Money for something

Christmas is a marvelous time of year for jazz fans. There is, first of all, the opportunity to make subtle hints to friends and families about the gaps in jazz record collections. And, enhancing that opportunity, there is the year-end flood of gift-box jazz sets. Christmas 2003 provides some extraordinary choices. Prices are from Tower Records, except for the Mosaic set.

Essential

Count Basie and His Orchestra: “America’s #1 Band” (Columbia Legacy, four discs, $38). It’s hard to argue with the title for a band that included, at various time, such stellar performers as Lester Young, Buck Clayton, Freddie Green, Joe Newman, Jimmy Rushing, and on and on. This set embraces selections from the full, high-energy Basie band as well as tracks from such smaller groups as the Basie octet of the early ‘50s. The skips in time -- Basie recorded for several companies -- only serve to enhance the unchanging swing of his bands, whether in 1936 or 1950.

Gerry Mulligan: “The Complete Verve Gerry Mulligan Concert Band” (Mosaic, four discs, $68). In the ‘50s, big jazz bands were moving quickly toward their demise, but the ever-quixotic Mulligan decided that it was the perfect time to assemble his own large group -- one whose arrangements and brisk, energetic swing reflected the work of his small ensembles. He succeeded on all counts. There’s not an inauthentic musical note in the entire four CDs. (Mosaic limited-edition sets are only available from Mosaic, 35 Melrose Place, Stamford, CT, (203) 327-7111, or www.mosaicrecords.com.)

Charlie Parker: “The Complete Verve Master Takes” (Verve, three discs, $40 ). Includes most -- but not all, despite the title -- of Bird’s master takes. Tunes, that is, such as “Bloomdido,” “Passport,” “Au Privave” and the Parker with strings tracks. A beautifully packaged collection filled with essential items.

Nina Simone: “Four Women: Nina Simone Philips Recordings” (Verve, four discs, $40). Often feisty, sometimes eccentric, Simone was a true jazz original. In the period between 1964 and 1966, she did some of her best work. And, while she was producing some extraordinary material relating to the civil rights movement of the time, she also sings songs by Bob Dylan and Jacques Brel and adds her own take on “Strange Fruit.” But the highlight of the set is the title track, with its penetrating tribute to the lives four African American women.

For Collectors

The Modern Jazz Quartet: “The Complete Modern Jazz Quartet Prestige and Pablo Recordings” (Prestige, four discs, $66.97). The title doesn’t quite describe the content in this far-reaching set. The initial tracks trace to the early-’50s version of the MJQ, with Kenny Clarke on drums and a few tracks featuring Sonny Rollins. There are also debut versions of “Django” and “Concorde,” offering a somewhat more visceral version than would be the case in later interpretations. A long leap in time -- during which the MJQ was at Atlantic -- intervenes before they return on dates recorded for Pablo in the early ‘80s.