November 2008 Update

November 2008 Update Newsletter

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We here at ejazzlines welcome the approach of the holidays with great cheer and many wonderful new items. Leading off this month is the newest batch of arrivals from across the westerly pond, a great selection of brand new Venus CDs, including discs from Eric Alexander, The New York Trio, Dan Nimmer, Francesco Cafiso, and many others. We have added a fine selection of new holiday books in the last month, and we will continue to do so on a near-daily basis. We have a truly excellent selection of DVDs for November as well, including many new ones added since our last bulletin. The latest in the Jazz Icons line, Series 3, are all in stock, offered at a discount, and all three Series of the Jazz Icons DVDs also are available in beautifully-packaged box sets. We truly believe that these DVDs make about the best holiday gifts for the jazz fan that we can imagine.

Jazz Lines Publications continues its march towards maturity, with our 30th chart, a fantastic Count Basie version of Jingle Bells. The newest edition to the ejazzlines team, sax player/vocalist-extraordinaire Dr. Jonathan Lorentz, has transcribed and adapted this one for us, to add to the magnificent work he also did with Mele Kalikimaka. More new arrangements are certainly in the tumbler being shined and refined, and we will be eager to share them with you next time.

November's newest include quite the bounty. We have new DVDs from Chick Corea, David Murray, Bob Cooper, and an all-star tribute to Miles Davis, to add to the Sonny Rollins and Crusaders new ones from earlier in the month. Christmas books are building up under the tree, with Hal Leonard's Real Christmas Book and Jamey Aebersold's Christmas Carol Classics play-along leading the way. Alfred has another Big Band play-along series to offer, and we have quite a few new instructional and holiday-themed books as well. Please stay tuned, as we will do our best to list as many new and interesting items as we can with the holidays approaching.

New CDs:

We finally have the new Venus CDs in stock! You can click here to see all of the new Venus CDs. Leading the charge is the new ballads CD by Eric Alexander titled Gentle Ballads 3. Similar to Gentle Ballads 1 and 2, Eric is joined by pianist Mike LeDonne, bassist John Webber and drummer Joe Farnsworth. Tunes include Little Girl Blue, Don't Explain, All The Way, Summertime, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, and more. The New York Trio has just released another fantastic record titled Always. Pianist Bill Charlap is featured along with Jay Leonhart and Bill Stewart on this newest trio showcase. Continuing in the piano trio vein, we have a new Steve Kuhn CD titled Baubles, Bangles, and Beads. This album features piano trio versions of tunes set to or inspired by classical melodies from composers Borodin, Brahms, Chopin, and Satie. Pianist Dan Nimmer, of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, has a new CD as well titled Yours Is My Heart Alone. Dan is featured here along with Peter Washington and Lewis Nash. Italian-born alto saxophonist Francesco Cafiso made a big name for himself with his first 2 Venus records. This date, titled Portrait in Black and White will only further solidify his reputation as one of the brightest young stars of the saxophone. This drummer-less date features some of his fellow countrymen on a collection of standards. We also have new CDs from Renato Sellani, Champian Fulton, Ken Peplowski, The Roma Trio, Marilyn Scott, Simone, and Laura Ann.

New Big Band Arrangements:

Newly available later this week will be Count Basie's Jingle Bells. On a warm, July day in 1961 Ernie Wilkins came to a Count Basie Orchestra gig at Birdland in New York with a newly completed manuscript in his hand. He had just finished an arrangement of the holiday classic Jingle Bells and wanted to have the band give it a test-run with an eye towards recording it in the studio later on in the year. Well, despite the fact that it was the middle of the summer the band played it. The raucous chart was a huge success and has been featured on many holiday compilations ever since. This chart has been transcribed from the live recording as it was a more enthusiastic version than what was later recorded in the studio. Basie's piano introduction from the studio recording has been written out as it serves the chart well: it is classic Basie piano material. There is solo space for your tenor saxophonist. Another great holiday chart is Mele Kalikimaka. This Christmas classic was written in 1946 and became a major hit for the unbeatable combination of Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters in 1949. It was originally featured on a Crosby record simply titled 'Merry Christmas' released on Decca. This is not a technically demanding chart for the band. However, your singers need to be able to pull off this WWII-era vocal trio style, which sounds easier than it is. Plus, there is a male vocal part that needs to seemlessly blend in as well. The well-known Hawaiian slide guitar introduction has been scored into the ensemble. And, we also wanted to once again mention our newest Frank Sinatra chart: Neal Hefti's arrangement of Goody Goody as recorded by Frank Sinatra for the 1962 album 'Sinatra and Swingin' Brass.' Hefti put together a steamrolling, brisk rendition to play off the song's melodic structure. This arrangement works so well against the melody, beginning with a repeated rock-type melodic figure in the reeds. From the first measure you know you're in for a ride. Lastly in the JLP series we have Helen O'Connell's I Cried for You as arranged by Marion Evans from her 1962 'Here's Helen' album. This is not a transcription, as the original manuscript has been used.

New DVDs:
November's most recent DVDs feature a Chick Corea Elektric Band performance from the Maintenance Shop, with Chick's incredible lineup of John Patitucci and Dave Weckl accompanying him. Tribute to Miles Davis is a star-studded DVD dedicated to one of jazz's true giants, and features a serious lineup of virtuosos. The Black Saint Quartet featuring David Murray Live in Berlin and Bob Cooper Live at the Royal Palms Inn are two more new ones which we are very happy to offer. The Sights and Sounds of Christmas presents a collection of holiday classics performed by a lineup of stars. We also have a new DVD featuring Flamenco Guitar legend Oscar Herrero live in concert. Brand new educational DVDs include a bonanza for the bassist, with a Fretless Bass workshop from Steve Bailey, and two new DVDs from Todd Johnson focusing on walking bass lines. From earlier in the month, we have the new Sonny Rollins Live in Vienne, two new ones from Tommy Emmanuel, Sheryl Bailey live in New York with her trio, and a performance from the legendary Crusaders Live at Montreux in 2003.

New Books:
November's recent releases include yet another fabulous idea from Hal Leonard, The Real Christmas Book, a fakebook loaded with Christmas classics. This will be an essential item, and will make a great gift as well. Our friends at Jamey Aebersold have just published Volume 125 in their industry-leading play-along series, Christmas Carol Classics, with 17 traditional tunes done in a jazzy style, for all instruments. Alfred keeps cranking out more and more new and excellent books, including the second volume of their Sittin' in With the Big Band series, available in editions for eight different instruments. We also recommend Howard Morgen's Through Chord Melody and Beyond. For vocalists, we offer Big Band Singer, a play-along book/CD pack for the aspiring Michael Bubles out there, and we know there are quite a few! Finally, we are very proud to offer the recently reprinted biography of Buddy Rich written by his good friend, Mel Torme, Traps: The Drum Wonder. November has been a particularly productive month, and we again mention some previous highlights, which include Improvising Blues Guitar, the Motown Hits play-along, the Latin Themes series with 12 different editions, and more new holiday-themed books which become available every week.

New Release Summary:
In our ceaseless effort to present a veritable cornucopia of new and interesting items, as of this newsletter we have added a total of 147 new CDs for the month of November 2008 and 66 for the month of October 2008; 40 new DVDs for November 2008 and 21 for October 2008; 74 new music books for November 2008 and 45 for October 2008; 11 new big band and combo arrangements for the month of November 2008 and 42 for the month of October 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 over 1,725 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.

We thank everyone once again for the support we continue to receive. We continue to work very hard to provide musicians, teachers, bandleaders, libraries, and music fans of all stripes with a reliable source for the highest quality items being produced, and we do truly appreciate the generous feedback we regularly receive. Led by our ever-expanding catalog of self-published charts, the Jazz Lines Publications series, we soldier on with the goal of becoming a world leader in the jazz retail field. 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.

Your faithful servants in all things jazz, Rob and Doug at ejazzlines.