Jazz Articles about Various Artists

The Contemporary Records Story

by Jack Bowers
June 20, 2004

Various Artists The Contemporary Records Story Contemporary 2004

Contemporary Records, the stylish West Coast label that flourished from 1952-77 under its founder, Lester Koenig, is wonderfully represented in this boxed set from Fantasy Records that ingeniously condenses the singular nature and quality of those twenty-five years into four remarkably comprehensive and illustrative compact discs.

This isn’t the complete story, as the discs cover the period from the label’s creation until Koenig’s passing at age ...

Various Artists: The Contemporary Records Story

by Charlie B. Dahan
June 13, 2004

There is a huge difference between a good reissue package and a great one. Good packages contain a reason for its existence, such as unreleased takes or a new look at a recording or period/theme with a new compiling of tracks and in depth liner notes. A great one contains the preceding but it also plays enjoyably from the first track to the last. They are musically pleasing, as well as containing all the extras. Fantasy has released such a ...

Various Artists: The Contemporary Records Story

by Russell Moon
June 1, 2004

Lester Koenig (pronounced KAY-nig) was a Hollywood movie executive who was blacklisted for refusing to testify before the HUAC. Having founded the Good Time Jazz label in 1949 to record Dixieland jazz, he created the Contemporary imprint in 1952 for modern classical music and modern jazz to keep himself busy. With The Contemporary Records Story, Fantasy has released a 4-CD anthology of Contemporary recordings presented in chronological order. All CDs are at least 71 minutes long. Koenig was a stickler ...

Various Artists: The Latin Jazz Side

by C. Michael Bailey
May 12, 2004

The Italian jazz record label founded by one Sergio Veschi, Red Records , turned 25 years old this past year. For the better part of that time, the label has avoided doing what many larger labels have made a science of?flooding the market with compilations from recent releases. That is until now. The label has mined its beautifully heterogeneous catalog for the best in Latin jazz?and there is quite a bit of very fine music here.

When record ...

Various Artists: Brand New! Swedish Jazz, Vol. 9: 1960-1964

by Jack Bowers
April 25, 2004

Volume 9 in Caprice Records’ chronological survey of Swedish jazz offers a fascinating look backward at the eventful years 1960-64 and, as always, the four-disc set is not only brimming with wonderful music but is as generously timed as one could possibly want with none of the discs playing for less than 77 minutes. Sound quality is as respectable as Caprice could manage (some performances were recorded live, others in a studio) and there is the usual informative 100-page booklet ...

Various Artists: Rendezvous Lounge

by Brian Soergel
April 25, 2004

“Chill music" is rapidly becoming the next hybrid of smooth jazz and seems to be the perfect fit. It’s already a mainstay in Europe, heard in expensive restaurants and is starting to get heard on internet radio stations in the States. This compilation is a good starting point and features 14 deliciously intoxicating tracks compiled by Mark Gorbulew, a DJ at the Au Bar in New York and a veteran chill-music compiler.

Most of the artists will be unfamiliar to ...

Various Artists: Voices of Concord Jazz: Live at Montreux

by Charlie B. Dahan
April 25, 2004

There is nothing better in music than a great vocal performance. With the advent of multi-track recording, singers can have many tries in the studio to fix or tweak their performance, thus ensuring a top of the line performance, but sometimes, the outcome loses immediacy and intimacy. This live collection of varied singers who have at one time called Concord their recording home, removes the safety net and puts these highly respected group of modern singers on one of jazzes ...