Best Contemporary Big Band
The Big Band era was a unique time in musical history, for it was a time when quality and public taste coincided to encourage memorable performances, many of which were captured on recordings.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Great classic music, purchased for seniors home."
"What a great collection!"
"Great, nostalgic listening."
"Lots of cool music."
"This is some timeless music that will forever!!!"
"Sound is " OK " only."
"The disk is so cheaply made and so thin that my Bose New Wave Music System has to try and re-try several times to load it because of the lack of "oomph" needed for it to realize a disk is there to be loaded."
Pop's rush to raid the cradle continues with this promising debut by 25-year-old Canadian singer Michael Bublé.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Saw him live at Lincoln Center and wanted his voice added to my music collection."
"Awesome voice and entertainer."
"Not sure what I was expecting."
Best Vintage Dance Bands
If you set out to create a single anthology that charted all the twists and tributaries of that uniquely American river we call jazz, you couldn't do better than this companion set to the PBS series-94 tracks on 5 CDs licensed from virtually every important label in the history of the music. Includes The Pearls Jelly Roll Morton; Charleston James P. Johnson; West End Blues Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five; The Mooche Duke Ellington; Singin' the Blues Frankie Trumbauer & His Orchestra featuring Bix Beiderbecke; Moten Swing Benny Moten's Kansas City Orchestra; Strange Fruit Billie Holiday; Three Little Words Art Tatum; Body and Soul Coleman Hawkins; In the Mood Glenn Miller; Take Five Dave Brubeck; So What Miles Davis; Giant Steps John Coltrane; Desafinado Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd, and many more classics.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It is easy to list regrettable omissions from this set (and many reviewers have done so) and just as easy to point out how impossible it is to do full justice to a century of music that had multiple sources and spread rapidly to a plethora of sub-genres (and many reviewers have done that too). The British Trad Jazz that took hold in the early 50s and is still going strong (Chris Barber, Kenny Ball and their followers) is another indispensible part of Jazz history that finds no place in this collection."
"That being said, each of the four better discs in the set leaves much to be desired as a "listening experience." With such different styles and aesthetics encompassed on each disc, you're not likely to just put one on and enjoy the whole thing-and none of the discs are, or even could have been, arranged as coherent sets."
"Best $5.00 I have spent on some great music.Yes,it was a used CD set but plays perfect and everything was included."
"the best way to learn about most styles of 20th century jazz!"
"This 5-CD set is a great introduction to jazz music."
"terrific music, it's been a long time sense I heard original jazz."
Best Comedy & Spoken Word
Kurt Cobain The 'Priest' They Called Him - Picture Disc - Sealed US picture disc LP.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I found it very interesting how Bill Burroughs worked with Kurt to deliver a experimental and enigmatic record great for the Christmas season."
"It's a little expensive for what it is but it's still pretty cool."
"from the much troubled genius that was and is kurt cobain, only this time actually coupled with another genius in his own right, none other than william burroughs."
"As text, I prefer Junky's Christmas, but I think The Priest translates quite nicely to spoken word."
"Cobain's contribution is interesting, but not a substantive addition, IMO."
"The blank side has both William S. Burrough's and Kurt Cobain's (Cohbaine, ethnic spelling) signatures scrawled into the vinyl. I called information in Portland and asked for Tim Kerr records. The operator said "I have a Tim Kerr" and she gave me that number, which apparently was his residence."
"William S. Burroughs/Kurt Cobain - "The Priest They Called Him" (1993). A very dark and grim story, the narration is perfectly interpreted by Kurt Cobain's harsh guitar."
Best Boogie-Woogie
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Its interesting, and fun, to listen to the old music and hear songs that are early versions of music we still hear today."
"As I write this in mid-2006, the above retrospective box set is now long out of print and is fetching between $70 to $120 from Amazon's 2nd tier vendors. It is quite doubtful that it will be reissued in the near future.There is a myriad of selections, eclipsing The Anthology of American Folk Music in running time, years covered as well as musical styles- so this is still not a overpriced purchase at the above prices."
"The long box format includes a large, well written and illustrated booklet that is almost worth the cost all by itself!"
"This set is actually exactly what I expected and hoped that set to be: foot tappin' music which evocatively brings to mind fond thoughts of a simpler and more visceral era in American life. The Anthology of Amercian Folk Music may have some profound academic significance which escapes me, but if you want great music with a lot of mood and attitude, I don't think you can do much better than this Retrospective set."
"But oink oink what a money grubber to ask 299.00 for this set."
Best Jive Jazz
A spirited 22-song collection that includes The Calloway Boogie; Papa's In Bed with His Britches On; Boo-Wah, Boo-Wah; Hep Cat's Love Song; Foo a Little Bally-Hoo , along with three unreleased tunes!
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I love his style, zoot suit wearing self, handsome and a sweet, naughty twinkle in his eye, I saw Stormy weather, the film. He even traveled in a private rail train, to avoid Jim Crow, and white only hotels. However, we can dream, and visualize him and his smooth zoot suit, singing and at thw head of his orchestra."
"I was fortunate enough to see Cab Calloway perform at the Hollywood Bowl many years ago and he really knows how to put on a show."
"Love this CD."
"Bought this for one song and like the whole CD."
"Most tracks are very clean; one or two have a more dated sound to the mix, one recorded live, I believe, and another probably the oldest in the collection."
"The mold was broken after Cab came out of it."
"A generous collection of well transferred Cab Calloway favorites with excellent liner notes by Al Quaglieri, who not only informs but provides his notes in the Cab Calloway linguistic style."
Best Classic Big Band
The Big Band era was a unique time in musical history, for it was a time when quality and public taste coincided to encourage memorable performances, many of which were captured on recordings.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Great classic music, purchased for seniors home."
"What a great collection!"
"Great, nostalgic listening."
"Lots of cool music."
"This is some timeless music that will forever!!!"
"Sound is " OK " only."
"The disk is so cheaply made and so thin that my Bose New Wave Music System has to try and re-try several times to load it because of the lack of "oomph" needed for it to realize a disk is there to be loaded."
Best Retro Swing
"Brian Setzer combines his big band leanings with his Stray Cat upbringing to create the year's best all-around holiday album.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It's a great non-traditional rockabilly and big band combo Christmas record!"
"Ann-Marget sings "Baby It's Cold Outside" with Setzer-- pure fun and such a tight orchestra!"
"Great price, excellent holiday LP."
"An instant classic that rolls through songs with all the conviction and energy that Brian's live concerts have."
"No concerns./\. I would give this a real good rating."
"A fun Christmas album, the white vinyl pressing was good quality."