With more than 1,800 big-band CDs in the library, it's becoming almost impossible to pare the number down to an armful small enough to carry to that mythical desert island so often spoken of or dreamed about . . . at least, not without some fudging! One solution would be to take only boxed sets, say a dozen or so, and cram them as tightly as possible into a suitcase or other conveyance. A dozen boxes times three or four albums per box means you could have nearly half a hundred (or more) from which to choose. Maybe not the best answer but one that would at least keep one occupied until the batteries on the portable player died (assuming one didn't have an iPod, else he or she could bring along another hundred or so albums in a shirt or pants pocket — ain't technology wonderful?). But I digress. For those who think boxed sets are a reasonable answer, here are a dozen I'd be more than happy to take with me to that island, listed in alphabetical order so as not to bruise anyone's feelings. Not all are actually boxed, but every album is part of a complete series. I'm sure you can probably think of a few others I may have overlooked (such as Mosaic's recently released Gerald Wilson set).

Army Jazz Ambassadors, Legacy of Benny Carter, Stan Kenton, Hank Levy, Sammy Nestico (4 CDs), no label
The BBC Big Band, Blue, Cool, Mellow, Red Hot Jazz (4 CDs), WMEM
BuJazzO, Vols 1-3 (4 CDs), AMP
Woody Herman, The Complete Capitol Recordings (6 CDs), Mosaic
Stan Kenton, The Complete Holman and Russo Charts (4 CDs), Mosaic
Stan Kenton, The Stan Kenton Story (4 CDs), Proper Box
Stan Kenton, Horns of Plenty, Vols 1-3 (3 CDs), Tantara
National Youth Jazz Orchestra, The Very Best of NYJO (4 CDs), Castle
Gerry Mulligan, The Complete Verve Concert Jazz Band Recordings (4 CDs), Mosaic
Johnny Richards, Mosaic Select (3 CDs), Mosaic
SWR Big Band, 50 Jahre Jazz (3 CDs), Faszination Musik
University of North Texas, North Texas Jazz, 50 Years (4 CDs), UNT Jazz

One dozen boxes, forty-seven albums, neatly packed and ready to play! And if there were room in the suitcase, I'd certainly want to add a few boxes of small-group recordings, to wit:

Clifford Brown, Joy Spring (4 CDs), Proper Box
Lars Gullin, Vols 1-8 (8 CDs), Dragon
Stan Kenton, Presents Bob Cooper, Bill Holman, Frank Rosolino (4 CDs), Mosaic
The Gerry Mulligan Quartet, With Chet Baker (4 CDs), Prestige
Art Pepper, The Hollywood All-Star Sessions (5 CDs), Galaxy
Art Pepper, Mosaic Select (3 CDs), Mosaic
Shorty Rogers, West Coast Jazz (4 CDs), Proper Box
Zoot Sims, 1944-54 Small Group Sessions (4 CDs), Blue Moon

That should be enough to keep me smiling for a while. If pressed, however, I could name more than a few single albums that I'd absolutely have to bring with me (space permitting, of course). Here's a brief (and incomplete) list, also in alphabetical order.

Jerry Ascione Big Band, Beautiful Love (Sea Breeze)
Mike Barone Big Band, Live at Donte's 1968 (VSOP)
Mike Barone Big Band, Live 2005! (Rhubarb)
Bohuslan Big Band, A Perfect Match (Real Records)
Danny D'Imperio, Big Band Bloviation, Vols 1 and 2 (Rompin')
DIVA, TNT (no label)
Fat Chops Big Band, A Nightingale Sang (FC)
Bob Florence, State of the Art (USA)
Terry Gibbs Big Band, One More Time (Contemporary)
Bill Holman Big Band, Live (Jazzed Media)
Bill Holman Big Band, In a Jazz Orbit (VSOP)
Jazzmania Big Band, New Impressions (BMCD)
Kansas City Boulevard Big Band, Stellar (Sea Breeze)
Stan Kenton, Live at Keesler AFB 1968 (Astral Jazz)
Stan Kenton, Odyssey: 1951-68, (Astral Jazz)
Tom Kubis Big Band, Slightly Off the Ground (Sea Breeze)
Erwin Lehn Orchestra, 40 Jahre Jazz (IRS)
Rob McConnell / Boss Brass, Boss Brass and Woods (Impulse!)
Dick Meldonian / Sonny Igoe Band, The Jersey Swing Concerts (Circle)
New Vintage Big Band, Now and Forever (NVBB)
Demetri Pagalidis Big Band, Silverware (no label)
Rob Parton, JazzTech Big Band (Sea Breeze)
Rob Parton, Two Different Days (Sea Breeze)
Rob Parton, Eleventh Hour Live (Sea Breeze)
Pete Petersen Orchestra, Jazz Journey (Chase Music Group)
Bill Potts Big Band, 555 Feet High (Jazz Mark)
Buddy Rich, Big Swing Face (Pacific Jazz)
Sandvika Storband, Lining Up! (SS)
Sandviken Big Band, 30 Years in Business (Four Leaf Clover)
Sandviken Big Band, Right on Time (Sittel)
Carl Saunders, Big Band Bebop (Sea Breeze)
Sydney All-Star Big Band, Doin' Our Thing (La Brava)
THE Orchestra, House of Sounds (Brunswick)
Any (or all) of the five albums by Kenichi Tsunoda's Big Band
University of Cincinnati, Serenade in Blue (Sea Breeze Vista)
Vezinho / Ward Big Band, Smile (DAB Music)
Phil Woods, Unheard Herd (Jazzed Media)

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