AN INSTANT COLLECTOR'S ITEM!

Rarely in the history of musical recordings has a compilation of any genre of music been as successful as Ken Burns' Jazz-The Story of American Music. The Smithsonian Collection is also great as well as Time-Life's wonderful re-creations of great jazz standards.

Consisting of five discs, the order is very similar to the television shows. The first disc start with Louis Armstrong on a 1931 version of "Stardust", then dips back in history to the very first recordings of jazz. The 1917 recording of "Livery Stable Blues" by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band is heard here with amazing clarity. On disc one, we hear early Duke Ellington on such songs as "The Mooche", Bix Beiderbecke, Bessie Smith and many more of the pioneers of jazz.

Disc 2 features the Swing Era with such bands as Benny Goodman's, Duke's and the Count. Billie Holiday, Art Tatum, and more great Armstrong are heard on this disc.

Disc 3 moves into the be-bop era with Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk but also features Artie Shaw, Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey and their orchestras. Sarah Vaughn, Chet Baker and Coleman Hawkins appear on this disc with Hawkins featured on his be-bop anticipation recording in 1938 of "Body and "Soul".

Disc 4 features longer cuts (the LP finally made the scene) with such artists as Horace Silver, Clifford Brown, Sonny Rollins, The Modern Jazz Quartet and Miles Davis. The more modern side of jazz is represented very well here but I feel this group is a little shortchanged by being featured only once while earlier musicians are heard on multiple cuts.

Disc 5 features some great cats but only one who could be considered young: Wynton Marsalis. We hear Louis's "Hello Dolly", Stan Getz on "Desafinado" Dexter Gordon on "Tanya", Herbie Hancock on "Rockit" and a few others.

The set is tremendous, don't get me wrong, but the young giants of the present are nowhere to be seen. No Joshua Redman, no Christian McBride, no Marcus Roberts or Cyrus Chestnut. Ditto with Terance Blanchard or Chick Corea. Of all the great singers right now, only Cassandra Wilson gets her one cut. Where's Diane Reeves, Karrin Allyson, Patti Austin, Sade and numerous others?

I can only hope that a volume two will be produced which will exhibit that jazz is still a vibrant, revolutionary music. The roots of jazz are shown beautifully here; I just want to see the fruition of those roots.

I haven't even mentioned the wonderful 48 page booklet that comes with this set. It has biographies of several musicians and describes who played on each song and when it was recorded.

My reservations aside, this CD set is a must for the serious jazz fan or anyone who wants to become serious.