Here is the latest cache of reissues from UK-based AVID. As always, there are some absolute essentials as well as glorious obscurities. Everything has something to offer.
Can you really ever have enough Duke Ellington? NO WAY! The 2 disc set of Ellington with Hodges & Hawkins finds him in the rare small group setting, 
and it’s actually some of the best Ellingtonia you’ll ever hear. On Back to Back from 1959 Hodges floats like a feather on “Wabash Blues” and “Loveless Love” as Harry Edison/tp, Leslie Spann/g, Jo Jones/dr and Al Hall/b deliver sublime support as on the never-want-it-to-end “Royal Garden Blues.” The 58-59 Side By Side includes Ben Webster on tenor and Lawrence Brown on trombone, and they swing like there’s no tomorrow on “You Need To Rock.” The summit meeting between Coleman Hawkins and Duke is an absolute classic, as Hawkins defines “Mood Indigo” with a sublime solo and everyone bears down on the sizzling “The Jeep Is Jumpin’” with Harry Carney almost stealing the show. Another summit meeting, but between the orchestras of Duke along with Count Basie, fills up the rest of the disc with a fantastic blast on “Battle Royal” with solos by just about everyone you’d want to hear, while Frank Foster and Paul Gonsalves ride out “Jumpin’ At THe Woodside” like a tenor tidal wave.
The second Duke set also includes material from the Basie-Ellington meeting, but along with a nice and bluesy “Segue In C” while the piano contrasts of the two giants is in great show all throughout. After that, you have some of the more obscure Ellingtonia, as the band delves into Grieg’s “Peer Gynt Suites” and Billy Strayhorn’s dedication to John Steinbeck on “Suite Thursday.” The material features some rich reed work on “Ase’s Death” while the band swings it on “Hall of the Mountain King” with plunged trombones. Songs associated with France make for an intriguing concept album, as the band wails on “Paris Blues” and lilts on “No Regrets.” An intriguing 1958 gig has Duke and the band in an intimate and cozy mood, delving into tunes not usually associated with jazz or Ellingtonia. “Laugh, Clown, Laugh” and “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf” are worth a hear just for Clark Terry’s and Paul Gonsalves’sake on the latter and Harry Carney on the former, while “Lady In Red” has Jimmy Hamilton’s clarinet in a lyrical mood. Lots of solos and features on this evening where it seems Duke was in a mood to take requests from the audience.
The set of three vocalists is a quizzical one. Two of the ladies are represented with a pair of sessions, and Morgana King is on one. Why include the third singer at all, and just throw in another one by the other two? Especially because her 1958 session is her with Chuck Wayne/g and Ernie Furtado/b doing international folk and gospel tunes. “Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be” “Twas the Night Before Christmas” and “Goodnight Irene” are tough goings, while the spiritual “I’m On My Way” takes awhile to get started. Meanwhile, Teddi King is featured on two of her best albums; the ’54 team of Jimmy Jones/p, Jo Jones/dr, Milt Hinton/b and Ruby Braff/tp supply the clear toned lady with sensuous sounds on “It’s The Talk of THe Town” and a cleverly slowed down “Love Is Here To Stay.” The 1955 meeting with Billy Taylor/p, Milt Hinton/b, Quill/as and Osie Johnson/dr and a hip horn section displays her warm vibrato on a hip “I’m In The Market For You” and languid “I Didn’t Know About You.” Carol Sloane, who was kind of a husky toned Chris Conner, has a ’62 small group session that includes Bucky Pizzarelli/g for s sleek “Love Walked In” and a couple of well-delivered Ellington tunes in”Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” and a gorgeous “In A Sentimental Mood.” Her other session from the same year includes Clark Terry/tp, and Jim Hall/g and sparkles on “Aren’t You Glad” and another Ellington beaut in “Prelude To A Kiss.” You’ll want more of Teddi and Carol after these tempting morsels.
Pianist Randy Weston is still releasing impressive material to this very day. This 2 disc set covers his very first material, most of which was before his influential trip to West Africa. Here, he shows his allegiance to Bud Powell in terms of bop and Thelonious Monk in terms of touch on a 1954 debut with only Sam Gill’s bass to interpret Cole Porter tunes. His kinetic approach to “Night and Day” and “I Love You” must have raised some eyebrows back then, but they sure do feel good now! His 1955 outing with Gill and Wilbert Hogan is a straightahead affair that includes a wondrous workout between piano and bass on “Dark Eyes” while his assertive touch on “C-Jam Blues” is as earthy as you could wish. He goes solo and trio for a 55-56 album with Gill and Art Blakey, with some wonderful bop sparks flying on “Sweet Sue” while his solo material overshadows almost everything else on this collection. You can feel him embracing the keys on “If You Could See Me Now” and caress the ivories on “Little Girl Blue.” A gig from 1956 at the Café Bohemia has Weston with Cecil Payne/bs, Ahmed Abdul Malik and Al Dreares on exciting material that includes a calypso’d “Hold ‘Em Joe.” Weston’s own “Chessman’s Delight” is a thrill a minute of stimulation, while Payne’s baritone is like molten gold on “You Go To My Head.” Utterly enjoyable.