Various Artists: Swingin' Jazz for Hipsters Vol. 2

I know what you're thinking: that this lineup is a little stronger than Volume One's. And it is. I don't know what they're thinking over in Concord (and maybe it's just my personal taste) but I'd be more interested in hearing from the Heaths, Gerry Mulligan, Burton, and Shearing than some of the folks on the first disc. Of course, maybe I listen to more jazz than their target audience. Insofar as that's the problem being addressed by these discs, I commend the producers.

Standouts are not unexpected. The Heaths deserve honors for the easy blues shuffle of "Dave's Haze," although I might have picked other tracks from their standout album As We Were Saying. I am still in awe at the mastery of Jimmy Heath, a man who does not seem to get his due.

Brother Jack is not in the same Dimension as the folks who made "Age of Aquarius" a monster hit in the Sixties, but his version roils with a passionate intensity all its own. Gerry and Scott make a terrific pair, with Gerry gruff but lovable and Scott smooth but lovable. Don't miss it, from the disc Soft Lights & Sweet Music.

Well, as the hipsters say, I'm hip to these cats. I hope they sell a lot of records, and that this is one of them – AND that it will lead people back to the original sources.

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