American jazz trumpeter, producer, and musical entrepreneur, Jack Millman is not a household name, yet he was a behind-the-scenes mover and shaker of the West Coast jazz scene and a highly adept instrumentalist in his own right. On this rare 1977 LP release "Swing Scene II," Millman (who often went by the alias Johnny Kitchen) assembled an all-star cast of West Coast studio musicians who perform a mixture of easy listening instrumentals with a West Coast jazz flavor, along with more classic vocal style jazz offerings as heard on the standards "September In The Rain," "I'm Old Fashioned' and "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most." This rare vintage West Coast jazz album has been newly remastered for this exclusive release.
With a successful career that spanned six decades, Della Reese was one of America's most popular jazz singers, acted in films and on TV, even hosted her own TV talk show in the 1960s. Della was equally adept at pop, jazz, gospel and rhythm and blues styles. She scored her first hit in 1959 with the single "Don't You Know?," and achieved sustained success throughout her career. Presented here is her classic 1983 full length album "Sure Like Lovin' You," which features a solid band led by the iconic jazz trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison and also features a guest appearance by vocalist Bill Champlain, the lead singer from the great American rock band Chicago. All selections have been newly remastered for this exclusive release.
The American jazz singer and actress who made her Broadway debut as a teenager and became known as the voice of Chiquita Bananas, Monica Lewis performed with Benny Goodman, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, among others. She performed on the inaugural episode of Ed Sullivan's television variety show in 1948 and continued to perform jazz and pop hits for decades. Lewis made something of a comeback in the early 1980s and released the classic album "Never Let Me Go" in 1982. The album features many of the best West Coast jazz players including Tom Scott, Lee Ritenour, Dennis Budimir, Victor Feldman, Abraham Laboriel, Chuck Domanico, Harvey Mason, Paulinho da Costa and many others. The classic album is presented here, with all tracks newly remastered for this exclusive release.
