1952 Milt Jackson - Wizard of the Vibes

Info: First off, I suppose I wouldn't be a massive fan of the rather large xylophone which is actually a vibraphone, but if it sounds like elevator music, it's very good elevator music! Favourite tracks for me are 'Lillie' and 'Willow Weep For Me' and the album is ranked #2 for 1952 on RYM. 

Milton "Bags" Jackson was born a few months before Bud Powell in Detroit, Michigan on January 1st, 1923, and he would also end up having very close ties to the famous Dizzy Gillespie, who discovered him in 1946. Milt is best known as a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet, an influential music group established in 1952 and for most of their long career composed of John Lewis (piano, musical director), Milt himself (vibraphone), Percy Heath (double bass), and Connie Kay (drums). His nickname "Bags" was given to him by a bassist in Detroit, in reference to the bags under his eyes as a result of him being fond of staying up all night. He died on 9th of October, 1999 and was buried in the Bronx, aged 76.

Track Listing:

A1 Tahiti                   

A2 Lillie                     

A3 Criss-Cross                        

A4 Willow Weep for Me                    

B1 What's New?                   

B2 Bags' Groove                   

B3 On the Scene                   

B4 Eronel

1951 Bud Powell - The Amazing Bud Powell

Info: Ranked #1 on www.rateyourmusic.com for 1951, and an artist I can definitely see myself getting more into, Bud Powell's albums of the 50's feature highly in Top 10's, either as solo or collaboration works, again, I don't know much about him, and this is the only album I know, but I'm looking forward to more. My favourite tracks are the above video, 'Over The Rainbow', 'It Could Happen to You' and track 7, 'You Go To My Head'. 

Real name Earl Rudolph 'Bud' Powell, he was born in September 1924 in Harlem, New York, his main influences were Art Tatum and Thelonius Monk, who he became a close friend of. Powell's father was also a pianist and when Bud was aged 5, he paid for piano lessons for him, by the age of 10 he began to show an interest in jazz which he frequently heard in his neighbourhood, by 15 he was playing in his brother William's, a trumpet player, band. Bud spent much of his career performing in his home city of New York, followed by a period in Paris between the years 1959-1963, before he contracted tuberculosis. Powell returned to New York and soldiered on, but eventually the TB, along with malnutrition and alcoholism got the better of him and he died on 31st July, 1966, several thousand people followed his funeral procession through Harlem. 

Track Listing:

A1  Un poco loco                    

A2  Over the Rainbow                         

A3  Ornithology                      

A4  Wail                     

B1  A Night in Tunisia                           

B2  It Could Happen to You               

B3  You Go to My Head                       

B4  Bouncing With Bud

1950 Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Sings Gershwin

Info: Ella Fitzgerald's first album, accompanied on piano by Ellis Larkins, an African-American jazz pianist from Baltimore, Maryland. All music composed by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin, this album is currently ranked #2 in the album charts for 1950 on www.rateyourmusic.com.

Track Listing: 

A1  Someone to Watch Over Me                    
A2  My One and Only                            

A3  But Not for Me               

A4  Looking for a Boy                           

B1   I've Got a Crush On You                              

B2   How Long Has This Been Going On?                       

B3   Maybe                

B4   Soon