Collectables Classics is simply a packaging idea from those label heads who feel that there reissues need a new face. Hence, this "box set" that is simply a wooden box containing individual albums either already issued by the label as reissues, or recently licensed by them. Here are five albums on four discs.
David "Fathead" Newman fans will already have these, so it is difficult to discern who exactly these are being marketed to in the MP3 player era. In any case, there are some very fine sides here. They include
Fathead: Ray Charles Presents David Fathead Newman (his solo debut after leaving the
Charles band) that features trumpeter
Marcus Belgrave,
Charles,
Hank Crawford (here called "Bennie"),
Edgar Willis, and
Milt Turner. It was released on Atlantic in 1958. Next up the amazing
Fathead Comes On from 1962 with
Belgrave,
Charlie Persip, and others, as well as the main album lineup that seats
Crawford at the piano!. The double-CD in the box includes the 1979 recordings produced by
Joel Dorn and they include
Lonely Avenue and
Newmanism; from a period when the great saxophonist was trying to hold his own in the slick world of fusion and the earliest groove jazz. Finally there is a 1988 date issued as
Fire! Live at the Village Vanguard, with guest saxophonists
Stanley Turrentine and
Crawford. The rhythm section includes the great
Kirk Lightsey and
Marvin "Smitty" Smith. This
Collectables Classics is an OK introduction to
Newman, but a better one would be the individual CDs themselves, which can be purchased separately.
–
Thom Jurek, Rovi