THIS WEEK

Otis Redding: The Complete Stax/Volt Singles Collection

Archival release (Shout! Factory)

On three CDs, you get every A- and B-side from all the Otis Redding singles released in the 1960s on Stax, Volt, and Atco, during and after his lifetime — all in punchy mono, with many of the mixes appearing on CD for the first time. Among the 70 tracks are eight songs billed to Otis & Carla, taken from King & Queen, Redding’s 1967 album with Carla Thomas.

Inside the die-cut packaging are images of the front and back of each 7-inch vinyl 45, courtesy of the amazing record collection of Billy Vera. Alas, other than a page of credits, the set has no historical annotation — no essays, no track-by-track notes, not even a photograph of the singer himself. But priced at $49.98 (and currently available at Amazon.com for under $44), it’s apparently meant to be a quick, budget-friendly, one-fell-swoop enlargement of your own record collection.

Other reissues & archival releases

The Smashing Pumpkins: The Aeroplane Flies High (Virgin/UMe)
The original version of this box, released in 1996, was a Limited Edition five-CD set that had expanded versions of the five singles from the previous year’s Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. This reissue further expands each of the discs and adds a sixth CD of live recordings from the Mellon Collie tour, increasing the audio track total from 33 to 90. Then there’s the bonus DVD, featuring a performance in Belfort, France, on July 4, 1997. The booklet includes an essay by David Wild and track-by-track notes (for the original 33 selections) by Billy Corgan. A five-LP version is also available.

Ella Fitzgerald: Best of the BBC Vaults (UMe)
Culled from previously unreleased recordings (dating from between 1965 and 1977) that were recently discovered by archivists at the BBC, this two-disc set offers 17 songs on CD and 34 on DVD. Represented on both are classics like “The Lady Is a Tramp,” “Mack the Knife,” “That Old Black Magic,” and “Sweet Georgia Brown.” The DVD has four full-length shows: two 1965 TV appearances, a 1974 concert at the London jazz club Ronnie Scott’s, and a 1977 set from the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Cannonball Adderley & Milt Jackson: Things Are Getting Better
Chet Baker: Chet Baker Plays the Best of Lerner & Loewe
Bill Evans Trio: How My Heart Sings!
Thelonious Monk & Gerry Mulligan: Mulligan Meets Monk
Wes Montgomery: So Much Guitar!
(Concord)
Five more reissues in the Concord series of Original Jazz Classics Remasters. The earliest of this batch is the Monk & Mulligan, recorded in 1957, followed by the Adderley & Jackson in 1958. The Baker, Montgomery, and Evans sets are from 1959, 1961, and 1962, respectively. All sport 24-bit remastering by Joe Tarantino, new liner notes (along with the original notes by producer Orrin Keepnews), and (except for the Baker) bonus tracks.

Various Artists: Roll and Go — Chanteys and Sailor Songs from Grenada (Global Jukebox)
From the imprint of the Alan Lomax Archive comes this digital-only set of 14 tracks (10 of them previously unreleased). All of these field recordings were made by the late musicologist in the summer of 1962.