Artist: Keb' Mo'
   Album: Back By Popular Demand
   Label: Sony
   Year: 2004
   Genre: Blues
   Format: FLAC
   Time: 00:39:48
   Size: 224.10 MB

   The velvety voiced Mo' shifts away from his usual matters of the heart to matters of the world on this disc of predominantly covers. He has also abandoned his bluesier roots in favor of a slicker, jazz-based pop. The result is a protest album for the double-latte crowd, most of whom can hum along to chestnuts from the Rascals ("People Got to be Free"), John Lennon ("Imagine"), and Bob Dylan ("The Times They Are A-Changin'"). While a jaunty banjo- and fiddle-flecked version of the Nick Lowe-penned "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding" (popularized by Elvis Costello) uses a questionable rearrangement to convey the song's message, Mo' really connects when he raids the soul vaults for tunes by Marvin Gaye, Harold Melvin & the Bluenotes, and Donny Hathaway. It's a pleasant, subtle, and always professionally performed detour that's as comfy as a warm cup of hot chocolate on a chilly day.
    --Hal Horowitz

    Artist: Joe Pass
    Album: Joe Pass In Hamburg
    Year: 1990, 1992
    Release: 1997
    Label: Blue Jackel
    Format, bitrate: MP3, 320 kbps
    Time: 1:06:16
    Size: 152 MB
    All Music Guide Rating:

   Joe Pass was without peer as a jazz guitarist during the last two decades of his life; this is one of many expected posthumous releases to emerge since his death. Because Pass concentrated primarily on solo and small-group recording sessions, it is a treat to hear him backed by larger ensembles like the NDR Big Band and Radio Philharmonic. The arrangements are respectful of the star and unobtrusive, with show tunes ("On a Clear Day"), standards ("Soft Winds"), and originals like his upbeat "Waltz for Django." The only person who might be dissatisfied with this CD would have been Joe himself, who was extremely well known for criticizing nearly every recording he ever released.
      Ken Dryden

     Artist: Ben Webster
     Album: There Is No Greater Love
     Year: 1965
     Label: 1201 Music
     Format, bitrate: MP3@320 kbit/s
     Time: 0.39:21
     Size: 90 MB


     И вновь в Клубе звучат баллады в исполнении Бена Вебстера и прекрасных, хорошо вам знакомых музыкантов...

     Artist: Bill Evans
     Album: Live in Buenos Aires - Vols 1-3
     Label: Jazz Lab
     Genre: Jazz / modal, post-bop, cool
     Quality: MP3@192 kbps & 320 kbps (vol.1 only)
     Size: 269 mb total (RS.com) with covers



This set features the final edition of the Bill Evans Trio with Marc Johnson on bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums in a complete concert that originally appeared as a two-LP set on the Yellow Note label. In spite of occasional surface noise resulting from using the earlier records as this set's source material, the music catches the trio during one of its many peaks from their last year of touring together. A rather reserved rendition of "Stella By Starlight" kicks things off, which is a bit of surprise because Evans seemed to prefer his moody "Re: Person I Knew" as an opener during this period. An excellent version of "Turn Out the Stars," one of Evans' most beloved compositions, is also a first-set highlight. As the second CD gets underway the groove noise proves somewhat distracting during the otherwise quiet beauty of "I Loves You Porgy." A romp through "Someday My Prince Will Come" is followed by the almost obligatory closer "Nardis," in its typically abstract form, with long solos by each of the musicians. Well worth acquiring. ~ Ken Dryden, AMG

     Artist: Milt Jackson
     Album: Jackson's Ville
     Label: Savoy
     Genre: Jazz / hard bop
     Quality: MP3 @ 320 kbps
     Size: 61 mb (RS.com) with Covers
     Recording Date: Jan 23, 1956
     Time: 30:15

     This fine 1956 date features Jackson leading a session that moves with ease and authority through a relaxing eight-minute ride on Charlie Parker's Now's the Time," an Ellington ballad medley, and a pair of the vibist's own blues-based, hard bop compositions. The real treat here is Lucky Thompson's tenor sax. The Don Byas-influenced Thompson has a sound that invites the listener to luxuriate in its grace and strength. Thompson solos on "Mood Indigo" with a sublime, breathy legato, adding bite and rougher edges -- without sacrificing nuance or subtlety -- on Jackson's "Minor Conception" and "Soul in 3/4."

     Artist: Charlie Hunter
     Album: Baboon Strength
     Label: Reapandsow
     Year: 2008
     Genre: Fusion
     Format: mp3, bitrate: 320@CBR
     Time: 54:39
     Size: 104 Mb + all covers

     Хочу представить новый альбом Charlie Hunter.
     Отличительной особенностью игры и звука Чарли Хантера, кроме того, что он играет всегда довольно насыщенный грув, являются примочки, которые позволяют настроить звук его гитары так, будто это звучит Hammond, хотя Хантер не чурается использовать отдельного клавишника в собственных проектах. Впрочем, лучше один раз увидеть... или услышать.

     Artist: Jacques Loussier Trio
     Album: In Loussier's Mood
     Label: Polydor
     Release date: 1987
     Format: mp3
     Bitrate: 320 kB/s
     Size: 100 MB

     Искренне рад снова приветствовать Вас в Клубе, дорогие друзья! Не прошло и пол-года, как у меня появилась надежда на решение проблем со связью (да славится в веках мой доблестный провайдер и ему подобные! Иногда "меня терзают смутные сомненья" - а в век ли информационных технологий мы живем? Проще с балкона докричаться, а уж в интернет сходить... )
     Ну да Бог с ними, прорвемся. А вернуться в Клуб хочется с довольно редким и необычным альбомом Жака Люсье. И вся необычность заключается в том, что здесь он играет не классику, а "вечнозеленые" стандарты.

     Artists: Weather Report
     Album: Night passage
     Label: Columbia
     Year: 1980
     Format, bitrate: MP3@320 kbit/s
     Time: 0.48:04
     Size: 96 + 13 MB
     AMG rating:


     All things being relative, this is Weather Report's straightahead album, where the elaborate production layers of the late-'70s gave way to sparer textures and more unadorned solo improvisation in the jazz tradition, electric instruments and all. The flaw of this album is the shortage of really memorable compositions; it is more of a vehicle for the virtuosic feats of what is considered by some to be the classic WR lineup — Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Robert Thomas, Jr. and Peter Erskine. For Erskine, this is is first full studio album and he amply demonstrates his terrific sense of forward drive unique among the other superb drummers in WR annals. "Port of Entry" is a tour de force for Jaco, who knocks off several of those unbelievably slippery, pointed runs that have made him a posthumous legend. There is also a tremendously fun retro trip to Duke Ellington's "Rockin' in Rhythm," everybody swinging their heads and hands off. ~ Review by Richard S. Ginell, AMG

     Artist: Lou Donaldson
     Album: Lou Takes Off
     Year: 2001
     Genre: Jazz
     Format, bitrate: MP3 VBR V0
     Time: 38:19
     Size: 62.7MB
     Original Release Date: December 15, 1957
     Label: Classic Records

     Artist: Various Artists
     Title Of Album: French Essentials: Jazz Produced In France
     Release: Promo Only, Not for Sale
     Label: Sony DADC
     Year: 2005
     Genre: Jazz
     Quality: FLAC (Image+Log+Cue+Scans+Info)
     Bitrate: Lossless
     Total Size: Flac 2x205+96 Mb/MP3 320 156 Mb/Scans 19 Mb (5% recovery)

     Artist: Louis Armstrong
     Title Of Album: Cest Si Bon
     Release date: 1990
     Type: Compilation (best of)
     Label: Starlite
     Styles: Vocal Jazz, New Orleans Jazz, Classic Jazz
     Quality: FLAC (Image+Log+Cue+Scans+Info)
     Bitrate: Lossless
     Total Size: Flac 3x205+7 Mb/MP3 320 205+59 Mb/Scans 20 Mb (5% recovery)
     Total Time: CD1 37:49/CD2 45:17/CD3 41:15

     Artist: Rita Reys
     Album: The Lady Strikes Again
     Year: 1999
     Label: Quintessence Records
     Playing Time: 00:57:50
     Size: 90 mb
     Quality: VBR v0 + covers


     In order to celebrate her 75th birthday, Rita Reys recorded The Lady Strikes Again with the Lex Jasper Trio, the Cor Bakker Trio and the Rosenberg Trio.

     Artist: Various Artists
     Title Of Album: Untinted: Sources For Madlib's Shades Of Blue
     Release Date: 11/18/2003
     Label: Blue Note Records (USA)
     Flags: Collection (Various Artists)
     Styles: Avant-Garde Jazz, Crossover Jazz, Hard Bop
     Quality: FLAC/Lossless (Log+Cue+Scans+Info)
     Total Size: 389 + 6 Mb (5% Recovery)

     Madlib had an outstanding year in 2003. Various remix projects, releases under his several guises, and a collaboration with fellow hip-hop producer Jay Dee propelled Madlib from underground producer with a cult following to a bona fide powerhouse with a large commercial following. But the crown jewel in 2003's output was easily Shades of Blue, which featured Madlib receiving unfettered access to the massive Blue Note archive to reinterpret and remix several label classics and obscure hits. Untinted contains the source material for Madlib's ambitious project for those not willing to dig in the crates to find many of the releases that were never issued on CD, with some never being formally released at all. It's an ideal supplement for those who wish to compare/contrast the originals with Madlib's experiments, and a nice blueprint for those uninitiated in the brilliance of the vast Blue Note catalog. ~ Rob Theakston, All Music Guide

     Artist: Les McCann & Joja Wendt
     Title Of Album: Pacifique
     Release Date February 10, 1998.
     Label: Music Masters Jazz
     Styles: Hard Bop, Soul-Jazz
     Quality: FLAC (Tracks+Log+Cue+Scans+Info)
     Bitrate: Lossless
     Total Size: Flac 203+5,6 Mb/MP3 320 86+5,6 Mb (5% recovery)
     Total Time: 42:15

     Les McCann carried on with his music despite suffering a serious stroke in 1995, although he often needed the help of a second keyboardist. While McCann's first recording after his stroke, Listen Up!, was little more than a workmanlike reminder that he was back, his second, Pacifique, is a joy despite, or perhaps because, of its unusual, stripped-down format. The CD consists of a series of duets where Les comps on Fender Rhodes electric piano, exercises his gravelly voice, and finds a helping hand and soulmate in the rollicking acoustic piano of European keyboardist Joja Wendt. Many of the tunes are remakes, often fine ones, of past McCann rousers like "What's Goin' On," "With These Hands," and a rumbling, scatted "Cold Duck Time" (in memoriam, Eddie Harris). Ever a devotee of the sacred and the profane, Les offers deeply felt renditions of "Amazing Grace" and "Prince of Peace" (formerly known as "The Longer You Wait") almost back-to-back with some lascivious blues, while also celebrating life with "What a Wonderful World." Pacifique is probably the best, most truthful record Les has made in at least 20 years, for at last, the real bawdy, devout, soulful, swinging Les McCann is back. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide

     Charlie Hunter - Biography


     Чарли Хантер, один из обитателей гитарного Олимпа современности, – человек уникальный. Он пришёл в музыку тогда, когда «правильным» считался гитарист с образованием и виртуозной техникой. Хантер же, чьим кумиром ещё с детства был легендарный Джо Пасс, пошёл принципиально другим путём: он решил приспосабливать не себя к гитаре, а… гитару к себе.

     Artist: Earl Klugh
     Title Of Album: Life Stories
     Release date: 30/09/1986
     Label: Warner Bros.
     Styles: Jazz > Guitar
     Quality: FLAC (Image+Log+Cue+Scans+Info)
     Bitrate: Lossless
     Total Size: Flac 204+46 Mb/MP3 320 95 Mb/Scans 7 Mb (5% recovery)
     Total Time: 44:05

     Artist - John Lewis
     Album - Midnight In Paris
     Label - EmArCy
     Year - 1988, release - 1989
     Quality - MP3@320 kbps
     Size - 127 mb (with booklet's scans)
     Total time - 54:43
          


     Recorded at the Church of the Ascension in NYC (incredible acoustics) this is Lewis at his most sensative. Just beautiful.

     Artists: Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
     Album: Ella & Louis for Lovers
     Label: Verve
     Recording Date: Nov 23, 1951 - Jul 31, 1957
     Release Date: Jun 14, 2005
     Format, bitrate: MP3@320 kbit/s
     Size: 123 MB
     Type: Compilation

     Part of Verve's extensive For Lovers series, Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong for Lovers features timeless duets from the '50s including "Nearness of You," "Stars Fell on Alabama," "Moonlight in Vermont," and "Dream a Little Dream of Me." There are plenty of Ella and Louis compilations out there, all of which are fairly good. This one is no exception. ~ Review by James Christopher Monger

     Artist: Percy Sledge
     Album: Greatest Hits Live
     Label: Brilliant
     Year: 2006
     Genre: Soul
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320 kb/s
     Time: 78:00
     Size: 172 MB