Best Swing Jazz
Recorded during his memorable run for Capitol Records in the 1950s, the songs here are more than just his best, they're often the definitive recordings: "I Get a Kick out of You," "Young at Heart," "Witchcraft," "The Lady Is a Tramp," "In the Wee Small Hours," and "I've Got You Under My Skin."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The music is great, but the case is cracked."
"There will always be only one Frank."
"A digitally remastered compilation of "Old Blue Eyes'" greatest hits; what more could one say or ask for!"
"Again, bought for my mom."
"Sinatra songs from 1953 - 1960."
"It's Sinatra!"
"Its Frank Sinatra."
Produced with the blessing of his estate, this disc is a thorough survey of his timeless genius--all recorded on the Capitol label. It captures his sumptuous and soothing tenor voice crooning on the pop tunes he made famous, like the ethereal "Nature Boy," the melancholy "Mona Lisa," and the bouncy "Straighten Up and Fly Right," and "Route 66."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Only a handful of songs are in stereo, so the rest sound sort of flat in my car with 9 speakers."
"What more could you possibly say about the incomparable Nat King Cole."
"How could you not love the best of NKC."
"Sometimes when you buy a "best of" it often isn't, or I find that I don't like the singer as much as I thought I might despite the couple seconds you can listen to before purchasing."
"Still one of the best of all time."
1999 compilation featuring 20 holiday classics.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Love it."
"great cd .....perfect condition and pretty fast in the mail ."
"This is a very good Christmas album starting with the holiday one that Nat made famous The Christmas Song."
"Nice CD with all the old style Christmas music I grew up with as a kid."
"The BEST CD of Christmas songs ever!"
Best Classic Big Band
The Big Band era was a unique time in musical history, for it was a time when quality and public taste coincided to encourage memorable performances, many of which were captured on recordings.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Great classic music, purchased for seniors home."
"What a great collection!"
"Great, nostalgic listening."
"Lots of cool music."
"This is some timeless music that will forever!!!"
"Sound is " OK " only."
"The disk is so cheaply made and so thin that my Bose New Wave Music System has to try and re-try several times to load it because of the lack of "oomph" needed for it to realize a disk is there to be loaded."
Best Contemporary Big Band
The Big Band era was a unique time in musical history, for it was a time when quality and public taste coincided to encourage memorable performances, many of which were captured on recordings.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Great classic music, purchased for seniors home."
"What a great collection!"
"Great, nostalgic listening."
"Lots of cool music."
"This is some timeless music that will forever!!!"
"Sound is " OK " only."
"The disk is so cheaply made and so thin that my Bose New Wave Music System has to try and re-try several times to load it because of the lack of "oomph" needed for it to realize a disk is there to be loaded."
Best Retro Swing
"Brian Setzer combines his big band leanings with his Stray Cat upbringing to create the year's best all-around holiday album.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It's a great non-traditional rockabilly and big band combo Christmas record!"
"Ann-Marget sings "Baby It's Cold Outside" with Setzer-- pure fun and such a tight orchestra!"
"Great price, excellent holiday LP."
"An instant classic that rolls through songs with all the conviction and energy that Brian's live concerts have."
"No concerns./\. I would give this a real good rating."
"A fun Christmas album, the white vinyl pressing was good quality."
Best Vintage Dance Bands
If you set out to create a single anthology that charted all the twists and tributaries of that uniquely American river we call jazz, you couldn't do better than this companion set to the PBS series-94 tracks on 5 CDs licensed from virtually every important label in the history of the music. Includes The Pearls Jelly Roll Morton; Charleston James P. Johnson; West End Blues Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five; The Mooche Duke Ellington; Singin' the Blues Frankie Trumbauer & His Orchestra featuring Bix Beiderbecke; Moten Swing Benny Moten's Kansas City Orchestra; Strange Fruit Billie Holiday; Three Little Words Art Tatum; Body and Soul Coleman Hawkins; In the Mood Glenn Miller; Take Five Dave Brubeck; So What Miles Davis; Giant Steps John Coltrane; Desafinado Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd, and many more classics.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It is easy to list regrettable omissions from this set (and many reviewers have done so) and just as easy to point out how impossible it is to do full justice to a century of music that had multiple sources and spread rapidly to a plethora of sub-genres (and many reviewers have done that too). The British Trad Jazz that took hold in the early 50s and is still going strong (Chris Barber, Kenny Ball and their followers) is another indispensible part of Jazz history that finds no place in this collection."
"That being said, each of the four better discs in the set leaves much to be desired as a "listening experience." With such different styles and aesthetics encompassed on each disc, you're not likely to just put one on and enjoy the whole thing-and none of the discs are, or even could have been, arranged as coherent sets."
"Best $5.00 I have spent on some great music.Yes,it was a used CD set but plays perfect and everything was included."
"the best way to learn about most styles of 20th century jazz!"
"This 5-CD set is a great introduction to jazz music."
"terrific music, it's been a long time sense I heard original jazz."
Best Stride Piano
If you set out to create a single anthology that charted all the twists and tributaries of that uniquely American river we call jazz, you couldn't do better than this companion set to the PBS series-94 tracks on 5 CDs licensed from virtually every important label in the history of the music. Includes The Pearls Jelly Roll Morton; Charleston James P. Johnson; West End Blues Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five; The Mooche Duke Ellington; Singin' the Blues Frankie Trumbauer & His Orchestra featuring Bix Beiderbecke; Moten Swing Benny Moten's Kansas City Orchestra; Strange Fruit Billie Holiday; Three Little Words Art Tatum; Body and Soul Coleman Hawkins; In the Mood Glenn Miller; Take Five Dave Brubeck; So What Miles Davis; Giant Steps John Coltrane; Desafinado Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd, and many more classics.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It is easy to list regrettable omissions from this set (and many reviewers have done so) and just as easy to point out how impossible it is to do full justice to a century of music that had multiple sources and spread rapidly to a plethora of sub-genres (and many reviewers have done that too). The British Trad Jazz that took hold in the early 50s and is still going strong (Chris Barber, Kenny Ball and their followers) is another indispensible part of Jazz history that finds no place in this collection."
"That being said, each of the four better discs in the set leaves much to be desired as a "listening experience." With such different styles and aesthetics encompassed on each disc, you're not likely to just put one on and enjoy the whole thing-and none of the discs are, or even could have been, arranged as coherent sets."
"Best $5.00 I have spent on some great music.Yes,it was a used CD set but plays perfect and everything was included."
"the best way to learn about most styles of 20th century jazz!"
"This 5-CD set is a great introduction to jazz music."
"terrific music, it's been a long time sense I heard original jazz."
Best Traditional Jazz & Ragtime
Recorded during his memorable run for Capitol Records in the 1950s, the songs here are more than just his best, they're often the definitive recordings: "I Get a Kick out of You," "Young at Heart," "Witchcraft," "The Lady Is a Tramp," "In the Wee Small Hours," and "I've Got You Under My Skin."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The music is great, but the case is cracked."
"There will always be only one Frank."
"A digitally remastered compilation of "Old Blue Eyes'" greatest hits; what more could one say or ask for!"
"Again, bought for my mom."
"Sinatra songs from 1953 - 1960."
"It's Sinatra!"
"Its Frank Sinatra."
Best Jive Jazz
A spirited 22-song collection that includes The Calloway Boogie; Papa's In Bed with His Britches On; Boo-Wah, Boo-Wah; Hep Cat's Love Song; Foo a Little Bally-Hoo , along with three unreleased tunes!
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I love his style, zoot suit wearing self, handsome and a sweet, naughty twinkle in his eye, I saw Stormy weather, the film. He even traveled in a private rail train, to avoid Jim Crow, and white only hotels. However, we can dream, and visualize him and his smooth zoot suit, singing and at thw head of his orchestra."
"I was fortunate enough to see Cab Calloway perform at the Hollywood Bowl many years ago and he really knows how to put on a show."
"Love this CD."
"Bought this for one song and like the whole CD."
"Most tracks are very clean; one or two have a more dated sound to the mix, one recorded live, I believe, and another probably the oldest in the collection."
"The mold was broken after Cab came out of it."
"A generous collection of well transferred Cab Calloway favorites with excellent liner notes by Al Quaglieri, who not only informs but provides his notes in the Cab Calloway linguistic style."