100 Best Jazz Tunes of the 1950s

A well-documented, intelligent selection of tunes. Although I'm not a fan of "potpourri" collections as a rule, this one is better than most--from the audio quality to the selections to the notes about each track. As a radio announcer of a jazz show I keep find this set especially handy for the nights when I don't have time to locate the individual albums (my collection has become somewhat overwhelming if not unmanageable).I'm cheered by this set's inclusion of a track I hadn't expected to find. It's the signature recording by the most underrated--arguably, "best"--group of the 1950's--namely, the Curtis Counce Group and its recording of "Landslide" (my desert island track out of the whole box). What troubles me is the lack of any mention of the expressed purpose of this finely tuned and perfectly recorded group (on the Contemporary label). At its formation, Counce said that his intention as leader was to dispell all of the pejorative characterizations of "West Coast Jazz" by the "East Coast Elite." I remember the arguments and "walls" set up like a firestorm when I arrived at my Midwestern College as a freshman. East Coast jazz was the "real deal," the only jazz I should listen to because it was soulful, it was hard-swinging and hard-driving, it had no use for fancy arrangements and exotic instruments (flutes, English horns, oboes, etc.), and like the jazz tradition itself, the recordings on Blue Note and Prestige were 100% (or close to) by black musicians. You had to know the difficult tunes (like "Donna Lee") and be able to run them down in unison and from memory with the other guys in the front line. By contrast, West Coast jazz was cerebral and sterile, wimpy and non-aggressive, pretentious and academic and, most damning of all, it was "fay" and "white.When I entered college as a freshman from northern Wisconsin, I soon began to hide my Columbia Records in the closet--"Brubie Desbeck," "Stan Guts," etc.--as they were derisively called by the inner circle of guys who backed their talking with impressive playing. But then I discovered the several recordings by the Curtis Counce Group and read about the group's goal of "putting the soul" into West Coast Jazz while playing with the precision and balance of the best classical ensembles. Listening to their several complete and finished albums is to discover perhaps the only ensemble that could hold its own with the best small groups from the East Coast--incl. Miles' Quintet, Clifford and Max's group, and Blakey's Jazz Messengers.I think it wouldn't have hurt for the producers of the present booklet to have made some mention of the group's expressed purpose and success in realizing it. (I only wish there had been more than the 4 complete, near-perfect albums. But leader Counce probably sensed rightly that the most irreplaceable player in the group was not the great Harold Land (who had been a mainstay with Clifford and Max prior to joining Counce) nor the phenomenal drummer, Frank Butler (whom Miles seriously considered before anointing Tony Williams as his next percussionist). No, the musician who mattered most was the inimitable pianist, Carl Perkins, who used the handicap of a deformed, withered left arm (a leftover from the polio he fought as a child) to his advantage by playing with his left arm parallel with the keys, which helped him combine the rhapsodic style of Errol Garner with the inventive Bird-like lines of Bud Powell (at his best). With the shocking news of Perkins' death--from a drug overdose, before the age of 30--Counce simply disbanded the group, saying that Carl had been the group's heart and that it would be pointless to chase the perfection achieved while he was alive.Perhaps I'm wrong. Commentary such as the foregoing could be, at best, a distraction; at worst, divisive. On the other hand, it could help some listeners become involved with, and get their arms around, some music that, though instrumental, soon discloses the unique, inimitable "voices" of each player. I know that reading about the music has helped me understand it better and even "like" it. Most of us think we know what we like, but that can easily be turned around with a somewhat different result. To know a thing better--closing the distance between the object and our own experiences through listening, seeing, and reading--is to like it all the more.

Great Collection! - Great Price!

Nice mix. Sounds quality is very good . Nice sturdy box. Very good description of tracks. Was surprised with quality of this compilation. Each disc presents thematic patterns either years or styles.

A quick check of the sound quality on a few of the tracks indicicated that it was excellent with no record noise like scrathes and such. I'll change this review if, after careful examination, I find anything amiss.And here is the track list:CD 1:Bloomdido - Charlie ParkerSubconscious Lee - Lee KonitzBouncing with Bud - Bud PowellMy Funny Valentine - Gerry MulliganThe Surrey with the Fringe on Top - Ahmad JamalAu Private - Charlie ParkerStraight No Chaser - Thelonious MonkLullaby of Birdland - George ShearingAlmost Like Being in Love - Lester YoungBlack Coffee - Peggy LeeNuages - Django ReinhardtDjango - Modern Jazz QuartetWalkin' - Miles DavisCaravan - Dizzy GillespieIf There's Someone Lovelier than You - Tal FarlowOn the Sunny Side of the Street - Johnny HodgesLover Man - Sarah VaughanJoy Spring - Clifford BrownCD 2:Doodlin' - Horace SilverConfirmation - Dexter GordonAfrodisia - Kenny DorhamNew Rhumba - Ahmad JamalRound Midnight - Miles DavisMisty - Errol GarnerSt. Thomas - Sonny RollinsBlue Monk - Thelonious MonkThe Champ - Jimmy SmithI Was Doing All Right - Carmen McRaeAvila and Tequila - Hank MobleyGuarachi Guaro - Cal TjaderApril in Paris - Coleman HawkinsRoute 66 - Nat King ColeHave You Met Miss Jones - Art Tatum & Ben WebsterCD 3:Senor Blues - Horace SilverI Remember Clifford - Lee MorganMack the Knife - Louis ArmstrongThe Kid from Red Bank - Count BasieThe Maids of Cadiz - Miles DavisBlue Train - John ColtraneFunk in a Deep Freeze - Hank MobleyI Want to Be Happy - Stan GetzBirk's Works - Dizzy GillepsieThey Say It's Spring - Blossom DearieRussian Lullaby - John ColtraneWell You Needn't - Thelonious MonkOne O'clock Jump - Lambert, Hendricks & RossCD 4:Line for Lyons - Gerry MulliganPlayful Flute - Yusef LateefBillie's Bounce - Red GarlandCome Fly with Me - Frank SinatraHaitian Fight Song - Charles MingusSoulville - Ben WebsterDial S for Sonny - Sonny ClarkI'll Close my Eyes - Kenny Burrell`S'Wonderful/They Can't Take That Away from Me - Anita O'DayYou'd Be So Nice to Come Home To - Art PepperFarmer's Market - Art FarmerLandslide - Curtis Counce GroupCD 5:Whisper Not - Benny GolsonMy Baby Just Cares for Me - Nina SimoneStockholm Sweetnin' - Quincy JonesDawn Ray - Ray CharlesDimineundo and Crescendo in Blue - Duke EllingtonPoinciana - Ahmad Jamal TrioSummertime - Louis ArmstrongMilestones - Miles DavisWay Out West - Sonny RollinsAutumn Leaves - Cannonball AdderleyCD 6:Moanin' - Art Blakey & The Jazz MessengersHip Strut - Jackie McLeanDo It the Hard Way - Chet BakerCherokee - Johnny GriffinLet's Face the Music & Dance - Ella FitzgeraldGinza Samba - Cal TjaderIn the Wee Small Hours - Ben WebsterYou've Changed - Billie HolidayThe Night We Called It a Day - Chris ConnorAlong Came Betty - Art Blakey & The Jazz MessengersCheek to Cheek - Ella FitzgeraldPeace Piece - Bill EvansIt Ain't Necessarily So - Oscar PetersonCD 7:Cool Struttin' - Sonny ClarkThe Sermon - Jimmy SmithHere I Am - Donald ByrdLet the Good Times Roll - Ray CharlesBetter Git It in Your Soul - Charles MingusManhattan - George RussellWhat a Diff'rence a Day Made - Dinah WashingtonThe End of a Love Affair - Wes MontgomeryPolka Dots and Moonbeams - Chet BakerCD 8:So What - Miles DavisLonely Woman - Ornette ColemanTake Five - Dave BrubeckKeep It Moving - Wynton KellyRamblin' - Ornette ColemanGoodbye Pork Pie Hat - Charles MingusBlue in Green - Bill EvansNaima - John ColtraneBlue Ronda a la Turk - Dave BrubeckGiant Steps - John Coltrane

Ok, the packaging is cheap, but I don’t have to read liner notes to enjoy music. Really varied collection, lots of different artists. And you can’t go wrong for the price. Good sound quality, too.

Been enjoying this for the past few weeks. It's a great collection and document of '50s Jazz (for which I was too late born... "my" collection starts in 1970 or so). If my Dad was still living, we'd be enjoying it together....

コストパフォーマンスに優れること。

有名な演奏を年代順に100曲収録した8枚組のセットです。ディスクは光沢のある紙ジャケットに（当然）裸で入っています。CDレーベル面はジャケット写真の一部を使用したピクチャーディスク仕様できれいです。1950年から1959年まで、ビバップ、クールジャズ、ハードバップ、エキゾチックジャズ、ビックバンド、ボーカル、ソウルジャズ、フリージャズまで幅広く選曲されています。音もよく、聴き流すもよし、真剣に聴くのもよし、で重宝します。一部を除き録音日も明記されており、録音メンバーと収録アルバムの紹介、簡単な解説がついた60ページにおよぶブックレットがついており、この値段で買えるボックスセットとしてはかなり上級のものだと思います。海外レビューをみて半信半疑で購入しましたが、本当に買ってよかったと思います。おすすめです！

All of the reviews that I have read for this 8 CD box set all seem, more or less, to agree that this represents good value. I have also recently purchased " 100 Hits Jazz," this is a 5 CD box set, but is not as good as "The 100 best jazz tunes of the 1950's." One of the reasons is that this set has a 64 page booklet to provide information on both the 100 tracks, and the musicians. It is a pity that some names of musicians appear to have been missed out, and that Ellington's Cat Anderson played trumpet and not trombone. A broader range of types of Jazz may have helped provide greater interest, but its no use wishing, the set is what it is and that's that. It does introduce musicians that you may never have heard of, and that cannot be a bad thing. It is a pity that the track on CD 2 with Coleman Hawkins ( April in Paris ) is, in my opinion, not very good. Coleman Hawkins produced lots of excellent tracks and it would not have been hard to have provided a better example of his work. Also on CD 2, the final track listed as Art Tatum and Ben Webster ( Have you met Miss Jones ) is a piano solo by Art Tatum. Highly recommended.

I know very little about jazz, I do know that I absolutely love this CD set - for me, jazz conjures up images of smoky night clubs, black and white movies and swing. There are some brilliant foot tapping tracks, incredible sax solos, singing brass, smooth voices ... this set covers everything and I so wish I had bought this years ago. As someone who loves a wide range of music from classical through heavy rock (Rush, Led Zep), acoustic, pop, I somehow missed out on jazz. Sometimes out and about you just hear a smooth jazz track and have no way to find out what it is. Highly recommended and for £8.46 for CDs it's very low risk and a true no-brainer. Been playing the MP3s all weekend thanks to Amazon MP 3 service you get when you buy the CDs (which have yet to arrive). Double bass that gets you moving, powerful brass, almost guaranteed to get you motivated.

Doubt if anyone would consider every track the ‘best’, but an eclectic mix that possibly will inspire you to return to some forgotten gems. And great value for the car.