Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster was just one of many "meets" albums that Gerry Mulligan appeared on during the period when this classic was recorded - Nov. 3 and Dec. 2, 1959, in Los Angeles. Mulligan and Pepper Adams were the baritone saxophonists during the golden age of modern jazz, both masters of the unwieldy and deep-toned instrument. History was made here, as was a classic record for the ages. Mulligan was an innovator of the west coast cool jazz style who flourished playing with all manner of jazz musicians. The tunes he and Webster recorded are smooth, lush and emotional, driven along by a rhythm section that swings with just the right amount of bop. The result is an album that's included among NPR's "Basic Jazz Record Library." Seeking to offer definitive audiophile grade versions of some of the most historic and best jazz records ever recorded, Verve Label Group and Universal Music Enterprises' audiophile Acoustic Sounds vinyl reissue series utilizes the skills of top mastering engineers and the unsurpassed production craft of Quality Record Pressings. All titles are mastered from the original analog tapes, pressed on 180-gram vinyl and packaged by Stoughton Printing Co. In high-quality gatefold sleeves with tip-on jackets. The releases are supervised by Chad Kassem, CEO of Acoustic Sounds, the world's largest source for audiophile recordings.

Limited Edition - Includes 16-page booklet. This release presents all of the master takes produced during the celebrated quintet sessions co-led by Gerry Mulligan & Ben Webster and originally issued on Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster. The first six tracks included here constitute the complete original album, which received a five-star rating in Down Beat magazine. THE COMPLETE ALBUM + 5 BONUS TRACKS - CD EDITION - 11 TRACKS - TT: 77:10 - LIMITED EDITION - INCLUDES 16-PAGE BOOKLET

Better late than never, these Rorem premieres are irresistible

How remarkable that two such delectable concertos should be receiving their world premieres on disc. Unapologetically romantic and accessible, those qualities may well have mitigated against acceptance among the industry’s fashion-mongers. The Second Piano Concerto (1951) was written for Julius Katchen (also the dedicatee of Rorem’s attractive Second Piano Sonata) and was given its first performance by that superb pianist in 1954. Since then it has lain dormant until its present revival by Simon Mulligan whose brilliance, ideally matched by José Serebrier, is worthy of Katchen himself. Here, the ghosts of Ravel, Françaix, Gershwin, Stravinsky and, most of all, Poulenc, jostle for attention. Yet Rorem’s idiom is as personal as it is chic. The final pages of the central “Quiet and Sad” movement, where the piano weaves intricate tracery round the orchestral theme, may owe much to the Adagio assai from Ravel’s G major Concerto but it maintains its own character. The finale, “Real Fast”, is an irresistible tour de force played up to the hilt by Mulligan.

In the Cello Concerto Rorem happily eschews a conventional form, giving programmatic subtitles to each section. These range from “Curtain Raise” to “Adrift”, offering Wen-Sinn Yang a rich opportunity, whether playing primus inter pares or revelling in Rorem’s alternating nostalgia and effervescence. Finely recorded, it’s a clear winner for the Naxos American Classics series.

-- Bryce Morrison, Gramophone [12/2007]

Naxos' ongoing series of Ned Rorem orchestral music recordings offers well-deserved recognition to a major American composer. This latest release is no less rewarding than the prior issues. The Second Piano Concerto dates from 1951 and shows the young composer writing with tremendous gusto. A large work (34 minutes) in the traditional three movements, its scoring is both vivid and at times a touch dense and "over the top", while the work's melodic generosity and rhythmic drive are undeniably infectious; its neglect must be counted a major mystery. Conductor José Serebrier's notes make much of the music's "American" qualities, particularly in the finale, but I was much more forcibly struck by Rorem's much-advertised love of French music. Whatever the answer to the "influence" question, this concerto is without doubt a major statement, and it's very impressively performed by Simon Mulligan, Serebrier, and the orchestra, who let the music speak with all of its delicious formal (in the first-movement cadenza) and textural excess.

Rorem's Cello Concerto dates from 2002, and like many of his late orchestra works it abandons traditional form in favor of a series of brief movements given cute names that may or may not have anything significant to do with their musical content. Frankly, I find this habit unnecessarily coy and distracting, but others may simply be intrigued; and if the listener's curiosity, once aroused, leads to giving the music more concentrated attention, then it's all to the good.

The sequence of eight movements is laid out for maximum contrast, and I particularly enjoyed the seventh, a characterful waltz. Indeed, Rorem is such a fine melodist when he wants to be that you have to wonder why he feels the need to venture into more aggressively "modern" territory now and then. Perhaps he's working a little bit too hard at being a "serious" composer. Never mind: this is a fine work, also strongly played by cellist Wen-Sinn Yang. Naxos' engineers have judged the balances very accurately between both soloists and the orchestra, while the occasional opacity at the climaxes of the piano concerto seems more a function of the heavy scoring than a suggestion of technical inadequacy. A fine disc.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

SteepleChase’ 50th anniversary “In Concert” series continues with Gerry Mulligan’s famed Concert Jazz Band from October 31, 1960 at its first concert in Europe. The Concert Jazz Band’s unique arrangements and its trademark sound of translucency are restored by the modern sound technology. The Concert Jazz Band’s live performance from their European tour have been released before except this from Copenhagen and Berlin. The Django Reinhardt piece Manoir de mes Rêves and Mulligan’s 18 Carrots for Rabbit get rare performance here.

The Messengers expanded to a sextet with the addition of Curtis Fuller in 1961 and went into their most Prior to 1960 Concert Band appearance in Copenhagen (SCCD 36502) Mulligan brought his piano less quartet with Art Farmer to the Falkoner Centret on May 21, 1959. The night’s mostly Danish audience were mesmerized by their “cool” sound of so-called West Coast Jazz. As the quartet lasted only a short period of time in the 50s, this album will be one of the rare historical issues. Quartet’s bassist Bill Crow (now age 95) gave interview to Andrew Hoven for the liner notes, which makes a great read.

COOLEST OF THE COOL: 1952-53

Features such classics as "Capricious," "Here I'll Stay," "Inside Impromptu," "You've Come Home," and many more.