What does this mean? Take advantage of the great deals and increase your savings. If you have a list of tracks or albums on a wish list, this could be time to cash in and enjoy listening to your favorites. This kind of savings happens once in a while, and with Amazon’s offer on most of the jazz selections, we thought we would pass the info along to you guys.

Some Selections We Recommend

25% Off

Dexter Gordon:
Ballads: Dexter Gordon, Go!, Our Man in Paris

Cannonball Adderley:
Somethin’ Else, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! Live at ‘The Club’, Them Dirty Blues

27% Off

Stan Getz:
Serenity, Focus, Ultimate Stan Getz, Getz Au Go Go

31% Off

Cannonball Adderley:
The Best of Cannonball Adderley: The Capitol Years

StanleyTurrentine:
A Bluish Bag, The Best of Stanley Turrentine

Benny Goodman:
The Best of Benny Goodman: The Capitol Years, The Complete Capitol Trios

Dexter Gordon:
The Best of Dexter Gordon: The Blue Note Years

Jimmy Smith:
The Best of Jimmy Smith: The Blue Note Years

And there are many more to choose from. Have a look for yourself at Amazon.com and see the selection of saving they have.

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Prestige Records is releasing the 3rd and final box set of the John Coltrane series, dedicating the work he did in the mid to late 50s. This set contains 5 CDs, covering 43 of Coltrane’s most popular and notable tracks as a sideman, alongside leaders like Sonny Rollins, Gene Ammons, Red Garland, Tadd Dameron and others. The set is now available in stores and online today, October 6th, 2009.

Read All Your Jazz review of this box set

The John Coltrane Series

Over the past three years, Prestige Records has released boxed sets of Coltrane’s numerous sessions from the mid- to late ’50s, each spotlighting a specific dimension of his tenure with the label. Fearless Leader – released in September 2006, in celebration of Coltrane’s 80th birthday – showcases his recordings as a bandleader. Interplay, released in September 2007, contains Coltrane’s early collaborative recordings with a variety of stellar musicians from the same era.

Side Steps is the third and final set in this series. The 5-CD set captures Coltrane in a supporting role, as a sideman to leaders like Sonny Rollins, Gene Ammons, Red Garland, Tadd Dameron and others. The collection of 43 tracks represents the entirety of Coltrane’s session work as a Prestige sideman, from mid-1956 to early 1958, with the exception of his work with Miles Davis (which is featured in The Miles Davis Quintet: Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions, released in 2006).

In short, Prestige was the place where Coltrane cut his teeth. Nick Phillips – co-producer of the boxed set and Vice President of Jazz and Catalog A&R for Concord Music Group (Prestige’s parent company) – says the following:

“This is where he was really gaining his experience. You can hear him developing his
individual voice in these recordings, already sounding like no one else but John Coltrane,
yet not having fully developed into the John Coltrane who would become one of the
most important and influential artists in the history of jazz.”

Related posts:

1. All Your Jazz Review Of Coltrane’s “Side Steps” Box Set
2. Prestige Records Releases 60th Anniversary Album “The Very Best Of Prestige Records”: A great collection of jazz!
3. John Coltrane

This article represents some names that often fall under the radar but should definitely be given a listen. Those that like to always stay up on the most current artists and releases should like this article.

Also be sure to check out what’s coming out in November (coming soon)

October 1st, 2009

Brian Groder
Groder & Greene

Trumpeter Brian Groder and multi-genrist pianist Burton Greene completed two days of recording with bassist Adam Lane, alto saxophonist Rob Brown and drummer Ray Sage, on Oct 11th and 12th, 2007 at The Studio on Greene Street in New York City. These are the results of those sessions, and if the joy of new discovery you felt the first time you heard great jazz still exists in your body, you’re already listening to this disc. It is the product of decades of work by the two leaders, and several lifetimes of influences.

As a “free” session, almost everything recorded here was a spontaneous creation. Groder explains, “We would discuss the possible form, order of instruments entering and exiting, moods, dynamics and tempos … but there weren’t any melodies/lines, chord or specific structures we were reading down.” Like Brian Groder, Burton Greene, Adam Lane, Rob Brown and Ray Sage, the best way to experience this project is to simply listen.

More Info

October 5th, 2009

Mon David
Coming True

In 2006 Mon David, an acclaimed Filipino musician and longtime drummer in a popular Philippines pop group, entered the London International Jazz Vocal competition, where jazz singers from dozens of nations attempted to wow the judges and put their country on the musical map. After listening to hundreds of performances, the decision was unanimous: the champion was the unheralded Filipino, Mon David.

With his debut American recording, Coming True, a tribute to where he’s been and where he’s at, Mon David joins the ranks of the world’s finest male vocalists. Featuring a blazing trio led by Filipino piano virtuoso Tateng Katindig and special guests Justo Almario and David’s “jazzipino” sister Charmaine Clamor, this swinging and heartfelt recording demonstrates that, despite all odds, Mon David’s musical dreams are Coming True.

More Info

October 6th, 2009

(1) The Aggregation – under the direction of Eddie Allen
Groove’s Mood

Trumpeter/composer/arranger/author Eddie Allen is one of the more versatile musicians on the New York scene. He’s called upon to play everything from jazz (big band as well as small ensembles) to R&B/Pop to latin to symphonic to Broadway, and everything in between. The Aggregation’s new Groove’s Mood CD (DBCD), has plenty of verve, soul, and swinging energy. The program has a few jazz standards, like Hubbard’s “Sky Dive,” a rearrangement of “Wade in the Water,” two Stevie Wonder classics, and a triad of nice compositions by leader Allen.

This is a tight, well rehearsed ensemble and the charts stand out as good examples of today’s big band mainstream. Eddie Allen plays some nice horn too. The most ambitious number, Allen’s “The Black Coming,” holds the most interest for me. It is serious stuff and well played. The rest cooks, boils, and gives notice that Eddie Allen’s The Aggregation is a big band to be reckoned with.

More Info

(2) Charito & Michel Legrand
Watch What Happens: Charito meets Michel Legrand

The Japan-based jazz diva Charito is now a presence on the global scene. Her recent albums, featuring powerful collaborations with Ivan Lins and the Manhattan Jazz Orchestra, have shown the world just how talented she is. This eagerly-awaited new release is a collection of songs by the great French composer, Michel Legrand. Legrand himself plays the piano, scats and performs with Charito on four songs. Michel Legrand is a true maestro, a world-famous composer who has won three Academy Awards, and five Grammys. Charito was able to meet Legrand during such a busy time was purely due to his sheer fascination with her talent as a singer.

With Charito, Legrand plays the piano as part of the jazz combo and performs three duets with her: “Summer Me, Winter Me”, “Pieces of Dreams” and “Quand On S’Aime.” Charito embraces Legrand’s world and what she draws out from these melodies is totally fascinating. Charito sings each song very expressively, cherishing not only the beauty of the melody but also the elegant atmosphere that Legrand’s works evoke.

More Info

October 13th, 2009

The Dom Minasi String Quartet
Dissonance Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

New York City native Dom Minasi is a leader and innovater of the improvisational Jazz style known as “taking it out” and a performer and educator of all styles of Jazz. His career includes being a musician, composer, arranger and owner of an independent record label CDM Records. Dissonance Makes The Heart Grow Fonder is again another musical direction and a totally different sound. This group is a real combination of contemporary 21st century composition coupled with modern improvisation.

More Info

October 15th, 2009

Kristina
Offshore Echoes

The album sounds like a combination of well known pop and jazz songs filtered through a multicultural musical kaleidiscope. Borrowing rhythms and cadences from Brazil, Latin and Africa, Latin jazz vocalist Kristina gives ethnic interpretations to tunes like Sting’s “Tea in the Sahara” and the jazz classic “Tenderly.” And it all works in a joyous, breezy fashion. Joined by a group of some of San Francisco’s most celebrated musicans that includes trombonist Wayne Wallace an Pianist Frank Martin, Kristina shows a lot of promise on her debut album “Offshore Echoes.”

More Info

See What’s Coming Out In November

(coming soon)

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Featured Tracks:
1. “Trouble Train” (Download)
2. “Lonely Avenue” (Download)

The Album:

With a propulsive rhythm, an ominous minor key, wickedly good instrumental solos and the familiar character of the Devil up to his old tricks, opening track “Trouble Train” sets the mood for the whole album (with echoes of that other great song about Lucifer, Charlie Daniels’ “Devil Went Down to Georgia”). Throughout the rest of the album, thugs prowl the street, young couples dance the night away in New York, hearts are broken, and lives are taken, all over pitch-perfect melodies and arrangements.

Comprising ten vocal tracks and three instrumentals, Songs From Lonely Avenue marks the first time Setzer has written every track on an album. With all the scope of a Raymond Chandler novel or an Orson Welles film, it’s his most ambitious project to date.

And as he did on 2007’s Wolfgang’s Big Night Out, Setzer recruited 87-year-old Frank Comstock, one of the most important and inventive arrangers of instrumental music of the last century, to score the horn arrangements. Comstock wrote music for many of the era’s top artists, including Doris Day, Sonny Dunham, Benny Carter and Judy Garland (not to mention the “Rocky & Bullwinkle” theme!).

Artist Info:

Furthermore, the “New King Of Jingle Bell Rock” (Billboard) Brian Setzer and his 18-piece big band will kick off their seventh Christmas Extravaganza 27-date tour on November 20th in Detroit. This fall, Surfdog Records will re-release Setzer’s hugely successful collection of yuletide music: Christmas Rocks as well as the The Ultimate Christmas Collection CD and DVD combination- songs that have become part of the holiday tradition for millions over the last several years.

From launching the rockabilly revolution with the Stray Cats to pioneering the swing revival with the Brian Setzer Orchestra, this Long Island-born innovator has earned his unique place in modern music by walking the line between conceptual discipline and balls-out rockin’. Setzer won three Grammy Awards (two for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for “Sleepwalk” from The Dirty Boogie in 1998 and “Caravan” from Vavoom! in 2000, plus one for Best Pop Performance with “Jump, Jive an’ Wail,” also from The Dirty Boogie) by targeting that place where wild energy and visionary imagination intersect.

Related posts:

1. FREE Jazz Download: Track “A Better Way” From Spencer Day’s Upcoming Album Vagabond
2. Jazz Pianist & Bandleader Ramsey Lewis Releases Latest Concord Jazz Project: “Songs From The Heart”
3. “Jazz Inside NY Magazine” Offering Complimentary Download Of Their August Issue

Download by going to http://www.jazzinsidemagazine.com and clicking on the cover image of John Patitucci on the left.

August 2009 Issue Details:

The August issue of Jazz Inside NY Magazine also highlights the Bass Lovers Celebration, Summer Jazz Festivals, and the Jazz Education Sourcebook & Program Guide, Part 1. Bassists featured include Todd Coolman, Richie Goods, Cameron Brown, Esperanza Spalding, Joris Teepe, Bill Moring, Leonardo Cioglia, Vicente Archer, Carlos Henriquez.

The CD Spotlight section features reviews of new recordings, and the Venue Spotlight focuses on Cleopatra’s Needle. There are also performance reviews of John Pizzarelli, plus articles by jazz legends such as Ira Gitler and others. Comprehensive monthly calendar and event listings for the number one jazz market in the world – New York – span 16 pages. Jazz Inside NY Magazine is also available in print, FREE at 200 locations around the New York metro area.

For information about advertising, and about both free website hosting for industry participants, and how to easily increase your online presence with marketing tools at the website, contact Eric nemeyer, eric@jazzinsidemagazine.com, 215-887-8880.

Related posts:

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2. FREE Jazz Download: Track “A Better Way” From Spencer Day’s Upcoming Album Vagabond
3. John Patitucci Trio To Put Out New Album “Remembrance”: Release Date August 4th

Album Info:

His 3rd release, Vagabond (pictured at right), sets the stage for a great story that reflects the experiences and feelings Spencer Day has gone through in his life. Having a less than perfect childhood that involved moving all around the country, he adopted a feeling of being a “vagabond.” In addition, he comments that the nature of his career and music has led him to all kinds of places and all kinds of situations. These two ideas are are always with him, and his he paints a vivid description of it in this new album.

Once you first hear the album, you’ll probably be thinking the same thing many have – what exactly is his style? It is in our nature, especially when it comes to music, to identify specific characteristics of music, so that we can make them fit into neat little categories. If you are trying to do this when listening to Day’s music, our advice is GOOD LUCK! His approach to music has been sparked by many artists and influences, and his effort to combine these all together is what gives Day an edge. While paying homage to those that have inspired him, he has also set out to intrigue audiences by adding his own contemporary contributions. Spencer comments:

“I want to create a passionate fusion of all the musical styles that have inspired
me… I want to create music that is smooth and sophisticated but teeming with
raw emotion and fire under the surface. It is in life’s contradictions where the most
beautiful things are created.”

It is just these qualities that give Spencer Day the ability to produce unique and inspiring music that appeals to many different audiences. Jazz,lounge, pop, and ballad all rolled up into one, Vagabond continues his successful approach to revitalizing the way we think of music – and the way we think of music categories.

- Watch Spencer Day “Vagabond” EPK
- Album Info & Streaming Audio at On Target Media Group
- Download FREE track from album: “A Better Way”

Artist Info:

Spencer Day, a uniquely American singer/songwriter, has been enjoying a remarkable musical career. The release of his much anticipated third CD, Vagabond ,is his most ambitious and accomplished musical endeavor to date. It spotlights his own distinctively expressive style of American contemporary music, a blend of jazz, pop, soul and folk. His smooth baritone voice interprets his original compositions with compassion and a touch of humor. The album sets the tone for the 21st-century American Songbook.

A prolific composer and self-proclaimed perfectionist, Spencer Day has devoted himself to his career. His hard work has been paying off. Since he was a featured performer at the 2007 San Francisco Jazz Festival, he has been a perennial favorite in the Bay Area, headlining at Yoshi’s, the Plush Room, the Great American Music Hall and the Herbst Theatre.

In New York City, Spencer received rave reviews in Time Out and Backstage magazines, having performed to enthusiastic audiences at the Town Hall, Joe’s Pub, and the Canal Room. He has headlined at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, The Sheldon Concert Hall in St Louis, and the Dakota in Minneapolis.

Spencer recently opened for Rufus Wainwright at the Napa Valley Opera House and appeared at both the Monterey Jazz Festival and the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, by the invitation of Jazz legend Marian McPartland in celebration of her 90th birthday.

He has composed more than 60 tunes and recorded two well-received albums, Introducing Spencer Day (2004) and Movie of Your Life (2005). The song “Movie of Your Life” won San Francisco Academy of Art University’s 2005 competition for best original song. The resulting music video, produced by the school’s faculty and students, was selected by Dolby Laboratories as a demonstration video for the global launch of the Dolby 7.1 system.

More Artist Info

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African Skies

African Skies opens with the dynamic title track. The hot Latin rhythms are distinct and the saxophone interpretations of the world-renowned Gary Thomas is breath taking. The interplay between Cuban percussion phenomenon Melena and Mr. Thomas is as rich as it is haunting. Likewise, Mr. Holmes’s piano solo is riveting. He takes the original melodic theme and takes the listener on a roller coaster ride as the passion of this band explodes. This is an unforgettable song.

Joel Holmes is the right artist that has created the right album at the right time. African Skies is a plush adventure of styles, genres and cultures. From the African continent to Cuba to the Far East…from contemporary jazz to fusion to R&B Joel Holmes takes his listeners on a global sonic journey that is not to be missed.

More Artist & Album Information

Album Information:
Artist: Joel Holmes
Album: African Skies
Label: Blue Canoe Records
Release Date: March 23, 2009

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Crescendo & Jazz Music
This magazine features articles on famous crescendo and jazz artists, album reviews, video reviews, information on jazz festivals, band competitions, tributes, saxophones, pictures, and even some music to read and play.
($45/year – 4 issues)

Down Beat

In the 1930s, before any important book on jazz had yet been written, Down Beat collected the first important body of pre-1935 jazz history. It became a monthly, then semi-monthly, a diary of the swing era as it happened, then tracked the progression of bop, pop, rock, freedom, fusion, and nineties neoclassicism, all from the perspective of the musician. This magazine is edicated to jazz and blues musicians, fans, and audiophiles. Focuses on roots-oriented music and includes artists profiles, record reviews, and arranging tips.
($27/year – 12 issues)

JAZZIZ Magazine

This award-winning magazine gives you the lowdown each month on what’s hot (and what’s not) in jazz with insightful editorial, CD reviews, and inspired photography, art and design. Each issue of this magazine comes with Ttwo limited edition CDs, called “Jazziz on Disc”, that let you listen to music featured in the magazine at home, in the car, at work or on the go. “Jazziz on Disc” is a beautifully packaged 2 CD set filled with classic, new and exclusive music not available anywhere else. A subscription includes a quarterly print magazine, a monthly “page-flip” interactive magazine, daily and weekly updates, 10 CDs, news, events, videos, radio and more.
($60/year – 4 issues)

Jazz Review

An information site for Jazz Review Magazine, Britain’s most informative, indispensable, stylish and authoritative jazz magazine, packed with exclusive interviews with the leading figures in the music, compelling historical overviews which will enlighten beginners and experts alike, and a massive and up-to-the-minute reviews section where our team of critics audition everything that’s new on CD and give readers the definitive lowdown on what’s worth hearing – and what isn’t.
(Online – FREE)

Jazz Times

This one provides comprehensive and in-depth coverage of the international jazz scene. In addition to insightful profiles of emerging and established stars, every issue contains over 100 reviews of the latest CDs, books, videos and performances. Reviews and promotes jazz in all its varieties. Each subscription also includes their Annual Jazz Education Guide, which gives you listings of the top college jazz and music industry programs around the world
($24/year – 10 issues)

Have we left one out? Let us know!

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It is the second track, however, that sets the stage for the balance of the recording. It begins with a laid-back, floating exposition of the standard tune, “It’s Easy To Remember,” creating an atmospheric setting for Elling’s description of the original Coltrane/Harman recording. He describes how the participants – John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman – had met just a week earlier, played only a few pieces together informally, how they had no charts, had made no formal musical arrangements, or even had a real rehearsal, as such.

(Available at Amazon)

Artist: Kurt Elling
Album: Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman
Release Date: June 23rd, 2009
Label: Concord Records

Recorded live at Lincoln Center, the premier vocalist of his generation salutes and re-interprets one of the greatest jazz albums of all time.

It’s a compelling story, and Elling describes it with the articulateness of the poet he is, noting that one of the album’s most memorable tunes – “Lush Life” – was included because Coltrane and Hartman heard Nat Cole singing it on the car radio as they drove to the session. And he also adds the remarkable fact that, despite the almost utter lack of preparation, all the songs on the session – except one where the drummer drops a stick – were completed in single takes.

Other tracks place Elling’s voice in stirring textures of sound from the Ethel Quartet: a floating rendition of “Dedicated To You” – a song associated with the duo of Billy Eckstine and Sarah Vaughan, as well as Coltrane and Hartman – sung over turbulent strings; the lovely positioning of the vocal over the contrapuntal quartet lines of “Say It Over and Over”; the atmospheric blend of voice and string quartet alone amid the piquant dissonances of Jim Gailloreto’s arrangement of “My One and Only Love.”

This is a truly unique album that will catch most people’s attention. When asked about the process of interpreting the various songs, Elling commented:

“We wanted to honor the original arrangements, but not be bound
by them. It was important for us to recast a number of things, so
that we could present the entirety of it with a fresh shine.”

He comments further that although history informs us, it should also inspire us. While putting his own spin on it, Elling still remains true not only to the original recording, but also to jazz history.

The album hits the shelves June 23rd, 2009 – be sure to place your pre-order soon!

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Album: The Very Best Of Prestige Records
Label: Concord Music Group
Release Date: March 24th, 2009

On March 24th Concord Music Group launched a yearlong 60th anniversary celebration of Prestige Records, with a full slate of assorted CD releases and other special bonuses, including the new album The Very Best Of Prestige Records.

The Very Best of Prestige Records is a 2-CD set of classic tracks from the legendary label’s catalog featuring the iconic Jazz artists of the ‘50s and ‘60s; John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Eric Dolphy, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, and more. The new ‘must have’ collection features 25 essential Prestige tracks, and is packed with classic photographs covering a 20-year span from 1949-1969, truly representing Prestige’s golden era.

Background:

Founded by producer Bob Weinstock in 1949, Prestige Records became iconic in documenting the golden age of jazz, known as the label that stood for high-premium jazz throughout its active history. Its legacy continued firstas a reissue imprint with Fantasy Records and today with the Concord Music Group.

The 60th anniversary celebration continues withthree series of Ryan Van Gelder remasters (March 3rd, June 2nd, and September 8th), as well as audio podcasts with the legendary engineer. In addition, Concord will issue two new sets of vital music from the Prestige catalog:

(1) Sidesteps
- A 5-CD boxed set of John Coltane’s appearnaces as a sideman on Prestige recordings (to be released on September 8th, 2009)
(2) Miles Davis & Sonny Rollins: The Classic Prestige Session 1951-1956
- A 2-CD collections to beissued in later summer or early fall, 2009)

Also planned for later this year is Prestige Records: The Collected Album Covers. This is a coffee table book, published by notes music historian Geoff Gans.

Streaming Media:

Quicktime:
(1) Sonny Rollins/John Coltrane (Tenor Madness)
(2) Eric Dolphy (Les)
(3) Red Garland Trio (Hey Now)
(4) Pat Martino (Waltz For Geri)

- Check out the entire album, available through streaming media at music.aol.com.
- See more information about the album at On Target Media Group.
- Concord Music Group’s Official Site.

Related posts:

1. Prestige Records Releases 3rd & Final Set Of John Coltrane Box Series: “Side Steps” highlights Coltrane’s role of the sideman
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3. Legendary Blue Note Records Celebrate 70th Anniversary: Releasing album from The Blue Note 7