Jazz: The Definitive Performances

Performer: Various Artists
Producer: David Kahne; Delfeayo Marsalis; Irving Townsend; Steven Epstein; Phil Schaap (Compilation)
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Also available as part of the 26-CD box set SONY MUSIC 100 YEARS: SOUND TRACK FOR A CENTURY (65750). Includes liner notes by Dan Morgenstern, Phil Schapp and John Swenson. Digitally remastered by Tom "Curly" Ruff and Phil Schaap (Sony Music Studios, New York, New York). Personnel: Roy Eldridge (vocals, trumpet); Ivie Anderson, Jon Hendricks, Anita O'Day, Billie Holiday (vocals); Freddie Green, Paul Chapman, Ray Biondi, Fred Guy (guitar); Jan Hammer, Jerry Goodman, John McLaughlin , Charlie Christian (electric guitar); Michael Ward (violin); Herbie Hancock (pipe, electric piano, Clavinet, synthesizer); Larry Shields , Woody Herman (clarinet); Musky Ruffo, Clint Neagley, Lester Boone, Don Byas, Earle Warren, Walter Bates, Harry Carney, Jack Washington, Ernie Powell, James Carter, Earl Carruthers, Jimmy Powell , Johnny Hodges, Sam Musiker, Tab Smith, Barney Bigard, Victor Goines, Wessell Anderson, Willie Smith, Buddy Tate (reeds); Wayne Shorter (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Sam Marowitz, Ted Buckner, Paul Desmond, Cannonball Adderley (alto saxophone); Coleman Hawkins, Dexter Gordon, Hank Mobley, Herbie Steward, John Coltrane, John Handy, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Branford Marsalis, Booker Ervin, Charlie Rouse (tenor saxophone); Serge Chaloff (baritone saxophone); Graham Young, Cootie Williams, Dizzy Gillespie, Donald Byrd, Ed Lewis, Ernie Royal, Irwin "Marky" Markowitz, Freddie Jenkins, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Eddie Tompkins, Al Killian, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Paul Webster , Shorty Rogers, Arthur Whetsol, Sy Oliver, Woody Shaw, Bernie Glow, Stan Fishelson, Buck Clayton (trumpet); Dicky Wells, Earl Swope, Eddie Edwards, John Grassi, Bob Swift, Elmer Crumbley, Jimmy Knepper, Joe Tricky Sam Nanton, Babe Wagner, Trummy Young, Ed Cuffee, Ollie Wilson (trombone); Juan Tizol (valve trombone); Wycliffe Gordon (tuba); Clyde Hart, Count Basie, Edwin Wilcox, George Cables, Henry Ragas, Horace Parlan, Horace Silver, Bob Kitsis, Ralph Sharon, Bill Evans (piano); Chick Corea, Joe Zawinul (keyboards); Jaco Pastorius, Paul Jackson , Rick Laird (electric bass); Dannie Richmond, Denzil Best, Don Lamond, Eddie Gladden, Gene Sargent, Irv Kluger, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Jimmy Cobb , Jimmy Crawford , Jo Jones , Joe Morello, Alex Acu�a, Mike Clark , Nick Fatool, Sam Woodyard, Art Blakey, Sonny Greer, Ben Riley, Billy Cobham, Clayton Cameron, Walter Yoder, Fred Otis (drums); Jim Riley, Herlin Riley, Manolo Badrena, Bill Summers (percussion). To commemorate the end of the century, Sony Music assembled the gargantuan 26-disc box set Sony Music 100 Years: Soundtrack for a Century. The title was imposing, as was the idea behind it -- to chronicle the life of the oldest record label in the music industry. To be clear, Sony Music has not existed for 100 years, but the heart of its catalog, Columbia Records, was founded early in the 20th century. Sony acquired Columbia and its various subsidiaries in the late '80s, purchasing one of the richest catalogs in pop history, as the box set proves again and again. Sony realized that most consumers wouldn't invest in a 26-disc box, no matter how impressive it was, so they simultaneously released a series of 12 genre-specific double-disc sets that culled highlights from the box. That left two discs exclusive to the box, which was appropriate, since anyone who spends over $300 on an album deserves a little bonus. As it turns out, the double-disc sets are every bit as impressive as the big box -- perhaps more so, because they're easily digestible. Even so, the scope of the 33-track Jazz: The Definitive Performances is impressive. Columbia had always been a major player in jazz, and nowhere is that more evident than in this set, which opens with the Original Dixieland Jazz Band and closes with Wynton Marsalis. Between those two artists are a number of seminal musicians who touched on many of the major styles in jazz in the 20th century -- Bessie Smith, King Oliver, Fletcher Henderson, Louis Armstrong, Art Tatum, Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins, Gene Krupa, Woody Herman, Art Blakey, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Dave Brubeck, Erroll Garner, Thelonious Monk, Herbie Hancock, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Ornette Coleman, Weather Report, Dexter Gordon, Branford Marsalis, and Tony Bennett. Not everything, but enough to tell a viable, accurate narrative that's tremendously entertaining. No other major label could assemble a jazz collection of such breadth and depth, which is a testament to Columbia, Epic, and all the other labels now underneath the Sony banner. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine NYC radio personality/jazz whiz Phil Schaap should be elected the pope of jazz (or at least, of Greenwich Village) for this superbly selected and annotated package. THE DEFINITIVE PERFORMANCES is just that, a remarkable survey of many styles of jazz, from New Orleans to the cutting-edge (then and now). There are too many gems to mention, and some will likely say, "but what about..." and "but THE definitive take on [classic tune] is on [other label]." One would have to be a terminal jazz snob not to be conscious of the scope and sheer good fun of this set. A few highlights: Stan Getz soars with Woody Herman's Herd on "Four Brothers"; Miles Davis's sublime "So What" and chilling "Sanctuary"; Art Tatum sounding like two pianists on the maniacally swinging "Tiger Rag"; the proto-cool of Tony Bennett & Anita O'Day; the epochal horns of Lester Young & Bix Beiderbecke. The ideal gift for your jazz-deficient friends or relatives. It's a time machine to an era in which jazz WAS pop music, and a vivid slab of American history. JAZZ: THE DEFINITIVE PERFORMANCES is all this and more. (Mark Keresman)

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