Artist: CORNELL DUPREE & WHO IT IS
   Album: COAST TO COAST
   Label: ANTILLES
   Format: MP3/320
   Size: 108 MB

   It should have come as no surprise that ace session guitarist Cornell Dupree could come up with as thoroughly tasty a solo album as this, but it is a surprise nonetheless since we're so accustomed to hearing his distinctive touch backing someone else. Here the menu is bedrock R&B/jazz with roots in the 1960s, and Dupree's highly expressive signature blues style is everywhere, although he does adopt a more generic rock style on one occasion. At the same time, ever the team player, Dupree also frequently puts on his formidable rhythm boots and drives his quintet forward. Richard Tee rides barrelhouse R&B piano on an instrument that sounds as if the strings were steel rods, along with his familiar chorused electric piano sound. Lou Marini adds trademark soul licks on saxophones, while Frank Canino (bass) and Christopher Parker (drums) complement the leader's subtle use of space. Most of the tunes are Dupree's, save for a couple of contributions by Tee and a nice cover of the Jacksons' "Destiny," and it all goes down with plenty of back-home Southern dignity and grit.
   Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide

     Artist: Count Basie
     Album: Count Basie
     Year: 1956, release 1990
     Label: Verve
     Producer: Norman Granz
     Format, bitrate: MP3@320 kbit/s
     Time: 01.02:19
     Size: 143 MB



The origin of this session's title is a bit of a mystery since this album was actually recorded live in Sweden. The Count Basie Orchestra plays its usual repertoire (including "Jumpin' at the Woodside," "Shiny Stockings" and "Corner Pocket") with enthusiasm, concise solos and typical Basie swing. Joe Williams takes a few vocals and this CD is rounded by three previously unreleased performances. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

     Artist: Chris Hinze, Louis van Dijk, Jan Goudswaard
     Album: Bach Meets Jazz
     Quality: mp3 @ 320 kbps + all covers
     Label: Point
     Year: 1999

     Chris Hinze was born in Hilversum, in the Netherlands. He began his musical studies on the piano at the age of 12. After working as a pianist all over Europe for several years, he returned to Holland and entered the Royal Conservatory in The Hague to study the flute. Around that time he met bass player Dick van der Capellen and together with Cees See/Martin van Duinhoven, they formed the 'Dick van der Capellen trio'. ('The Present is Past'). After getting his degree at the Royal Conservatory in 1969, Chris won a scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston to study composition and arranging. Whilst at Berklee, he started to produce his unique Baroque/Jazz albums 'Telemann my Way', 'Vivat Vivaldi' etc. He also founded the 'Chris Hinze Combination'.
He has performed with many well-known musicians, such as reggae legend Peter Tosh in Jamaica (where Hinze’s CD Kings of Reggae was recorded), the great producer Michael Gibbs in London, and The Brecker Brothers in the USA. He has played with fellow flautists James Moody, Paul Horn, Raghunath Seth, Herbie Mann and Don Burrows at major international festivals. Many of these performances were recorded. ~ Chris Hinze

     "When it was proposed to rerelease my earlier baroque recordings my first reaction was negative. During the last 20 years my musical activities were concentrated in an enti- rely different field and I have consciously renounced the image of a classical flutist who plays baroque music in an exciting new way, both rhythmically and by improvising, Yet I am still confronted with the name and fame of that period, and with the enormous appreciation of the public for that music, on my travels throughout the world, The sug- gestion once made, and my own thoughts kept me occupied to such an extent, that, together with my own curiosity, they made me listen to the tapes again, While listening I had to come to the conclusion that I still agree with the interpretation I gave to the music at that time: I wanted to play baroque music without syncopating or mindlessly "jazzifying", but purely by improvising on the possibilities that jazz offered to me, Baroque music on one hand, and jazz improvisations on the other were no longer the .explicit starting point, What I had in mind was to try to create a homogeneous whole by integrating the tw/o styles, The Bach interpretations are the result of my search for a complete concept. That this resulted in a musically more accessible product became clear from the enthusiasm with which the public received the recording^, The release achieved "Gold" status. This rerelease enables every listener, by means of the current CD technology, to lay hands on a product with master-tape quality, I therefore hope that these releases will mean a valuable addition to their collections for old acquaintances who want to con- serve their musical treasures for nostalgic reasons, and for those who are introduced to this music for the first time. " ~ Original Liner notes

     Artist: John Coltrane
     Album: Like Sonny
     Year: 1958/1960
     Label: Roulette
     Time: 56:59
     Format: MP3 @320kbps
     Size: 125mb (RS.com; with cover)

     Artist: John Coltrane
     Album: The Savoy Jazz Collection 2
     Label: Brilliant Jazz
     Year: 1958
     Release: 2007
     Genre: Jazz
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Size: 115mb

     Artist: Jan Garbarek
     Album: Eventyr
     Label:ECM
     Year: 1981
     Quality:WV log cue
     Size:263,7 mb
     Total time: 56:12

     Jan Garbarek’s expressively keening tone, particularly on soprano saxophone, is one of the most recognizable in jazz, suggestive of numerous reed instruments from around the world. On 1980’s Eventyr, he combines his unique sound and gift for sculpting lengthy melodic lines with sonic soul mates Nana Vasconcelos on percussion and John Abercrombie on guitar, to a highly atmospheric effect. Six of the eight Garbarek-penned originals begins with a theme based on a traditional song and develops it in a stately, evocative manner. Garbarek’s vocalized style is particularly well suited to the folkloric nature of this material. On ”Once Upon a Time,” the group shifts gears somewhat, with Vasconcelos playing trap drums in a brisk, light style, and Garbarek playing tenor in a more urgent, Coltrane-like manner. Throughout, Abercromie’s guitar is more suggestive than overt, while Vasconcelos provides subtle rhythmic accompaniment, providing a suitably wide canvas for Garbarek’s universal tone-paintings. ~ Wally Shoup.

     Artist - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
     Album - Ella & Louis
     Label - Verve
     Year - 1956
     Release - March 7, 2000
     Quality/Bitrate - Mp3,320 kbps
     Size - 124 Mb
     Total Time - 65:29



     Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong make for a charming team on this CD. Accompanied by pianist Oscar Peterson, guitarist Herb Ellis, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer Buddy Rich, Fitzgerald and Armstrong perform 11 standards with joy and swing. There are touches of Satch's trumpet, but this is primarily a vocal set with the emphasis on tasteful renditions of ballads. Its follow-up, Ella & Louis Again, is also worth getting. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

     Artist: Little Jimmy Scott
     Album: The Savoy Jazz Collection 2 (part 2)
     Label: Brilliant Jazz
     Year: 1955-1960
     Genre: Jazz Vocal
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Size: 97MB

     Singer Jimmy Scott (aka Little Jimmy Scott) had an unusual career conditioned by his physical limitations and record company machinations that sometimes prevented him from being heard, but he mounted a major comeback late in life. He was born one of ten children to Arthur and Justine Scott in Cleveland, OH, on July 17, 1925, and he first sang in church. His mother was killed in a car accident when he was 13, leaving him to be raised by foster parents. He suffered from a rare hereditary condition called Kallmann's Syndrome that prevented him from experiencing puberty, such that he stopped growing when he was less than five feet tall and his voice never changed from a boy soprano's. He began singing professionally during the 1940s, touring in tent shows. In 1948, he joined Lionel Hampton's band, and he made his recording debut in with Hampton for Decca Records in January 1950. One of the songs from those sessions, "Everybody's Somebody's Fool," entered the R&B charts in October 1950 and became a Top Ten hit. Scott left Hampton in 1951 and went solo. An appearance with Paul Gayten's band at Rip's Playhouse in New Orleans that year was recorded by Regal Records, but went unissued for 40 years until Specialty Records released it in 1991 as Regal Records Live in New Orleans From 1951 to 1955, Scott recorded singles for Royal Roost, Coral, and Roost Records. Then, in 1955, he moved to Savoy Records, which issued his first LP, Very Truly Yours, that year. In 1957, he switched to King Records for a series of singles, but in 1959 he returned to Savoy, which issued his second LP, The Fabulous Little Jimmy Scott, in 1960. In 1962, he signed to Ray Charles' Tangerine label and recorded his third album, Falling in Love Is Wonderful, but it had to be withdrawn shortly after its release when Savoy claimed he was still under contract there. This debacle led Scott to leave the music business (he eventually took a job as a shipping clerk at the Sheraton Hotel in Cleveland). In 1969, he recorded his fourth album, The Source, for Atlantic Records, and in 1975, he returned to Savoy for his fifth LP, Can't We Begin Again. But neither effort achieved commercial success, and he continued to work outside music....

     Artist: Little Jimmy Scott
     Album: The Savoy Jazz Collection 2 (part 1)
     Label: Brilliant Jazz
     Year: 1955-1960
     Genre: Jazz Vocal
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Size: 96MB


    

     Artist: Airto Moreira and the Gods of Jazz
     Album: Killer Bees
     Label: B&W
     Year: 1993 [Recording Date: 1989]
     Genre: Jazz, Fusion, Latin Jazz, Crossover Jazz
     Format, bitrate: MP3@320 kbps
     Time: 50:07
     Size: 112.4 Mb

     In November of 1989, after ten years of California living, Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira felt the need to get back in touch with the free-music roots he established two decades earlier in New York City. A spate of slumberous L.A. studio sessions, in combination with a tired scene in his adoptive hometown of Santa Barbara, was beginning to take its toll on the creative percussionist. New York of the late 1960s bustled with musical vibrancy for Moreira. All night jam sessions with the likes of Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Jan Hammer, Stanley Clarke, Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, and Walker Booker were the rule for the artist. On occasion, even such heavyweight legends as Lee Morgan, Cannonball Adderley, Buster Williams, and Thelonious Monk would sit in. In an effort to shake off L.A. studio stupor and re-create the wonder days of impromptu dream team sessions, he invited long time jazz comrades Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Mark Egan, and Stanley Clarke to record improvised music with him in a local Santa Barbara studio. Jumping at the opportunity to play with their friends for the sake of playing, these musicians ended up producing the Killer Bees CD. Peppered with subtle overdubs by vocalist Flora Purim, saxophonist Gary Meek, and guitarist Hiram Bullock, Killer Bees is a set of nine tracks characterized by the sense of spontaneity and adventurousness that Airto intended to revisit. From the opening "Banana Jam," a track in which Moreira, Corea, and Egan experiment with sounds in an improvised section that eventually crescendos into a powerful bass and piano ostinato, to the concluding "Chicken on the Mind," a whimsical track that builds on the sounds of a barking dog and the cackles of Corea, this CD captures superb studio musicians playing out on a limb. If you are looking for the precise articulation of rigid song structures, then this CD may leave you feeling a bit unsatisfied. On the other hand, if you enjoy listening to evolving and amorphous forms full of mercurially virtuosic content, then Killer Bees will make you yearn for more projects that recreate Moreira's free-jazz jams of yore. ~ by John Vallier

          Artist: Jimmy Forrest
          Album: Soul Street
          Label: OJC
          Format: Mp3@320 Kb/s
          Year: rec.Aug 29, 1958-Jun 1, 1962/rel.Oct 19, 1962
          Time: 39:19
          Size: 85.7 Mb

   Artist: Charlie Parker
   Album: Best Of The Savoy & Dial Studio Recordings
   Label: Savoy Jazz
   Year: 1944 - 1948
   Release: 2002
   Quality/Bitrate: Mp3,192 kbps
   Size: 50,80 Mb
   Total Time: 57:11

   This compilation whittles Charlie Parker's output on the Savoy and Dial labels down to 20 essential tracks. The booklet is certainly impressive for a best-of item; producer Orrin Keepnews offers a complete sessionography, richly informative track-by-track annotation, and an introductory essay. Interestingly, he includes several originally unissued takes as representative of Parker's best and elects to scrap the 1946 Dial session that yielded a notoriously smacked-out reading of "Lover Man" and ended with Parker being institutionalized. Listeners who can't be bothered with endless alternate takes won't find any here, but devotees will want to seek out the full set, The Complete Savoy and Dial Studio Recordings 1944-1948, also brought forth by Savoy in 2002.
   David R. Adler, AMG

   Artist: Martin Taylor
   Album: Change Of Heart
   Release year: 1991
   Label: Linn Records
   Quality: MP3, 320kbps
   Size: 111MB

   Martin Taylor's star rose considerably during the 1990s with a flurry of recording activity as a leader, especially dates such this one from the series he did for the Scottish label Linn. With a rhythm section of pianist David Newton, bassist Brian Shiels, and drummer John Rae, the guitarist's program is wide-ranging and has some surprises. Taylor wrote a pair of originals: The opener, "73 Berkeley Street," at first gives the impression of being a groove tune until the quartet launches into a brisk bop setting, and his "Angel's Camp" has a rhythm & blues flavor with a touch of gospel. Country great Eddy Arnold's "You Don't Know Me" has been covered by a few jazz musicians, but Taylor's bluesy guitar and Newton's soulful piano make this extended performance a treat. Taylor overdubbed a second guitar on his otherwise unaccompanied treatment of Ike Isaacs' snappy "After Hours," and he's truly solo on a soft lyrical take of Hoagy Carmichael's timeless "I Get Along Without You Very Well." This recommended CD is well worth acquiring.
   Review by Ken Dryden

     Artist: Thad Jones
     Album: The Magnificent Vol. 3
     Label: Blue Note
     Quality: FLAC & MP3@320
     Size: 124 MB & 61 MB
     Time: 35:33

   Artist: Joey DeFrancesco
   Album: Joey D!
   Year: 2008
   Label: Highnote
   Genre: Post-Bop, Soul-Jazz, Hard Bop
   Format, bitrate: MP3@320 kb/s
   Time: 01:00:21
   Size: 166 MB(+5% recovery)

   Joey and his trio have done an amazing job. This disc offers a delicious mix of experiment and tradition. The eight tunes are carefully selected and Joey, saxophonist Jerry Weldon and drummer Byron Landham groove and swing together in truly inimitable fashion. I tend to think these guys fit so perfectly together that they could steal from each other's pockets. Gone should be the days when Joey was referred to as "the late Jimmy Smiths disciple" - Joey has been an established artist in his own right for quite a long time now, and in subtlety and economy of phrasing he even surpasses his late hero.
   The record is recorded superbly - never had I heard the sound of a drumkit so faithfully reproduced until I bought this CD.
      ~ Charles de Coster (Dortmund, Ruhr Valley Germany)

   Artist: Martin Taylor
   Album: Don't Fret
   Year: 1990
   Label: Linn Records
   Quality: mp3@320kbps
   Size: 110MB

     Artist: Jimmy Raney
     Album: A
     Recording date: 1954-5
     Label: Prestige
     Quality: mp3;320kbps
     Size: 106 MB
     Total Time: 47min.


Jimmy Raney leads two separate groups on this OJC reissue CD, both recorded during the mid-'50s. The first session finds the leader experimenting with overdubbing a second guitar line over his introduction and closing during all four pieces, including the very exciting "Minor" (which is based on the chord changes to "Bernie's Tune"), "Double Image" (inspired by "There Will Never be Another You"), plus some wild improvised counterpoint between Raney and pianist Hall Overton in "On the Square" and an intricate rendition of the ballad "Some Other Spring." John Wilson is added on trumpet for the second and third studio dates, which primarily consist of standards. The briskly swinging "Spring Is Here," a softly played "What's New," and a very delicate "You Don't Know What Love Is" are highlights. Raney's originals include "One More for the Mode," an enjoyable reworking of a Bach two-part invention, and "Tomorrow, Fairly Cloudy," a blazing bop number which is the high point of the latter date. This CD contains some of Jimmy Raney's finest work as a leader and is highly recommended. ~ Ken Dryden, All Music Guide

     Artist : Martin Taylor
     Album : In Concert
     Label : Milestone Records
     Year : 1998, release:2000
     Quality : MP3@320kbps
     Size: 149 MB


Following a series of brilliant releases for the Scottish label Linn during the 1990s, the recording of Martin Taylor's stunning 1998 solo concert at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild eclipses all of them with performances worthy of comparison to the guitar master Joe Pass. Taylor's intricate opening version of "They Can't Take That Away From Me" should hush any naysayers immediately; but his lyrical treatments of great ballads like "Why Did I Choose You?" and "Stella By Starlight" are every bit as breathtaking. Although all of the material should be very familiar to jazz fans, rarely is any of it played with as much finesse by any soloist, let alone a guitarist. The great sound and extremely quiet audience also help to make this CD very highly recommended.

     Artist: Peggy Lee
     Album: In Concert
     Label: Entertainers
     Year: 1996
     Genre: Jazz Vocal
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Time: 66:36
     Size: 153MB