Reviews (2)

Its Like The Instruments are singing!
This is a great Hot Jazz, Bebop, Hot Jazz box set. I recommend this to anyone who loves music of the 1940s. This music will get you up dancing. A lot of the bands are forgotten, but they're remembered again through this box set. I wish they would make music like this today- Instrumental music. Its like the Instruments are singing. You'll enjoy this. If you don't I give your money back! Guaranteed=)

A Delightful Swingin' Surprise
This is an upbeat collection that really swings with energy (very few ballads over three CD's). Most live performances from this period are pretty low on sound quality, these CD's are an exception with surprising quality (fidelity), a really great collection at an unbeatable price. If you enjoy big band swing that rocks, check these out. ... Read more

Album Description

A stomping Texas tenor player in the tradition of Illinois Jacquet, Arnett Cobb's accessible playing was between swing and early rhythm & blues. This Proper Introduction covers his time with Lionel Hampton's band and his solo sides up to 1953, and is the perfect showcase for his honking tenor sound. Proper. 2004. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

great jump blues cd
if you liek rockabilly and jump blues, uoi'll love thsi cd, Cleanhead sings liek a male version of Ruth Brown. great stuff. Essential ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Church of the Blues
Yes, you have heard that Bessie Smith was the best of the blues singers. Well hang on to your "hankie" Big Maybelle is cut from that same cloth. Give a listen to "Blame it on your love" and "I'm lost" and you can feel the sorry of lost love that Big Maybelle unleashes right down to your toes. If you have never heard her torch a song then listen to her rendition of "Why was I born". She also has something for that man that "done her wrong" with her redition of two of my favorite songs "No better for you" and "Your turn to cry". No need to put on your Sunday best, but Big Maybelle is about to take you to the Church of the Blues, baby. I love women singing the blues and I own every Cd in print by this wonderful and one of the best blues artist that ever graced this planet. Nuff said, click "BUY".

If you like Big Maybelle, you'll love this CD.
This CD contains a total of 21 tracks that cover the gamut from blues to ballads. I would rate at least half of them outstanding. Recorded for Paramount in the early 60's, I suspect, the sound quality is really good. I am glad I got a copy of this CD. I think you will be, too. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Old Jazz Fan
5 STAR for the music and 1 STAR for the reproductions.

The music is the greatest! However, the quality of the CD's were horrendous. I have records that are 50 years old, played hundreds of times, that sound better! No matter if they used CEDAR or any other method of restoration, they sound lousy to me!!! ... Read more

Album Description

The bootleg and honking orchestra of trumpeter Joe Morriswas one of the most popular and successful R&B touringgroups of the late 40s. These 26 recordings made between1947 and 1951 are presented in order of release beginningwith the bop oriented platters featuring the sublime tenorsax of Johnny Griffin to the later R&B discs featuring thevocals of Laurie Tate, Billy Mitchell and Joe Morrishimself. Acrobat. 2003. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

The Greatest Female Singer EVER!
Big Maybelle Smith was ... 300+ pounds. Aretha writes in her autobiography of seeing Maybelle in New Orleans "...with her little-bitty boyfriend." Imagine you're in a small club in Chicago, 2 in the morning, snowing outside, booze, tears, smoke and lost love permeating the place ... and a huge woman singing from the depths of her soul, a place so dark and deep there ought to be a warning label on the cd: Don't listen to this when you're seriously depressed! In the decades since I discovered her I've wondered if Maybelle's voice was a result of her heroin and other addictions, or were the addictions a result of her inner-soul and that voice. "I Don't Know What To Do With Myself" is her song, forget Dionne Warwick. "Until the Real Thing Comes Along" and "That's All" ... they get my vote as the most wonderful songs ever for humans in love. And "I Will Never Turn My Back On You." That's the track that Torch Song Trilogy (the play, not the movie) used at it's end ... it's one thing to say you 'love' somebody, it's quite another to promise you'll never turn your back on them. "Oh Lord, What Are You Doing to Me" showcases that mammoth voice that soars one second and hits rock bottom the next. Maybelle died in Ohio after being in a diabetic coma for two years ... she wasn't yet 50. Listen to this (and other) Big Maybelle, you'll hear every tragedy and heartache a human can endure. I've given dozens of cd's of this collection, invariably, the comment is "How could I have gotten this old without ever hearing about her?" Now. You've heard about her. Go buy the collections! It's a tragedy she never found the fame and fortune her talent deserves. You might even buy a couple extra copies, you'll have friends you want to share them with ...

Another GREAT Big Maybelle collection.
She was FANTASTIC! Just listen to " I Cried For You", "Only You", and "Thats All" and you'll know what the blues are all about!

The blues at its best
Big Maybelle lived the blues and died before her time. This music is real blues, sung from the heart. ... Read more

Album Description

Buddy Johnson & His Orchestra featuring Ella Johnson is a24-track collection on the Ace label. 1996. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

This is where rock and roll began!
Well, one of the places, anyway. As early as 1941, while other jazz figures were exploring Bebop and the like, Buddy Johnson was pounding out Big Band blues sides--some of them actual 12-bar numbers like "Walk 'Em" (1946) and "Boogie Woogie's Mother-in-Law" (1941), and others in the 32-bar, AABA mode, but adorned with boogie-woogie riffs and solos in the best late-1950s tradition (only a heck of a lot earlier). While I would have prefered a greater number of instrumental sides, this collection leaves me with no complaints whatsoever, because I was looking for vintage rock and roll--and that, mostly, is what we have here. There are Hal Singer/Paul Williams-style sax solos, rock and roll guitar licks, and, in the person of Ella Johnson and others, R&B vocalizing we tend to associate with later times. The sound is magnificent--no surprise, considering the label, Ace. All reissues should be a fraction as good as this one. Get this one! P.S.--Buddy Johnson's classic "Since I Fell for You" is here to hear in its vintage version, and it is sublime. Again--buy this!

Must Buy!
This is a great buy! Almost all of the tracks are danceable. Great variety in tempos and great vocals. Some of the other BJ albums lack the sound of this one. My favorites tracks are:

o Walk 'Em o Be Careful o Jackie Robinson ... Read more