Various Artists - Ken Burns's Jazz: The Story of American Music [5CD] (2000)

In conjunction with documentary filmmaker Ken Burns' ten-part 2000 PBS special, Columbia/Legacy and Verve teamed up to issue a special series of reissues covering much of the history of 20th century jazz. The central release of this program is the five-CD box set Ken Burns Jazz: The Story of America's Music, its 94 selections covering the history of 20th century jazz, from 1917 to the mid-'90s. Chronologically, the set is very skewed toward the first 50 years of that time span; there is only just under a CD's worth of music dating from after the mid-'60s. What's here is a very good range of classic jazz from throughout the decades, touching upon performances, many acknowledged classics, from many of the music's giants: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, and up to Wynton Marsalis and Cassandra Wilson. There are just a few dubious inclusions (Grover Washington, Jr.'s "Mister Magic," for instance), and as music it's nearly wall-to-wall excellence. As far as core classics of the jazz repertoire, there are quite a few: Armstrong's "West End Blues," Goodman's "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)," Count Basie's "Lester Leaps In," Holiday's "Strange Fruit," Ellington's "Take the 'A' Train," Gillespie's "Salt Peanuts," Monk's "Straight, No Chaser," Davis' "So What," Dave Brubeck's "Take Five," Coltrane's "Giant Steps," Weather Report's "Birdland," and Hancock's "Rockit." As education, if you didn't know much about jazz before hearing this box, you'll have been exposed to a good deal of its major touchstones after digesting it. Just don't be under the impression that it covers all of the main mileposts, or even that it gives you all of the key launching pads from which to explore further. //allmusic.com

Tracklist:

CD1:

01 - Star Dust - Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra
02 - Soon One Mornin' (Death Come A-Creepin' in My Room) - Mississippi Fred McDowell
03 - Memphis Blues - "Hell Fighters" Band
04 - Livery Stable Blues - The Original Dixieland Jazz Band
05 - Charleston - James P. Johnson
06 - Chimes Blues - King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band
07 - Back Water Blues - Bessie Smith
08 - The Pearls - Jelly Roll Morton
09 - Dead Man Blues - Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers
10 - Wild Cat Blues - Clarence Williams's Blue Five
11 - Cake Walkin' Babies (From Home) - Clarence Williams's Blue Five
12 - Sugar Foot Stomp - Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
13 - Heebie Jeebies - Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five
14 - Potato Head Blues - Louis Armstrong & His Hot Seven
15 - West End Blues - Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five
16 - The Mooche - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
17 - East St. Louis Toodle-Oo - Duke Ellington & His Washingtonians
18 - Black Beauty - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
19 - Mood Indigo - The Jungle Band
20 - There Ain't No Sweet Man (Worth The Salt Of My Tears) - Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra featuring Bix Beiderbecke
21 - Singin' The Blues - Frankie Trumbauer & His Orchestra featuring Bix Beiderbecke
22 - Riverboat Shuffle - Frankie Trumbauer & His Orchestra featuring Bix Beiderbecke
23 - Hotter Than 'Ell - Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
24 - I Got Rhythm - Ethel Waters

CD2:

01 - It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
02 - Echoes of Harlem - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
03 - Moten Swing - Benny Moten's Kansas City Orchestra
04 - St. Louis blues - Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra
05 - Ain't Misbehavin' - Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra
06 - For Dancers Only - Jimmie Lunceford & His Orchestra
07 - King Porter Stomp - Benny goodman & His Orchestra
08 - Rose Room - The Benny Goodman Sextet
09 - Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing) - Benny Goodman Sextet
10 - Jumpin' at the Woodside - Count Basie & His Orchestra
11 - Sent for You Yesterday and Here You Come Today - Count Basie & His Orchestra
12 - Lester Leaps In - Count Basie's Kansas City Seven
13 - Oh, Lady, Be Good! - Jones-Smith Incorporated
14 - Without Your Love - Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra
15 - Strange Fruit - Billie Holiday
16 - God Bless the Child - Billie Holiday with Eddie Heywood & His Orchestra
17 - Three Little Words - Art Tatum
18 - Rebecca - Pete Johnson & "Big" Joe Turner
19 - Harlem Congo - Chick Webb & His Orchestra
20 - A-Tisket, A-Tasket - Chick Webb & His Orchestra featuring Ella Fitzgerald
21 - Shine - Django Reinhardt & Le Quartet du Hot Club de France
22 - Dear Old Southland - Noble Sissle & His Orchestra

CD3:

01 - Body and Soul - Coleman Hawkins
02 - Cotton Tail - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
03 - Take the 'A' Train - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
04 - Begin the Beguine - Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
05 - In The Mood - Glenn Miller & His Orchestra
06 - Well, Git It! - Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra
07 - Solitude - Billie Holiday with Eddie Heywood & His Orchestra
08 - Drum Boogie - Gene Krupa & His Orchestra
09 - Salt Peanuts - Dizzy Gillespie & His All Star Quintet
10 - Groovin' High - Dizzy Gillespie Sextet
11 - Ko-ko - Charlie Parker's Re-Boppers
12 - Scrapple From the Apple - Charlie Parker Quintet
13 - Enbraceable You - Charlie Parker Quintet
14 - Get Happy - Bud Powell Trio
15 - Epistrophy - Thelonious Monk
16 - Straight, No Chaser - Thelonious Monk
17 - Manteca - Dizzy Gillespie & His Orchestra
18 - Moon Dreams - Miles Davis Nonet
19 - Just Friends - Charlie Parker
20 - Rockin' Chair - Louis Armstrong
21 - They Can't Take That Away From Me - Sarah Vaughan & Her Trio
22 - Walkin' Shoes - Chet Baker & Gerry Mulligan
23 - Fine and Mellow - Billie Holiday

CD4:

01 - Doodlin' - Horace Silver & The Jazz Messenger
02 - I Get A Kick Out of You - Clifford Brown & Max Roach
03 - St. Thomas - Sonny Rollins
04 - Django - The Modern Jazz Quartet
05 - Take Five - The Dave Brubeck Quartet
06 - So What - Miles Davis Sextet
07 - Giant Steps - John Coltrane
08 - Rick Kick Shaw - Cecil Taylor Trio
09 - Chronology - Ornette Coleman
10 - Original Faubus Fables - Charles Mingus
11 - Acknowledgment - John Coltrane Quartet

CD5:

01 - Hello, Dolly! - Louis Armstrong
02 - Desafinado - Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd
03 - In a Sentimental Mood - Duke Ellington & John Coltrane
04 - Tourist Point of View - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
05 - E.S.P. - The Miles Davis Quintet
06 - Spanish Key (single version) - Miles Davis
07 - Birdland - Weather Report
08 - Mister Magic - Grover Washington, Jr
09 - Rockit - Herbie Hancock
10 - Un Ange en Danger - M.C. Solaar & Ron Carter
11 - Tanya - Dexter Gordon
12 - Soon All Will Know - Wynton Marsalis
13 - Death Letter - Cassandra Wilson
14 - Take The "A" Train - The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra

Download:

CD 1

Part 1
Part 2

CD 2

Part 1
Part 2

CD 3

Part 1
Part 2

CD 4

Part 1
Part 2

CD 5

Part 1
Part 2


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