BEST OF

Japanese SACD pressing.

LIMITED EDITION. George Szell's reputation as a perfectionist is legendary, and these recordings, taped between 1949 and 1970, offer a vivid portrait of a conductor whose clarity, discipline and structural command set new standards in orchestral performance. The New York Times praised his 'uncompromising precision and taut rhythmic control' and critics have long admired the 'incisive, diamond-cut playing' he drew from orchestras, yet also the elegance and lyricism that balanced his rigour. These recordings, described by Gramophone as 'models of orchestral refinement and integrity' bring together Szell's complete legacy for Decca, Philips and Deutsche Grammophon, preserving performances that still set benchmarks of style and authority. Besides purely symphonic repertoire, including Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, Dvor�k's Eighth and Brahms's Third Symphonies, a fiery account of the incidental music for the composer's Egmont, and luminous versions of Rosamunde (Schubert) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Mendelssohn) the set also includes concerto recordings with Clifford Curzon (Mozart, Brahms and Tchaikovsky) and his sole recording for Deutsche Grammophon, Dvor�k's Cello Concerto with Pierre Fournier. Included by way of bonus is a 30-minute rehearsal extract for the recording of Handel's Water Music - never before published. Even while involved with the Cleveland Orchestra (from 1947 until his death in 1970) Szell continued to work with the great European ensembles in London, Amsterdam and Vienna even after taking up the post in Cleveland. Their mutual respect and affinity is evident throughout this set. Szell may have earned his reputation as a podium autocrat, but he knew how to get the best out of orchestras, who valued the fact that he never wasted a word or a gesture. The 1962 account of Brahms's First Concerto with Clifford Curzon was acclaimed as a definitive recording on it's first release, and has hardly been toppled from that peak since. Also made with the LSO, the Handel collection is more of a period piece, featuring Hamilton Harty's reorchestrations of the Water Music and Fireworks Music, but Szell's Romantic-era phrasing holds it's own charm. A fascinating new essay by Tully Potter surveys the life and career of a conductor who never settled for anything less than perfection. The booklet includes rare session photographs.

MASTERPIECES OF GEORGE BIZET

George Cables should be declared a National Treasure. As a pianist he is surely second-to-none on today's jazz scene. Listen only to "A Valentine for You" on Cables' current offering to hear what a jaw-dropping beauty of tone he can produce from the pile of wood and metal we call a piano, and how much critical mass is behind every sonorous voicing of his chords. As a musician he possesses endless imagination and creativity, shown by his strikingly new takes on tunes we thought we knew, particularly the title track, "Too Close for Comfort," which retains little trace of it's pop song origin. As a composer he has quietly amassed a catalog of works of extremely wide range and extraordinary quality, such as his compositions on this new release, "Circle of Love," "This is My Song," "Klimo" and the aforementioned "A Valentine for You." And finally, the album's cover photo perfectly captures George Cables the man - full of boundless energy, a love of his instrument and the music he makes on it and an impish sense of humor, evidenced by his titling the record Too Close for Comfort during a pandemic where social distancing has become the order of the day. The artist Edward Hopper said, "Great art is the outward expression of an inner life of the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world." That would explain why the world according to George Cables is such a wonderful place to be.

George Cables has been the pianist of choice for saxophonists Dexter Gordon and Art Pepper; Pepper called him his favorite pianist. Cables also recorded a lot with jazz stars Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson and Frank Morgan. On Cables' own new trio album, he is so fluent in the ways of the keyboard, song structure and harmony, so aware of his available options at every second, the compositions themselves seem as if they are being made up on the spot. But not all of the trio's decisions are made in the moment. As a structural feature, he loves yoking together his left hand and Essiet Essiet's bass, to give the music an extra-fortified low end. They play in tight unison so often, those doubled bass lines have become the trio's signature. Fused piano and bass have such a distinct color, when they merge it's almost like another instrument making an appearance. The trio polishes it's music to a high gloss, which is so unassumingly good, you could miss just how good it is. It gives good taste a good name.

Guitarist's trio w. pianist and bassist, recorded December 30, 1985, and December 5, 1990.

BONGO JOE

International pressing of this collection from the Jazz great removes six tracks from the U.S. edition and replaces them with six, while adding one more bonus track! Greatest Hits of All is an excellent single-disc compilation from the Jazz guitarist, vocalist and superstar. His early years were spent strictly as a guitarist but as he became more popular, he added vocals to his repertoire and has become one of the most visible Jazz artists of the last 30 years. The six tracks unavailable on the U.S. version are: 'Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You', 'Feel Like Making Love', 'In Your Eyes', 'You Are the Love of My Life' (With Roberta Flack), 'Moody's Mood' (With Patti Austin), and 'Nature Boy'. Warner.

George has been one of the few jazz artists to "cross over" repeatedly over the last two decades, and this 14-track collection has every big hit! Includes on Broadway; Give Me the Night; This Masquerade; Love Ballad; Turn Your Love Around; Never Give Up on a Good Thing; 20/20, and more.

George Benson / BREEZIN - ten time Grammy Award winning American musician/guitarist/vocalist. This one-time child prodigy topped the Billboard 200 in 1976 with the triple-platinum album, Breezin.-With the 1976 release Breezin, his debut album for Warner Brothers, Benson began to put his vocal on tracks such as This Masquerade. Breezin topped the Pop, Jazz and R&B album charts in Billboard.- At the 19th Grammy Awards (1976) Breezin' won Best Pop Instrumental Performance for Benson and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical for Al Schmitt, while "This Masquerade" won Record of the Year for producer Tommy LiPuma and Benson-Benson uses a rest-stroke picking technique similar to that of gypsy jazz players such as Django Reinhardt. -In recent years, Benson received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

COLLECTION

The keyboard wiz's five decade career has run the gamut from Cannonball Adderley to Frank Zappa to the California Raisins, but here we have the cream-his pop/R&B hits and funk grooves with Stanley Clarke on bass: Dukey Stick; Reach for It; Sweet Baby; Shine On, plus seven more.

Digitally remastered two CD set containing a trio of albums from this Jazz/Funk outfit formed by bassist Stanley Clarke and keyboard player George Duke. This trio of albums were originally released between 1981 and 1990. 31 tracks. Beat Goes On. 2010.

Reissue of this overlooked album from the Jazz great, originally released in 1993. Even a dipshine should know who George Benson is. He is one of the leading Jazz and R&B artists of the last 40 years!! He has had countless top charting albums and is a respected member of the Jazz community and beyond. Wounded Bird. 2008.

20/20

Japanese reissue. Solid Records. 2020.

One of jazz's most powerful tenor saxophonists is heard at his freewheeling, unfettered best on The George Coleman Quintet in Baltimore, a hitherto unheard live recording from the Famous Ballroom in Baltimore, Maryland in 1971. It's a hard swinging and free wheeling, a style George Coleman was known for!

Double vinyl LP pressing. When any recording made by George Coleman is issued, it's an instant event. Though Coleman has always been busy performing, writing, and especially teaching, scant few LPs or CDs have come listeners' way. It is especially thrilling to hear him live in concert performance at the initial site of the then newly minted Yoshi's in Oakland, CA, as his extended techniques and heightened sense of tonal ideas come fully to the fore. Coleman and pianist Harold Mabern, both originally from the fertile jazz scene in Memphis, make the perfect tandem, ably supported by super pros in expatriate drummer Alvin Queen and veteran New York bassist Ray Drummond, both of whom Coleman played with when he was in Europe. There are many solemn, laid-back, and reflective moments from Coleman, as both of the opening tracks, 'They Say It's Wonderful' and 'Good Morning Heartache,' warm slowly and simmer at their easily swinging maximum, with the tenor man progressively squeezing out more and more notes in refined fashion. Never far from the soul of his homeland, 'Laig Gobblin' Blues' is a refreshing modal original by the leader, a 5/4 beat in a 12-bar idea, with 7/4 tossed in cleverly. The dignity and class of Coleman cannot be overemphasized, as he further displays on his neat and clean composition 'Father.' A lovely and loping 'Soul Eyes' is a perfect closer over it's nearly 17 minutes, giving pause to the thought that it was in fact Coleman who influenced John Coltrane. The quick, constantly forward-moving Freddie Hubbard standard waltz 'Up Jumped Spring' further shows a relationship between the tenor titans, with the band quoting Trane's 'Ol�.' The talent of Mabern is formidable, tasteful, and exciting, as showcased during his rumbling chords during 'Io,' a killer modal track written by Paul Arslanian, as Coleman inserts a memorable singsong line and Queen injects some calypso. This one is as definitive a track as Coleman has in his repertoire. Frankly, the whole LP from top to bottom has Coleman and his band inspired to the hilt and playing their best, and At Yoshi's is a highly recommended effort that deserves a space on each and every jazz lover's shelf.

Three CD set. First-of-it's-kind anthology of the Elektra and Warner Brothers recordings by the multi- talented award-winning musician, producer, songwriter and vocalist George Duke, spanning his 15 years from 1985-2000. A 45-track, 3CD set of musical gems, drawing from George's three Elektra albums, Thief In The Night, George Duke and Night After Night and his six Warner Brothers albums, Snapshot, The Muir Woods Suite, Illusions, Is Love Enough?, After Hours and Cool. Plus a non-album b-side, 'Guilty (Part 2)' making it's worldwide CD debut. This set includes handpicked cuts that reflect George Duke's multi-faceted mastery in Jazz, Funk, Soul and Pop and includes five US R&B charted singles and confirms his place as a staple artist in the world of Smooth Jazz. This sumptuous collection, created by SoulMusic. Com founder David Nathan with invaluable project support from renowned US music journalist A Scott Galloway, features extensive notes by acclaimed UK writer Charles Waring with 2022 quotes from musicians Paul Jackson Jr, Byron Miller and Everette Harp who all worked with George for many years.

The coolest of R&B jazz kings returns to his signature smooth funk with guests including Chante Moore, Anointed, Flora Purim, Perri and more. Tracks: "Never Be Another," "Marin City," "She's Amazing" and more.

SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME

Here's George himself describing his exceptional new album: "this album can best be described as a 'for lovers only' or an 'evening in the life of..' type of record. It is a keyboard album where I play mostly piano and/or Rhodes, along with a Wurlitzer 140B electric piano on one track. It is the first instrumental album I've recorded in over 20 years." The musical supporting cast includes such players as Christian McBride, Lenny Castro and guitarists Paul Jackson and Ray Fuller.

Silky and urbane, George Shearing's distinctive sound made this blind British-born pianist one of the most popular stars in the world. Here's the best from his '50s and '60s recordings for Capitol.

By the time Snapshot was released in 1992, George Duke's career had survived myriad changes in the development of pop and funk, but even at age 46 he was spry and inventive enough to keep his finger on the pulse of what was new. Timeless slow jams like "No Rhyme, No Reason," "The Morning After," and "Speak Low" kept Duke relevant, while "History (I Remember)" and "Geneva" confirmed that his jazz-funk chops remained as flawless in 1992 as they'd been in 1976.