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holiday gift guide 2011 ✽ Box sets
Smithsonian
Collection: Any
Questions
As far as collections or anthologies
go, this one has a setup to
beat the band. Jazz: The Smithsonian
Anthology is not the work of one
mind, but many. And not just at the
Smithsonian Institution. In preparing
this 111-song package of six
discs (almost eight hours of music)
and a 200-page booklet with photos,
the creators took seven years and
involved not only jazz scholars, but
performers and writers as well. The
results add to and expand on the palette first
dished up by Martin Williams (acting alone)
in 1973 with the Smithsonian Collection
Of Classic Jazz (with a cut-off in the early
1960s).
The new set is educational, informative and
obviously instructional, as well as enjoyable.
It’s also bound to ruffle the feathers of some
purists. Unlike Williams’ “classic jazz” collection,
this one tries to be more comprehensive,
taking “jazz” off the pedestal to allow for serious
consideration certain contributions from
not only electric jazz à la fusion, but also avantgarde
music beyond Ornette Coleman (an artist
Williams championed) and Cecil Taylor. Discs
5 and 6 reflect this, also containing jazz musicians
beyond America’s shores (with eight cuts).
Notable selections include Gary Burton’s “The
New National Anthem,” Weather Report’s
“Birdland,” Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon
Man” (from Headhunters), Medeski Martin &
Wood’s “Hey-Hee-Hi-Ho,” the Art Ensemble
of Chicago’s “Bush Magic,” Anthony Braxton
and Muhal Richard Abrams’ update of Scott
Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag,” The Hot Club
of France with “Minor Swing” and Tomasz
Stanko’s “Suspended Night Variation VIII,”
which closes the whole shebang.
The collection remains light on women artists,
but now includes non-singers. Cuts come
from Marjorie Hyams, Toshiko Akiyoshi (with
Lew Tabackin and their big band), Astrud
Gilberto (with Stan Getz), Sarah Vaughan,
Ella Fitzgerald (with Duke Ellington and with
Louis Armstrong), Mary Lou Williams (with
Andy Kirk and on her own), Bessie Smith (with
James P. Johnson), Billie Holiday (with Teddy
Wilson) and the Boswell Sisters. That’s it. And
Latin jazz makes its first appearance, including
Dizzy Gillespie’s “Manteca,” Machito
(“Tanga”) and Tito Puente (“Airegin”).
As expected, the usual suspects and styles
are included. What’s more interesting in sets
like these is, first of all, who is left out; then,
which selections from the artists are picked;
and, finally, how many artists are represented
with more than one appearance. The consensus
seems to be in on who are the musts,
with a few idiosyncrasies reflected in the
whats (e.g., Thelonious Monk’s “Misterioso,”
Fats Waller and “Dinah,” Charlie Parker and
“Embraceable You.”)
With Jazz: The Smithsonian Anthology
you start with Scott Joplin’s groundbreaker
“Maple Leaf Rag” (1899) and end with a
stunning, impressionistic swinger by a Polish
trumpet player in 2003. What happened in
between is a story that this set captures.
—John Ephland
Ordering info: folkways.si.edu/jazz
Birthday Blues
Fueled up on 1971 Canadian Club and a
zeal for Chicago blues, Bruce Iglauer
recorded Hound Dog Taylor through rickety
guitars and shoddy amps—marking the
birth of Alligator Records. Forty years and
more than 300 releases later, Iglauer still
hasn’t lost sight of the imprint’s humble
origins, as evidenced by its new compilation
40th Anniversary Collection.
A charmingly dysfunctional family
reunion for blues junkies, the two-disc set
chronicles the transformation of Alligator
from honky-tonk scrapheap to underground
wealth. It simmers with roots-rock
modesty and cooks with legendary blues,
from Koko Taylor’s gravelly romp “I’m
A Woman” to Son Seals’ sweltering-hot
refrain “Going Home (Where Women Got
Meat On Their Bones).” Juggernaut axehandler
Luther Allison’s “All The King’s
Horses” spices the set with filthy, overdriven
licks, and harpist Charlie Musselwhite
offers “Where Hwy 61 Runs” with spacious,
soul-baring Mississippi-style bends.
Sprinkled with zydeco, Delta sludge and
rock verve, this concoction confirms
Iglauer as the indie blues chef de cuisine.
—Hilary Brown
Ordering info: alligator.com
Bennett Box A Treasure
Trove For Voracious Fans
Mammoth. Colossal. Gigantic. Such terms
describe the biggest box set we’ve ever
seen—a beauteous behemoth with 73 CDs and
over 1,000 songs. It’s the perfect gift for the
Tony Bennett fan who wants everything.
The crooner’s entire career is covered by
Tony Bennett: The Complete Collection
(Columbia/RPM/Legacy), from his first known
recording (a 1946 Army V-Disc of “St. James
Infirmary Blues”) all the way up to his 2011
album Duets II. Additionally, there are three
DVDs and a 250-page booklet with an essay
by Bennett, whose diverse collaborators have
included Ralph Sharon, Art Blakey,
Dave Brubeck, Count Basie, Bill Evans,
Ray Charles and Amy Winehouse.
Voracious fans who already own,
say, 20 Bennett CDs, will salivate over
dozens of rarities. Live At The Sarah—a
previously unreleased 1964 Las Vegas
recording—features a version of Antonio
Carlos Jobim’s “Quiet Nights Of Quiet
Stars” and a hilarious, impromptu comedy
routine spearheaded by Milton Berle.
The joy of exploring Bennett’s oeuvre lies
in hearing how his artistry has evolved, but also
how he has remained a steadfast champion of
the Great American Songbook. —Bobby Reed
Ordering info: tonybennett.com
70 DOWNBEAT DECEMBER 2011