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.

Influential and innovative jazz pianist Bill Evans took time off from his regular trio to record Empathy with drummer Shelly Manne (who shares equal billing) and bassist Monty Budwig. Critics noted that the impromptu collaboration seemed to loosen Evans up, inspiring a lighter, freer and more relaxed performance on this album than on his previous recordings with his usual bandmates.

Vince Guaraldi's name will forever be inextricably linked to Charlie Brown's, thanks to the iconic piano jazz music Guaraldi composed and performed with his trio for 17 Peanuts television specials and a feature film. It all started in 1964, with A Boy Named Charlie Brown, a never-aired documentary on Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz that first brought Snoopy and the gang to life. Producers wanted a jazz soundtrack and approached Guaraldi after Dave Brubeck said he was too busy. In two weeks Guaraldi came up with Linus And Lucy, the freshness of the music perfectly enhancing the simplicity of the animation.

Recorded in 1981 and produced by Concord founder Carl Jefferson, this is another jewel of an album from the Concord Jazz catalog. A classic live recording from the Keystone Korner jazz club in San Francisco and with great sound, this is vintage late Getz and includes some of his best performances of standards like "Easy Living," "Sweet Lorraine," "Old Devil Moon," "I'm Old Fashioned" and the title track. Now out of print on regualar CD, this SACD reissue will only enhance what is already an excellent Getz title.

Surf Ride is an album by saxophonist Art Pepper featuring sessions from 1952-54 which was originally released as a 12 inch LP on the Savoy label in 1956. All of the recording presented in original Mono format.

Originally released on 10-inch vinyl in early 1955, this album spotlights some of the best from Blue Note's West Coast jazz roster of the day, as the title implies, recorded in Los Angeles and featuring prominent jazz musicians from both coasts such as Harry "Sweets" Edison, Stan Levey, Conte Candoli and Marty Paich. The "blindfold test" refers to the fact that this was originally issued with no credits, presenting a challenge to jazz fans to identify the players who were only revealed on the second volume of this series.

Originally released on 10-inch vinyl in early 1955, this album spotlights some of the best from Blue Note's West Coast jazz roster of the day, as the title implies, recorded in Los Angeles and featuring prominent jazz musicians from both coasts such as Harry "Sweets" Edison, Stan Levey, Conte Candoli and Marty Paich. The "blindfold test" refers to the fact that this was originally issued with no credits, presenting a challenge to jazz fans to identify the players who were only revealed on the second volume of this series.

In the early Sixties, the Brazilian import called bossa nova swept through jazz. The music's most prominent composer was Antonio Carlos Jobim, and his score for the 1959 motion picture "Black Orpheus" was packed with songs adopted by jazz musicians. Vince Guaraldi was one of the earliest to grasp the possibilities of bossa nova and recorded four of the Black Orpheus pieces in this 1962 album. He also played two standards and two of his own compositions. One of those originals was a pleasantly rhythmic little melody called "Cast Your Fate To The Wind" which cut like a beam of sunshine through the pop music gloom of the day, beat the odds against quality music and illuminated the upper regions of the national sales charts for nearly half a year.

"Empathy" is the album that resulted when the Bill Evans and Shelly Manne & His Men were sharing the bill at New York's Village Vanguard. A session at Rudy Van Gelder's studio was set up, and the trio of Evans, Manne, and Monty Budwig (Manne's bass player) recorded the album. Because all of the musicians were out of their regular working ensembles, they felt more free to play around with the music and the resulting music is light, free, and relaxed. Songs recorded include Irving Berlin's "The Washington Twist" and "Let's Go Back to the Waltz".