia}
EAC rip (secure mode) | APE(image)+CUE+LOG -> 663 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 447 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 171 Mb
© 1994 Columbia / Legacy | C3K 57596
Jazz / Big Band / Swing

This four-LP set, which is now also available as a three-CD box, is easily the definitive Fletcher Henderson package. Between 1923-38, Henderson's orchestra was one of the finest swing bands in the world, and during 1923-27 (until Duke Ellington's emergence) it was the first and the best. The arrangements of Don Redman in the early days set the pace for jazz; Benny Carter and Horace Henderson also wrote some important charts before Henderson himself finally developed into a major arranger in 1932. This Columbia set is not complete, but it includes 64 selections, at least 60 of them gems. This essential box (which contains three wonderful versions of "King Porter Stomp") belongs in everyone's jazz collection.

With Linda di Chamounix Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) has created wonderful, inspired music. Donizetti’s unfailing attention to the last detail becomes apparent in his numerous revisions of the work, the cuts and the new arrangement of the overture, which he had initially composed as a short prelude but had then developed further, to suit the taste of the Viennese…