The Complete Columbia Albums Collection combines all five of jazz trumpeter
Woody Shaw's albums on Columbia, including 1977's
Rosewood, 1978's
Stepping Stones: Live at the Village Vanguard, 1978's
Woody III, 1980's
For Sure!, and 1981's
United. Also featured is a sixth disc of never before released bonus tracks from the live
Stepping Stones sessions. These albums represent the height of
Shaw's creative output of the late '70s and early '80s, during a time in which he combined modal jazz, post-bop, fusion, and avant-garde improvisation into his own uniquely propulsive, melodic, and harmonically advanced style. Of all the albums,
Rosewood is perhaps best known, as it earned
Shaw a Grammy nomination and was voted Best Jazz Album of 1978 in the Down Beat Readers Poll. Not only do these albums showcase the technically proficient and improvisationally gifted
Shaw in his prime, they also feature such sidemen as saxophonists
Joe Henderson,
Carter Jefferson, and
Gary Bartz; pianists
Onaje Allan Gumbs,
Larry Willis, and
Mulgrew Miller; drummers
Victor Lewis and
Tony Reedus; bassists
Clint Houston and
Buster Williams; and -- as on
United -- the then young trombonist
Steve Turre. These are not only must-hear albums for
Shaw fans, but also required listening for any fans of forward-thinking post-bop.