64. Artie Shaw / The Last Recording: Rare and Unreleased (1954)

This two-disc set is a wonder. It includes the final recorded performances of the gifted clarinet. Why pack it in? According to Shaw, the demands of perfectionism were just too much to continue. With Hank Jones, Joe Roland, Irv Kluger, and either Joe Puma or Tal Farlow on guitar, Shaw's last Gramercy Five makes wonderful music. On clarinet, he's such a colorful player, using a wide range of dynamics to swing hard ("Sad Sack") or put impart special sentimentality to the ballads ("My Funny Valentine"). His licks and interpretations of the melodies are always engaging and inventive. His style touches on elements of dixieland, blues, swing, classical, and even exotica or novelty music, while fully embracing none of those styles. When someone takes a chorus, listen closely to Shaw and Jones, who can't resist entertaining each other with Third Streamish inclinations and suggesting the quotations they happen upon, a bit like Brubeck and Desmond (as in "Pied Piper"). Such playfully eclectic musical behavior should be expected from Shaw, who believed it was his responsibility to bring out areas of a composition not defined by the composer, to interpret and arrange life into the music. Thus while many are well served by relaxing and enjoying what they hear, a lucky few will be rewarded by listening to what Shaw has constructed... and off the cuff, at that.

41. Jack Teagarden & Bobby Hackett / The Complete Fifties Studio Recoridings (2004)

With notable exceptions, I'm not a huge fan of dixieland. At least, it's not the first jazz I reach for every time. Six or seven freewheeling improvisors that are each so close to the melody can wear thin on me after a few tracks, and I long for the organization of a hard bop quartet. But a band this good and this experienced brings out something special in the music. A big winner is the fact that it was recorded in the 50s, and the superior audio quality means I can actually hear what all those "other guys" are doing behind the soloist. Teagarden is unrivaled on the trombone, and has a stand-up voice for singing songs like "Basin Street Blues" and "St. James Infirmary." I love listening to him sing, and there's a reassuring quality in his voice. Hackett's open horn is gloriously full toned and his solos, like those of Teagarden and Matty Matlock, are boldly effervescent and daring. Teagarden uses a few different techniques on his own instrument, adding life and spontaneous joy to every bar. This collection should be on every jazz listener's shelf, right next to the Louies, Pee Wee Russells, and Eddie Condons. There's actually several LPs worth of material here (23 songs), so if you like it then invite some friends over because there's plenty to go around.

27. Benny Goodman / Vol II: Clarinet a la King (1989)

A great "best of" set with sides dating from 1939 to 1941, with Georgie Auld, Ziggy Elman, Charlie Christian, guest Cootie Williams, and many others. The previously unissued master of "Henderson Stomp" with Fletcher himself on piano is a fine highlight, so is "Zaggin' with Zig," after Ziggy Elman and "Solo Flight," a spotlight for Charlie Christian. The band is hot but the arrangements make the whole thing work, and I enjoy the creative ways the reeds play against the brass. In this era trumpets had a more diverse assortment of techniques to work with, either open or with mutes, and listening to the soloist use these in different contexts is exciting. Helen Forrest and Peggy Lee sing guest spots that buoy the program. Forrest has a bell like quality after the band's second chorus on "Bewitched," singing higher and clearer than before, a tone parallel to the upper register of Goodman's clarinet. The music is ebullient and uplifting, the lyrics coy or sassy ("It Never Entered My Mind," "Yes My Darling Daughter") with lots of lift and plenty of volume. It's easy to see how kids could dance to the stuff.