May 4th Through May 25th

While the volume is low for the month of May in the reissue department, there are some high quality sets on the docket. Check it out!

Attention record labels! Please email me your reissue schedules so I can include them in future lists.

May 4th

May’s Highlight Reissue:

• Various Artists The Contemporary Story (Contemporary). A 4 CD boxset profiling this jazz label from it’s beginning in 1951.
  
  
• Miles Davis/John Coltrane Complete Columbia Studio Recordings 1955-1961 (Sony). This six CD collection includes the entire recordings of 'Round About Midnight, Milestones, and Kind of Blue, plus selections from Someday My Prince Will Come, the live album Miles & Coltrane 57, and 18 unreleased tracks, all of which are alternate takes.
  
  
• Wild Bill Davison with the Eddie Condon All Stars Live! Miami Beach 1955 (Storyville). This is the first release of this 70-minute concert featuring Pee Wee Russell.
  
  
• Raymond Scott & Secret 7 Unexpected (Basta).
  
  
• Frank Sinatra Sinatra Sings His Greatest Hits/Swing and Dance/Sings Oscar and Hammerstein (Sony). This collection includes the above recordings (three total) for a nice budget price.

May 11th

• Nat King Cole Encore (Koch). This 50 minute DVD includes 18 performances by Cole.

From Concord Jazz:

• Mel Torme Instant Party. This new compilation series features fun and festive party music
• Mongo Santamaria Instant Party
• Tito Puente Instant Party
• Various Artists Live at Montreux: Voices of Concord Jazz (Concord). This DVD collection and companion audio CD compiles live performance recording from artists such as Nnenna Freelon, Peter Cincotti, Diane Schuur, Curtis Stigers, Monica Mancini and Karrin Allyson
  
  From Verve:
  
  
  
  • Hugh Masekela Still Grazing
  • Keiko Matsui The Very Best of Keiko Matsui
  • Arturo Sandoval The Very Best of Arturo Sandoval
  
  
  
• Woody Herman The Complete Columbia Recordings of Woody Herman and His Orchestra and His Woodchoppers (Mosaic). This 7 CD collection covers 1945-1947 and includes both alternate takes and unreleased material.

May 18th

• Les Paul Isle of Golden Dreams: The Decca and Capitol Years (Universe). This release contains four CDs.
  
  
• Teddy Wilson One O’Clock Jump (Universe).
  
  
• The Red Heads Complete Recordings (Jazz Oracle). This collection contains three CDs of 74 tracks of Red Nichols various groups featuring JC Flippen and Cliff Edwards.
  
  
• George Shearing Quintet Live at Birdland (Baldwin Street). This live recording is from 1952.
  
  
• Haazz and Company Pleasure (Atavistic). This reissue is from 1969 and features Kees Hazevoet, Kris Wanders, Louis Moholo and Arjen Gorter.
  
  
• Mario Schiano On the Waiting List (Atavistic). This recording is from 1973.

From Chronological:

• Benny Goodman 1944-45
• Dizzy Gillespie 1952-53
• Big Mama Thornton 1950-53
• Mary Lou Williams 1951-52
• Joe Venuti 1933-39
• Big Maybelle 1944-53
• John Brim 1950-53
• Ace Harris 1937-52
• Willie “The Lion” Smith 1950

May 25th:

• Various Artists The House of Urban (Concord / Peak). This jazz / hip-hop project was put together by the same producer who did the ‘Unwrapped’ series.

Other May Releases (dates TBA):

• Dave Brubeck Private Brubeck Reporting for Duty, Sir! (Telarc). This collection contains Brubeck’s solo piano recordings of various GI themed songs while he served in World War 2 – packaging includes photos from the Brubeck archives.
  
  
• Woody Herman and the Second Herd The Road Band 1948 (Hep).
  
  
• Duke Ellington The Treasury Shows, volume 9 (Storyville). This two CD collection features over 140 minutes of three 1945 radio broadcasts.
  
  
• Grover Mitchell Big Band (Storyville). This reissue features recordings from 1978 and 1980.

Coming in June:

John Fahey, Rashaan Roland Kirk, Quincy Jones and Bill Cosby, Illinois Jacquet, James Moody, Sonny Stitt, Art Blakely, Dexter Gordon, Freddie Hubbard, Reuben Wilson, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Eddie Condon, Max Roach, Tal Farlow 7 CD box, Gene Krupa, and Roy Brown, amongst others.