July 2008

July 2008 Newsletter

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Hi again to everyone out there. While we are certainly not the types to rush summer, we know from experience that it does, alas, end eventually every year. Summer can be slow for some, but at ejazzlines we are busy as always, working hard so you can be ready for the upcoming school season. We can help you be sure to have another year's supply of everything needed to give and receive a well-rounded, up-to-date, and top-level jazz education, for students, teachers, and musicians at any level. Our variety of offerings in the CD, DVD, chart, sheet music, and theory/method book departments is unparalleled, and we encourage everyone to check out how large and diversified our listings continue to become. We are most proud of our own new and expanding line of charts, Jazz Lines Publications. Our newest titles are the Sinatra classics Night and Day and Summer Wind as arranged by the inimitable Nelson Riddle, and Dont Worry 'Bout Me from Frank Live at the Sands. More titles in America's newest and most exciting line of vocal arrangements will be coming at regular intervals.

There is a fine crop of new products this month, led off by the newest from Chuck Sher, The Serious Jazz Book II, an excellent guide for those aspiring to improve their soloing. There are also various new play-alongs from Hal Leonard, Advance, and of course, Jamey Aebersold. There are quite a few new guitar books, including re-prints of classic works from Tommy Tedesco and Ted Greene. We have added several more books to our huge and varied selection of Latin and Flamenco items as well. New live DVDs from Monty Alexander and the Yellowjackets head the video offerings this month. We also have several new blues and guitar DVDs, and one very cool compilation of vintage footage from Tom Jones' TV show, featuring Tony Bennett, Bobby Darin, and lots of others.

New DVDs:
July's new DVD releases feature two from artists whose work has not been sufficiently documented on video. Monty Alexander performs with his trio, showcasing his Jamaican-flavored jazz. The Yellowjackets are featured live in Germany in 1994 in a smoking performance, led by renowned composer and educator Bob Mintzer. We also have a brand new re-release of a previously out-of-print Jean-Luc Ponty concert. Delmark continues to produce treasures from lesser-known blues stars, with new DVDs from Byther Smith and Dave Specter. We also have the aforementioned Tom Jones DVD, several new guitar and bass instruction DVDs, three recently-added live dates from Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Lightning in a Bottle, which presents itself as 'A One Night History of the Blues.' We again remind everyone of last month's two hottest DVDs, the long-awaited release of Pat Martino's Quantum Guitar Complete, and Steve Smith's Drum Legacy, a detailed voyage through the works of some of jazz's all-time great drummers. And we do still have a few more copies of the limited edition import DVD, The World of Maynard Ferguson.

New Books:
Chuck Sher's new books are among the most eagerly anticipated and popular in the industry. Sher has just published Barry Finnerty's follow-up to his hugely popular Serious Jazz Practice Book, The Serious Jazz Book II - The Harmonic Approach. It is a guide for jazz soloists which has been extremely well-endorsed, and we expect it to be a welcome addition to Sher's list of essential books. Advance has just published Steve Davis' Ultimate Play-Along for Jazz Drummers. Hal Leonard has a new Billie Holiday sing-a-long, a new Bossa Nova Classics play-along, and a new book called Bebop Guitar, focusing on playing in the style of Charlie Parker. Alfred has given us a two-volume set of books for easy guitar focusing on the work of one of jazz's all-time favorite guitarists, Django Reinhardt. Finally, this month's bumper crop also offers the brand-new re-release of Marc Lewis' classic Clifford Brown Transcriptions. Publisher Charles Colin has split the work into three books, which are also available as a specially-priced three-volume complete set. And please don't overlook June's best, new play-alongs featuring Miles Davis, Phil Woods, and Brazilian Jazz; Bob Mintzer's Playing Jazz Piano; and Gene Rizzo's West Coast Jazz Piano.

New Big Band Arrangements:
In our Jazz Lines Publications series we have 3 new Frank Sinatra arrangements this month. Don't Worry 'Bout Me comes from the famous Frank Sinatra Live at the Sands record. This arrangement, from the pen of Quincy Jones, is set in a nice, laid back, swing groove and features a great band shout section. We also have just published Night and Day from Sinatra's 1957 Capitol Record 'A Swingin' Affair.' The chart begins with a punchy, brass-led sequence that will immediately grab the listeners. The vocals come in with just baritone sax and rhythm section featuring a riff borrowed from the earlier recording of 'I've Got You Under My Skin.' All saxes then go to clarinets (alternate parts have been included that avoid doubles) while trumpets go to harmon mutes. The string parts have been scored into the clarinets. This is another great, classic arrangement that has to be in your Sinatra book. And, finally, we have available one of Sinatra's most famous and memorable recordings, Summer Wind. This chart comes from the 1996 'Strangers in the Night' record, which, despite the success of the record, proved to be the last collaboration between Sinatra and Riddle. An organ is featured on the recording, but a piano will work just fine. This is a very straight-forward chart with no big suprises. The trick is to get that laid-back, Basie-style, swing feel. This is just another great, must-have Sinatra chart that your audience will love! We'll have several more charts coming out this month, including some more classic Sinatra.

New Release Summary:
In our increasingly complex and ceaselessly exhaustive effort to present everything that is new and interesting, as of this newsletter we have added a total of 65 new CDs for the month of July 2008 and 77 for the month of June 2008; 21 new DVDs for July 2008 and 27 for June 2008; 37 new music books for July 2008 and 53 for June 2008; 24 new big band and combo arrangements for the month of July 2008 and 13 for the month of June 2008.

If you haven't visited our Imports and Rarities section lately, please check it out. We are now stocking more and more obscure, rare, and hard-to-find titles from Japan and Europe, including many titles that you may not be able to find elsewhere.

In our DVD section, we now carry nearly 1,650 jazz DVDs!

Please keep in mind that many of our new releases are available in limited quantities. We do our best to predict demand and fill orders as quickly as possible, but we do run out of new releases. Even if we run out of stock, almost everything featured in this newsletter should be available to ship within 5-7 days; some imports may take 2-3 weeks.

As always, we are here for all of you and we truly appreciate all of the support we continue to receive. While we know everyone has many choices in the jazz retail world, we aspire to provide the best one-stop source for jazz recordings, DVDs, charts, and educational materials. Please accept our continued gratitude for your support, and please let us know anytime what we are doing right and what we need to improve. And enjoy your summer!

Doug and Rob at ejazzlines