This 4CD collection features 8 of Teddy Charles' most accomplished works from the 1950s, compiling some of the great innovator's finest musical output

Born Theodore Charles Cohen on April 13th 1927 in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, jazz musician and composer Teddy Charles, whose instruments were the vibraphone, piano, and drums, studied at the Juilliard School of Music as a percussionist. Later he began to record and made personal appearances as Teddy Cohen, writing, arranging, and producing records. In 1951, he changed his last name to Charles.

Known as an innovator, Charles's main work was recorded in the 1950s, with polytonal albums such as New Directions, Collaboration: West, Word from Bird, and The Teddy Charles Tentet. He was a studio musician for Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Shelly Manne, and Dion. From the late 1950s onwards, Charles worked primarily as a record producer. He was also a co-leader of the Prestige Jazz Quartet.

Although somewhat overlooked in the jazz history books, vibraphonist Teddy Charles was, for a period, an important participant in the early Third-Stream movement, using aspects of classical music to revitalize West Coast-style jazz.

This 4CD collection features Teddy Charles's finest music, all recorded in the 1950s and featuring an impressive cast of backing musicians throughout. A near-perfect introduction to this giant of jazz, and perhaps the ultimate compilation of the great man's music, everyone with even the vaguest enjoyment of this musical form will surely obsess over this multi-disc set.

Track Listing

• O'Brien's A Fly'n
• This Is New
• Ol' Man River
• Tenderly
• Basin Street Blues
• I'll Remember April
• The Lady Is A Tramp
• Blue Moon
• Edging Out
• Composition For Four Pieces
• A Night In Tunisia
• Mobiles
• Antiphony
• Metalizing
• Decibels
• Variations On A Motive By Bud
• Wailing Dervish
• Further Out
• Etudiez Le Cahier
• Margo
• Bobalob

• Vibrations
• The Quiet Time
• The Emperor
• Nature Boy
• Green Blues
• You Go To My Head
• Lydian M-1
• Take Three Parts Jazz
• Meta-Waltz
• Dear Elaine
• Friday The 13th

• Word From Bird
• Laura
• Show Time
• When Your Lover Has Gone
• Just One Of Those Things
• Blue Greens
• Violetta
• The Night We Called It A Day
• Jay Walkin'
• Speak Low
• Relaxo Abstracto
• I Can't Get Started
• Free
• Evolution

• Staggers
• Song Of A Star
• The Eagle Flies
• Bunni
• Reiteration
• Everything Happens To Me
• Introduction
• Scoochie
• Embraceable You
• Blues De Tambour
• Take Three Parts Jazz
• The Confined Few

Additional Details

Label: Enlightenment

Genre: Jazz

Run Time: 317 mins

Region: 0

Release Date: 07/05/24

UPC: 823564038377