Artist: Roger Kellaway
     Album: Live At The Jazz Standard
     Year: November 07, 2008
     Label:IPO Recordings
     Style: Straight-Ahead/Mainstream/Bop/Hard Bop/Cool
     Format: MP3@320 Kb/s
     Time: 61:57, 55:18
     Size: 138.99 Mb, 124.61 Mb



     Virtuoso is a word that’s often used to describe a skilled musician, and I’m probably as guilty as anyone of using it a little too casually. However, this is not one of those times. Veteran jazz pianist Roger Kellaway is a virtuoso by anyone’s standards, and his newest release, Roger Kellaway - Live At The Jazz Standard, provides plenty of evidence of that simple fact.

     The 2-CD album was recorded during a four-night stretch at The Jazz Standard, one of New York’s leading jazz spots, and features Kellaway’s piano backed by an group that’s a little unconventional in its makeup. Present on most of the tracks are guitarist Russell Malone, bassist Jay Leonhardt, and Stefon Harris on vibes. That’s normal enough, but the group is purposely drummerless — and includes Borislav Strulev on cello.

     Artist: Duke Ellington
     Album: Copenhagen Octet Session & Copenhagen Solo/Trio Session
     Label: Image Entertainment
     Year: release: January 23, 1967; June 17, 2003
     Genre: swing
     Format: on-line video
     Time: 57 Minutes

     Duke Ellington stands as one of the prominent figures in American music during the twentieth century. This concert film features footage that originally aired on Danish television. Two different sets are included. The first features Ellington as part of a jazz octet performing classics like "Take the A Train," "Sophisticated Lady," "Things Ain't What They Used to Be," and "Passion Flower." The Second set showcases Ellington at the piano and features renditions of "Take the A Train," "Lotus Blossom," and "Mood Indigo." ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

     В предствленных сессиях принимают участие Johnny Hodges, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney, Cat Anderson и другие звезды эллингтоновского оркестра. Приятного просмотра!

     Artist: Shakti With John McLaughlin
     Album: Natural Elements
     Format: FLAC
     Size: 265 MB (full scans)
     Label: Columbia (Master Sound edition)
     Total time: 39:33
     AMG rating:




     The third and final Shakti recording from the 70s. The songs here are shorter than those on Shakti and Handful of Beauty, but no less impressive. The novelty of combining Eastern and Western musical styles had worn off and McLaughlin sounds comfortable. This allows for memorable compositions and interchanges, rather than the blistering virtuosity that characterized the first two releases. From the intense ("Daffodil And The Eagle") to the joyful ("Happiness Is Being Together"), Natural Elements stands as a milestone in McLaughlin's illustrious career. ~ Robert Taylor, AMG

     Artist: Sarah Vaughan
     Album: Wonderful Music of Sarah Vaughan
     Label: The Wonderful Music of
     Year: 1954-1958
     Release: 1996
     Genre : Vocal Jazz
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Size: 125 MB

ZUZIKI!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!

     Artist:Ed Bickert
     Album:I wished on the Moon
     Label:Concord
     Year: 1987
     Format: Track 1-6:Ape Track 7+8:MP3-320
     Size:170MB

     The cool-toned guitarist Ed Bickert sounds in fine form on this quartet set with fellow Canadians Rick Wilkins on tenor, bassist Steve Wallace and drummer Terry Clarke. Sticking mostly to swing standards (plus Jimmy Heath's "C.T.A.," a Milt Jackson blues and "Somewhere Along the Way"), Bickert varies the tempos while always sounding relaxed and lightly swinging; Rick Wilkins gets in some good spots too. Scott Yanow, AMG

     Artist: Gene Harris
     Album: The Gene Harris Quartet live in London
     Recording Date: 1996
     Label: Resonance Records
     Genre: Jazz
     Size: 115 MB (MP3) or 403 MB (FLAC)
     Format: MP3 @ 320 kbps and lossless FLAC


     Based on previously unreleased tapes provided by his widow Janie Harris, Live in London is also the only available recording of Harris in action with his British quartet. This group performed together exclusively in the U.K., where hometown audience support and remarkable musicianship elevated their performances to match standards set by Harris's previous work. Most of these tunes have never been recorded by Harris before and none have been previously recorded in
quartet ensemble.

     Artist:Various Artists
     Album: He Got Out His Big Ten Inch
     Label: Castle Pulse
     Year:29/10/2007
     Genre: Blues
     Format, bitrate: Mp3,320 Kbps
     Time: 3 CD
     Size: 512 Mb

     This covers "risque blues" from the late 20's to the early 50's. It is the musical equivalent of walking down a dirty dark alley, the Southern heat searing you, stinking of Gin, looking for a broad, and hearing cats in heat yowling and prowling long into night. This whole thing is great and hilarious. Even by our standards today some of these songs are over the top raunchy and would have any PC Moral Cursader blushing and sweating in shame. Music wasn't always innocent thats a myth and this set proves it. There was even some old country music that was dirty back then. Anyways if your a fan of obscure gritty, and raunchy music from the good ole' days get this set.

     Artist: Chet Baker
     Album: Let's Get Lost
     Label: Milan
     Year: , release: 2008
     Genre: Cool Jazz
     Format, bitrate: 320 kbps
     Time: 1:16:49
     Size: 129mb

     At the release of the film "Let's Get Lost", Milan Records offers a retrospective on the most memorable songs of Chet Baker: My Funny Valentine, But Not For Me, You do not know what love is and Let's Get Lost.Chet Baker, as Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday and Miles Davis is a true legend of jazz. His life tormented, the murmur roco of his trumpet and his voice enigmatic make him an icon of the'50s and'60s. Ten years after his mysterious death has begun "the myth"! His past life between Europe and America, clubs, women, alcohol, drugs, have given rise around him an aura of mystery and fascination but, despite its fatal journey to death, Chet Baker has created a musical style that the has finally consecrated as one of the most influential incarnations of the blues. (www.amazon.com)

   Artist: Claire Martin
   Album: Devil May Care
   Release Date: Mar 1993
   Label: Linn
   Time: 49:07
   Format:MP3@320 kbit/s and APE
   Size: 108 MB (MP3) and 243 MB (APE)

   Artist: Itzhak Perlman & Andre Previn
   Album: The Easy Winners And Other Rag-Time Music of Scott Joplin
   Year: 1975
   Release: 1986
   Label: EMI Records
   Format, bitrate: MP3, 320 kbps
   Time: 42:23
   Size: 98 MB

   Originally played mostly in saloons and bordellos, ragtime became immortalized through Scott Joplin's dedication and talent.
   Listening to Joplin's own works in their original piano form and in orchestral transcriptions, I became captivated by the composer's charm and uniquely pungent rhythms.
   Intriguing too was the pervasive classical influence evidenced in both form and harmonic content.
   Joplin's lyrical, often sad qualities suggested the idea of arranging his music for violin and piano. The violin, which naturally displays music's most soulful qualities, surely would be an apt voice for realizing this composer's very individual spirit.
   For these recordings, I chose works which represent Joplin in a variety of moods, joyful, sad or meditative. The exuberant qualities of "The Rag Time Dance", for example, contrast with the more introspective, solemn character of "Solace" or "Bethena" achieved through his innovative use of harmonic progressions and modulations combined with rhythmic pulse and melodic lines.
   At the recording sessions, Andre Previn and I adhered to the original harmonic material and form of each selection. We did take liberties, however, with embellishments as we went along, always in Joplin's basic style.
   Playing in such a manner is always exciting and adventurous. Recording in this way is especially fascinating. In doing the same rag two or three times, we discovered during playbacks that the successive performances revealed quite different moods and embellishments.
   For me, it was especially gratifying to play with stylistic freedom. Such practice was common during the eras of Bach and Mozart, but the classical violinist of today is usually bound by the musical score, which is absolute.
   I sincerely hope that listening to this recording will engender for you the joy and pleasure which A ndre Previn and I experienced in playing Scott Joplin.
   ITZHAK PERLMAN

    Artist: Michel Petrucciani
    Album: Oracle's Destiny
    Label: Owl Records/Sunny Side Records
    Year: 1982
    Release 2007
    Format Mp3, bitrate: 224 kb/s vbr
    Time: 41;52
    Size: 58,9 Mb


    Michel Petrucciani made a flurry of recordings for the French label Owl prior to his 20th birthday, including this solo piano session. He tends to ruminate at length on this set of mostly original works, especially the lyrical but a bit overly long "Oracle's Destiny," as well as the oddly titled and somewhat melancholy "It's What I Am Doing When I Miss You." Another long Petrucciani work is the meandering "Mike Pee" (the nickname given to him the one time he met Bill Evans, before the diminutive pianist spoke fluent English); like the slightly longer version that appears on his CD Date With Time, this piece seems to be a collage similar to the medley "Pot Pourri," which he later recorded for the release 100 Hearts, in that it also includes excerpts of Evans' "Very Early" and the Disney song "Some Day My Prince Will Come."

Aldo Romano's "Amalgame" is a playful post-bop composition that seems to get the pianist to open up a little bit. While it is interesting to hear Michel Petrucciani in his early years, this outing is, at best, average for him, and can be bypassed by most fans of jazz piano, although Petrucciani fans may find this mostly low-key music enjoyable.
    Ken Dryden, AMG

    Artist: Tete Montoliu
    Album: Tete a Tete
    Label: SteepleChase/Video Arts Japan
    Year: 1976
    Release 2008
    Format Mp3, bitrate: 256 kb/s vbr
    Time: 48:51
    Size: 108 Mb



    Tete Montoliu's fourth CD for Steeplechase is primarily a fun-filled trio date with bassist Niels-Henning Шrsted Pedersen and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath, frequent collaborators with the blind pianist. The influence of Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson is evident in his rollicking take of "What's New?" There are some tour de force solo features for the pianist, including Kenny Dorham's "Scandia Skies," one of the late trumpeter's best but still not widely known compositions, and a dramatic, almost dancing arrangement of Billy Strayhorn's moody ballad "Lush Life."

Finally, the 20-minute "Catalan Suite" is a medley of five traditional folk songs from Montoliu's homeland, featuring the trio and as well as a fine solo by Pedersen; it's a shame one can't hear the words that accompany these joyous melodies. This is an essential CD for fans of the late Tete Montoliu.
    Ken Dryden, AMG

    Artist: Bud Powell
    Album: The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 2
               [Expanded]
    Label: Blue Note
    Year: 1953
    Release 2001
    Format Mp3, bitrate: 192 kb/s vbr
    Time: 42:06
    Size: 61,5 Mb
    AMG Rating:




    The influential bebop pioneer (who not only set the standard for bop pianists but largely invented the style) is heard on fine trio performances from 1951 (with bassist Curly Russell and drummer Max Roach) and 1953 (during which he is matched with bassist George Duvivier and drummer Art Taylor).

Highlights include "A Night in Tunisia," "Reets and I," "I Want to Be Happy," and "Glass Enclosure." [The 2001 reissue offers six alternate takes: two versions of "Autumn in New York," two versions of "Reets and I," "Sure Thing," and "Collard Greens and Black-Eyed Peas."]
    - Scott Yanow, AMG

    Artist: Chick Corea
    Album: My Spanish Heart
    Label:Polydor. Polygram Records
    Year: 1976
    Release 2000
    Format Mp3, bitrate: 320 kb/s
    Time: 1:07:45
    Size: 168 Mb
   




    This 1976 release features Chick Corea in what was then, and remains, a unique musical setting. While it is truly an electric jazz fusion record, it is also the only solo recording of Corea's on which he attempted to truly explore the Latin side of his musical heritage. My Spanish Heart marks a full-scale, yet thoroughly modern, exploration in the musical lineage Corea sprang from. Making full use of synthesizer technology, a string section, and synth-linked choruses — of two voices, his own and that of Gayle Moran — as well as percussionist Don Alias, drummer Steve Gadd, a full brass section, and the sparse use of Jean Luc Ponty ("Armando's Rumba") and bassist Stanley Clark, Corea largely succeeded in creating a Spanish/Latin tapestry of sounds, textures, impressions, and even two suites — "Spanish Fantasy" and "El Boro."

The string quartet performs its intricate and gorgeously elegant arrangements with verve and grace on "Day Danse" and on the suites, with Corea's contrapuntal pianism creating a sharp yet warm contrast to the shifting tempos, wild interval leaps, and shimmering timbral balances that occur. The only pieces that sound dated on this double-album-length set are the fusion pieces, which are, with their production and knotty stop-and-start modulations and key signature equations — complete with aggressive arpeggios and scalar linguistics — destined to be limited in expression by the voice of their use of technology. Thus, "Love Castles," "The Gardens," and "Night Streets" suffer from their rather cheesy production despite their tastefully done double fusion semantics (jazz to rock to Latin music). There is no doubt that Corea's musicianship was up to any task he chose at this point in time. Simply put, he was compositionally and intellectually at the top of his game, and this record, despite the many of his that haven't aged well, still surprises despite its production shortcomings.
    ~ Thom Jurek , All music Guide

    Artist: McCoy Tyner
    Album: Double Trios
    Label: Denon
    Year: 1986
    Release 1993
    Format Mp3, bitrate: 192 kb/s
    Time: 1:01:40
    Size: 84,9 Mb
   



    This little-known CD features the masterful pianist McCoy Tyner with two different trios: his regular group of the period (which includes bassist Avery Sharpe and drummer Louis Hayes) and a unit with electric bassist Marcus Miller and drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts. Percussionist Steve Thornton pops up with both groups. In addition to three Tyner originals and Miller's "Sudan," it is particularly interesting to hear the pianist's reworkings of "Lil' Darlin'," "Satin Doll," "Lover Man" and Thelonious Monk's "Rhythm-A-Ning," transforming them into modal masterpieces.
    ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

    Artist: The Three Sounds
    Album: Black Orchid
    Label: Blue Note
    Year: 1962
    Release 2004
    Format: Mp3
    Time: 1:14:02
    Size: 173 Mb
    AMG rating:
    Bubu's Rating:



    Between 1958 and 1962, the Three Sounds were one of the most prolific artists on Blue Note, recording over ten albums worth of material during those four years. During all that time, the group never changed their style much, concentrating on lightly swinging, lightly soulful mainstream jazz that balanced jazz and pop standards with bluesy originals. As time progressed, they veered closer to soul-jazz, but each of their records sounded quite similiar and were equally satisfying.

Black Orchid, their last album for Blue Note in the early '60s (they would rejoin the label in another four years), was no exception to the rule. It displays their knack for deftly swinging uptempo numbers, light blues and sensitive standards. If anything, it swings a little harder and is a little more soulful than some of its predecessors. Again, the very fact that the music is instantly enjoyable and accessible makes some jazz critics write the Three Sounds off, but Gene Harris, Andrew Simpkins and Bill Dowdy are genuine stylists with prodigious technique. It's difficult to make music this consistently enjoyable, and the Three Sounds illustrate that they have the knack once again on Black Orchid.
    ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

    Artist: Erroll Garner
    Album: Erroll Garner Trio
    Label: Dreyfus Records
    Year, release: 2000
    Format Mp3, bitrate: 320 kb/s
    Time: 54:14
    Size: 124 Mb




    Dreyfus Records is a small independent (AFAIK) record label that originated in France but is now operating out of New York.
    They are a specialist jazz label and have a penchant for releasing some unknown new talents as well as classic recordings by the jazz artists we all love. They are also active on the Celtic and New Age music market to a lesser extent. Probably their greatest claim to fame is the fact that they were home to the now world famous synthesizer guru Jean-Michel Jarre in his early days.
    Dreyfus is a true audiophile label with a meticulous attention to detail and quality of both their recordings as well as the packaging and design. A part of their mission drive is educating listeners, getting them hooked on new styles and hopefully leading more people to discover jazz. To do this they have released a huge variety of samplers and reference collection records. The greatest on of these is the massive 'Jazz Rйfйrence' Collection.
   
This album is part of the very nice discovery collection of Dreyfus "Jazz Reference". The sound is marvellous.
    Erroll Garner gives stunning performances with his unique piano touch and his dancing swing. "The Most Happy Piano" for sure!

    Artist: Kenny Drew
    Album: Kenny Drew Live
    Label: Video Arts Music
    Year: 1998
    Release 2000
    Format Mp3, bitrate: 245 kb/s
    Time: 51:34
    Size: 95,3 Mb
   




    Near the end of his long career, Kenny Drew remained one of the top jazz pianists based in Europe, even though his trips to his homeland and recordings in the U.S. were rather sporadic. This 1992 set, recorded at the Brewhouse in England just over a year prior to his death, finds him in great form with frequent collaborator Niels Pedersen on bass and drummer Alvin Queen. Drew's driving hard bop interpretation of Dave Brubeck's "In Your Own Sweet Way" is powered by Pedersen's imaginative bassline, while Queen switches to brushes and Pedersen's playing is more spacious in his richly textured treatment of "It Might as Well Be Spring."

A wild free-form duet by Pedersen and Queen sets up Sonny Rollins' calypso "St. Thomas." "It Could Happen to You" begins with a solo display of Drew's dazzling technique, followed by an extended workout of the Israeli folk tune "Hush-A-Bye," first recorded by Drew almost two decades earlier. A big hit for the pianist in Japan, this fierce arrangement starts with an improvised semi-classical unaccompanied introduction. Recommended.
    ~ Ken Dryden, All Music Guide

    Artist: Erroll Garner
    Album: Impressions of Garner (compilation 3 cds)
    Label: Trilogie
    Release: 2004
    Format Mp3, bitrate: 192 kb/s
    Time: 2:46:21
    Size: 235 Mb



    I always play what I feel. I always feel like me, but I'm a different me every day. I get ideas from everything. A big color, the sound of water and wind, or a flash of something cool. Playing is like life. Either you feel it or you don't.
    -- ERROLL GARNER

    Erroll Garner was a giant among jazz pianists. His ability to spontaneously create great musical works at the piano while performing for an audience was legendary. Inherent in that unique talent was his ability to make a personal musical statement that was as well constructed and logically organized as it would have been if he had preconceived it and planned every detail.

In other words, Garner was a first rate composer who used musical theory and form in traditional ways, yet was inventive enough to create music instantly which contained all the elements of good composition. His music is melodic, rhythmic, rhapsodic, and original. As a musician he was one of a kind
    -- Billy Taylor

     Artists: Oscar Peterson & Nelson Riddle
     Album: Originals
     Label: Verve
     Year: 1963, release - 2009
     Quality: MP3@320 kbps
     Size: 91,1 mb
     Total time: 41:19




     The Nelson Riddle Orchestra was always great enough to play music for film and television soundtracks, and accompany the greatest of stars, including Louis Jordan, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, and Antonio Carlos Jobim, among many others. For the band to back up the 1963 version of the Oscar Peterson trio with bassist Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen might have created some tension, with Peterson always wanting to cut loose and go over the top as opposed to the silky smooth sound Riddle favored. Fortunately, Peterson strikes a balance between playing it cool and lettin' 'er rip on this collection of standards with the dinner hour in mind.

Though not exclusively subtle and romantic, Riddle and Peterson strike a golden bipartisan compromise in rendering these well-known American popular songs into quietly burning embers of pure delight. It's a predictable mix, but so warm and heartfelt that one has to commend the participants for allowing each other their own personal ideas without selling out. Riddle's contribution was to form a unique group, unfortunately all unattributed, of ten cellos (no violins or violas), five horns, three flutes, a harp, and a percussion section.