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Avid Entertainment
Since 1989 Avid Entertainment have been producing high quality reissues in their three, four and five classic albums series. Progressing through 20th century musical history, the giants of jazz, blues, easy, country and rock n roll have been compiled onto digitally re-mastered 2CD sets priced at £5.
Rahsaan Roland Kirk Four Classic Albums (Introducing Roland Kirk / Kirk’s Work / We Free Kings / Domino)
AVID Jazz presents four classic Roland Kirk albums including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD.“Introducing Roland Kirk”, Kirk’s Work”, “We Free Kings” and “Domino”. Roland Kirk burst upon the jazz scene playing his unearthly assortment of instruments from tenor sax to the manzello (a soprano sax sounding instrument) and the stritch (a kind of straight alto sax). Our first selection is “Introducing Roland Kirk” accompanied by Ira Sullivan on trumpet, William Burton on piano and Sonny Brown on drums. In terms of how his sound later developed this, his second album recorded in 1960 was a relatively straight forward affair, although there are signs of what was to come in some of his own compositions. “Kirks Work” recorded in July 1961 highlights the more soul and R& B side of Kirk rather than the later more “out there” side! An often overlooked album featuring Jack McDuff on Hammond organ, Joe Benjamin on bass and Arthur Taylor on drums, it represents yet another stage in Kirks development. “We Free Kings” recorded across August 16th & 17th August 1961 features two line ups. Joining Kirk on five tracks are Richard Wyands on piano, Art Davis on bass and Charlie Persip on drums. For the other six tracks Kirk is joined by Hank Jones on piano, Wendell Marshall on bass and again Charlie Persip on drums. Although primarily a blues sounding album there are signs of things to come as Kirk began developing his simultaneously played three horn sound! He can also be heard playing the flute and singing at the same time! “Domino” concludes our tribute to Roland Kirk where our man is joined on the first six tracks by Andrew Hill on piano, Vernon Martin on bass and Henry Duncan on drums. For the last four tracks he is joined by Wynton Kelly on piano, Vernon Martin again on bass and Roy Haynes on drums. On this album we can finally see the blossoming of the true Kirk sound.
Chuck Berry Four Classic Albums (After School Session / One Dozen Berrys / Chuck Berry Is On Top / Rockin’ At The Hops)
AVID Rock N Roll continues with its Four Classic Rock n Roll album series with a re-mastered 2CD release by Chuck Berry, complete with original artwork and liner notes. “After School Session”; “One Dozen Berries”; “Chuck Berry is on Top” and “Rockin’ at the Hops” Emerging from under the influence of the blues, gospel, country and R&B, musicians such as Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and of course Elvis Presley were taking the music world by storm in the 1950’s. In many ways Chuck Berry must stand out amongst his contemporaries as he not only wrote his own music and played it his way but his signature riffs became the template for what later became pop and rock music! Arguably without Chuck Berry there would have been no Beatles, Beach Boys or Rolling Stones, and music history would have had to have been re-written! So here is how the main man started his musical recording career. Four startling albums full of classic Berry riffs and sharp as a razor lyrics for you to enjoy. Some tracks you will know of course, but there are sure to be some undiscovered gems for you to hear for perhaps the first time. Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll!
Joao Gilberto · Walter Wanderley · Sergio Mendes Four Classic Albums (Brazil’s Brilliant / Sucessos Dancantes Em Ritmo De Romance / Dance Moderno / The Boss Of The Bossa Nova)
AVID Jazz continues with its Four Classic album series with a re-mastered 2CD release from three great Brazilian artists Joao Gilberto (2); Walter Wanderley and Sergio Mendes complete with original artwork. Joao Gilberto from 1960 “Brazil’s Brilliant”, Walter Wanderley “Sucessos Dancantes Em Ritmo De Romance” from 1961; Sergio Mendes “Dance Moderno” from 1961 and Joao Gilberto “The Boss Of Bossa Nova” from 1962. Transport yourself to Brazil with this fine Four Classic Bossa Nova 2CD set. Credited with pioneering the Bossa Nova sound Joao Gilberto is featured on two of our four albums. Also featured is pianist and organist Walter Wanderley, another pioneer of Bossa Nova. CD 2 kicks off with the first album released by future international star Sergio Mendes before returning to Joao Gilberto to see us dancing out the set.
Chet Atkins Five Classic Albums Plus (At Home / Teensville / Chet Atkins’ Workshop / Down Home / Caribbean Guitar)
AVID Country continues its Classic Albums series with a re-mastered 2CD release featuring Chet Atkins, complete with original artwork, liner notes and personnel details. “At Home”; “Teensville”; “Chet Atkins Workshop;” “Down Home”; “Caribbean Guitar” plus 6 Bonus tracks. As the producer of such legends as Hank Snow, Porter Wagoner, Dolly Parton, Dottie West, Waylon Jennings, Jerry Reed, not to mention Elvis, The Everly Brothers, Eddy Arnold and Jim Reeves, you may be forgiven for overlooking the fact that our featured artist, internationally known as Mr. Guitar, A.K.A. Chet Atkins was indeed a superbly influential and innovative guitarist in his own right. We feature 5 of his late 1950s to early 1960s albums plus bonus tracks which will give you a flavour of the range of Chet’s musicianship and a man who won the Country Instrumentalist of the Year award no fewer than 9 times between 1967-1988.
B.B. King B.B. King: Four Classic Albums Plus (B.B. King Sings Spirituals / King of the Blues / More B.B. King / Easy Listening Blues)
AVID Roots continues with its Four Classic Album series with a remastered 2CD second release by B.B. King complete with original artwork and liner notes. “B.B. King Sings Spirituals” “King of the Blues” “More B.B. King” and “Easy Listening Blues” plus 16 bonus tracks. To most of us music fans living in the 21st century, B.B. King was the “real thing”, the epitome of the “Blues Man”, a genuine living legend! Here was a guy who had lived the classic blues story. He was born Riley B. King into poverty on a cotton plantation in Mississippi, the son of sharecroppers. A broken family was followed by being raised by his maternal grandmother and he was singing gospel in the local church from a very young age. Legend has it that he was given his first guitar at age 12 by a relative named Bukka White! Following White to Memphis in 1946 he stayed with the great blues man until returning home 10 months later. By 1948 he was singing and disc jockeying on local radio station WDIA and when he met T Bone Walker he made the decision to get himself an electric guitar. The rest as they say is a legendary blues history and the early results can be heard on our four classic selections. For Avid’s second visit to the King catalogue they’ve added a couple of more unusual titles, one that shows B.B. as the great singer he was rather than the fabulous guitarist we are all aware of. “Sings Spirituals” finds B.B. supported by organ, piano, bass and drums; here he lets his amazing voice tell the story. By complete contrast on the strangely titled “Easy Listening Blues” we hear B.B. King without any vocals at all! Oh and don’t forget the 16 Bonus tracks, gems one and all!
Anita O'Day Anita O'Day: Four Classic Albums (Anita Sings the Most / The Lady Is A Tramp / An Evening With Anita O'Day / Anita)
What a difference O’Day makes! AVID Jazz here presents four classic Anita O’Day albums on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD. “Anita Sings the Most”; “The Lady Is A Tramp”, “An Evening with Anita O’Day” and “Anita”. Born in Chicago, Anita O’Day cut her musical teeth in the 1940’s playing with the Gene Krupa Band and the Stan Kenton Band during which time she had her first widespread successes with “And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine” and “Tampico” which allowed her to head out on her own as a solo act. Utilising a wide range of musical accompanists including the Oscar Peterson Trio, Barney Kessel, Jimmy Rowles, Tal Farlow and Roy Eldridge our four classic albums highlight a unique singing talent that put Anita up there with Billie, Ella and Mildred Bailey and went on to influence such great singers as June Christy and Chris Connor. All four albums have been digitally re-mastered for probably the finest sound quality ever!
The Ventures Five Classic Albums Plus (Walk Don’t Run / The Ventures / The Colorful Ventures / Mashed Potatoes And Gravy / Going To The Ventures Dance Party)
AVID Rock N Roll continues with its Classic Albums series with a re-mastered 2CD release by The Ventures; complete with original artwork, liner notes and personnel details. “Walk Don’t Run”; “The Ventures”; “The Colourful Ventures”: “Mashed Potatoes and Gravy”, “Going to the Ventures Dance Party” plus 10 bonus tracks. One of the original guitar bands, The Ventures were the hottest instrumental band in the USA after their classic “Walk Don’t Run” became an international hit in 1960 and they went on to become the biggest selling instrumental group of all time with sales of 100 million records! In fact it is often said, (by us anyway) that they quite literally put The Shadows, well, in the shadows! While their heyday was certainly in the 1960s where after their initial success they then caught the wave of the west coast surfing craze alongside The Beach Boys, of course, as well as other instrumental bands such as Dick Dale and The Challengers. Their popularity declined in the seventies but thanks to Quentin Tarantino their fortunes have been revived once again!
Joan Baez Three Classic Albums Plus (Joan Baez / Joan Baez Vol 2 / In Concert - Part 1)
AVID Roots continues with its Classic Roots albums series with a re-mastered 2CD release by Joan Baez complete with original artwork and liner notes. “Joan Baez”; “Joan Baez Vol.2”; “In Concert – Part 1” plus 6 tracks from “Folksingers ‘Round Harvard Square” This fine selection includes Joan’s first three gold record achieving releases plus her six earliest solo recordings as part of the “Folksingers Round Harvard Square” compilation. Joan Baez probably needs no introduction to most music enthusiasts as she has been performing for over 50 years. These first early albums serve to remind all of us just how powerful, pure and beautiful her unique voice was.
Bobby Darin Four Classic Albums (Love Swings / Two Of A Kind / The Bobby Darin Story / Oh! Look At Me Now)
AVID Pop presents its Four Classic Pop album series with a re-mastered 2CD release by Bobby Darin, complete with original artwork and liner notes. “Love Swings”; “Two of A Kind”; “The Bobby Darin Story” and “Oh! Look At Me Now”. Walden Robert Cassotto, otherwise better known as Bobby Darin was born in Harlem, New York City in 1936. His initial ambition was to become an actor and to this end he left formal education and joined a travelling theatre group. However as time went on music began to take over his life as he began to learn to play the piano and crucially write his own songs. He began getting jobs writing, singing and playing on commercial jingles. By 1956 Darin had signed his first recording contract and by 1957 had signed to Atco Records. “Splish Splash” would follow a year later. Many hits and international fame were to follow when in 1959 he signed a contract with Paramount Pictures and the oft longed for acting career began. However, although many thought his music career was over, Bobby Darin had other ideas and music continued to be his first passion for the rest of his life. What made Bobby Darin so special? Perhaps the key was the fact that he wrote many of his own songs, something that was extremely rare in the 1950’s. How many classics had Sinatra or Bennett or Crosby written? There is a strong case to say that Darin foreshadowed the era of the great singer songwriters of the 1970’s. Here’s his early story for you to enjoy.
Dave Brubeck Three Classic Albums Plus (Dave Digs Disney / Southern Scene / The Dave Brubeck Quartet In Europe)
AVID Jazz here presents three classic Dave Brubeck albums, including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD. “Dave Digs Disney”, “Southern Scene”, “The Dave Brubeck Quartet in Europe” and bonus tracks side 2 of “Jazz Impressions of the U.S.A” For our latest in a mini series of tributes to Mr Brubeck we have chosen three albums that are vastly different from the experimental album that became the all time classic Time Out. On two of these albums, “Southern Scene” and “Digs Disney” Brubeck has mainly chosen southern folk songs and spirituals and of course music from the wonderful world of Disney! And he still found time during his busy touring schedule to record new tracks for the “Quartet in Europe” album. All three albums have been digitally re-mastered for probably the finest sound quality ever!
Nina Simone Four Classic Albums (The Amazing Nina Simone / Nina Simone at Town Hall / Forbidden Fruit / Nina Simone At Newport)
AVID Jazz continues with its Four Classic Album series with a re-mastered 2CD release from Nina Simone; complete with original artwork, liner notes and personnel details (where available). “The Amazing Nina Simone”; “Nina Simone at Town Hall”; “Forbidden Fruit” and “Nina Simone at Newport’”. Here is a fine artist whose background is essentially classical, gospel and blues and yet on our selections she is undoubtedly singing in the jazz mode. A bit like Ray Charles, we thought, crosses many genres! So jazz it is. Here we feature four of Nina’s earliest albums in a mixture of studio and live recordings. Her style at this early stage was certainly more in the jazz idiom, based on her gospel and blues background before she moved closer to soul and even pop later in her career.
Charlie Parker Five Classic Albums (Bird And Diz / Big Band / Charlie Parker With Strings / Charlie Parker / Plays Cole Porter)
AVID Jazz continues with its Five Classic Album series with a re-mastered 2CD release from Charlie Parker; complete with original artwork, liner notes and personnel details. “Bird & Diz”; “Big Band”; “With Strings”; “Charlie Parker Quartet” and “Plays Cole Porter’” AVID have inducted Charlie Parker into the Four Classic Albums “hall of fame”! In fact, they’ve decided to add in another album to make it Five Classic Albums! Avid have taken their time in paying tribute to one of the greatest sax players who ever lived, selecting the best albums that truly captured the huge talents of Charlie Parker. You’re not getting just any ol’ bird! The selections that have been chosen furnished our feathered friend with five fine examples of his fabulous talents!
Quincy Jones Four Classic Albums Plus (This Is How I Feel About Jazz / Harry Arnold + Big Band + Quincy Jones = Jazz / The Great Wide World Of Quincy Jones / At Newport ’61)
AVID Jazz presents four classic Quincy Jones albums including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD. “This Is How I Feel About Jazz”; “Harry Arnold + Big Band + Quincy Jones = Jazz”; “The Great Wide World Of Quincy Jones” and “At Newport ‘61″. To quote Quincy from the original liner notes “This Is How I Feel about Jazz is an attempt to supply settings, select the proper cast and musically portray my feelings about some of the less cerebral and more vital or basic elements contained in Jazz. Trying to put into words the essence of these elements has made me realize that jazz is much easier to play than to say” Musicians include Herbie Mann on flute and tenor sax, Art Farmer on trumpet, Hank Jones on piano, Phil Woods on alto sax, Charles Mingus and Paul Chambers on bass and Lucky Thompson on tenor sax. For “Harry Arnold + Big Band + Quincy Jones = Jazz” the following from the album cover says it all!! “Big band jazz of the highest order that features arrangements by Quincy Jones and churning performances by the Harry Arnold orchestra of Swedish jazzmen” How prophetic are the liner notes written by Dizzy Gillespie assessing and praising the talents of Quincy Jones for the next record featured ”The Great Wide World of Quincy Jones” ”Quincy is an excellent musician to work with, and that’s certainly essential in a leader. I’m impressed at the excellent musicians he was able to persuade to join him” Here’s another great quote from Phil Woods on the original liner notes to “At Newport ‘61” summing up the bands feelings towards Quincy “I’d follow him to Antarctica for a one nighter, if he said it was cool” The line up on “At Newport ‘61” surely became one of the greatest big bands in jazz history included greats such as Joe Newman, Jimmy Maxwell, Curtis Fuller, Phil Woods, Jerome Richardson, Pat Patrick, Les Spann and Stu Martin. All four albums have been digitally re-mastered.
Ella Fitzgerald Three Classic Albums Plus (Mack The Knife / Let No Man Write My Epitaph / Ella In Hollywood)
AVID Jazz presents three classic Ella Fitzgerald albums plus including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD. “Mack the Knife”, “Let No Man Write My Epitaph”, “Ella in Hollywood” and 10 tracks from “Ella Swings Gently with Nelson” A live set kicks off this Ella Fitzgerald tribute, “Mack the Knife” was recorded in 1960 in Berlin as part of the Jazz at the Philharmonic International tour. It features Paul Smith on piano, Jim Hall on guitar, Wilfred Middlebrooks on bass and Gus Johnson on drums. A rather portentous title greets our next selection “Let No Man Write My Epitaph” featuring Paul Smith again on piano recorded in Los Angeles in 1960. This album features the music from a film of the same name Ella had appeared in plus numbers that Ella just felt were right to complete the record. A year on from “Mack the Knife” we have “Ella in Hollywood” again recorded live as part of a projected new series of Fitzgerald recordings. The series was designed to highlight the differences in approach by Ella to performing in front of audiences with a different first language and to also gauge the response of the audiences to Ella’s different musical approach. Featured in her band are Lou Levy on piano, Herb Ellis on guitar, Wilfred Middlebrooks on bass and Gus Johnson on drums. “Ella Swings Gently with Nelson” finds Ella performing with the great Nelson Riddle Orchestra and highlights her amazing ability to be able to interpret and improvise across a variety of different musical numbers. All three albums plus have been digitally re-mastered.
Little Richard (Here’s Little Richard / Little Richard / Little Richard / The Fabulous Little Richard)
AVID Rock N Roll continues with its Four Classic Albums series with a re-mastered 2CD release from Little Richard; complete with original artwork, liner notes and personnel details. “Here’s Little Richard”; “Little Richard”; “Little Richard” and “The Fabulous Little Richard” “Have you noticed that many recording artists gain instant popularity as a result of making one hit record and then quickly fade from public view? These artists just never seem to be able to follow up their one success with the other hits so necessary to sustain your popularity. This seems to be true particularly in the rock ‘n’ roll field; and, leads us to believe that it was not the artist himself who made the hit, but the irresistible rhythm of the music or the novelty lyrics. The outstanding exception to this flash-and fade pattern is the truly phenomenal Little Richard. His ten consecutive double-sided hit records prove beyond any doubt that he is a star performer, and not just an artist lucky enough to record a song destined to hit because of the beat or lyrics. In fact, a Little Richard treatment can breathe life into lacklustre material. This was demonstrated several times when other big-name artists tried to cover or imitate Little Richard’s songs but with mediocre success. Take a look at the song credits on this fantastic platter and his birth name Richard Wayne Penniman keeps coming back at you! Having influenced everyone from The Beatles to Dylan to Hendrix to Prince to the new breed of pop, soul and R&B artists of today. The list is endless and pretty much would have to include anyone who has picked up a pen to write a lyric or a melody or grabbed a microphone and has made their mark on rock and roll over the last 60 years! A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-wop-bam-boom! Indeed!
Stan Getz Four Classic Albums (Focus / The Soft Swing / West Coast Jazz / Cool Velvet)
AVID Jazz here presents four classic Stan Getz albums including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD. “Focus”; “The Soft Swing”; “West Coast Jazz” and “Cool Velvet”
Two hard to find on CD albums help to make up Avid’s second outing for the remarkable Stan Getz. Recorded in 1961, “Focus” was commissioned by Stan Getz and composed and arranged by Eddie Sauter, Getz having admired Sauter’s work since he had played it with Benny Goodman at the age of 18! “Focus” is very rare, it’s not jazz in the form we have come to accept, and it is music of a very high calibre both written and improvised. “The Soft Swing” the first of our hard to find on CD selections, has an interesting line up for Stan in 1957 with Mose Allison, no less, on piano, Jerry Segal on drums and Addison Farmer on bass. Here we find Stan opening up both emotionally and rhythmically albeit still retaining his ability and desire to play beautiful ballads alongside band lifting stompers! “West Coast Jazz” is the result of a live set at Zardies in Hollywood one hot sticky night in 1955 where Stan had put together a pick up band comprising of West Coast musicians Conte Candoli, Lou Levy, Leroy Vinnegar and Shelly Manne. Getz thought the band was so hot he decided to get the sound down on record and “West Coast Jazz” is the result. “Cool Velvet” the second of our hard to find on CD selections this album finds Stan with strings! As the original liner notes attest “It is doubtful whether there is anyone whose style is better suited to the muted emotions of a string background than Stan Getz”. Recorded in Stuttgart, Germany in 1960 with European musicians Getz manages to craft together a work of sensibility and melodic wit selecting tracks like “Round Midnight” and “Whisper Not” and bringing to them his own inimitable style. All four albums have been digitally re-mastered for probably the finest ever sound quality.
Buddy Rich Three Classic Albums Plus (The Wailing Buddy Rich / The Swinging Buddy Rich / This One’s For Basie)
AVID Jazz here presents three classic Buddy Rich albums plus including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD. “The Wailing Buddy Rich”; “The Swinging Buddy Rich; “This One’s For Basie” plus 6 of 7 tracks from “Buddy and Sweets” Bernard “Buddy” Rich was born to show biz parents in Brooklyn in 1917. A natural drummer he was known in vaudeville as “Taps the Drum Wonder” and was leading his own band by the time he was eleven! Starting his jazz career in 1938 in Joe Marsala’s band he went on to play with the likes of Tommy Dorsey, Bunny Berigan, Artie Shaw and Harry James. For the two 1955 “Wailing” sessions Buddy is joined by an array of jazz greats from Ben Webster, Thad Jones, Joe Newman and Frank Weiss to Oscar Peterson, Freddie Green, Harry Edison and Jimmy Rowles. In 1955 Buddy was “Wailing”, two years earlier he was “Swinging”, joined again by a stellar line up including Benny Carter, Harry Edison, George Auld, Milt Bonhart and Willie Smith. “This is jazz of the explosive variety topped off with a solo lasting upwards of three minutes by the greatest drummer of all time”, according to Gene Krupa, and he should know! Having appeared in all of our early selections with Buddy, Harry Edison finally gets his name in lights for “Harry & Sweets”. Jimmy Rowles hooks up again alongside Barney Kessel on guitar and John Simmons on bass. The result is “a very smooth, very musical slice of jazz”. Our final selection finds Buddy paying tribute to one of the great jazz masters. “This One’s For Basie” features Buddy with a full orchestra performing arrangements by the legendary Marty Paich. A fine line up including Harry Edison, Pete Condoli and Buddy Collette do more than justice in a set that includes five Basie originals. All three albums plus have been digitally re-mastered for probably the finest ever sound quality.
Sam Cooke Four Classic Albums (Sam Cooke / Cooke’s Tour / Hits Of The 50s / Twistin’ The Night Away)
AVID Pop continues with its Four Classic Pop Albums series with a re-mastered 2CD release by Sam Cooke, complete with original artwork, liner notes and personnel details. “Sam Cooke”; “Cooke’s Tour”; “Hits of the 50’s” and “Twistin’ the Night Away” It’s time to forget all the horror stories about the late great Sam Cooke. His label seemed to be trying to turn him into a pop star and cries of sell out as he left his gospel origins and moved into the pop arena, all culminating in the ghastly and shocking details of his tragic death. It’s time to just settle back and listen to that voice. A voice that was truly heaven sent and that could sing just about anything including the proverbial telephone directory and make it sound beautiful, pained and joyous almost all at the same time. A truly unique talent whose influence is still heard to this day.
Lightnin' Hopkins Four Classic Albums (The Rooster Crowed In England / Lightnin’ (The Blues Of Lightnin’ Hopkins) / Last Night Blues / Lightnin’ Strikes)
AVID Roots continues with its Four Classic Roots Album series with a re-mastered 2CD release from Sam “Lightnin’” Hopkins, complete with original artwork, liner notes and personnel details. “The Rooster Crowed in England”; “Lightnin’-The Blues of Lightnin’ Hopkins”; “Last Night Blues” with Sonny Terry and “Lightnin’ Strikes” Avid’s first two Lightnin’ Hopkins releases have both been successful to date, they hadn’t planned on a third release just yet, but when they got the chance to feature a very rare, expensive and hard to find Hopkins album, they just had to fit that third in. This set opens with the album in question “The Rooster Crowed in England”, recorded in 1959 with a couple of tracks from 1954. The liner notes indicate that the original composers of the songs could not be found so they have listed them as unknown, we think there’s a fair chance they are all by the great man himself. We believe this is the first time this album has appeared on CD.
Duke Ellington Four Classic Albums (Swinging Suites / At The Bal Masque / Midnight In Paris / The Count Meets The Duke First Time!)
1 Comment
i love all these packages love the shop – been since 1995 bought loads of stuff cheers .