The Riverside Records Story (1997)

About this title: The Riverside Records Story is essentially Orrin Keepnews' baby -- and why not, for the grizzled jazz producer/journalist co-founded the label, ran it from day one in 1952 until it suddenly went bankrupt in 1964, and produced almost all of the original sessions. Riverside's current custodians at Fantasy had Keepnews select and sequence four CDs' worth of the label's output, which over the span of less than nine years made a big splash in the cloistered world of hard bop. Keepnews also writes a voluminous set of notes that settles old scores, crows about What Went Right, offers often self ... read more

Tracks:

1. It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) [Ellington/Mills]
2. Watermelon Man [Hancock]
3. This Here [Timmons]
4. Brilliant Corners [Monk]
5. Four on Six [Montgomery]
6. Waltz for Debby [Evans/Lees]
7. African Waltz [MacDermot]
8. Meditation (Meditação) [Jobim/Mendonca/Gimb]
9. The Village Caller [Lytle]
10. Blues for Dracula [Griffin]
11. Wade in the Water [Traditional]
12. Smooth as the Wind [Dameron]
13. Big "P" [Heath]
14. The Freedom Suite [Rollins]
15. Cariba [Montgomery]
16. Tune-Up [Davis]
17. Ruby, My Dear [Monk]
18. Ruby, My Dear [Monk]
19. 'Round Midnight [Williams/Hanighen]
20. One Foot in the Gutter [Terry]
21. Peace Piece [Evans]
22. Know What I Mean? [Evans]
23. Things Are Getting Better [Adderley/Langdon]
24. Delilah [Young]
25. Trav'lin' Light [Mercer/Mundy/Young]
26. Tickle Toe [Young]
27. Work Song [Adderley/Brown]
28. If You Could See Me Now [Dameron/Sigman]
29. One by One [Shorter]
30. A On a Misty Night [Dameron]
31. My Old Flame [Johnston/Coslow]
32. Come Rain or Come Shine [Mercer/Arlen]
33. Circle Waltz [Friedman]
34. Out of the Past [Golson]
35. Mutattra [Harris]
36. Laura [Mercer/Raksin]
37. Autumn Leaves [Mercer/Prevert/Kosm]
38. Eyes So Beautiful as Yours [Hope]
39. Invitation [Kaper/Webster]
40. Letter from Home [Keepnews/Mance]
41. Blue Lou [Sampson/Mills]
42. Some Kinda Mean [Betts]
43. On Green Dolphin Street [Kaper/Washington]
44. West Coast Blues [Montgomery]
45. I'm Just a Lucky So and So [David/Ellington]
46. I Am in Love [Porter]
47. Invitation [Kaper]
48. Out of This World [Mercer/Arlen]
49. Nardis [Davis]
50. Fools Rush In [Mercer/Bloom]
51. Come Sunday [Ellington]
52. So Tired [Timmons]
53. Zulu [Weston]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.