I don’t normally advocate purchasing anthologies because the original album “concept” is short circuited and the collector ends up duplicating a bit of the material, should he go on to collect the artist. However, many audiophiles in the year 2000 may be sufficiently removed from the dawn of the modern jazz/hifi/stereo era – the period from which this material is drawn - that a primer is needed to familiarize younger generations with just exactly what these guys sounded like. These Prestige recordings will do that for you, and better yet, all the artist’s recordings are in print on the Fantasy/Prestige OJC family of labels at less than full-line price.

Volume 1 contains some of the classic performances of the great names. Volume 2 showcases the great sax soloists in exciting, highly energetic, up-tempo “battles” or “cutting sessions,” essentially opportunities to out-improvise, out-perform their session partner.

What is there to say? These are the superstars of jazz, most of them with their first label, in the full-blooded, youthful exuberance of their careers. If you don’t know the material, you need to. If you’re just casually interested in jazz, just learning, or cautiously experimenting, get these CDs.