Manteca" is one of the earliest foundational tunes of Afro-Cuban jazz. Co-written by Dizzy Gillespie, Chano Pozo and Gil Fuller in 1947, it is among the most famous of Gillespie's recordings (along with the earlier "A Night in Tunisia") and is "one of the most important records ever made in the United States", according to Gary Giddins of The Village Voice. "Manteca" is the first tune rhythmically based on the clave to become a jazz standard.

"Jazz at Massey Hall" is an exhilarating live recording from one of, if not the finest quintets ever assembled. This legendary recording features performances by five of jazz’s leading players, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus and Max Roach. The performance was listed on Guardian’s “50 Greatest Moments in Jazz”. Inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame, the jam session is widely considered the greatest jazz concert ever.

Although Lalo Schifrin is justifiably praised for his soundtrack work, many jazz purists turn up their noses at his jazz dates, such as his '60s work with Jimmy Smith and Wes Montgomery. The things that make Schifrin an anathema to the diehards the huge orchestras, the pop and soul riffs, the general air of over the top theatricality are all over 1977's Free Ride, his reunion date with Dizzy Gillespie. (Schifrin had been Gillespie's arranger in the late '50s.) In fact, Free Ride is so painfully dated that it's transformed into cockeyed cool, just the sort of record ironic hipsters should listen to while they're reading the novelizations of '70s cop shows that they bought for a bundle off of eBay.

ESOTERIC proudly introduces a series of re-master collection - A great Jazz collection. The reissue of historical music masterpieces by ESOTERIC has attracted a lot of attention, both for its uncompromising commitment to recreating the original master sound, and for using SACD technology to improve sound quality. This Box Set of "Verve 6 Great Jazz" features masterpiece releases of Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington & Johnny Hodges, Lester Young & Teddy Wilson, Illinois Jacquet, Dizzy Gillespie/Sonny Stitt/Sonny Rollins, Ben Webster & Art Tatum. Not only for new followers, but also for well experienced followers of these recorded materials.

Recorded over a three-night engagement at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco in 1976, jazz vocalist Carmen McRae presents this eclectic selection of jazz standards and a handful of pop songs including a surprising cover of Alice Cooper's ballad "Only Women Bleed".

To a Finland Station is an album by trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Arturo Sandoval recorded in 1982 and released on the Pablo label. Dizzy visited Finland 1982 to do a concert with the Finnish Studio Orchestra. By coincidence a Cuban group, led by Arturo Sandoval , was also appearing in Helsinki. Predictably, Dizzy got together with Arturo and in one all-night session that extended into the next morning, recorded this album