First volume of a live recording from July 1961 at The Five Spot with Eric Dolphy on alto saxophone, flute, bass clarinet and Booker Little on trumpet backed by the rhythm section of pianist Mal Waldron, bassist Richard Davis, and drummer Ed Blackwell.

The famed extended recording sessions of the Miles Davis Quintet, wherein they taped the band's basic repertoire (and what a marvelous mixture of jazz originals and standards) in the manner of nightclub sets rather than the repetition of the usual studio takes. Cookin' was the first to be released and it excited listeners not only with it's contents but with it's promise of more to come. Davis, Coltrane, Garland, Chambers, and Philly Joe: one of the classic groups in the history of jazz. It established a level of excellence that was to foster a long, successive line of outstanding Davis quintets and sextets through the Fifties and Sixties. From the muted eloquence of "My Funny Valentine," through the fingerpoppin' "Blues by Five," to the urgent swing of "Airegin" and "Tune-Up," Cookin' has the ability to thrill the listener no matter how many times it is played-the mark of an all-time great performance. With John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones. T

Soultrane is the fourth studio album by jazz musician John Coltrane, released in 1958 on Prestige Records, catalogue 7142. It was recorded at the studio of Rudy Van Gelder in Hackensack, New Jersey, three days after a Columbia Records session for Miles Davis and the Milestones album.

Baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan and pianist Thelonious Monk team up on this 1957 record with bassist Wilbur Ware and drummer Shadow Wilson. Tracks: 'Round Midnight, Rhythm-A-Ning, Sweet And Lovely, Decidedly, Straight, No Chaser, I Mean You.

Recorded in '57 but not issued 'til '61 (by which time the public had caught on to the idiosyncratic genius of these two), this legendary meeting was a career highlight for both Monk and Trane. Monk's Mood (from the Thelonious Himself LP) is the bonus cut, joining Off Minor; Ruby, My Dear; Nutty; Trinkle, Tinkle, and more!

Art had just left jail, was out of practice, was fighting heroin addiction and found a problem with his sax mouthpiece just before this '57 session. The result? One of his all-time shining moments! He, Philly Joe Jones, Red Garland and Paul Chambers work magic with Straight Life; Imagination; Star Eyes; Birk's Works, and more. Bonus track from the session: The Man I Love.

Not just guitarists, but jazz lovers everywhere marveled at the feats of musicianship and musicality pulled off by Pass on the LP that made him famous ('73). These unaccompanied solos still stun and deeply satisfy: Night and Day; Stella by Starlight; Cherokee; How High the Moon; 'Round Midnight; the Song Is You, and more!

Joe Pass / Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen Northsea Lights. Recorded at Northsea Jazz Festival, the Hague, Holland, July 1979. Joe Pass on guitar and bassit Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen are featured on "If I Were a Bell," "I Can't Get Started," "Blues for the Hague," "Round About Midnight," "How Deep Is the Ocean" and "Stella By Starlight."

It did not take long after the brilliant Brazilian guitarist Bola Sete settled in San Francisco in the 1960s for an affinity to develop between him and pianist Vicne Guaraldi. Guaraldi's penchant for the music of Brazil had led to an enormous success with the hit "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" from his Black Orpheus album. These tow superb improviser skillfully avoided the muddy collision of harmony and tone that are a risk when pianists and guitarist collaborate. Their rhythmic interaction was exquisite in this classic encounter. Track list includes: "Choro," "Menimo Pequeno da Bateria," "Ginza Samba," "The Girl from Ipanema," "A Taste of Honey," "Ballad of Pancho Villam" "Little Fishes" and "Mambeando"

Bill Evans's return to full activity in 1962 came almost a year after his celebrated trio recordings at the Village Vanguard. Just ten days after that classic "live" session, bassist Scott LaFaro had died in a highway accident. Evans, deeply shaken, eventually reformed his trio with the same drummer (Paul Motian) and Chuck Israels on bass. Their first visit to a studio was for a dual purpose: To make an all-ballad-tempo album, Moonbeams, and this "normal" set at the same time. It was producer Orrin Keepnews's thought that recording eight slow numbers in a row might prove unduly enervating; accordingly, the total two-album repertoire was interspersed over three days of recording and the net result was two excellent additions to the Evans catalog. With Chuck Israels, Paul Motian. Tracks: How My Heart Sings, I Should Care, in Your Own Sweet Way (take 1), Walking Up, Summertime, 34 Skidoo, Ev'rything I Love, Show-Type Tune.

More than 30 years ago Miles Davis recorded this music in the company of such other giants as Milt Jackson, Thelonious Monk, Kenny Clarke, Percy Heath, Sonny Rollins, and Horace Silver. Today the music they made is regarded as classic. "Bags' Groove," in two versions, is a perfect illustration of the improvisatory process, and the various delights that can develop from take to take; the date with Rollins reveals his development toward major status. It is hard to believe that having heard these 1954 recordings, the critics could have called Davis's triumph at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1955 a "comeback." with Milt Jackson, Thelonious Monk, Percy Heath, Kenny Clarke, Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver. Tracks: Bags' Groove (2 takes), Airegin, Oleo, But Not for Me (2 takes), Doxy.