'Cool Revolution' marks four decades of CTI Records

This four-CD collection celebrates the 40th anniversary of producer Creed Taylor's launch of CTI Records. The independent jazz label managed to reach a larger audience without compromising artistic integrity, finding middle ground between straight-ahead acoustic jazz and the electric jazz-rock fusion that was all the rage in the early 1970s.

The 39 remastered tracks from 1970-1975 — featuring CTI's musicians trading roles as leaders and sidemen — is organized thematically to showcase different facets of the label's profile. Disc one (“Straight Up”) is the closest to unadulterated mainstream jazz, highlighted by tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine's hard-driving “Sugar.”

Disc two (“Deep Grooves/Big Hits”) includes trumpeter Freddie Hubbard's groove masterpiece “Red Clay” as well as Brazilian keyboardist Eumir Deodato's funky jam on Richard Strauss' “Also Sprach Zarathrustra.” Other tracks reflect the label's penchant for jazz versions of pop hits: Jefferson Airplane's “White Rabbit” performed by Benson or James Taylor's “Fire and Ice” by flutist Hubert Laws.

Disc three (“The Brazilian Connection”) reflects Taylor's affinity for the bossa nova sound he introduced to U.S. audiences on early 1960s Charlie Byrd and Stan Getz recordings. There are selections by Brazilian stars — Antonio Carlos Jobim, singer Astrud Gilberto and percussionist Airto — as well as by American jazzmen interpreting Brazilian tunes — notably alto saxophonist Paul Desmond's gently flowing version of Jobim's “Wave.”

Disc four (“Cool and Classic”) presents 1950s cool jazz mainstays in more contemporary settings — for example trumpeter-vocalist Chet Baker's tenderly caressing “What'll I Do” in a string arrangement by Don Sebesky. There are also versions of jazz standards and classical works, including guitarist Jim Hall displaying his subtle mastery in a 19-minute-plus performance of Joaquin Rodrigo's “Concierto De Aranjuez.”

This is the most comprehensive anthology to date of a label which had a big influence on smooth jazz, hip-hop and R&B, although it omits the label's post-1975 recordings by Patti Austin, Lalo Schifrin, Nina Simone and others.

Check this out: Freddie Hubbard — with the support of pianist Herbie Hancock, drummer Lenny White and an all-star lineup — creates a funky, infectious groove on “Red Clay,” an R&B-influenced jazz masterpiece from 1970 that became the trumpeter's signature tune.