Although this 1998 CD may at first glance seem to be a reissue, all but three of the 11 selections had never been released before. The highly influential pianist Bill Evans is heard in five different settings. An unissued (and slightly earlier rendition) of the third section of George Russell's "All About Rosie" (a showcase for Evans with Russell's 14-piece orchestra) starts off the release. Next are the three previously issued but somewhat obscure numbers: a live rendition of "My Funny Valentine" with Miles Davis in 1958 (played by just a quartet) and two songs from a 1962 set headed by vibraphonist Dave Pike. For Piano Player, producer Orrin Keepnews discovered and released six long-lost selections from 1970: duets by Evans (who also plays a little bit of electric piano) and bassist Eddie Gomez that are strong enough to make one wonder why the projects was originally abandoned. Wrapping up the intriguing set is a trio number (with Evans, Gomez, and drummer Marty Morell) that is an alternate take left over from The Bill Evans Album. The pianist's fans will definitely want this consistently enjoyable CD. ~ Scott Yanow

The complete 1955 Bethlehem album Songs From The Heart and the complete 1956 Bethlehem album All Of Me on one CD. Contains 25 tracks including an alternate version of Hartman's definitive interpretation of 'I See Your Face' as a bonus track. 20-bit remastered. Lonehill. 2005.

The Cool One CD combines Jimmy Giuffre's first two albums under his own name, Four Brothers and Tangents in Jazz, into one disc. Four Brothers, cut at three separate sessions between early 1954 and early 1955, is certainly the more conventionally bop-formatted of the pair, though it does vary in its approach, the lineup changing in size between a quintet, a septet, and a quartet. The earliest of the sessions is fairly standard, solid cool jazz, though the seven-piece shows signs of winging off into more daring directions with the fluttering melodics of "Four Brothers" and the choppy irregular beats and circling-round-each-other horns of "Sultana." While Giuffre scaled back to a quartet for the final Four Brothers recordings, a piece such as "Iranic" uses playfully lyrical horn lines and sporadic rhythm punctuations that similarly peeled away from expected jazz progressions. Tangents in Jazz, entirely recorded with a quartet (also featuring Jack Sheldon on trumpet, Ralph Pena on bass, and Art Anton on drums), is aptly named as it too goes into tangents from mid-'50s cool bop tunes, the rhythm section used to comment and insert rather than provide a straightforward pulse. Though certainly not devoid of appeal to straight-ahead jazz fans with its pleasantly good-natured riffs and sparse arrangements that can be either playful or (in tracks like "Scintilla 1" and "Rhetoric") meditative, or slightly melancholy, one can nonetheless hear the seeds of jazz moving from swing-based bop to more of an art music. Roy Carr's liner notes supply succinct details about these particular sessions and Giuffre's general background. ~ Richie Unterberger