This superior three-LP box set reissues all of altoist Art Pepper's small-group dates for the Pacific Jazz label. Virtually all of the music has since been reissued on CD (part of it as The Artistry of Pepper and part of it under trumpeter Chet Baker's name), but the Mosaic box, which has an attractive booklet, is the definitive treatment of this chapter in Pepper's musical story. The great altoist is heard in a sextet with Baker and tenor saxophonist Richie Kamuca, on a version of "Tenderly" with Chet Baker's big band, with Baker and tenor Phil Urso in a different sextet, sharing the spotlight with tenor saxophonist Bill Perkins in a quintet, and heading a nonet playing arrangements by Shorty Rogers. The music is very much in the cool/bop tradition, but Pepper is instantly recognizable (he never sounded that much like Charlie Parker) and even at this early stage, he was at the top of his form. All 26 performances are quite enjoyable and swinging, making this hard-to-find set worth the search.

Real groups like Empirical are a rarity in contemporary jazz, where musicians so often come together for single projects then disperse again once they are done: groups that endure for fifteen years, without slackening in their quest for the new and the fresh, are all but unheard of.

Recorded live at the Black Hawk, San Francisco in September 1959, “At The Blackhawk, Vol 1” is the first of 4 volumes released in 1960. Featuring six cuts, Manne (drums), is joined by Joe Gordon (trumpet), Richie Kamuca (tenor sax), Victor Feldman (piano) and Monty Budwig (bass). This new edition features remastered hi-res audio from the original tapes.

Paolo, Marco and Dino celebrate the myth of Chet Baker with original tunes and some of his favorite standards. "Tempo Di Chet" is also and especially the intimate and delicate soundtrack of a play dedicated to the legendary Chet Baker.

The theme for “Quiet as the Moon” was composed for a Peanuts television series, “This is America, Charlie Brown,” in which the Peanuts characters flew to the moon on a NASA space ship. Later, I set for chorus words by my wife, Iola, that describe the exquisite harmony of the universe, and acknowledges the interrelationships of mankind and the stars, earth, and moon. She based her lyrics on something Astronomer Don Brownlee wrote: “The atoms in our bodies have all resided inside stars. Most of these atoms were actually produced inside stars in the distant past. These atoms…four and a half billion years ago formed into our present solar system…. We are quite literally made from stardust.”

Treasures: Solo, Trio and Orchestra Recordings from Denmark (1965-1969) is a set of never-before-released recordings of jazz piano icon Bill Evans, taped with excellent sound quality either live or in Danish TV and Radio studios in the mid-to-late 1960s. Treasures is truly a ’holy grail’ discovery culled from the private collection of Danish jazz musician Ole Matthiessen and being released for the very first time as a deluxe 2-CD set (a limited edition 180-gram 3-LP set)

Juno Award winning saxophonist Mike Murley co-leads his latest release with veteran Toronto pianist Mark Eisenman. The internationally renowned rhythm section of bassist Neil Swainson and drummer Terry Clarke complete the quartet. Murley and Eisenman perform four duo tracks, featuring music from Monk, Strayhorn and two standard tunes. The quartet takes on seven Murley/Eisenman compositions, reflecting the co-leaders’ shared interest in writing new melodies on standard chord progressions (contrafacts). Recent History is mainstream jazz at its best, capturing four of Canada’s most respected jazz artists in top form.

“Rome has something to say.” This is the message trumpeter Francesco Fratini delivers on his sensual, cool-as-can-be debut EP Homemade that dropped on March 11, 2022. The Italian native cut his teeth during a years-long residency in New York, returning to his hometown Rome with a deep love for Black American music, and a desire to lead the way in building up his city’s jazz scene. Working as a collective with longtime friends Giuseppe Romagnoli (bass) and Matteo Bultrini (drums), Fratini has created a set of originals that melds elements of cool jazz, bebop, and hip hop, mixing in a few timeless classics for good measure. It is a debut that puts the rest of the world, New York included, on notice.

Dave Brubeck's defining masterpiece, Time Out is one of the most rhythmically innovative albums in jazz history, the first to consciously explore time signatures outside of the standard 4/4 beat or 3/4 waltz time. It was a risky move – Brubeck's record company wasn't keen on releasing such an arty project, and many critics initially roasted him for tampering with jazz's rhythmic foundation. But for once, public taste was more advanced than that of the critics. Buoyed by a hit single in altoist Paul Desmond's ubiquitous "Take Five," Time Out became an unexpectedly huge success, and still ranks as one of the most popular jazz albums ever. That's a testament to Brubeck and Desmond's abilities as composers, because Time Out is full of challenges both subtle and overt – it's just that they're not jarring.

Radiant personalities of the European jazz scene, the French trumpeter David Enhco and the Swiss pianist Marc Perrenoud pay tribute to the great jazz trumpeter Chet Baker. With a selection of emblematic jazz standards, David and Marc trace the musical journey and tragic fate of Chet Baker, made of poetry and light.

On his new album After Hours (2023), Nobel emphasizes the so-called 'American jazz standards' for the first time. His inspiration for this was the 40th anniversary of the Chet Baker Trio's album My Prince Will Come (1983). The line-up of trumpet, guitar and double bass corresponds to the line-up on Chet Baker's album. This combination of instruments invites the tranquil and melancholic sounds that connoisseurs of Baker will recognize. But Nobel, Langedijk and Pol also make plenty of room for swinging jazz.

Indonesia and jazz? Not so far-fetched! Improvisation is a part of traditional gamelan, and modal playing goes back 1000 years; jazz began seriously delving into modes with Miles Davis in the 1950’s. Clarinet icon Tony Scott proselytized jazz during his six-year sojourn in Asia, and in so doing brought Asian music masters, including players on this album, into the jazz world.

Volume 2 of a double-length live set from the legendary Modern Jazz Quartet – recorded in Scandinavia in 1960, almost as a summation of the group's growing genius in the 50s! The tunes are a mix of John Lewis and Milt Jackson originals, plus other songs all given the wonderful MJQ twist – distilled into a sublime blend of piano, vibes, bass, and drums – all delivered with a sense of class, but never too much polish. Titles include "Pyramid", "It Don't Mean A Thing", "The Cylinder", "Round Midnight", "Bag's Groove", and "Skating In Central Park".

European Concert' is perhaps the classic of the Modern Jazz Quartet. The MJQ presented its jazz in a formally structured context, much like a chamber music ensemble in a classical context. This album, perhaps more than any of their studio recordings, illustrates how the band uses concepts of time, space, beat, rhythm and change to weave them into a seamless whole, where melody is the basis of improvisation, but never really constrains it.

"This is the type of album that led many bop purists to criticize the Modern Jazz Quartet (and John Lewis in particular) for being overly influenced by Western classical music. This album has seven of Lewis' compositions, episodic works arranged in a suite that portrays characters from a fictional Italian comedy based in the 1500s. Singer Diahann Carroll guests fairly effectively on "La Cantatrice." Despite being tied to a story, there are some strong improvisations from pianist Lewis and vibraphonist Milt Jackson on this unusual material. The release is not that essential but it is quite interesting." (Scott Yanow, AMG)