Artist: Chet Baker
     Album: Cool Cat
     Label: Timeless CDSJP-262
     Quality: MP3 @ 256kbps
     Size: 82mb (RS.com) with cover
     Audio CD: January 1, 1989
     Recorded 17-18 December, 1986, at Studio 44, Monster, Holland
     Time: 43:46


     In the 1980's, Chet sang a lot during performances, mostly to rest his chops between trumpet solos. But Chet really did like to sing, and you'll hear some of his best here. Sometimes his vocals get so soft you have to turn up the volume just to hear him. Once again, Chet has surrounded himself with excellent musicians, particularly the great Harold Danko. Danko and Jon Burr also contribute some original material for Chet. I love the old standards, but I wish there were more tunes from those guys on this CD. - chetbakertribute.com

     Artist: Robben Ford & The Blue Line
     Album: The Authorized Bootleg
     Label: Blue Thumb Records
     Year: 1998
     Genre: Blues
     Format: mp3, 320kb/s
     Time: 51:51
     Size: 127 Mb

     Предлагается бутлег от Robben Ford. Обожаю звук вне студии. Искрений и свежий.

     This is a keeper from the word "go." Recorded live in 1995 (but not released until 1998) at Yoshi's in Oakland, CA, Robben Ford is joined by long-time Blue Line trio members Roscoe Beck on bass and Tom Brechtlein on drums, as well as Bill Boublitz on a baby grand piano. Although nearly all of the songs can be found on other Ford albums (most are from Handful of Blues), one of the things that makes this jazzy recording so special is that Ford is playing only an acoustic guitar. The Ray Charles gem "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" (which you WON'T find elsewhere) is simply beautiful, and on Paul Butterfield's "Lovin' Cup," it's just Ford and his guitar. The brilliance of his playing and the reason behind why so many guitar players put him at the top of their list can be found in Ford's performance on this release, alternating between lead and rhythm. The Authorized Bootleg also has great (albeit laid-back) versions of "When I Leave Here" and "Tired of Talkin'." Highly, highly recommended. ~ Ann Wickstrom, All Music Guide

     Artists: Bill Evans Trio with Stan Getz
     Album: But Beautiful
     Year: 1974
     Genre: Jazz / cool, modal
     Format: Compilation, live
     Quality: MP3 @ 320kbps
     Size: 147mb (RS.com) with covers
     Time: 66:48
     Label: Milestone
     AMG Rating: 4 Stars


     Aside from a series of studio sessions a decade earlier for Verve, this CD represents the only other meeting featuring Stan Getz with pianist Bill Evans. Originally issued by the notorious bootleg label Jazz Door with six selections from a Laren, Holland concert in 1974, Milestone acquired the masters for a legitimate release and added four bonus tunes from a concert in Antwerp, Belgium a week later.

     Artist: Various Artists
     Album: Murakami Haruki's Jazz Mood
     Label: Hai Yang International
     Year: 2008
     Format, bitrate: MP3@320 kbps
     Time: 93:41
     Size: 76.3x2 + 54 Mb

     Artist: Stanley Turrentine
     Album: Salt Song
     Year: rec.Jul 7, 1971-Jul 13, 1971 / rel.1997
     Label: CTI
     Format: MP3@320 Kb/s
     Time: 42:39
     Size: 94.84 Mb
     AMG rating:

     Artist: Junior Wells
     Album: Undisputed Godfather Of Blues
     Label: GBW Records
     Year: 1993 release
     Gentre: Blues
     Format, bitrate: mp3 320
     Time: 46:27
     Size: 107MB




     About half is a decent Junior Wells album. The other half's mired in hopelessly overdone standards that we've heard a few too many times before -- but every once in a while, he exhibits signs of the old fire. ~ Bill Dahl, All Music Guide [

     Artist: Dexter Gordon
     Album: Take The 'A' Train
     Year: 1967
     Label: Black Lion
     Format: MP3 @320 kbps
     Size: 159 mb (RS.com)
     AMG:

     During a two-day period (July 20-21, 1967) tenor-saxophonist Dexter Gordon and his quartet (pianist Kenny Drew, bassist Niels Pederson and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath) recorded enough music to fill up three CDs, all of which have been released by the English Black Lion label. Four of the six standards on this hard-swinging set ("But Not for me," "Take the 'A' Train," "Blues Walk" and "Love for Sale") are over ten minutes long while the other two ("For All We Know" and "I Guess I'll Have to Hang My Tears out to Dry" are a little more concise). Throughout, Dexter Gordon is in consistently creative form, making this CD well worth getting by his fans. -- Allmusic.com

REPOST! Dexter Gordon - a 'Long Tall Dexter' - one of the first bebop tenor players - was born today, February 27, 1923!

     Artist: Oliver Nelson
     Album: Meet Oliver Nelson
     Genre: post-bop, hard bop
     Recording Date: October 30, 1959
     Quality: MP3 @ 320kbps
     Size: 85mb (RS.com) with covers
     Time: 36:34
     Label: New Jazz / OJC

     Oliver Nelson's debut as a leader found him at the age of 27 already a distinctive and skilled tenor-saxophonist. For this quintet set (reissued on CD in the OJC series), Nelson teams up with the veteran trumpeter Kenny Dorham, pianist Ray Bryant, bassist Wendell Marshall and drummer Art Taylor for four of his originals plus the ballads "Passion Flower" and "What's New." Although none of these Nelson tunes caught on, this was an impressive beginning to a short but productive career and gives one a strong example of the multi-talented Nelson's tenor playing. - AMG

     Artist: John Patitucci
     Album: Line By Line
     Label: Concord Jazz
     Year: Oct 03, 2006
     Format: MP3 320 kbps
     Time: 60:07
     Size: 166 MB

     Музыка на альбоме, по большей части полифоническая, требующая сосредоточенного вдумчивого прослушивания. Басовые партии, как всегда у Патитуччи, восхитительные. Джаз с элементами классики. Наличие струнной группы в сочетании с неторопливым движением, создаёт ассоциативные ряды с музыкой средневековья. На мой взгляд при этом, очень современная работа, отражающая духовную христианскую жизнь, этого гениального музыканта.
John Patitucci's Line by Line is mostly a quiet and thoughtful affair. The music is adventurous but often lyrical, with Patitucci being a key soloist but not completely dominating the performances, giving his sidemen plenty of space of their own. This CD was nominated in 2007 for a Grammy award as Best Jazz Instrumental Album.

     Artist: Count Basie
     Album: Count Basie At The Savoy Ballroom (compilation live)
     Label: Everest/Grammercy Records
     Year: 1938, release 2003
     Genre: jazz
     Format Mp3, bitrate: 224 Kb/s vbr
     Time: 28:47
     Size: 47,0 Mb

     Owned by Moe Gale, a Jewish man, and managed by Charles Buchanan, a black man, the Savoy Ballroom opened its doors on March 12, 1926 right in the middle of Harlem, between 140th and 141st Streets on Lenox Avenue. The vision of the two young men created one of the first racially integrated public places in the country, which proved to be a wise business decision as well, attracting a wide range of clientele. Billed as the "World's finest ballroom," the Savoy was complete with large luxurious carpeted lounges and mirrored walls. The block long ballroom had two bandstands, colored spotlights and a spring-loaded wooden dance floor. Approximately 700,000 customers visited the ballroom annually and, consequently, the floor had to be completely replaced every three years.
     Count Basie took his "up and coming" bluesy big band into the Savoy Ballroom on January 16th, 1938. - Savoyplaque.org
This album contains three nearly impossible to find cuts previously unissued on Compact Disc and featuring the incomparable Billie Holiday! These tracks remained almost unheard for many decades and until now have only been available on vinyl. Backed by the Count Basie Orchestra and recorded at the Savoy Ballroom Billie Holiday gives a sizzling performance of "Swing Brother Swing". Also Included is a vocal appearance by James Rushing. These Recordings though sometimes rough due the limitations of early recording technology are being presented here due to their historical significance, some surface noise may appear. This is REAL music being played live by REAL musicians that were amazing at what they did. I think fans of either Billie or Basie should give this album a try, especially if you're a diehard lover of either of them. - Amazon.com

     Artist: Count Basie
     Album: The Legend (From The Pen Of Benny Carter) - compilation
     Label: Roulette Birdland/Capitol
     Year: 1962
     Genre: jazz
     Format Mp3, bitrate: 224 Kb/s vbr
     Time: 33:29
     Size: 51,2 Mb
     AMG Rating:

     Benny Carter, whose combination of highly developed talents as composer, arranger, bandleader and soloist on a variety of instruments was unmatched in the jazz world,
Benny Carter's career was remarkable for both its length and its consistently high musical achievement, from his first recordings in the 1920's to his youthful-sounding improvisations in the 1990's. His pure-toned, impeccably phrased performances made him one of the two pre-eminent alto saxophonists in jazz, with Johnny Hodges, from the late 1920's until the arrival of Charlie Parker in the mid-1940's. He was also an accomplished soloist on trumpet and clarinet, and on occasion he played piano, trombone and both tenor and baritone saxophones.
     He helped to lay the foundation for the swing era of the late 1930's and early 40's with arrangements he had written a decade earlier for his own big band and the orchestras of Fletcher Henderson and Chick Webb, as well as for Benny Goodman before Goodman was acclaimed as the King of Swing. He later contributed arrangements and compositions to Glenn Miller and Count Basie.
     From 1929 to 1946, Mr. Carter led big bands sparkling with young talent. His band in the early 1930's included the pianist Teddy Wilson, the saxophonist Chu Berry, the trombonist J. C. Higginbotham and the drummer Sid Catlett. A decade later, his contingent of future jazz stars included the trombonists J. J. Johnson and Al Grey, the trumpeter Miles Davis and the drummer Max Roach.
     His compositions included ''Blues in My Heart,'' ''When Lights Are Low,'' ''Blue Star,'' ''Lonesome Nights,'' ''Doozy'' and ''Symphony in Riffs.'' Beginning in the early 1940's, he composed and orchestrated music for films, and from the late 50's he also composed for television. ~ The Webb

     This are rare recordings not yet issued on CD. Basie & his orchestra are at the peak of their skills put into service to the beautiful Carter compositions. Benny himself is playing in the band. A relaxing enjoyable recording, recommended to all big band fans. ~ Bubu Hans

     Исполнитель: Freddie Keppard
     Альбом: The Complete F.K.Heritage ('23-'27)
     Год выпуска: 1923-1927
     Лейбл: King Jazz
     Жанр: Jazz
     Стиль: Classic Jazz, New Orleans Jazz
     Формат: APE & MP3 (320 Kb)
     Количество композиций: 25
     Время звучания: 69:51
     Размер: 277 Mb (APE, Scans), 163 Mb (MP3, Scans)

REPOST! Freddie Keppard - an early jazz cornetist - was born today, February 27, 1890!

     Artist: Count Basie
     Album: Farmer's Market Barbecue
     Label: Original Jazz Classics/APO
     Year: 1982, release 2001
     Genre: jazz
     Format Mp3, bitrate: 256 Kb/s vbr
     Time: 40:42
     Size: 52,9 Mb

     This was an excellent outing by the Count Basie Orchestra during its later years. Actually, half of this album features a medium-sized group from Basie's big band, but his orchestra usually had the feel of a small group anyway. Soloists at this late stage include Eric Dixon and Kenny Hing on tenors, trombonist Booty Wood, altoist Danny Turner and four different trumpeters. The rhythm section is of course instantly recognizable and the music is very much in the Basie tradition. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

     Artist: Oregon
     Album: Oregon (ECM Touchstones)
     Label: ECM
     Year: 1983
     Genre: Jazz
     Format: mp3
     Size: 105 MB

     First ECM date for the Oregon quartet , pioneer band in the trans-cultural zone, in the original line-up with Ralph Towner, Collin Walcott, Paul McCandless and Glen Moore.

     This album is part of the ECM TOUCHSTONES series: Great music and full-dimensional sound at an attractive price, in cardboard covers with original artwork

     Artist: Andy Bey
     Album: Ballads, Blues & Bey
     Label: Evidence
     Year: 1996
     Genre: Jazz, Vocal Jazz
     Format: mp3, 224 kbps
     Size: 93 MB

     Andy Bey was 56 when he recorded Ballads, Blues and Bey in 1995, and despite the fact that his voice had more rough edges than it did in the 1960s and '70s, he still had an impressive range and was among jazz's most expressive male singers. For this project, the Newark, NJ native didn't employ a band -- his only accompaniment is his own acoustic piano, and this spare, intimate approach really makes Bey's heartfelt vocals stand out on such chestnuts as "Someone to Watch Over Me," "Embraceable You" and "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To." This time, the Duke Ellington songbook is a high priority for Bey, who demonstrates how marvelous an interpreter of lyrics he is on "In a Sentimental Mood," "Day Dream" and other Ellington gems. Unfortunately, Bey still wasn't nearly as well known in jazz circles as he deserved to be, and he continued to be one of the great unsung heroes of jazz singing. Alex Henderson, AMG

     Artist: Count Basie
     Album: Afrique
     Label: Flying Dutchman
     Year: 1970
     Genre: jazz
     Format Mp3, bitrate: 192 Kb/s
     Time: 37:36
     Size: 54 Mb
     AMG rating:

     In late 1970, more than 35 years into his career as a bandleader, Count Basie, working with producer Bob Thiele and arranger/conductor/saxman Oliver Nelson, went into the studio and cut this album of big band blues built on recent compositions -- and they made it sound cutting-edge and as urgent as anything the man had ever turned his talent toward. Basie and company got a Grammy nomination for their trouble on this, their most modern recording (right down to the use of electric bass on half the cuts), but never went down this road again. Ironically, along with The Atomic Mr. Basie album on Roulette, Afrique is one of a handful of absolutely essential post-big band-era albums by him. The band moved into new and novel territory for them, both musically and thematically, Hubert Laws' flute soaring gently over the group on a conga- and bongo-ornamented rendition of "Gypsy Queen" and Nelson's own sax sounding almost like a human voice on Albert Ayler's "Love Flower." "Afrique," "Kilimanjaro," and "African Sunrise" comprise an African-flavored suite that intersects with the modern soul instrumental amid some bluesy riffs on flute, saxes, horns, and piano, with Basie's keyboard (especially on the gorgeous "African Sunrise") adding just that final bit of understated invention to this swinging excursion across foreign fields. The album ends with Pharoah Sanders' "Japan," a wild ride across the East highlighted by Laws' exquisite flute and a driving performance by percussionists Harold Jones, Richard Pablo Landrum, and Sonny Morgan and an awesome finale on the saxes and trombones. ~ Bruce Eder, AMG

     Artist: Robben Ford
     Album: Keep On Running
     Year: 2003
     Genre: Blues
     Format: mp3, 320kb/s
     Time: 48:58
     Size: 114Mb

     Музыка Robben Ford завораживает меня легкой виртуозностью и мелодизмом. Он выше жанровых штампов! Профессор гитары!

     On his second album for the Concord Jazz label, guitarist Robben Ford stays pretty much to the formula of Blue Moon from 2001. He concentrates on playing, singing, and covering great songs (and even writes a few) with interesting arrangements, inspired solos, and crisp, clean production that lets the song shine through the players. Much has been made of Ford's eclecticism and that is reflected in his choice of material here, though he never strays from the blues or R&B into jazz or fusion. Ford's selection of session players reflects his divergent interests as well: Edgar Winter appears on saxophone, while John Mayall and Ivan Neville guest along with horn bosses Bob Malach and Dan Fornero and Ford's road band. Opening the set with the title track, written by soul man Jackie Edwards, Ford lays out his formula immediately: a tight horn chart for tenor and baritone saxes, as well as trumpet; a crystal clear, expressive vocal delivery; and Ford's signature stinging guitar in the solo break lifts proceedings off on the up tip. The funky read of the Al Perkins/Otis Rush jam "Homework" features some blistering yet tasteful guitar work and a soulful vocal from Ford. But the two covers that proceed immediately thereafter through the entire album into the winds: first there is a beautiful and reverent version of "Badge" by Eric Clapton and Ford's former boss George Harrison as a tribute to the late guitarist, and a radical read of Nick Lowe's classic "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding" with Mavis Staples singing a duet vocal.

First there is the strange intro, a direct quote from Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight," then there is the slow, shuffling reggae in the main body of the tune while retaining the melody. It is unsettling, to say the least, with only Ivan Neville's chunking chords on the electric piano keeping some of the tune dirty and immediate. But despite its different read, it is full of depth and dimension. The song almost becomes a prayer with Staples echoing each line and Ford sticking very emotionally close to the lyric. Other standouts on this set include Ford's tribute to Freddie King, "Cannonball Shuffle," the lone instrumental on the set; the Gamble & Huff redo "For the Love of Money," with a killer backing chorus of Neville, Terry Evans, and Ray Williams; and the funky, midnight broken-hearted blues of "Bonnie," written with Bonnie Hayes. Ford's been on the scene a long time, made a lot of great music, and has confused his fans and detractors alike. But this role, that of the amiable, street-savvy urban bluesman seems to suit him best judging by Blue Moon first and Keep on Running, but Keep on Running is even more convincing, being so consistently presented and wonderfully, soulfully wrought. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

     Artist: Benjamin Herman (with Stan Tracey)
     Album: The London Session
     Label: Dox
     Year: 30 Oct 2006
     Quality: mp3@320 kbps
     Size:94 mb
     Total time 52.49

     Benjamin Herman’s cd ‘The London Session’ was recorded with trombonist Bart van Lier and the trio of the legendary English pianist Stan Tracey. '

     The London Session' was released on 25 september 2006 by Dox Records. As one of Holland’s ground-breaking jazz musicians, Benjamin Herman is a much sought-after soloist. He's a player who's cut more than his share of jazz work over the years and a.o. known for playing with New Cool Collective, Han Bennink and Paul Weller. Also he appeared on over a hundred records with all kind of artists, from Misha Mengelberg to Candy Dulfer.

     In 2005 Benjamin was invited to progamme Rotterdam’s International Jazz Festival and being a huge fan of Stan Tracey, he managed to track Stan down for a gig together with Dutch trombonist Bart van Lier. After this succesfull show Benjamin asked Stan to record a album with him and so the London Session was a fact. An album especially for people who love music in it’s purist form!

     Artist: Count Basie
     Album: Warm Breeze
     Label: Pablo/OJC
     Year: 1981, release 1998
     Genre: Jazz
     Format Mp3, bitrate:256 kb/s vbr
     Time: 42;52
     Size: 59,2 Mb

     This big-band album finds Count Basie (at age 77) and his orchestra performing seven charts by longtime friend Sammy Nestico, including six originals and "Satin Doll." Trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison sits in on "How Sweet It Is" and trumpeter Willie Cook has a couple of strong spots, but it is the classic Basie ensemble sound that is this enjoyable studio session's strongest asset. ~ Scott Yanow, AMG