Join AVID Entertainment as we set out to prove that Skiffle was a little more than just a vehicle for a certain Mr Lonnie Donegan!
Our Essential Skiffle collection unashamedly includes a number of the great mans efforts but we are however pleased to include a number of other contenders for the Skiffle crown. Chas McDevitt for one, had a number of hits and was indeed huge in the States for a while. Meanwhile Lonnie's nemeses The Vipers were always hot on his heels trying to stop him nicking their songs! Then who could ever forget Johnny Duncan's "Last Train To San Fernando" or Dick Bishop's "It Takes A Worried Man". Along the way we feature classic British jazzmen Ken Colyer and Chris Barber both of whom found some success with this most limited of musical genres. And let's not forget the ladies of Skiffle, the legendary Peggy Seeger is featured here, as are Beryl Bryden and Betty Smith.

This LP comprises the Oscar Peterson Trio's interpretations of a very well-known score, My Fair Lady. The performances of the seven songs (at least three of which are now considered standards) is the one recording done by Peterson and bassist Ray Brown with drummer Gene Gammage, a transitional member of the Trio between the long stints with guitarist Herb Ellis and drummer Ed Thigpen. Overall the music is consistently enjoyable.

In September-October 1959, the great Louis Armstrong recorded an album paying homage to his mentor and first employer, the legendary cornetist Joe “King” Oliver (1885-1938). This gave Louis and his All Stars the opportunity to explore some tunes the trumpeter had never recorded before, and some others he had not played in decades. The LP,"Satchmo Plays King Olive"r (Audio- Fidelity AFSD-5930), was wonderfully recorded in stereo (which was a new technology at the time), providing us an amazing perspective of Armstrong’s pure sound.

This two CD collection brings together recordings of German popular music from singers whose careers virtually span the twentieth century. Some of the artists featured here found their greatest success in the 30's; others were recording and performing until the end of the century. Many of these recordings had a strong relationship with film. Beginning with the earliest talking pictures made by the German film industry, recording stars were often also film stars.

British rock was born before the cultural upheaval brought by The Beatles. Inspired at first by the United States, as well as Jamaican and Trinidadian colonies, English rock blossomed out of blues musicians like Alexis Korner, boogie, such as Winifred Atwell’s, and the great skiffle craze led by Scotsman Lonnie Donegan. Then came the rise of young artists inspired by the Elvis Presley phenomenon in the US: Tommy Steele, Marty Wilde, Johnny Kidd, Vince Taylor - and also great English stars such as Billy Fury & Cliff Richard and The Shadows. Bruno Blum unveils some remarkable records here and comments on the best of this overlooked period, as The Beatles were assimilating this music and already building their up-and-coming revolution.

Original albums from one of the most important independent jazz labels of the 1950s.
Including milestones by Miles Davis, John Coltrane, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Sonny Rollins, Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt, Eric Dolphy, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Thelonious Monk, Art Farmer, Donald Byrd and also swing greats like Coleman Hawkins and Arnett Cobb. This 10 CD wallet box follows the successful "Blue Notes" series and presents "Prestigious Hits": original albums and stars playing the best of modern jazz from the 1950s. Bob Weinstock, who started his own label in 1949, is hardly a household name today except among specialists, but his productions and artists are all the more so.

Born in Memphis, Tenn., in 1932, Dorsey Burnette was the older brother of rock ‘n’ roll singer and pop star Johnny Burnette, and they shared an early career in the Rock ’N’ Roll Trio before they branched out into their respective solo careers, with Dorsey enjoying a number of hits in the pop and country charts, although overshadowed somewhat by his brother’s chart-topping achievements. In his later career during the 1970s, all his hits were in the country charts, but in the early years he was very much a rockabilly and rock ‘n’ roll specialist. This great-value 63-track 2-CD collection (records were often pretty short in this era) features the A & B sides of singles on the Von, Coral Abbott, Surf, Imperial, Era, Dot, Lama & Reprise labels from these years plus selected titles from his albums “Dorsey Burnette’s Tall Oak Tree” and “Dorsey Burnette Sings”. It includes his early recordings with his brother Johnny and Paul Burlison as The Rock ‘n’ Roll Trio, and features all his chart entries from this era, including the Top 30 hit “Tall Oak Tree”, along with “Big Rock Candy Mountain”, “Hey Little One”, “The Ghost Of Billy Maloo” and “The Feminine Touch”. He was a performer very much of his era and culture, and this is a substantial showcase for the rockabilly side of his music.

This recording has a less-than-stellar reputation, principally because it was done so late in McTell's career, and it is true that he lacks some of the edge, especially in his singing, that he showed on his other postwar recordings. On the other hand, his 12-string playing is about as nimble as ever and a real treat. McTell cut these sides for record store owner Ed Rhodes, who had begun taping local bluesmen at his shop in Atlanta in the hope of releasing some of it – McTell took to the idea of recording only slowly, then turned up one night and played for the microphone and anyone who happened to be listening, finishing a pint of bourbon in the process – the result was a pricelessly intimate document, some of the words slurred here and there, but brilliantly expressive and stunningly played.

At any given moment one can find five to ten thousand Marilyn Monroe items on eBay, which is more than you may encounter for Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon, though thousands shy of Elvis. So it's no surprise that a dance-mix album featuring the chanteuse would emerge, and though not perfect, Marilyn Monroe Greatest Hits Remixed is a fun listening experience. The "Dreamer Remix" of "Kiss Me" would segue nicely with Esquivel and other purveyors of the space-age lounge set. Ditto for James Hardway's rendition of "Happy Birthday," perhaps the album's most experimental track, and the one that adds something unique and extra to the sparse Monroe audio catalog.

The most popular exponent of the classic New Orleans R&B sound, Fats Domino sold more records than any other black rock & roll star of the 1950s. His relaxed, lolling boogie-woogie piano style and easygoing, warm vocals anchored a long series of national hits from the mid-'50s to the early '60s. Through it all, his basic approach rarely changed. He may not have been one of early rock's most charismatic, innovative, or threatening figures, but he was certainly one of its most consistent. Domino's first single, "The Fat Man" (1949), is one of the dozens of tracks that have been consistently singled out as a candidate for the first rock & roll record.

A STYLISH 8CD BOXSET, FEATURING 14 GROUNDBREAKING CRIME JAZZ SCORES, FROM THE ICONIC 50 S & 60 S AMERICAN DETECTIVE SERIES. REMASTERED & COLLECTED HERE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THEIR ENTIRITY. WITH SOME SCORES ON CD FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER! RELEASED IN A LUXURY CLAMSHELL, 8CD CARD WALLETS & A STUNNING 80 PAGE PERFECT BOUND COLOUR BOOKLET Crime jazz captured the mood not only of our post-war cities, but of a character as distinctly American as the cowboy that soulful, solitary seeker of justice, the private eye. This Unique and rare collection showcases some of the finest music and memorable U.S TV shows of a generation… The 1950 s a new style of musical score was introduced to film soundtracks & T.V… Previously, film music meant sweeping orchestral themes or traditional Broadway-style musicals. With the growing popularity of bebop and hard bop as the sound of urban cool, studios began latching onto the now beat as a way to make their movies seem gritty.

Otis Rush, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, B.B. King, Lightning Slim, Ray Charles, Jimmy Reed, John Lee Hooker and many others.

Between 1955 and 1960 Buddy Collette released a number of superb albums on which he acted as leader, put out by a range of different labels (unlike many of his contemporaries, Collette was never associated with one specific record company), such as Contempo, Bel Canto, Speciality, ABC, and EmArcy. He also worked alongside a number of back-up players on these records, but rarely worked with the same bands regularly. It is from this fertile period for Buddy Collette that the eight original albums that make up this collection are drawn. Featuring such fine works as, Tanganyika, Man of Many Parts, Calm, Cool & Collette, Everybody's Buddy and Nice Day with Buddy Collette, this 4CD set provides a great starting place for new adherents to this great man's music and talents, as well as a delightful reminder for those already somewhat versed.

Hampton Hawes, “For Real!” was recorded in 1958 but not released on the Contemporary Records label until 1961. Featuring Hawes (piano) alongside Harold Land (tenor sax), Scott LaFaro (bass) and Frank Butler (drums) the album incudes a mixture of both jazz standards and originals. This new edition features remastered hi-res audio from the original tapes.

Four CD set containing eight albums from the vocalist and activist: Mark Twain, Belafonte Sings the Blues, Calypso, to Wish You a Merry Christmas, Belafonte Sings the Caribbean, Belafonte, An Evening with Belafonte and Love Is a Gentle Thing.