I didn’t even know that half of these albums reissued on 2 cd sets by Avid even EXISTED! I was missing something. A couple are absolutely essential.
Vibist Teddy Charles was more like a thinking man’s Lionel Hampton, able to swing, but with different harmonies. Here, he’s captured on four 50s sets. A 1953er has him in the heavy company 
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f JR Montrose/ts, Charles Mingus/g, Shorty Rogers/tp, Jimmy Giuffre/ts, Curtis Counce/b and Shelly Manne/dr among others for some subtle and yet intricate swing with a hip “Speak Low” and a stretched out “I Can’t Get Started.” In 1956, Montrose and horn section with Art Farmer/tp, Gigi Gryce/as, Don Buttefield/tp and Georeg Barrow sound cool and hip on “You Go To My Head” and “The Emperor.” Mal Waldron’s piano adds to some heady harmonies on his own compositions “Staggers” and “Reiteration” before a 1959 session in Hollywood including Bob Brookmeyer/tb, Zoot Sims/ts, Art Farmer/tp and Hank Jones/p deliver a gentlemanly tribute to Lionel Hampton with high brow reads of “Stompin’ At The Savoy” and “Moonglow.” Low burning embers
Pianist/arranger Tadd Dameron is one of the forgotten geniuses of the bebop era. Here, you get a chance to re-assess his import. The first album is a collection of concert recordings from 1948 that features some of the earliest and absolutely best bebop you’re ever going to hear. With the fiery Fats Navarro/tp, a Lester Young-inspired Allan Eager/ts, Rudy Williams/as, Curly Russell/b and legendary Kenny Clarke/dr, Dameron takes you through fiery reads of his own “Our Delight”, “Good Bait” and “The Squirrel” as well as a sizzling read of “Anthropology. This is an essential session that shows the glory of modern jazz. 2 sessions 8 years later include Kenny Dorham/tp, Sahib Shihab/as, Cecil Payne/bs and Shadow Wilson among others in a more subtle mood for the classic “Fonainebleu” and “Flossie Lou” with everyone stretching out on “Bula-Beige.” John Coltrane and Philly Joe Jones both sound inspired on a quartet session with ‘Trane in excellent form on the muscular “Mating Call” and “Super Jet” while “Soultrane” gets its first delivery here, and it’s a beaut. A 1962 Orchestra including Johnny Griffin/ts, Blue Mithcell-Clark Terry/tp, Ron Carter-George Duvivier/b, Britt Woodman/tb and Bill Evans/p (!) is a gently swinging session which includes rich vocals by Barbara Winfield on “If You Could See Me Now.” Our Delight, indeed!
Frances Faye was a salty old broad of a vocalist, more of a cabaret singer than a jazzer. She sounds like a thinking man’s Ethel Merman here with a 1953 sesson with Dave Cavanaghs band delivering a scintillating “Summertime’ and clever “Mad About the Boy.” She sounds a bit like a gefilte fish out of water on a 1957 collection of folk songs with Russ Garcia’s orchestra as she sings “Lonesome Road” and “Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen” and her read of “Greensleeves” is too serious to be taken seriously. A ’56 teaming with Frank Hunter’s Orchestrea with Oscar Pettiford/b and Herbie Mann/ts-fl has her more at home as she sasses through “Just Y ou, Just Me” and “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down…” while a 1961 album in Hollywood with Jimmy Rowles/p, Bud Shank/as and “Conte Candoli/tp among others has her deliver respectable takes of “Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me” and “Do Nothing ‘Till You Hear From Me.”
Arranger Pete Rugulo did material for projects ranging from Stan Kenton to the Leave it to Beaver TV show. Here, he’s in LA for a ’54 session in a big band with West Coast stars like Bud Shank/as, Bob Cooper/ts, Shorty Rogers/tp and Maynard Ferguson/tp for some highly arranged tunes like the uptempo “Here’s Pete” and the more thoughtful “My Funny Valentine.” In NYC the same year, he emphasizes percussion on trendy Latin tunes like “Monevideo” and “Bongo Dance.” The material all throughout these four albums feels like a painter continually returning to his canvas, adding a stroke or dash here and there, with almost an overabundance of thoughts and ideas. A brass heavy orchestra in 1956 blasts through the speakers on “ For Hi-Fi Bugs” while “Snowfall” glistens. Rugulo pays tribute to Stan Kenton in a 1958 album with hip rads of “Eager Beaver” and “Opus In Pastels” with Shank, Cooper and Frank Rosolino/tb. Bright and bold.
Avid Records