Vital Reissues of Classics Among Year’sCollectibles

The jazz beat goes on, spreading to new arenas as it progresses. It was a year in which fusions between jazz and other musics of the world began to emerge. And, for hard-core jazz fans, it was a year in which record companies provided some superb reissues, many of them vital entries in any jazz collection.

*** 1/2 KENNY BARRON, “Things Unseen,” Verve. Pianist Barron’s eclecticism surfaces here in a group of original works occasionally tinged with jazz, classical and world music associations. Filled with attractive melodies and a colorful array of rhythms, they perfectly fulfill Barron’s desire to play music “from the heart.”

**** JOHN COLTRANE, “The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings,” Impulse! (four CDs). Coltrane’s classic, live 1961 performances at the Vanguard also had a powerful impact upon the jazz players of the ‘60s and beyond. This complete view of the sessions affords the opportunity to hear variant versions of such classics as “Naima,” “Chasin’ the Trane” and “Impressions.”

*** MATT DARRIAU: PARADOX TRIO, “Flying at a Slant,” Knitting Factory Works. Darriau, a woodwind player with the Klezmatics, leads an ensemble that blends jazz improvisation with the meters and modes of Balkan and Gypsy music. Paradox is one of many New York-based groups exploring linkages between jazz and a wide variety of world musics.

**** PAUL DESMOND, “The Complete RCA Victor Recordings,” RCA Victor (five CDs). Desmond’s singing alto saxophone, one of the loveliest sounds in jazz history, is in fine form in this set of recordings, mostly with guitarist Jim Hall, from the early ‘60s. But Desmond’s music was more than an enchanting timbre, his smooth, up-tempo playing revealing his roots in the style of tenor saxophonist Lester Young.

*** BOB DOROUGH, “Right on My Way Home,” Blue Note. Most X-Generationers know Dorough’s voice from ABC-TV’s “Schoolhouse Rock” show (he wrote “Three Is a Magic Number” and “Conjunction Junction”). But Dorough is also a jazz veteran, who has played piano or sung with everyone from Charlie Parker to Miles Davis. At 73, he is still a warm and whimsical jazz presence.

*** 1/2 JOE HENDERSON, “Porgy & Bess,” Verve. Despite a long list of previous jazz takes on “Porgy & Bess,” Henderson discovers a new, highly personal perspective, unleashing a rich-textured ensemble sound of tenor saxophone, trombone and vibes, and strongly emphasizing the score’s inherent jazz qualities.

**** BILLIE HOLIDAY, “The Complete Commodore Recordings,” GRP/Commodore (two CDs). Between 1939 and 1944, Holiday recorded four Commodore sessions while at the pinnacle of her considerable talents. This vital set includes those dates in their entirety (with alternate takes) as well as her classic rendering of the incomparable “Strange Fruit.”

**** WYNTON MARSALIS & THE LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA, “Blood on the Fields,” Columbia/Sony (three CDs). Marsalis’ jazz “oratorio” earned its composer the first Pulitzer Prize awarded to a jazz composer. The work’s rich, diverse qualities--ranging from New Orleans street music to bebop, from urban swing to avant-garde, the blues and boogie--confirm Marsalis’ belief that jazz has the power, breadth and emotional depth to support a full-scale dramatic work.

**** CHARLES MINGUS, “Passions of a Man: The Complete Atlantic Recordings (1956-1961),” Rhino Records (six CDs, suggested retail list price, $74.98). The unpredictable, sometimes irascible, but always compelling bassist-composer was functioning brilliantly when he made these vital recordings. Among the six releases included are three classics-- “Pithecanthropus Erectus,” “The Clown” and “Blues & Roots”--enlivened by personnel that included Jackie McLean, Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Eric Dolphy.

**** HERBIE NICHOLS “The Complete Blue Note Recordings,” Blue Note (three CDs). Pianist-composer Nichols, who died in 1963 at 44, was one of jazz’s most overlooked talents. His two Blue Note albums (included here with alternate takes) represented two-thirds of his recorded output. But it was enough to reveal that he was a gifted original, a jazz voice with much to say.

**** CHARLIE PARKER “Yardbird Suite: The Ultimate Charlie Parker Collection,” Rhino (two CDs). Parker’s alto saxophone playing has been one of the most dominant influences in jazz for five decades. The numbers in this brief, but essential compilation reach from his 1945 recordings with Dizzy Gillespie through the work of his extraordinary group with Miles Davis, Bud Powell and others.

*** 1/2 MARCUS ROBERTS “Blues for a New Millennium,” Columbia. Roberts continues to produce some of the most attractive, well thought-out jazz of the ‘90s. Here, he features his articulate piano lines in the blues-drenched setting of a talent-laden 10-piece band.

**** SONNY ROLLINS, “The Complete Sonny Rollins RCA Recordings,” RCA Victor (six CDs). Sonny Rollins was at his peak in these early ‘60s recordings. Although he kept his mainstream focus, he also dipped into some avant-garde areas without losing his larger-than-life improvisational capacity to create unfailingly illuminating musical landscapes.

**** LENNIE TRISTANO, LEE KONITZ & WARNE MARSH, “The Complete Atlantic Recordings of Lennie Tristano, Lee Konitz & Warne Marsh,” Mosaic Records (six CDs). CDs $96. (Mail order: 35 Melrose Place, Stamford CN 06902-7533). Pianist Tristano and saxophonists Konitz and Marsh were often criticized for the allegedly chilly quality of their music. But this excellent retrospective of their music from the late ‘50s reveals players who are imaginative, risk-taking and who play with a surprising degree of warmth and emotion.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good), four stars (excellent).