Last Recordings 2: Final Sessions 1954 (Slim)

Artie Shaw (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 12, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Nimbus Records
• ASIN: B002BZOVIO
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #171,322 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. How High the Moon

2. Stop and Go Mambo

3. I've Got a Crush on You

4. Begin the Beguine

5. The Chaser

6. Stardust

7. Summit Ridge Drive

8. Autumn Leaves [Take 6] [Take]

9. Scuttlebutt

Disc: 2

1. Back Bay Shuffle

2. Autumn Leaves [Take 5] [Take]

3. Dancing in the Dark

4. Cross Your Heart

5. Don't Take Your Love From Me

6. Frenesi

7. September Song [Hollywood Session] [Version]

8. Grabtown Grapple

Editorial Reviews

These selections are every bit as good as the ones on volume one, which has garnered much critical acclaim (NIM 2709). The level of performance this group was able to sustain is remarkable!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ab dab fabulous, March 3, 2010

By 

Aaron Barnhart "tvbarn.com" (Kansas City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Last Recordings 2: Final Sessions 1954 (Slim) (Audio CD)

And I thought the first set of Last Recordings -- reissued after 20 years out-of-printness by Nimbus -- was the bee's knees. This is that and a couple more knees of bees. "Begin the Beguine" like you've never heard. TWO takes of "Autumn Leaves" each worthy of inclusion here. And if you thought "When the Quail Come to San Quentin" was hot, wait until you hear the ten-minute closing number, "Grabtown Grapple," a trot around the track with Artie's fantastic hand-picked small ensemble. There's more riffing here than the earlier Last sessions, from "Shave and a Haircut" to, brilliantly, "A Night in Tunisia" (again, on "Grabtown"). When Artie went small, it was the last virtuosic act of a bandleader who seemed capable of just about anything.

Or should I say the SECOND to last virtuosic act: Nimbus later this month is issuing Last Recordings 3, one more than the original reissue, with sessions from 1954-1956. Can't wait!

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Amazon Vendor Service & CD, August 26, 2010

By 

Doug (Ottawa, Canada) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Last Recordings 2: Final Sessions 1954 (Slim) (Audio CD)

Actually, the Amazon vendor, BuyCDNow of Vermont, merits 10 stars out of five for truly outstanding service. I initially ordered this CD from another Amazon USA vendor, but, when the order did not arrive after the minimum 60 days waiting period specified by Amazon, and then when the vendor failed to respond to two, follow-up, direct E-Mail inquiries over the next two weeks, I re-ordered with another Amazon USA vendor, BuyCDNow. I asked them to take special care in mailing the shipment, as my previous order was two and a half months overdue and presumably lost somewhere in the U.S. or Canadian postal systems. BuyCDNow responded to my order promptly, and, in a couple of friendly E-Mail messages, advised that the shipment would be mailed in Montreal, Canada, and provided the package's computer tracking number in the Canadian postal system. Exactly one week after placing my order, I was listening to the CDs on my stereo. I've bought a lot of books and CDs from Amazon USA vendors over the last seven years; the service from most of them has been good, and from maybe a dozen exceptionally good, but no one to date in my experience has provided such outstanding service as BuyCDNow of Vermont. They seem to bend over backwards to serve you as well as possible, and then some.

As for the CD, anything by Mr Shaw merits five stars in my opinion, but this two-disc volume (and its two companion volumes) gets eight stars out of five! Tom Nolan, in his great new book Three Chords for Beauty's Sake: The Life of Artie Shaw (2010, pp 345-6), cites reviews that praise these last recordings as among Mr. Shaw's best work, referring to the CDs put out in the early 1990s by MusicMasters. This CD volume and the other two companion volumes are issued by Nimbus Records, apparently re-issues of the recordings and liner notes first put out by MusicMasters, but apparently considerably expanding the amount of material presented, as each of the three volume contains two CDs, for a total of six discs. The quality of the sound reproduction on all of them is superb. The 1990s recordings were made with the assistance of Mr. Shaw, from his tapes of his 1945 - 1954 performances. He also contributed to the excellent and fascinating liner notes written by Mr. Dan Morgenstern and Mr. Loren Schoenberg. When the notes switch from the general to each of the selections on the CDs, the discussion might get a little musically technical for some, but is still most informative and helpful.

All in all, I strongly recommend without reservation both the vendor, BuyCDNow, and all three Nimbus Records' volumes of Artie Shaw's last recordings.