Artist: Anita O'Day
   Album: The Lady is a Tramp
   Label: Verve
   Year: 1952
   Format, bitrate: MP3@320kbp/s
   Time: 36:25
   Size: 68MB


   The sardonic lyric, in fact, is one of Miss O'Day's specialties, as is evidenced in another tune included here - Cole Porter's "Love For Sale" from the 1930 musical, "The New Yorkers". Miss O'Day, it is apparent, is concerned stroungly with lyrics, which may account for the presence of "Speak Low", a song containing the meticulouly chosen words of Ogden Nash; "Speak Low" is from "One Touch Of Venus", a Broadway hit of 1942 vintage. The compilation of tunes herein runs a fairly wide gamut, in fact, also encompassing a jump-for-joy version of "Lover Come Back to Me" and Buddy Pepper's tender hit song of 1953, "Vaya Con Dios". There's even a touch of a more current rage in Miss O'Day original "Rock 'n' Roll Blues". Taken together the songs in this album offers well-rounded showcase for Miss O'ay's husky-throated style, a most distinctive and exciting one.
    From the original liner notes

     Artist: King Oliver & His Creole Jazz Band, Louis Armstrong;
                  Johnny Dodds; Jelly Roll Morton; Clarence Williams
     Album: The Complete Set
     Label: Retrieval
     Years: 1923-1931
     Release: 2006 [Orig. 1996]
     Format, bitrate: MP3@192 kbps
     Time: 53:09 + 60:04
     Size: 75.9 + 85.8 Mb
     AMG Rating

     This superlative set allows us the pleasure of actually hearing Jazz take its early steps;while not to fault Louis Armstrong's own greatness That came later on not in 1923;King Oliver has been one of the most criminally neglected artists in jazz history,and this marvelous release will no doubt force the jazz writers to reconsider,-whether 'Zulu's Ball' or 'High Society Rag',Oliver's capacity for collective improvisation drove these wonderful records.And now with the wonder of CD Technology,we can preserve Oliver's artistry in the new millenium,...so let us not make the mistake of ignoring Oliver like we did last century! Oliver is HERE so deal with it,skeptics and jazz lovers - REJOICE!

    Artist: Andy Summers Trio
    Album: Live In Frankfurt 2001 (a.k.a. Sketches Of Mingus)
    Label: Bootleg
    Year: 2001
    Format: mp3@320kbps
    Time: 01:14:09
    Size: 169 Mb




   Rare live performance by Andy Summers was devoted to jazz after the dissolution of The Police.Sketches of Mingus is not an official record. Is the recording of a concert at the Jazz Festival Frankfurt on October 27, 2001, where he interprets themes Summers Charles Mingus and Thelonius Monk. Summers had already published in 1998, Green Chimneys, an album dedicated to the music of Thelonius Monk and in 2000 Peggy'sBlue Skylight, dedicated to Charles Mingus repertoire.

   Artist: Thelonious Monk & John Coltrane
   Album: Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings
   Label: Riverside
   Year: 1957
   Release 2006
   Format, bitrate: Mp3, 256 kb/s vbr
   Time: 1:40:33
   Size: 153 Mb
   AMG rating

   Hardcore jazzheads with no doubt be delighted with this double-disc set that includes all the recordings Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane did together in 1957 for Riverside. Never mind that the vast majority of this material has been issued several times. There are two cuts that have never appeared before: an alternate of "Crepuscule with Nellie" from the septet sessions for Monk's Music on June 25 and 26 ( with Gigi Gryce, Coleman Hawkins, bassist Wilbur Ware, and drummer Shadow Wilson), and an alternate of "Abide with Me" with just Trane, Hawkins, and Gryce. There are also two tracks — one of them a false start with Ware and Coltrane — of "Monk's Mood," recorded on April 12 for inclusion on the otherwise solo Thelonious Himself album. The remaining three cuts with Ware, Wilson, and Coltrane were taken form the At the Five Spot live recording. Orrin Keepnews compiled this collection and wrote a wonderful and insightful essay about recording this music. It was all arranged chronologically, meaning there are no less than five takes in total of "Crepuscule with Nellie" taking up the vast majority of disc one. For those who have to have absolutely everything.
       Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

   Artist - Illinois Jacquet
   Album - Illinois Jacquet and His Orchestra
   Label - Membran/OLP (orig.Clef)
   Year - 1955, release - 2007
   Quality - MP3@320 kbps
   Size - 79,9 mb
   Total time - 37:04
   AMG Rating
   

   An important if often overlooked transitional figure in the development of the tenor saxophone, Jacquet made a significant contribution to the mainstream of jazz while retaining a strong affinity for the blues of his adopted state. This blues feeling, superbly realized on his first recording of "Flying Home", helped immeasurably in giving rise and substance to the Texas tenor style. His reputation as a wild man of the tenor, based in part upon his time with JATP, is ill deserved. Indeed, although his high-note playing in the up-tempo flag-wavers was a demonstration of his incredible technical ability, almost any concert performance or recording session attested that Jacquet was also a consummate interpreter of ballads.

   Artist: Hiroshi Minami
   Album: Bird in Berlin
   Label: Media Ring MGCJ-1005
   Year: 1997
   Quality: FLAC & MP3@320
   Size: 295 MB & 113 MB
   Time: 50:45

   Artist: Red Garland
   Album: Red Garland's Piano
   Label: Prestige/OJC
   Year: 1956
   Release 1991
   Format, bitrate: Mp3, 320 kb/s
   Time: 44:15
   Size: 110 Mb (complete covers)
   AMG Rating:

   Red Garland's third session as a leader finds the distinctive pianist investigating eight standards (including "Please Send Me Someone to Love," "Stompin' at the Savoy," "If I Were a Bell," and "Almost Like Being in Love") with his distinctive chord voicings, melodic but creative ideas, and solid sense of swing. Joined by bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Art Taylor, Garland plays up to his usual consistent level, making this an easily recommended disc for straight-ahead fans.
   Scott Yanow, AMG

   Artist: Esbjörn Svensson Trio (e.s.t.)
   Album: Live In Paris
   Label: bootleg
   Year: 2005
   Format, bitrate: Mp3, 320 kb/s
   Time: 2:00:37
   Size: 277 Mb (covers)
   Bubu's Rating: *****

   Sweden may not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking about the future of Jazz, but out of the land of caribou and cloudberries comes the Esbjorn Svensson Trio (known more commonly as E.S.T.), a (mostly) acoustic piano trio that is helping to define, as the New York Times wrote, "Not what jazz was but a vision of what it can be."
   Groups like E.S.T. help stretch Jazz beyond the stuffy traditionalism that is choking off the American Jazz scene. They perform enveloped themselves in a smoke machine's dry ice fog and with electronic sound effects. They have enough ties to the past to make for a comfortable transition for those who want to give their copies of Blue Train and Waltz for Debbie a rest, and enough innovation and energy to help move Jazz into the 21st century.
    - The Net

     Artist: Aki Takase & David Murray
     Album: Blue Monk
     Label: Enja Records
     Year: 1993
     Format, bitrate: Mp3, 224 kb/s vbr
     Time: 59:33
     Size: 85,4 Mb (cover)
     Bubu's Rating:

     This interesting duo album (strangely not listed by Al Music Guide) was recorded at TRIXI Studios, Munich, Germany on April 23rd, 1991. The main thing about this album is not only the continous dialogue between piano and sax, dialogue in which the second takes the lead most of the times, but the will to catch the Monk feeling. This isn't only about strong beautiful music (written by one of the most original and innovative jazz composers ever) but also about rhythm. Remember, Monk was usually dancing to the rhythm in his shows, whenever he had the chance and when he was in good mood, of course. As Chick Corea used to say "Monk is not crazy, he is a showman". Enhancing the rhythm, sometimes the saxophone sounds more like a percussion instrument and the piano follows the rhythm wonderfully. An interesting development of Thelonious never ending ways of interpretation and understanding. With the exception of some short uninspired passages this is well expressed music and sometimes interiorized too. Recommended for all jazz fans. - Bubu Hans

      Artist:Fabrizio Bosso
      Album: You Ve Changed
      Label: Blue Note
      Year: 2007
      Fotmat, Bitrate: Lossless FLAC+CUE+LOG+Front Image
      Size: 389 MB

      Italian post-bop trumpet sensation Fabrizio Bosso was born in Turin in 1973. He started playing at the age of five, studying under his father. The young prodigy graduated from the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory of Turin only ten years later at fifteen. While in school Bosso discovered jazz, playing with a big band and in small combos. Upon graduating he was awarded a scholarship to study at St. Mary's College in Washington, where he continued to pursue his new love of improvisation. Starting in 1993, he garnered a national reputation for his flawless technique and exceptionally personal sound, touring under bandleaders like George Russell, Dave Liebman, and the great Steve Coleman. The next year he won Summertime Jazz's Best Band with his quintet, who were soon to make their recording debut. At the age of 26, Bosso's first album as a bandleader, Fast Flight, came out on Red Records. Impressing critics worldwide, Bosso won the "Miglior Nuovo Talento" (Best New Talent) award, chosen in a survey through the Musica Jazz magazine. His second outing as frontman would be for the Blue Note label in 2007. You've Changed furthered Bosso's reputation as one of the most technically impressive young jazz trumpet talents in the world. Biography by Evan C. Gutierrez

      Artist: Terence Blanchard
      Album: Jazz In Film
      Year : 1999
      Label: Columbia
      Format, Bitrate: Lossless FLAC+CUE+LOG+Covers
      Time: 00:68:19
      Size: 402 MB

      New Orleans-born, New York-based composer, performer and instructor Terence Blanchard has scored several films, often in collaboration with director Spike Lee. For JAZZ IN FILM, Blanchard reinterprets nine film themes, from Alex North's 1951 "A Streetcar Named Desire" to Blanchard's own 1995 "Clockers." Freed from the constraints of soundtrack composition, Blanchard begins each piece with a statement of the main theme and goes from there into new melodic improvisations, handled equally by Blanchard's trumpet, tenor Joe Henderson and alto Donald Harrison.
      Henderson is the set's real star, delivering two stunning solos on Bernard Herrman's "Taxi Driver" and Elmer Bernstein's "The Man with the Golden Arm." The rhythm section, led by the great pianist Kenny Kirkland (who died shortly after these sessions), is supple and sympathetic, following the soloists with ease and skill. Despite the somewhat dry instructional title, JAZZ IN FILM is an extremely satisfying new interpretation of film music.
      Recorded at Signet Soundelux Studios, Los Angeles, California on March 17 & 18, 1998 and Clinton Recording Studios, Studio B, New York, New York on April 7, 1998. Includes liner notes by Charles Garmann, Janice Harayda and Terence Blanchard.

      Artist: Bill Frisell
      Album: Bill Frisell With Dave Holland and Elvin Jones
      Label: Elektra Nonesuch
      Year: 2001
      Quality - MP3@256kbps
      Time: 01:06:54
      Size: 122mb

      What can you expect but good things from a date featuring three players of such high pedigree. With Dave Holland and Elvin Jones representing the steadfast rhythm sections of old, and with Frisell's post-modern tones being among the finest voices moving jazz forward, a date like this should easily yield some classic moments. But Frisell comes up with only partial melodies and bare bones sketches for the band to play. Jones sounds at times utterly bored with his rhythm duties, desperate for a chance to stretch out. Frisell himself is often hesitant. Henry Mancini's "Moon River" and Stephen Foster's century-and-a-half old "Hard Times" together offer brief glimpses of levity, but cannot save the set entirely.- John Duffy (AMG)

      Artist: Bill Frisell & Matt Chamberlain
      Album: Floratone
      Label: Blue Note
      Year: 2007
      Format, bitrate: MP3@320 kbps
      Time: 48:26
      Size: 81,5 Mb

      A casual listen might suggest that Floratone is a new Bill Frisell project (and that would be mostly correct), except every indication is that this is a fully collaborative project between Frisell, drummer Matt Chamberlain, and Tucker Martine and Lee Townsend. Composition credits are all shared and they all appear on the front cover. Why is that notable? Because while Frisell and Chamberlain are both credited with "loops" along with their respective instruments, Martine and Townsend receive only "production" credits -- no instruments. That's because on Floratone, the pure elements of sound and space are given as much attention as the music itself. Not only are there cool shimmering loops coloring the tunes, but any musical element can get treated, delayed, bounced around, echoed and twisted through 360-degrees of the stereo spectrum. With titles that invoke the South, the songs mostly float along at a languid pace anchored by the bass of Viktor Krauss. Ron Miles (trumpet) and Eyvind Kang (viola) also contribute to several cuts but don't really figure prominently. The focus is squarely on Frisell and Chamberlain and the soundworld they've created with Martine and Townsend. There's the slight reggae lilt of the title cut with some great dub-style echo and the New Orleans flavored "Mississippi Rising" with its second line rhythm. "Louisiana Lowboat" is somewhat lumbering and clanky, coming across almost like a Tom Waits instrumental. "Monsoon" rocks things up a bit and "Threadbare" gets a bit noisy, but this is mostly a pretty laid-back affair. It's great to hear Frisell messing with the delays again in a big way (see also the "West" disc of East/West) and the pure sonics of Floratone are as much of a treat as the playing. It's pleasant enough for background music, but careful listening will be rewarded. Try this one with headphones. -Sean Westergaard (AMG)

     Artist: Egberto Gismonti
     Album: Infancia
     Label: Ecm Records
     Year: 1990
     Format FLAC
     Time: 01:02:50
     Size: 273 Mb

     Brazilian instrumentalist Egberto Gismonti's dazzling virtuosity is enough to impress, but his compositions aren't just showy pieces built around solo turns. Backed by a trio of synthesizer, bass, and cello, Gismonti creates stirring music that bridges the genres of classical, world, and folk into one soothing, seamless mix. From the weird and mesmerizing "7 Aneis" (which sounds as inspired by Philip Glass as by flamenco) to the soft-fingerstyle guitar playing on "Meninas" to the title tune (where Steve Reich-inspired piano pulsations are the background to some truly expansive string playing), this is a unique disc. Recorded in 1991 and featuring ECM's typically impeccable sonics, Infancia shows Gismonti at his most adventurous. - Jason Verlinde (Amazon.com)