Fats Waller - All The Hits And More 1922-43 swing era, an artist with an unmistakably distinctive style and a way with a song whose work transcended the different strands of jazz that emerged during the 20 years or so when he established his reputation and enjoyed all his success as a recording artist. He was renowned as an influential innovator of the Harlem style of stride piano, but also became famous playing the organ and celeste on his sessions. Recording both solo and in small groups, and equally well-known and loved for his instrumental and vocal recordings, he had over 60 hits between 1929 and 1943, when he died suddenly from pneumonia at the tragically early age of 39. This great-value 75-track 3-CD collection contains all those hits plus selected other recordings which are among his most highly-regarded and popular work. It naturally features the recordings for which he is best-known, including his No. 1s with "Truckin'", "A Little Bit Independent", "All My Life", "It's A Sin To Tell A Lie", "Smarty" and "Two Sleepy People and classics like "Honeysuckle Rose", "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter". It's a substantial and enjoyable showcase for one of the great personalities of jazz.

Vinyl LP pressing. Etta James' approach to both singing and life was one akin to riot and rebellion that included violence, drug addiction, armed robbery and highly impulsive behaviour. She sang with unrivalled emotion and a pain that can leave the stoniest listener in emotional turmoil. The ferocity of her voice reflected her traumatic life... a neglected child, a teen drug addict, a woman constantly entering into bad relationships and an artist raging against an industry and a society that had routinely discriminated against her. Over a career spanning more than half a century Etta 'Peaches' James has become a true blues icon. Widely acknowledged as one of the most important and influential female blues and R&B singers of the post-war era, she has been cited by critics, peers, younger artists whom she influenced, industry insiders and consumer aficionados, as one of most versatile and expressive blues singers. Effortlessly bridging the divides between pure blues, rhythm and blues, rock n' roll, sophisticated pop and jazz with an intensity and passion rarely matched. From Bonnie Raitt to Beyonce, Tina Turner to Adele, Etta James stands alone in her far reaching influence. This LP shines a light on her early career, showcasing some of her greatest and earthiest recordings. From her first single as a delinquent teenager The Wallflower, through to the distinctly Motown influenced Next Door To The Blues we hear just why Etta James is the true embodiment of blues.

AIN'T NOBODY'S BUSINESS: THE SINGLES COLLECTION

ALL THE HITS AND MORE 1923-1940

BARBECUE BLUES: THE COLLECTION 1927-30

Blind Lemon Jefferson - Complete Releases 1926-29 / Blind Lemon Jefferson was one of the most important, influential and successful of the early bluesmen, a singer, songwriter and guitarist who has been called "The Father Of Texas Blues", and he was one of the earliest and most prominent figures in the blues movement that developed in the Deep Ellum area of Dallas. He was one of the first solo guitarist/vocalists in the commercial recording world, being invited to Chicago in early 1926 to do his first sessions for Paramount. His high-pitched voice and unusual guitar style made him a distinctive performer, writing songs about everyday life and experiences, and his skilful guitar playing and impressive vocal range created opportunities for other solo performers like Charley Patton and Furry Lewis. This substantial and excellent-value 87-track 4-CD collection comprises, as far as we are aware, every recording he made which was commercially released, primarily comprising his releases on Paramount, but also featuring titles he made in a brief foray to the Okeh label, and including a couple of titles he made as a member of the Paramount All Stars. He wrote and recorded many classics of the genre, all of which are featured here, and the collection is a comprehensive and definitive showcase for an innovative blues pioneer.

Count Basie - The Legendary New Testament Band 1952-55 - Count Basie was one of the most celebrated and influential personalities in jazz, as pianist, organist, bandleader, composer and innovator, both during his stellar career which spanned half a century across the middle decades of the 20th century, and in the years since then. That career encompassed several musical and stylistic eras, and one of the most notable of those was the period in the early 50s, when, after a creative re-think, he formed a new orchestra, which became known as "The New Testament Band", which adopted a musical approach which was fresh and distinctive. That approach was captured on recordings which were done at sessions covering a period of around four years, with the titles being issued on several albums which came out on Norman Granz's Clef and Verve labels during the mid-1950s. This 63-track 3-CD collection comprises just about all the recordings which were released on the albums "The Count", "Basie Jazz", Basie Rides Again", "The Swinging Count", "Dance Session", "Dance Session No. 2", and "Basie". As one would expect, the performances feature some notable jazz names, including vocalist Al Hibbler, as well as renowned arrangers like Neal Hefti, Buster Harding and Manny Albam. It's a collection which offers an enlightening, entertaining and substantial snapshot of Basie's music at a key moment in his career. - It's a collection which offers an enlightening, entertaining and substantial snapshot of Basie's music at a key moment in his career.

The Acrobat catalogue contains a wealth of blues collections by artists from across the spectrum of the genre, and this fantastic-value 100-track 4-CD set comprises recordings selected from just about every artist represented in the catalogue, and offering a rich cross-section of the finest blues of the 20th century. Inevitably it draws on every strand of the blues and just about every regional variation, from country blues from the Delta, to electric blues from Chicago, post-war California blues, New Orleans blues, Piedmont blues, New York Blues and more. The genre's most influential luminaries and it's biggest stars are all here - B.B. King, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Bill Bill Broonzy, Charley Patton, Howlin' Wolf, Bessie Smith, Lightnin' Hopkins, Ma Rainey, and dozens more. Presented more or less in chronological order, it offers an extraordinary feast of music which provides not only a window on the development of the music of the African-American population of the USA, who provide the vast majority of the recordings here, but an anecdotal social commentary on their lives and observations which are the subject of many of the songs. It's a collection which anyone with the remotest interest in the blues will undoubtedly enjoy.

Quincy Jones has become one of the most prominent personalities in popular music as a trumpeter and pianist who became an arranger, composer, bandleader, record producer and film & TV producer, and winner of a Grammy Legend Award in 1992, and who in 2022 is still active after a 70-year career

DUKE ELLINGTON - ALL THE HITS AND MORE 1927-54 - It's a comprehensive overview of his most successful output during a primary era of his career Duke Ellington was one of the most important and influential figures in the entire history of jazz, as pianist, bandleader, composer and innovator, his career spanning half century as the genre evolved from the early days of electric recording. However, while critics and commentators focus on his over-arching significance as a giant of the medium, it's easy to forget that he was a genius at composing tune and songs for the medium of the 3-minute 78rpm single, and during the first three decades of his career before rock 'n' roll changed the pop landscape irrevocably, he had more than 70 records that were credited as chart hits. This great-value 4-CD set comprised all those 77 recordings which are listed in recognised sources as hits, plus another 20 or so which are regarded as significant compositions which became standards, or were hits for other artists. It includes his No. 1s with "Three Little Words", "Cocktails For Two", "I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart", and the Billboard R&B No. 1s "Don't Get Around Much Anymore", "Sentimental Lady", "Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me" and "Main Stem", along with classics like "Mood Indigo", "Sophisticated Lady", "Moon Glow", "Solitude", "Caravan", "Take The 'A' Train" and "I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good". It's a comprehensive overview of his most successful output during a primary era of his career, and a great showcase for the artistry which made the Duke such a revered and iconic personality.

Flip Phillips - The Clef Years: Classic Albums 1952-56 / It's a great showcase for Flip Phillips at probably the zenith of his career. Flip Phillips was a tenor saxophonist who came to the fore in the post-war era playing with the bands of Woody Herman, Red Norvo, Benny Goodman and Frankie Newton, and was perhaps most famously associated with Norman Granz' Jazz At The Philharmonic concerts in the late '40s and into the 1950s. In the early 1950s he recorded a string of sessions for Norman Granz, leading groups that comprised many different line-ups, with most of the titles coming out a succession of albums on Granz' Clef label during this era, and being mixed and matched on different LP releases during that time. This great-value 58-track 3-CD collection comprises most of the titles he recorded for Granz at these sessions, mostly presented in the order and format they were released on the albums "Flip Phillips Quartet", "Flip Phillips Collates Vols. 1 & 2", "Jumping Moods", "Flip Phillips & Buddy Rich Trio", "Flip Phillips Quintet (Rock With Flip)", and the re-issue packages "Flip Wails", "Swingin' With Flip Phillips" and "Flip". It features performances with some of the great names of the era - Oscar Peterson, Charlie Shavers, Barney Kessel, Ray Brown, Howard McGhee, Alvin Stoller, Buddy Rich, Hank Jones, Herb Ellis, Freddie Green, Max Roach and more - and as a bonus includes a 'live' jam session version of "Stompin' At The Savoy Pt. 1". It's a great showcase for Flip Phillips at probably the zenith of his career.

Gene Krupa - Drummin' Man: Hits & Classic Recordings 1938-50 Gene Krupa was one of the most admired and influential drummers in the history of jazz, with his impact extending into the pop era, not least through his effective defining of the make-up of the modern drum kit. As a drummer and bandleader in the swing and big band eras of the late 1930s and '40s, he became known for what the New York Times called his "frenzied, flashy" drumming which was revolutionary in it's day, and elevated the rile of the drummer from pure accompanist to being an important solo voice in the band. This 48-track 2-CD collection features all his 27 career hits on the Brunswick, Columbia, Okeh and RCA-Victor labels, plus selected renowned recordings from across this era. It includes his Top 10 hits "It All Comes Back To Me Now", "High On A Windy Hill", "Just A Little Bit South Of North Carolina", "Along The Navajo Trail", "Chickery Chick" and "Bonaparte's Retreat". There are performances by his noted female vocalists Irene Day and Anita O'Day, and by his other featured vocalists Jerry Kruger, Howard Dulaney, Roy Eldridge, Johnny Desmond, Carolyn Grey and Bobby Scots. It offers a fascinating cross-section of his recordings, from the more mainstream pop material that comprised many of his hits to the hard-hitting big band jazz for which he was especially renowned, and it's an entertaining showcase for his music.

Snooks Eaglin was a blind blues singer and guitarist from New Orleans who played a highly accessible brand of blues, sometimes ranging into folk or rock 'n' roll styles, often re-working other artists' songs, earning himself the nickname of "The Human Jukebox" with his wide and varied repertoire in 'live' performances. He was active for around half a century, but this great-value 52-track 2-CD set focuses on the first decade or so of his extensive recording career. It comprises early recordings as Blind Guitar Ferd for the Wonder label, plus most of the titles from his albums as Snooks Eaglin "Possum Up A Simmon Tree" on Folk-Lyric, "Message From New Orleans" on Heritage, and "That's All Right" on Bluesville, plus his A & B sides from these years on Imperial on which he was known as Ford Eaglin, and on which he strays very much into the pop arena. It features versions of classic songs plus equally classic recordings associated with him, including "Mean Old World", "Bottle Up And Go", "Down By The Riverside", "That's Alright", "Country Boy", "Mama Don't You Tear My Clothes", "Yours Truly", "Travellin' Mood" and many more. He was an artist who played the blues primarily to entertain people, and this very much comes across in these selections of his early recordings.

STUDIO AND 'LIVE' COLLABORATIONS 1960-62 - DIZZY GILLESPIE / LALO SCHIFRIN - Lalo Schifrin is an Argentinian pianist, composer, arranger and conductor who studied and played in France in the early '50s before forming his own jazz orchestra in Argentina. He first met Dizzy Gillespie in 1956 and wrote the extended work "Gillespiana" for him. While in New York in 1960, he was offered chance to join Gillespie's Quintet as pianist, and over the next two years recorded a number of sessions with Gillespie as well as performing with Gillespie at recorded concerts and club dates, which established his reputation, providing the basis for his becoming a celebrated composer of film music in later years. This 2-CD set comprises studio and 'live' recordings from the albums "Gillespiana", "Jazz At The Philharmonic In Europe", "An Electrifying Evening With The Dizzy Gillespie Quintet" and "Dizzy On The French Riviera", along with selected other 'live" performances. It includes performances with a number of noted jazz musicians, including Clark Terry, J.J. Johnson. Stan Getz, Benny Carter, Cannonball Adderley, Leo Wright, Chuck Lampkin, Bob Cunningham, Candido Camero, Charlie Ventura, Mel Lewis and others. It's a highly enlightening introduction to Schifrin's early years on the US jazz scene, working with one of the pioneers and architects of bebop, on a range of repertoire that includes his own compositions, bebop classics and vibrant Latin jazz.

Clarinettist and bandleader Benny Goodman was one of the giants of the swing era, with his orchestra pioneering the genre in the late '30s and riding the big band wave through into the post-ear era. However, he also greatly enjoyed playing in more flexible small jazz groups, where his superb technique had more of a chance to shine. This great-value 70-track 3-CD set brings together a significant proportion, but excluding vocal performances, of the titles he recorded in Trio, Quartet, Quintet, Sextet and Septet environments the heyday of his swing orchestra, often recording with artists drawn from the current incarnation of his bands. It comprises recordings on the Victor, Columbia and Okeh labels, and not surprisingly features a host of significant jazz personalities, including Teddy Wilson, Gene Krupa, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Christian, Cootie Williams, Count Basie, Red Norvo, Slam Stewart, John Kirby, Fletcher Henderson, Johnny Guarnieri, Georgie Auld and many more. It's a thoroughly enjoyable anthology of small band jazz that defies being categorised, ranging across both well-known standards and original compositions, and allows us to hear Benny and his colleagues swinging and improvising in some star-studded line-ups