Various Artists
From the late '40s through the '60s, the Chicago-based Chess blues label boasted a roster that included Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy and Sunnyland Slim. Among these 101 songs on four CDs are well-known Chess classics like Waters's "Hoochie Coochie Man" and Wolf's "Killing Floor" and an abundance of such rare gems as Clarence Samuels' "Lollypop Mama" and Rocky Fuller's "Funeral Hearse at My Door." (MCA)
THE COMPLET ELLA FITZGERALD SONGBOOKS
This 16-CD set is a consummate collection of jazz standards. Between 1956 and 1964, Fitzgerald paid homage to Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, Duke Ellington, Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern and Johnny Mercer in a series of songbook albums that have been reproduced here in miniaturized form with all of the original label artwork. Fitzgerald's flawless intonation, rhythmic agility and natural effervescence make this collection a monument to the joy of swing. (Verve)
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