Artist: Les McCann
   Album: Live at Shelly's Manne-Hole
   Label: Limelight
   Year: 1966
   Format, bitrate: Mp3, 320 kb/s (vinyl rip)
   Time: 37:31
   Size: 88,0 Mb
   AMG rating

   By the time this pianist and bandleader cut this live album in the mid-'60s, he had already been putting out sides recorded in concert for half the decade. The track record presented by this pile of sizzling piano trio sides proves Les McCann is the man when it comes to playing well in concert, from every understanding of that word from accuracy to zest, stopping along the way at both musicality and outrageousness. The last word connects with an indication of time and place that should always be an aspect of live recordings. The location of a Los Angeles nightspot is less important than the times and the fact that they were a'changin'. This was the '60s, so you have song titles such as "That Was the Freak That Was," a reference to both a popular satirical television show as well as half the young people walking by on the street. This was also a period when chops really mattered, so the live recording comes from one single night and is not the result of some kind of careful editing marathon. This is also Les McCann, a guy who is open-minded about how to attract attention, posing inside a manhole for the cover art and kicking off the set with a composition entitled "She Broke My Heart (And I Broke Her Jaw)," a violent notion that might be downright offensive to certain listeners but is also part of a philosophy of naming compositions in which the gimmicky, attention-getting titles have absolutely nothing to do with the music. In this he may have influenced Frank Zappa, yet the subject of the cover photography is a whole lot more interesting. Apparently McCann emerged healthy and unscathed after his encounter with the manhole, which is more that can be said for other performers attempting to stage posed shots of a similar nature. One of the singers from Nashville Pussy is said to have badly burned the inside of her thighs trying to pose on top of a steam grate in Memphis, TN, while Western swing bandleader Hank Gonzalez sprained his thumb attempting to pry up a manhole cover in a McCann copycat maneuver. An orthopedist might not be necessary following an attempt to copy McCann's piano style, yet still many have tried but few have succeeded in even getting close to his sense of dramatic dynamics. The superb rhythm section of Victor Gaskin on bass and Paul Humphrey on drums works beautifully with the pianist, whether the material comes from the original bag or is a standard. "I Could Have Danced All Night" is a tremendous performance, combining aspects of a mainstream jazz nature with a to-the-edge understanding of, for example, the way the rhythm section in John Coltrane's groups was playing at the time. As with all McCann efforts, moderate use is made of vocalizing, leaving most listeners hungering for more. This album is one of the best from this artist's early acoustic days.
   ~ Eugene Chadbourne , AMG

     Artist: Les McCann
     Album: McCanna
     Label: Pacific Jazz
     Year: 1964
     Format, bitrate: Mp3, 320 kb/s (vinyl rip)
     Time: 34:03
     Size: 78,3 Mb
     Bubu's Rating:

     When Richard Bock, president of Pacific Jazz/World-Pacific Records, called me in Toronto, Canada to talk about an album concept he had in mind I didn't know, frankly, quite what to think of the idea. It involved, among other things, the use of bongo and conga drums with my regular group, in an effort to produce a more percussive kind of music. I told him I'd give it some serious thought and see what we could come up with.
     From Toronto we went to New York and an engagement at Birdland. It has been previously decided to record in New York at the Atlantic Studios where Richard would meet me. Earlier, a friend of mine, Pat Harris, had urged me "make sure you go to the World's Fair and see the African Pavillion." Shortly after arriving in New York, I called Pat and suggested we go to the Fair. The show was just starting as we entered the African Pavillion. . . they were doing a "wedding song." It was absolutely fantastic! One of the dancers saw me and nodded hello. A few minutes later the M.C. came down and asked if I'd like to come back to the dressing room area. . . as the show ended and they came off stage, I was introduced to each of them. The feeling in their company was the ultimate of warmness. This was the beginning of a good relationship that inspired me to much eagerness as far as the recording of my album was concerned; I couldn't wait to get started on it! Richard's ideas about a more percussive approach together with my coming in contact with the Zulus proved to be the combination that makes this album unique and for me, very satisfying.
     Later, while we were shooting the cover photo, I met all the Zulus again. I did the usual thing of trying to learn a few of their words, and of course, I had to get one that has a naughty connotation. We had a lot of fun putting each other on. . . I pretended to be their interpreter, in the funny little language I've spoken for years that has no meaning at all. The Zulus went right along with this and we all had a good laugh. . . you see, the thing is, they all speak perfect English!
     I want to say thanks to all the fellows for their help and beg pardon of the people in "Chuck's Composite" Restaurant who were stunned when we all walked in as guests of Norman Griner. . . the Zulus all in full war costume. Later, they put on a show "Chuck's" will never forget. Also thanks to: Corky Tlhotlhalemaje, Joe Ngoetjana, Sidney Motha, Meshack Mosia, Brian Ferdinand, Ernest Mohcomi, Ferdinand Mafata, Herbert Manana and Philimon Hou (Union Artists / Johannesburg, South Africa). . . and, oh yes, Willie Correa.
   ~ Les McCann

     Artist: Various Artist
     Album: Beatles n Choro
     Label: Deckdisc
     Year: 2003
     Bitrate, format: Lossless, FLAC+CUE+LOG+Covers
     Time: 37:15
     Size: 256 MB

     Artist: Blues Traveler
     Album: Live Thinnest of Air
     Year: 2003
     Label: Sanctuary Records
     Time: 196 Minutes
     Format: DVD-rip | AVI/XVID, 720 x 480
     Audio: Mp3, 320 kbps
     Size: 2.51 Gb


     Thinnest Of Air captures Blues Traveler at their annual 4th of July show at the Red Rocks Amphitheater, in Morrison, Colorado. This has been a tradition for the band, and their fans, for over ten years now. This is a documentary style concert DVD, and features loads of behind the scenes footage interspersed throughout the song performances. One the bad side, there is no "concert only" option, which would skip over all of the behind the scenes stuff, but, all of the behind the scenes segments are each assigned their own chapter, which makes it easier to skip past them and get right to the song performances.

     I was only a mild Blues Traveler fan before purchasing this DVD, and still remain so after viewing it a few times. To begin with, I was never a huge fan of the whole "jam band" style. I can barely tolerate the Grateful Dead, I enjoy the Allman Brothers and Gov't Mule, and Phish has some decent stuff, but I certainly don't go out of my way too often to listen to this type of music. Blues Traveler are one of the better jam bands around, and they have their own distinctive sound--thanks to the virtuoso harmonica playing of John Popper. In fact, Popper really is Blues Traveler. His vocals are powerful and unique, and his harmonica playing is phenomenal. I think that any of the other band members, even Chan Kinchla, could be replaced and the band would not skip a beat...

     Artist: Les McCann
     Album: Invitation to Openness
     Label: Atlantic
     Year: 1971
     Release: 2000
     Format, bitrate: Mp3, 192 kb/s
     Time: 51:36
     Size: 71,0 Mb

     The reissue of te classic 1971 Les McCann album Invitation to Openness on CD with the majority of the tunes receiving the benefit of advanced technology. On this recording, the 26-minute "The Lovers" is more illustrative, freer in its essence and translation of the predominant free love theme of the '60s and '70s. Every nuance of McCann's stream of consciousness comes through loud and clear, as do the excellent solos by Yusef Lateef on a wide array of reeds, flutes, and percussion. David Spinozza's electric guitar chops and Alphonse Mouzon's drum and percussion feelings on McCann's completely improvised composition are an auditory delight for fusion fans. McCann adds a couple of piano melody lines and a couple of basslines, but other than that this composition is freely improvised by the musicians. Two other compositions, "Beaux J. Poo Boo" and "Poo Pye McGoochie (And His Friends)" round out the set with both adding different sonorous characters and musical back stories.
   ~ Paula Edelstein, AMG

     Artist: Caribbean Jazz Project
     Album: Afro Bop Alliance
     Year: 2008
     Label: Heads Up
     Format: Mp3@320/kbs



     The Caribbean Jazz Project, the Latin jazz collective of vibraphonist David Samuels, steel pan drummer Andy Narell and saxophonist Paquito d'Rivera, crafted their first recordings on Heads Up International in the 1990s and immediately captured the imagination of audiences and critics worldwide. In the years since, the GRAMMY Award winning ensemble CJP led by Samuels has recorded subsequent albums on the Concord label and a few of the faces in the group's roster have changed. Nevertheless, Samuels and company continue to explore and test the commonly accepted boundaries of Latin jazz - and jazz in general - via innovative compositions and exciting arrangements.
Since their inception less than five years ago, the brassy and high-energy Afro Bop Alliance has electrified audiences at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian Jazz Cafй, The W. C. Handy Jazz Festival and many other music and cultural festivals.
The results were eye-opening, even for the musician who composed the original pieces. "Repackaging something that had been played a lot in a smaller group was a way to see it and hear it in a new light," says Samuels. "You react differently to it. It's a different ball game. It's the difference between playing on a five-man team and a fifteen-man team. And if you're the listener, you may have heard these tunes with the small group, but it's a completely different experience hearing it with this big band."
   Amazon.com

     Artist: Les McCann
     Album: Much Les
     Label: Rhino/Atlantic
     Year: 1968, release 1993
     Format, bitrate: Mp3, 224 kb/s
     Time: 42:00
     Size: 68,0 Mb (covers)
     

     One of Les McCann's greatest albums, Much Les encapsulates much of what McCann did best in his early years, while adding a few novel embellishments — like a string section and Latin percussionists — that enhance his core sound. The results are winning, likable, and consistently engaging, making for an underrated classic. McCann is joined on every cut by his trio of the time, bassist Leroy Vinnegar (who contributes "Doin' That Thing") and drummer Donald Dean, who offers solid, laid-back support. However, it's actually the string section that provides the dominant flavor of McCann's accompaniment; of the six tracks, they appear on all three slow songs, plus — in an offbeat touch — the laid-back soul-jazz of "Doin' That Thing," giving it an almost movie soundtrack feel. Fortunately, the album isn't drenched in sentimental glop; the strings are always employed tastefully to give the music a fuller sound and to provide counterpoint to McCann's economical soloing on the ballads. McCann makes an unspectacular but warmly ingratiating crooner on "With These Hands," his lone vocal number here, which became something of a hit. Elsewhere, he transforms Cole Porter's "Love for Sale" into one of his signature funky soul-jazz grooves, and returns to his gospel roots on the soulful, exuberant "Burnin' Coal," where he works a simple but infectious beat punctuated by handclaps and shouts. So the program is nicely varied, and the richer, more expanded arrangements serve to highlight — not obscure — the McCann trio's command of the groove. That's what makes Much Les such an enjoyable, essential listen.
   ~ Steve Huey, AMG

     Artist: Herbie Hancock
     Album: Herbie Hancock Quartet
     Year: 1981
     Label: Columbia Records
     Time: 68:11
     Format: Mp3@320/kbs


     The old Miles Davis rhythm section reunites, with then-wunderkind Wynton Marsalis on trumpet. The tunes are pretty familiar: two Monk compositions, some of Hancock's biggest hits ("The Sorceror," "Eye Of The Hurricane"), a standard they'd recorded with Davis back in 1963 ("I Fall In Love Too Easily"), and two each by Ron Carter and Tony Williams. But the performances are fresh and exhilarating, with the musicians taking risks all the way through each number. Although still a rookie, Marsalis holds his own, displaying the quiet confidence that later led him to make his famous pronouncements about what jazz is and isn't. Even on old chestnuts like "'Round Midnight," you continually hear something you didn't expect, and roughly 100% of the time, you like what you hear.
   Source
     Говорят, этот альбом стал глотком воды страждущим любителям акустического джаза во времена массового увлечения фьюжн, фанком и R&B.

     Artist: Leon Thomas
     Album: In Berlin (Live)
     Year: 1970
     Label: Flying Dutchman
     Time: 40:52
     Format: Mp3@320/kbs
     AMG Rating:


     Many vocalists of the early 1970s found themselves in the world of spiritual, roots-oriented, consciousness jazz. But none exemplified the creativity of the music like singer/percussionist Leon Thomas. The vocalist and co-author with Pharoah Sanders of "The Creator Has A Master Plan," Thomas married his understandings of jazz and blues with an exploration of different African vocal traditions. While Thomas had a lyrical side, his voice became an instrument unto itself. http://www.jazzsupreme.com/index.html
     Вокалист Леон Томас, хорошо известен любителям как джаза (по его сотрудничеству с Фароа Сандерсом), так и рок-музыки (Томас участвовал в группе Santana в начале 70-х). С Сандерсом он записал "подпольный хит" 69-го "The Creator Has A Master Plan", с Карлосом Сантаной - альбомы "Welcome" (1973) и знаменитый концертный тройник "Lotus" (1974). =>
     

   Artist - Andre Previn
   Album - Previn At Sunset
   Label - Intercord/Black Lion
   Years: 1945-1946, release - 1978
   Quality - MP3@320 kbps (LP-rip)
   Size - 82,7 mb
   Total time - 37:32
   AMG Rating



   Andre Previn was just 16 years old when he recorded the earliest numbers on this reissue, but he was already a brilliant pianist and a busy arranger at the MGM studios. Most (but not quite all) of the recordings that he made for the Sunset and Monarch labels, among the earliest in his career, are on this CD. A major swing stylist who had not yet been affected by bop, Previn is heard on some unaccompanied solos; in three different trios with such sidemen as guitarists Dave Barbour or Irving Ashby, bassists John Simmons, Eddie Safranski, or Red Callender, and drummer Lee Young; amd a couple of jam tunes ("All the Things You Are" and "I Found a New Baby") with a sextet also including either Buddy Childers or Howard McGhee on trumpet, altoist Willie Smith and Vido Musso on tenor. The small group swing performances are quite enjoyable, and the teenage pianist easily keeps up with the other, more famous players. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

     Artist: Ahmad Jamal
     Album: Live in Paris 1996
     Year: rel. Jul 8, 2003, rec. Oct 26, 1996
     Label: Dreyfus
     Type: Live
     Genre: Post-Bop
     Format: Mp3@320/kbs

     Artist: Les McCann
     Album: The Shout
     Label: Pacific Jazz
     Year: 1960    
     Format Mp3, bitrate: 320 kb/s (vinyl rip)
     Time: 42:19
     Size: 97,1 Mb
     AMG rating

     This raw recording, taken live from a club, shows us Les in complete form and verve, performing with his trio some standards, gospels and some own compositions, while buzzing, humming and singing along. He also comments and makes some funny jokes in betweens.
Although the vinyl source, the sound is good and clear.
     If you want to meet the real McCann, maybe even a better collection than the celebrated 69 recording from Montreux, try this one and you won't regret it. - Bubu Hans

     A classic album in the mode of soul jazz piano grooviness that put Les on the map, even back in the early days! The album was recorded live at The Bit, on the Sunset Strip, in LA -- and it features Les' classic group with Leroy Vinnegar on bass and Ron Jefferson on drums. Tracks are short and groovy -- and titles include "The Shout", "Set Call", "Jubilation", and "Night In Tunisia". (Black & silver label pressing with a deep groove.) © 1996-2009, Dusty Groove America, Inc.

     Artist: Jackie McLean
     Album: Hat Trick
     Year: 1996
     Label: Somethin' Else TOCJ 5581
     Quality: FLAC & MP3@320
     Size: 330 MB & 122 MB
     Time: 54:02

     Veteran altoist Jackie McLean was not familiar with pianist Junko Onishi's playing until shortly before recording this quartet CD (which also includes bassist Nat Reeves and drummer Lewis Nash), but he was apparently pleased with how she sounded. Onishi's bop-oriented style (which sometimes uses more complex chord voicings) fits in well with McLean, and the results are generally memorable. Jackie McLean, one of the few hard bop stylists to embrace aspects of the avant-garde, sounds quite advanced on the straight-ahead program. His distinctive tone is unchanged from the 1960s, and he still displays all of the fire and enthusiasm he had in his early days. McLean really digs into his two durable originals ("Little Melonae" and "Bluesnik"), five standards, Mal Waldron's "Left Alone" and Onishi's "Jackie's Hat" (based on "Sweet Georgia Brown"), making this outing into something quite special. Recommended by Scott Yanow

     Artist: Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis
     Album:A love Supreme
     Label: Palmetto records
     Year: 2005
     Format, bitrate: Mp3 320 Kbps
     Time: 41:44
     Size: 78,4 MB

     In 1964 John Coltrane recorded A Love Supreme with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones. It's one of most influential and imposing jazz suites ever written, and on this debut CD for the Palmetto label, The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, featuring Wynton Marsalis, adapts Coltrane's immortal composition to the big band.

     Dedicated to preserving America's jazz heritage, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra is a key component of New York City's Jazz at Lincoln Center program, serving as the highly versatile house band for a wide variety of concert events. The 15-piece orchestra maintains a heavy touring schedule, devoting around six months annually to appearances around the U.S. and at prominent international venues. Additionally, the LJCO participates in many Jazz at Lincoln Center educational events (for both advanced and younger students), and records occasionally, both as their own entity and as a backing group for artistic director Wynton Marsalis. ~ Steve Huey All Music Guide

     Artist: Miles Davis
     Album:'Round About Midnight
     Label: Columbia
     Year: 1957
     Format, bitrate: Mp3 320 Kbps
     Time: 39:27
     Size: 73,4 MB


     Round About Midnight is an album by jazz musician Miles Davis, named after the Thelonious Monk song "'Round Midnight", that was released in March 1957 and his debut on Columbia Records, CL 949. Recording sessions took place at Columbia Studio D on October 26, 1955, and at Columbia's 30th Street Studio on June 5 and September 10, 1956. 'Round About Midnight is widely recognized by jazz critics as a landmark album in hard bop and one of the greatest jazz albums of all time.

     Artist: Les McCann
     Album: Plays The Shampoo At The Village Gate (live)
     Label: Pacific Jazz Records
     Year: 1963
     Format Mp3, bitrate: 224 kb/s (vinyl rip)
     Time: 39:01
     Size: 62,8 Mb

     The title track was most likely meant to be something of a hit for Les McCann back in his early Pacific Jazz years -- and while it maybe didn't hit the heights of the charts at the time, it's still a great little cooker that leads off a tasty little set! The group here is Les' "Ltd" combo -- with Ron Jefferson on drums and Herbie Lewis on bass -- almost a west coast answer to the classic Ramsey Lewis group in Chicago, although one that plays here with a slightly more laidback sort of groove. Jefferson's rhythm is always a treat, and Herbie's bass is nice and sharp too -- and tracks include some good originals by Les, including "The Shampoo", "Smile Stacey", "Someone Stole My Chitlins", "Filet Of Soul", and "You Thought I Knew" -- plus versions of "Out Of This World" and "Woody N You". (Pacific Jazz Liberty pressing. Cover has some tearing of the paste-on near the open end.)
   dustygroove.com

     Artist: Les McCann
     Album: Change, Change, Change: Live at the Roxy
     Label: Impulse!
     Year: 1977
     Format Mp3, bitrate: 320kb/s (vinyl rip)
     Time: 43:33
     Size: 111 Mb

     Armed with an outboard horn section, McCann and his band cut loose at the Roxy club in West Hollywood with a furious energy that owes more to rock than at any other time in McCann's career. The gig starts off with a bang of excitement on the title track, and that streak hardly lets up throughout the record, although a couple of leisurely soul ballads let a bit of the steam out. It's also fun to hear preacher McCann toying with the crowd on "The Song of Love." Alas, the energy turns into overkill on the retooling of "North Carolina," which is far too frantically paced to permit it to groove. Guitarists Nick Kirgo and Steuart Leibig, and the drumming of Kevin Johnson, provide a lot of this rock fire; as a result, the funky side of McCann is not too much in evidence here. by Richard S. Ginell at AMG

     Artist: Les McCann
     Album: Live at Montreux
     Label: Wounded Bird Records
     Year: 1972, release 2000
     Format Mp3, bitrate: 320 kb/s
     Time: 1:19:18
     Size: 183 (cover)
     AMG Rating:

     Having rocketed the Montreux Jazz Festival to prominence in 1968 with Swiss Movement, Atlantic naturally thought they could score again four years later with the super-funky electric edition of Les McCann Ltd. While there were no major hits this time, Atlantic got enough from McCann's set to put out a hot double album loaded with gritty vocals, gospel-drenched electric piano, cooking instrumentals, plenty of his popular protest songs, and a few new numbers such as the driving "Cochise." Backed with stone-tough grooves by Jimmy Rowser (bass), Buck Clarke (congas, percussion), and Donald Dean (drums), most of McCann's performances are at least the equal of his studio recordings, though the inevitable return of "Compared to What" falls short of the pacesetting version of 1968. Eddie Harris didn't turn up this time at Montreux, but Rahsaan Roland Kirk did, wandering in on the middle of "Get Yourself Together," doing a wailing thing like an air raid siren and a funky impromptu encore. For a vivid snapshot of Les McCann at the high noon of his career, this double-LP set is worth scouring the used racks for.
   by Richard S. Ginell at All Music Guide

     This one is from the days when activist politics mixed with real, swinging music. Les McCann was truly the "High Priest" of soul jazz and this album is testimony. Unlike the more famous, 69' Montreaux album which included Eddie Harris in classic performances, this 1972 version is without horn, except for a cameo solo by Rahsan Roland Kirk on "Carry On Brother".Nevertheless, this is powerful McCann on vocal and piano.
   - Amazon.com

     Artist: Les McCann
     Album: How's Your Mother?
     Label: 32 Jazz
     Year: 1967, release 1998
     Format Mp3, bitrate: 320 kb/s
     Time: 49:38
     Size: 113 Mb
     AMG Rating:
     Bubu's Rating:

     Back at the time that the previously unissued music on this 1998 CD was performed, Les McCann was known as a funky jazz pianist who occasionally sang; his famous version of "Compared to What" was a year away. For a purely instrumental trio date recorded live at the Village Vanguard with bassist Leroy Vinnegar and drummer Frank Severino, McCann is heard throughout in prime form. He digs into his typical repertoire of the period, which includes "Love for Sale," "Sunny," "I Am in Love," "Goin' Out of My Head," Vinnegar's "Doing That Thing" and three of his originals (best known of which is "The Shampoo," which is heard here as a brief closing theme). Overall, this CD gives one a good example of how McCann sounded in his early days.
   by Scott Yanow at All Music Guide

     In July of 1967 Les McCann recorded this in New York. That does not matter. I continue to use this music to live by. By that I don't mean emulating the behavior of some musician. I mean, I cook to it. I drive to it. I listen to it on trains and planes. I work to it. I vacation to it. I listen to it without doing anything in at all. This music is restrained, swinging and makes almost everyone within earshot of it lighten up. Les didn't invent the birth of cool, or blues, or swing or any other music that historians can identify and ruminate about. But somehow, he has designed a perfect, timeless music for people to live by. This CD is as essential as water.
   Cordy Swope (Blue Hill, Maine) at Amazon.com

     Artist: Les McCann
     Album: Comment
     Label: Atlantic/Collectables
     Year: 1969, release 2001
     Format Mp3, bitrate: 320 kb/s
     Time: 32:33
     Size: 75,4 (complete covers)

     The godfather of contemporary jazz-soul chills, changing the pace from his electrifying collaborations with Eddie Harris — Swiss Movement and Second Movement — that preceded and followed this mellow set of mostly love songs, which includes four selections from the pens of Helen and Kay Lewis (aka the Lewis Sisters). Two cuts, "Baby, Baby" and "Can't We Be Strangers Again," were originally done by Motown's Miracles and Edwin Starr & Blinky respectively. "How Many Broken Wings" and "What I Call Soul" are the sisters' other contributions, and McCann executes them to perfection. The keyboardist plays with an underlying intensity on Bill Evans' "Unless It's You," while the title track is good hard bop.
   by Andrew Hamilton at All Music Guide