BENNY GOLSON QUARTET - Free (1962-1998) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This 1998 CD reissues tenor-saxophonist Benny Golson's excellent Free album of 1962 plus seven of the ten selections from his Take A Number From 1 To 10 project of 1960. Although one wishes that both sets could have been reissued in full (the CD is just 62 minutes long), it is a joy to have Free available again. Golson's last album as a leader in which he plays in his Don Byas/Lucky Thompson style (he would soon become a fulltime arranger and, by the time he led his next playing date in 1977, Golson's sound was quite a bit different) finds him in top form. Joined by pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Art Taylor, Golson performs two originals, Will Davis' catchy "Sock Cha" and three standards with "Mad About The Boy" and "Just In Time" (during which he sounds a bit like Sonny Rollins) being among the highlights. The other session found the tenorman playing unaccompanied on a brief "You're My Thrill" and adding an instrument to each song, up to a tentet on the original album, and a septet here. The duet rendition of "My Heart Belongs To Daddy" is excellent and trombonist Curtis Fuller makes a strong impression on the speedy "Swing It." Despite the three missing tracks, this CD is recommended. by Scott Yanow  
Tracklist:
1 Sock Cha 7:10
Will Davis
2 Mad About the Boy 7:15
Noël Coward
3 Just by Myself 5:45
Benny Golson
4 Shades of Stein 4:30
Benny Golson

5 My Romance 7:30

Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
6 Just in Time 5:55
Betty Comden / Adolph Green / Jule Styne
7 You're My Thrill 1:34
Burton Lane / Ned Washington
8 My Heart Belongs to Daddy 4:08
Cole Porter
9 The Best Thing for You Is Me 2:46
Clifford Brown / Buddy DeSylva / Ray Henderson
10 Impromptune 3:00
Benny Golson
11 Little Karin 3:33
Benny Golson
12 Swing It 4:24
Benny Golson
13 I Fall in Love Too Easily 4:46
Sammy Cahn / Jule Styne
Credits:
Baritone Saxophone – Sahib Shihab
Bass – Ron Carter (tracks: 1 to 6), Tommy Williams (tracks: 8 to 13)
Drums – Albert "Tootie" Heath (tracks: 9 to 13), Art Taylor (tracks: 1 to 6)
Piano – Cedar Walton (tracks: 10 to 13), Tommy Flanagan (tracks: 1 to 6)
Tenor Saxophone – Benny Golson
Trombone – Curtis Fuller (tracks: 12 to 13)
Trumpet – Freddie Hubbard (tracks: 11 to 13)

TERESA BREWER & FRIENDS - Memories of Louis (1992) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

The singing of Teresa Brewer was always producer Bob Thiele's blind spot. Although equipped with a voice quite suitable for pop and country music, Brewer always sounded overly cute and out of place when performing jazz, despite her husband's successful attempts to team her with the who's who of jazz. This CD is quite remarkable, for there are few singers who sound less like Louis Armstrong than Brewer, yet here she is singing a dozen of Satch's standards. What's more, she is joined by a different trumpeter on each track: Clark Terry, Nicholas Payton, Ruby Braff, Freddie Hubbard, Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Lew Soloff, Terence Blanchard, Yank Lawson, Red Rodney and Dizzy Gillespie. (Where was Miles Davis?) Fortunately, each of the brassmen gets a worthwhile amount of solo space, only two songs are under 4½ minutes, and Brewer generally takes just two choruses. None of the boppish renditions sound at all close to New Orleans jazz, nor do any of the trumpeters show off much of a Louis Armstrong influence. A strange but very intriguing record. by Scott Yanow
Tracklist:
1 I Can't Give You Anything But Love 5:51
Dorothy Fields / Jimmy McHugh
2   What a Wonderful World 7:01
George Douglas / Bob Thiele / George David Weiss
3   Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (And Dream Your Troubles Away) 5:38
Harry Barris / Ted Koehler / Billy Moll
4  Basin Street Blues 5:40
Spencer Williams
5  I'm Confessin' (That I Love You) 7:21
Doc Daugherty / Al J. Neiburg / Ellis Reynolds
6  Ain't Misbehavin' 4:14
Harry Brooks / Andy Razaf / Fats Waller
7  Hello, Dolly! 5:44
Jerry Herman
8  I've Got the World on a String 6:17
Harold Arlen / Ted Koehler
 9 St. Louis Blues 4:43
W.C. Handy
10   When It's Sleepy Time Down South 6:26
Clarence Muse / Otis Rene / Leon René
11     Stardust 3:52
Hoagy Carmichael / Mitchell Parish
12  Blueberry Hill 4:43
Al Lewis / Vincent Rose / Larry Stock
Credits
Trumpet – Freddie Hubbard, Roy Hargrove, Terence Blanchard, Wynton Marsalis