James Moody & the Swedish All-stars Greatest Hits

James Moody | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 2, 1999)
• Original Release Date: November 9, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Prestige
• ASIN: B0000296NF
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #241,613 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Flight (aka The Flight of the Bopple Bee)

2. I'm in the Mood for Love

3. Lester Leaps In

4. Body and Soul

5. I'm in the Mood for Groovin'

6. Out of Nowhere

7. (Back Home Again In) Indiana

8. These Foolish Things

9. Good Bait

10. Over the Rainbow

11. Dexterious

12. Blue and Moody

13. Hey! Jim (Moody's Blues)

14. I'll Get By (As Long as I Have You)

15. Cherokee

16. Pennies from Heaven

17. Am I Blue

18. Embraceable You

19. Two Feathers (Two Fathers)

20. Again

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some Great Bebop, September 6, 2001

By 

J. A. Stewart (NH, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: James Moody & the Swedish All-stars Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

This album is actually a combination of two albums: "James Moody's Greatest Hits," and "More of James Moody's Greatest Hits." For those of you who don't know, the title may seem a bit misleading. While each track is a "hit" in that it is great, this album is not at all a "best of" compilation. All of the tracks here come from sessions done in 1949 and 1951, while Moody was in Sweden. The sound isn't great as the source of all the tracks came from 78s or LPs, but that's pretty minor as far as I'm concerned.

Except for playing alto on some slower pieces, Moody sticks to tenor. As this is the only recording I've heard by him and one of his earliest, I don't know if his style has changed. On this album however, he plays in a style influenced by Bird, but with a smoother tone than other bop tenor players like Stitt or Rollins. A highlight is the original version of "I'm in the Mood for Love," which was later turned into a vocalese hit.

I would recommend this for bebop fans or for those looking to expand their jazz collections.

5.0 out of 5 stars Moody's Swedish moods, November 18, 2005

By 

Bomojaz (South Central PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: James Moody & the Swedish All-stars Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

As a 23 year old in 1948, having played for two years in Dizzy Gillespie's big band, James Moody headed for Europe, where he remained for three years. He made some records in Switzerland and Paris for Vogue and a whole slew of sides in Sweden for Metronome that were issued in the US on Prestige. This CD collects those Swedish sides.

Always a bopper of the first order, Moody still played with a unique lyricism, especially on ballad numbers. Unlike warhorses like Sonny Stitt, Moody never overpowered or overplayed, though he could swing the roof off. His famous I'M IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, later vocalized by King Pleasure ("There I go, there I go, there I go, there I gooooooo . . ."), is here. There is also an excellent up-tempo INDIANA that he does on tenor.

Also worthy of note is the medium blues HEY! JIM, which is a duet between Moody's tenor and Lars Gullin's breezy baritone sax. James plays an excellent version of CHEROKEE on tenor with a string section accompaniment, and the combination works marvelously. LOVE WALKED IN is another highlight, with Moody on tenor along with a Swedish all-star quintet; the same group does MOODY'S GOT RHYTHM, with James in the solo spotlight all the way and some fine brush work by drummer Jack Noren.

These early sides helped establish Moody as a major new talent on the modern scene. They also helped introduce to American audiences some major Swedish talent, especially Lars Gullin and Arne Domnerus. There's a lot of great music here, definitely worth checking out.