 | Boss Bird by Charlie Parker
Buy used from: $15.99 Some of the PROPER BOX sets are less than stellar. But these are so good it's fightening. Especially the first 7 on this list. And you can't beat the price. CHARLIE PARKER. A glorious collection.
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 | C'est Si Bon: Satchmo in the Forties by Louis Armstrong
Buy new: $28.98 / Used from: $14.28 If you dig jazz from the 30's and 40's you can't go wrong with these BOX sets. LOUIS ARMSTRONG. If you love Satchmo this is a no brainer. Go with JSP for the Hot Five & Seven stuff.
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 | The Lady Sings by Billie Holiday
Buy new: $28.98 / Used from: $14.98 BILLIE HOLIDAY. Great remasters of Lady Day on Decca AND Columbia. How can you run a speakeasy without the most famous vocalist in jazz?
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 | Young Sassy by Sarah Vaughan
Buy new: $28.98 / Used from: $12.99 SARAH VAUGHAN. Wonderful collection by one of the most beautiful voices in lush jazz. Contains the early Columbia sides and more. One or two bad sources, but the rest is amazing.
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 | Swing De Paris by Django Reinhardt
Buy used from: $11.97 DJANGO REINHARDT. If you don't wish to purchase all those great JSP BOX sets, this is a nicely rounded collection of some of his best gypsy jazz.
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 | Stan Getz: The Sound by Stan Getz
Buy new: $28.98 / Used from: $14.00 STAN GETZ. My favorite tenor of all time. This contains the early Roost Recordings and more. What a tone!!
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 | The Lester Young Story by Lester Young
Buy used from: $16.98 LESTER YOUNG. Before Charlie Parker there was Prez. The tenorman everyone emulated. The great Aladdin Sessions and more.
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 | The Sidney Bechet Story by Sidney Bechet
Buy new: $28.98 / Used from: $15.95 SIDNEY BECHET. The King of New Orleans' Blues. This needs more blues, but I'm nitpicking. It's still a great collection.
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 | Cool Cole by Nat King Cole
Buy used from: $13.49 NAT KING COLE. Nat's great jazz Trio and vocal sides make this a must have speakeasy experience.
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 | The Bebop Years by Coleman Hawkins
Buy new: $28.98 / Used from: $16.25 COLEMAN HAWKINS. One of the most distinctive voices in all of jazz. The Hawk's tone is unmistakable. Some will cry, "This is not Bebop!" Some scholars say Hawk was the bridge to Bebop.
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 | Masterpieces: 1926-1949 by Duke Ellington
Buy new: $28.98 / Used from: $16.98 DUKE ELLINGTON. A great collection of early Ellington. Amazon has been remiss on their music samples lately. Go to their seller CDconnection.com and you can sample everything on this list.
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 | Jazz and Velvet by Mel Tormé
Buy used from: $14.98 MEL TORME. Torme fans always rave about his late recordings with George Shearing. Me, I'll take his early sweet sound any day. They don't call him the Velvet Fog for nothing.
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 | The Golden Years: 1938-1942 by Glenn Miller
Buy new: $28.98 / Used from: $14.99 GLENN MILLER. A masterful collection from one of the most beautiful Big Bands of the era. Surpasses the 2 disc Columbia collection. Perfect when your serving martinis at dusk.
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 | It's Easy to Remember by Bing Crosby
Buy new: $28.98 / Used from: $6.91 BING CROSBY. I prefer his Decca masters, but they're pricey. This is the next best thing. And there's more Bing for your buck.
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 | The Big Horn: The History of the Honkin' & Screamin' Saxophone by Various Artists
Buy used from: $16.98 One from the birth of rhythm and blues. Man, does this stuff wail. Don't play this in your speakeasy or the sweat from all that dancing may peal the red velvet wallpaper right off.
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