'The Ultimate Jazz Archive' is exactly that. Surely there will never be a more comprehensive collection of jazz recordings and if there is, I can't wait to see it.
Issued by German company, Membran Music Limited, this box contains no fewer than 168 CD's.
Yes I did say 168.
Each jewel case contains 4 CD's packaged as 42 mini sets which cover just about every aspect of jazz music spanning the years 1899 to 1956. Thus we get 36 discs devoted to classic jazz, ragtime and Dixieland, 28 discs covering blues, 60 CD's on swing, bebop and modern jazz, 20 on big bands with another 20 on jazz vocalists and finally 4 CD's of boogie-woogie.
Each individual CD covers a major artist during a particular period of time, though some artists whose work spanned several decades, get two discs devoted to their work. Consequently Duke Ellington appears in Set 2 spanning 1924-1927 and again in Set 37 for the period 1941-1947. Similarly Billie Holiday is represented by the periods 1933-1936 and 1952-1955. Curiously, despite redefining jazz several times during his career, Miles Davis is only represented in one set (though he does also appear on other sets most notably, Charlie Parker). However, this is a very minor gripe. I mean, how could one complain about such a wonderful array of jazz talent in one package which also includes 2 booklets containing artist biographies?
The range of artists covered is quite incredible and is too long to list here. Consequently I have provided a link at the end of this post to a complete track listing. One thing I will say is that it is reassuring to have blues so well represented within the package as I've never been one of these purists who regard blues as a totally separate entity to jazz.
I will of course now have to rewrite my list of Desert Island Discs. This set just has to be in it!
For the full track list, click here.
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