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| 2016 CD releases... |
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CDs released (or announced) during 2016
........................CDs released during 2015.......during 2014
| Gearbox | "Jazz Couriers / Michael Garrick Sextet" | 
Gearbox Records known for their high quality vinyl releases have started to release some of their previously issued LPs in CD format to enable their disks to be heard by collectors who do not wish to invest in record playing equipment.The first five CDs released include two jazz LPs by The Jazz Couriers and the Michael Garrick Sextet. Acrobat | "Tubby Hayes Quartet - Invitation, Live at The Top Alex" (Due for release January 13th, 2017) | 
The United Kingdom, March 1973: Pink Floyd release ‘Dark Side of The Moon’:
the provisional IRA detonate bombs at Whitehall and The Old Bailey; and
saxophonist Tubby Hayes and his quartet perform one of their final engagements
outside of London, taking to the stage of the Top Alex, Southend-on-Sea, as
part of the pub's regular jazz presentations. To Hayes and his band, who'd
been together as a unit for over three years, it was hardly a gig to raise
eyebrows; a typical, jazz club blow in a suburban pub backroom, the very thing
that the saxophonist had begun his career doing twenty-three years earlier.
But now, Hayes was no longer a star ascendant, or operating like the jazz
dynamo he'd been in his mid-1960s heyday. He was, quite literally, running out
of time. Three months after the Top Alex appearance, he was dead, aged just
38, finally halted by the heart problems that had plagued his final years.
While the press obituaries rightly accorded Hayes his deserved position as one
of Britain's greatest ever jazz talents, they also noted the cruel irony that
he and his band hadn't entered a recording studio since 1969. Indeed, how the
Tubby Hayes Quartet - a group which one obituarist compared to the identical
line-up led by John Coltrane – sounded in its final years became something of
a mystery. The discovery of privately recorded tapes of the Top Alex
performance, issued for the first time on this Acrobat release, provides not
only a valedictory souvenir of the quartet in its final phase, but also a
lesson in its leader’s still deepening musical maturity; close to the end,
Hayes draws on everything he'd learned, experienced and pioneered to date, as
well as revealing clues as to where his music might have headed next. Packaged
with rare photographs and memorabilia from the night itself, featuring
reminiscences by band member Spike Wells, and others who witnessed the gig,
and including an in-depth booklet note by Hayes' biographer, saxophonist Simon
Spillett, this album is a final, melancholy reminder of a truly gigantic
musical legend. Track listing Tubby Hayes...Harkit Records | "Tubby Hayes & Paul Gonsalves - Change Of Setting" | 
The Search Is Over! Recorded in 1965 this album was originally released in the summer of 1967, it seemed to have disappeared...that is, until now in this sparkling remastered stereo release (first time on CD). Considered by fans of Hayes and Gonsalves to be one of the hardest to find and most sought after of their recordings. They first joined forces on “Just friends” in a rarity in more ways than one; British jazzmen rarely joined their US counterparts gathering around a microphone, let alone as equals. This follow-up was financed by London saxophonist Jack Sharpe, this album is a real revelation of just how advanced and unafraid these fine musicians were to push the borders out and demonstrate here, what truly accomplished talents they were! With his usual flair for explaining what you are about to hear, Tubby biographer and fellow saxophonist Simon Spillett has written an excellent essay to accompany the release. So, here we are, fifty years later...give your ears a treat! Track listing Tubby Hayes... Savage Solweig | "Tubby Hayes Split Kick - Live in Sweden 1972" | 
Two radio sessions recorded during Tubby Hayes' 1972 visits to Sweden,
featuring a mix of standards and original material, including newly discovered
versions of his classic compositions "Off the Wagon" and "Trenton Place".
Packaged with rare photographs and an extensive booklet note by saxophonist
Simon Spillett, the album has been taken from professionally recorded live tapes
and is released in co-operation with Swedish Radio. "Of the recent Tubby releases, this one is among the best musically and sonically," says Spillett. "It gives us an up-close opportunity to hear how he worked away from his regular line-ups, as well as showcasing some of his finest flute work, something previous albums haven't focused on too much." Track listing Tubby Hayes... Ten To Ten | "Clark Tracey Quintet - Jubilation" | 
"This is our second CD and I believe it documents our progress as a unit over
the last two years very well. Each musician respectfully puts everything into
the quintet's music and we've now reached a more intuitive level on gigs, which
I hope has been successfully captured on this recording. It's a joy for me to
watch these really talented musicians mature and develop, and as always it's a
pleasure to be working in their company." Clark Tracey, March 2016. Clark's been fronting his own units since the early 1980s, in effect operating a finishing school for three generations of British jazz talent, but amazingly this is only his second new recording as a leader since 2009's Current Climate. His latest quintet unites some of the brightest young stars currently working on the British jazz circuit. The catalyst for the new group's formation was Clark's in-house tenure as a tutor at Birmingham Conservatoire, an establishment that boasts a formidable turn-out of notable jazz talent. Of the many students he's heard there over the past few years, three in particular piqued the drummer's interest: saxophonist Chris Maddock, pianist Harry Bolt and bassist Daniel Casimir. Around this nucleus the new Clark Tracey quintet began to take shape in 2013. Clark first encountered Henry Armburg Jennings, the band's trumpeter, when he called him to do a gig "and remarked that he was going to be in my next band! I couldn't turn down confidence like that!" "Finding young guys who can play this music is becoming much easier, but finding young guys who can understand this music in addition is always more of a challenge. I believe with this band I've found what I'm looking for." Track listing Clark Tracey... Acrobat | "The Tempo Anthology 1954-60" | 
Between 1954 and 1960, the British Tempo label probably did more than any
other recording imprint to document the rapid progress of local modern jazz.
Poorly funded, and run almost exclusively on the irrepressible energy of Tony
Hall, otherwise part of Decca's exploitation team, its catalogue of EPs and LPs captured the early steps of such soon-to-be legends as
saxophonists Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott and Don Rendell, multi-instrumentalist
Victor Feldman, trumpeters Dizzy Reece and Jimmy Deuchar and drummer Phil
Seamen, all of whom effectively entered a rotating stock company, operating in
much the same way as Art Blakey, Horace Silver and Hank Mobley were then doing
on the fabled Blue Note label.
Keen to introduce his roster of artists to as wider audience as possible, Hall
however did something Blue Note's bosses never tried: during 1957 and '58 he
released three multi-artist anthologies, each with the aim of drawing in new
listeners via specific thematic angles, sometimes spicing the mix with
material not available elsewhere in Tempo's output. Cool Music For A Hot Night
promised a programme of ballad performances: Speak Low delivered a sequence of
largely grooving medium-tempo material and Swingin' The Blues found Tempo's
stars tackling funky, blues-related themes by the likes of Sonny Rollins,
Sonny Stitt and Horace Silver. Each album also had the considerable bonus of
striking cover art featuring the then young-starlet-cum-model Jackie Collins,
later to become a celebrated author. Since their initial release, all three
albums have gone on to become rare collectors’ items, prized as much for their
sleeve imagery as their musical contents.
This new Acrobat 4-CD contains all three LPs in their original running order,
restoring material that was sometimes edited out in order to fit the original
playing time. Featuring the collectable cover art, rare photographs of many of
the participating musicians, reminiscences by Tony Hall and a detailed booklet
note by award-winning saxophonist and author Simon Spillett, this release
makes an ideal introduction to a record label once dubbed “the Blue Note of
British jazz.” A further bonus CD assembles a similar mood music programme
from Tempo's later 1957-60 catalogue, including performances by Tommy Whittle,
Eddie Thompson and Tony Crombie. Track listing...
Acrobat | "The Long Shadow of the Little Giant" | 
He was the ultimate British Modern Jazz Legend, a player who perhaps did more
than any other in raising the bar expected of UK jazzmen. So towering were the many talents of Tubby Hayes that early in his career he was tagged with the nickname The
Little Giant, a joint acknowledgement of his short stature and imposing
musical brilliance. He has recently been accorded the long overdue honour of a full-length biography – The Long Shadow of The Little Giant: The Life, Work
and Legacy of Tubby Hayes (Equinox Publications Ltd.) and in this
accompanying 14-track survey author and tenor saxophonist Simon Spillett
cherry-picks highlights from the first decade of Hayes' turbulent career. He's
heard with his own quartets, quintets and big band, as a member of the co-led
Jazz Couriers, at home in London and abroad in the USA, offering dazzling
examples of his tenor saxophone, flute and vibraphone skills. Also featuring
contributions from such legendary jazz names as Roland Kirk, James Moody,
Ronnie Scott and Phil Seamen, these 14 recordings showcase Hayes as the
paragon of hip. Packaged with fascinating notes, rare photographs and a
previously unissued bonus track, this volume makes the perfect introduction to
this most incendiary of jazz icons. Track listing Books...
Real Gone Jazz | "Don Rendell Six Classic Albums Plus bonus Tracks" | 
A low cost 4 CD compilation of well known albums from the 1950s and early 1960s which most collectors will already have. There is nothing new here but it is claimed that all tracks have been re-mastered and sound quality is much improved. Anybody considering purchasing the Ronnie Ross classic albums set as well should note that a number of albums appear on both sets. Tracks on this collection come from the following albums:Meet Don Rendell (1955) Ken Moule Arranges For (1956) Don Rendell Presents The Jazz Six (1957) Johnny Keating All Stars - British Jazz - (1956) Playtime (1958) The New Don Rendell Quintet - Roarin' (1961) Modern Jazz at The Royal Festival Hall (1954) 4 tracks only Don Rendell Sextet - EP (1955) All the Winners (1957) 2 tracks only Track listing Don Rendell... Real Gone Jazz | "Ronnie Ross Seven Classic Albums Plus bonus Tracks" | 
A low cost 4 CD compilation of well known albums from the 1950s which most collectors will already have. Apart from The International Youth Band there is nothing new here. It is claimed that all tracks have been re-mastered and sound quality is much improved. Anybody considering purchasing the Don Rendell classic albums set as well should note that a number of albums appear on both sets. Tracks on this collection come from the following albums:Ken Moule Arranges For (1956) Don Rendell Presents The Jazz Six (1957) Johnny Keating - Swingin' Scots (1957) Ken Moule - Jazz At Toad Hall (1958) Playtime (1958) Ronnie Ross Quintet - Stompin' (1958) The International Youth Band - Newport Jazz (1958) Modern Jazz at The Royal Festival Hall (1954) 3 tracks only Track listing Ronnie Ross... Vocalion | "Morrissey Mullen - Life On The Wire & It's About time" | 
Morrissey Mullen was one of the UK’s premier jazz-funk outfits of the late
1970s and ’80s, enjoying both critical and commercial success. Saxophonist Dick Morrissey and
guitarist Jim Mullen met in the mid-1970s thanks to their mutual friendship with
various members of the Average White Band. In 1976 they were invited to New York
by the AWB ostensibly to work on some music, but instead it resulted in the
first Morrissey Mullen album, Up (Atlantic Records, 1977), with backing by the
AWB. Returning to Britain Morrissey Mullen recorded one album for EMI’s Harvest
label (Cape Wrath, 1979) before signing to independent label Beggars Banquet and
recording a series of albums throughout the 1980s that are arguably their best.
Their second and third albums for Beggars Banquet, Life on the Wire (1982) and
It’s About Time … (1983), are compiled here and both offer shining examples of
the band’s lyrical yet driving brand of jazz-funk. Dick
Morrissey and Jim Mullen’s brilliant musicianship is at the heart of it all.
Among the titles are keyboardist Jess Bailey’s Stop and Look Around, Jim
Mullen’s Ounce of Bounce, Ol’ Sax and Captain Axe and So So Fine plus a
jazz-funk remake of Vangelis’ Bladerunner love theme (which was included on the
album because Dick Morrissey had played on the film soundtrack).
Digitally remastered. Booklet includes a liner note by Dick Morrissey’s
brother, Chris. Track listing Dick Morrissey...
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