- Format: CD
- Label: Fantasy
- Genre: Jazz
Launched on a shoestring budget in 1953 by traditional jazz enthusiasts Bill Grauer and Orrin Keepnews in order to reissue classic jazz and blues recordings from the 1920s by King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Ma Rainey, and others, Riverside Records turned out to be one of the premier purveyors of modern jazz. With Keepnews producing the sessions (and writing the liner notes), Riverside soon brought such giants as Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley, and Wes Montgomery to the forefront of American music. The New York-based company also recorded albums by a multitude of major artists such as Sonny Rollins, Abbey Lincoln, Art Blakey, Kenny Dorham, Coleman Hawkins, Mark Murphy, Charlie Byrd, and Chet Baker, all of whom are featured in this compilation.
Track listing:Thelonious Monk: Epistrophy; Wes Montgomery: Airegin; Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers: Thermo; Abbey Lincoln: Afro Blue; Cannonball Adderley: You Got It!; Charlie Byrd: Meditação (Meditation); Kenny Dorham: Blue Spring; Bill Evans: Waltz for Debby; Coleman Hawkins: Chant; Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn: Cottontail; Eddie Jefferson: Letter from Home; Wynton Kelly: On Green Dolphin Street; Sonny Rollins: Cutie; Mark Murphy: Twisted; Chet Baker: Alone Together; Milt Jackson & Wes Montgomery: Stairway to the Stars; Bobby Timmons: This Here
