Customer Reviews

Fats Navarro Story (Mini Lp Sleeve)

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Theodore "Fats" Navarro was only 26 years old when he died in 1950, but the jazz trumpeter accomplished much in a recording career that lasted just five years. Navarro was arguably the second great trumpeter to emerge from the bebop movement, whose controlled yet lyrical style was a marked alternative to the more flamboyant Dizzy Gillespie.

Most of Navarro's recordings have been available in the last few decades; he did the bulk of his recording for Blue Note and Savoy, both as a leader and a sideman. But there has never been a career-spanning retrospective, at least until now. Proper Records, an English label, has issued this fine four CD set, which features excellent sound and a terrific booklet.

What makes this set special is that it traces Navarro from his days with Billy Eckstine and His Orchestra to his early solo sides for Savoy, then on to his groundbreaking work with bandleader/composer/arranger Tadd Dameron, fiery trumpet duels with Kenny Dorham and, finally, to his final recordings with Charlie Parker, a mere week before his death from tuberculosis,apparently exacerbated by heroin use. Seldom has the development of a musician been better traced and, in particular, his work with Dameron sounds better than ever. Also included are a few rareand seldom reissued sessions that demonstrate Navarro's flair as an accompaniest for vocalists.

Fats Navarro's greatest legacy may be his influence on such later trumpeters as Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard; it is worth noting that these three major figures looked towrds Navarro rather than Gillespie for much of their style. "The Fats Navarro Story" is an essential purchasr for fans of bebop, and this box set should go far in getting Navarro the recognition he deserves.

This is one of the greatest deals I've come across for a long time.. I'm a professional trumpet player and I love Fats Navarro.. There are so many great musicians on this CD its insane! Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Coleman Hawkins, J.J. Johnson, Max Roach, Kenny Clarke, its incredible! And its all for [a great price]. I'd be willing to pay [a lot more] for this collection, its great!

Too bad ...what a trumpet and tone...and the greats he played with...this compilation is an important one and does justice to him and his short life...unlike a "student" of his, the great Clifford Brown who died in a car crash,Fats was an emotional case of excess..his vulveribility was felt in his music and this generous collection does a service to Jazz history as far as quality and price. Proper records did a great one here..it seems nobody reviewed this one in years...Too bad.

No less a person than Dizzy Gillespie said of Fats: "Fats was the best all round trumpeter of them all. He had everything a trumpeter should have: tone, ideas, execution and reading ability." Considering that that comes from one of the true greats of jazz, that is high praise indeed.

This 4 CD compilation spans Fats Navarro's short but utterly brilliant career, from the legendary Billy Eckstine Orchestra through his Savoy and Blue Note studio recordings, a great selection of his session work and broadcasts for and with people such as Coleman Hawkins, Illinois Jacquet, Tadd Dameron, Bud Powell and Charlie Parker. Also included are his two legendary 1947 Saturday Night Swing radio show tracks. Anyone can pick fault with any compilation but this is as good a compilation as I've ever seen for a jazz artist.

The sound quality is uniformly excellent throughout, the 40 page booklet well-written and impeccably researched, and the packaging tastefully done. In short, an outstanding box set. That said, it's what I've come to expect of the Proper label (I will buy anything they put out, sight unseen).

Oh, did I say that it's dirt cheap for what you get? It is. Buy it before it goes OOP.

There are many reasons one would not want to invest in a
reissue box set of an artist already in your collection. This
set overpowers all concerns and then some! The evidence here
indicates Fats Navarro was indeed a heavyweight in his chosen field of Bebop trumpet. Really, there is no filler on these
meaty sides. This set captures not only Fats but also numerous
Pre-Bop and Bop players in their prime-stunningly so. I will
let you discover each disc's delights on your own but am compelled to suggest that you get this set to hear how master improvisors work quotations into solos (My favorite so far:
Fats starts his "Fats Blows" solo with a hilarious Howdy Doody
reference). For music lovers, Jazz fans, or music students
worldwide...indulge your ears with this inexpensive but valuable
set. The second version of Move on Disc four is simply Bebop ecstacy- on par with the trumpet/percussion Gillespie version of
Caravan or the transcendant "Donna Lee"solo by Clifford Brown. A perfect gift for any trumpeter.

Fats Navarro had a sweet, flawless technique which few trumpeters of his generation possessed. It is, on the one hand, unfortunate that
Navarro's discography is s0 small. On the other hand, except for the recent Savoy reissue of Navarro's best -- which is generous and remastered with great skill -- Proper's FATS NAVARRO STORY is probably the best summation of Navarro's achievement on record. The final sessions with Charlie Parker alone are worth the investment, but for those who shun Parker's brand of bebop, there are ample cuts to soothe and inspire, from a lavish rendition of "Gone with the Wind" to "A Night in Tunisia." The value of the set is simply extraordinary, with four discs, 87 cuts -- most beautifully remastered to capture the warmth of Navarro's tone-color, and an illustrated booklet which provides a brief, but educated, history of an American legend who worked for just a few years, but prepared a new generation of trumpeters for the promise of modernism. All this and a sturdy slipcase, too and you can't go wrong at this price. As someone who respects Miles Davis (especially for his Plugged Nickel set on CBS), I fear too much attention has been paid to Miles and too little to Navarro and Clifford Brown. As usual, Proper Records has developed a package that delights as it educates. And there's absolutely nothing like it in the catalog. Warmly recommended.

I agree with all of the above reviewers that the material is great. Navarro has always been one of my favorite trumpeters. I wonder what he would have been doing if he lived through the 1950's. We might have heard some wonderful music in even better sound. I don't have a problem listening to old recordings with limited sound. If the music is really good, you tend to forget the circumstances of the sound.

My problem with the set is that the sound is a bit muddy. I have all of these sides on lp and have heard them on Blue Note and Savoy discs. The sound is livlier on Savoy and Blue Note. I suspect that Proper Box did some sound filtering which probably cleaned up the sound from whatever their source was, but it seems to have lost some of the treble. You do not hear any crispness from the drumset--especially the cybals.

The price is certainly right and the material is wonderful. I would recommend spending a bit more to get the Blue Note and Savoy issues. I do not think that you will regret spending the difference for the "greater presence" of the other editions of the same music.