Four and a half hours of Jackson's finest
Steve Emerine | Tucson, AZ United States | 07/18/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is a fine compilation by Proper Records of the United Kingdom of more than four and a half hours of wonderful vibraphone music from the great Milt Jackson. The four discs start with Jackson and saxophonist Sonny Stitt playing for Lord Nelson and His Boppers in 1948. It moves quickly to a Stitt-Jackson Quintet session with Sir Charles Thompson on piano and Ray Brown on drums. The rest of the 56 tunes are by Jackson-led small groups, plus three tunes by the Milt Jackson ensemble, which includes five woodwinds. Combining standards with lesser known originals, Jackson's mallets beat out some fine jazz. The sound quality is excellent, and a 44-page booklet tells a lot about the musician and the music he played during an eight-year period in his career. If you've never bought one of Proper's boxes, this is a good place to start. I now have 25 of them, and I've been very pleased with every one."