Artist: John Mayall
    Album: Crusade
    Label: London
    Year: 1967
    Format, bitrate: Mp3, 320 kb/s
    Time: 45:43
    Size: 114 Mb (full covers)
    AMG Rating:

   The final album of an (unintentional) trilogy, Crusade is most notable for the appearance of a very young, pre-Rolling Stones Mick Taylor on lead guitar. Taylor's performance is indeed the highlight, just as Eric Clapton and Peter Green's playing was on the previous album. The centerpiece of the album is a beautiful instrumental by Taylor titled "Snowy Wood," which, while wholly original, seems to combine both Green and Clapton's influence with great style and sensibility. The rest of the record, while very enjoyable, is standard blues-rock fare of the day, but somewhat behind the then-progressive flavor of 1967. Mayall, while being one of the great bandleaders of London, simply wasn't really the frontman that the group needed so desperately, especially then. Nevertheless, Crusade is important listening for Mick Taylor aficionados.
   ~ Matthew Greenwald, AMG

   Artist: Yutaka Shiina Trio
   Album: Movin' Forces
   Label: BMG Victor, Inc.
   Year: 1993
   Format, bitrate:Mp3, 320 kbps
   Size: 143 MB (+ artwork)


   Jazz pianist Yutaka Shiina plays with a wide range of musicians and presents energetic live performances in Japan and overseas. His unique touch and sound, and his original compositions, draw large numbers of listeners. To communicate the appeal of jazz, for some years now Shiina has been holding workshops for musically active children and teenagers and performing in joint concerts with his students. Expanding the range of these activities this year, Shiina takes his program to different parts of Japan.
   Zoominfo.com

   Artist: Ann Hampton Callaway
   Album: At Last
   Year: 2009
   Label: Telarc
   Format, bitrate: MP3, 320kbps
   Time: 58:47
   Size: 133.6 MB

   Ann Hampton Callaway came to jazz through a background in cabaret. The rich-voiced alto has a touch of vibrato which she uses effectively. With a fine rhythm section consisting of pianist Ted Rosenthal, bassist Jay Leonhart, and drummer Victor Lewis, she mines the treasures of the Great American Songbook with a personal touch, showing off with a bit of effective scatting in "What Is This Thing Called Love," and delivering a playful "Comes Love" that is complemented by Wycliffe Gordon's gritty, muted trombone, along with a suitably dreamy "Lazy Afternoon." Callaway has a few surprises in store as well. She masters Chick Corea's demanding "Spain" with ease while she uncovers "On My Way to You," a forgotten gem by Michel Legrand with lyrics by Marilyn & Alan Bergman. She proves herself to be a talented songwriter with the soft bossa nova "Save a Place for Me" and the heartfelt "Finding Beauty," both of which add guitarist Rodney Jones and Latin percussionist Emedin Rivera. There are some misfires. Joni Mitchell's quirky "Carey" is an ill fit with the rest of the album, while the dull, narrow range of rocker Stevie Nicks' "Landslide" simply doesn't suit Callaway's rich voice. But these tracks are minor glitches in an otherwise outstanding release.
    ~ Ken Dryden, All Music Guide

    Artist: Various Artists
    Album: Raw Blues
    Label: London/Polygram Records
    Year: 1967
    Format, bitrate: Mp3, 320 kb/s
    Time: 47:01
    Size: 110 Mb (full covers)



   This is not, strictly speaking, a John Mayall album, but rather a various artists album containing among its 14 selections six recorded by Mayall, plus four tracks by Otis Spann, two by Champion Jack Dupree, and two by Curtis Jones. The three expatriate Americans had been recorded in sessions with British backup musicians, including Eric Clapton and Mayall himself. The Mayall tracks include two solo performances, one credited to the duo of Mayall and "Steve Anglo" (Steve Winwood), two pairing Mayall and Clapton, and one with Peter Green. Most of the playing is low-key blues, and Mayall holds his own with the homegrown competition.
   ~ William Ruhlmann, AMG

   Artist: Gil Evans
   Album: Gil Evans & the Monday Night Orchestra - Live at Sweet Basil Vol. 2
   Label: Evidence
   Year: 1984
   Release: 1992
   Format, bitrate: mp3@320 kbps
   Time: 75 min
   Size: 177 MB


   The second volume recorded at Sweet Basil's by Gil Evans' Monday Night Orchestra puts more emphasis on his originals, with rollicking versions of "Jelly Roll" and "Snowflake Bop." The Hendrix outing this time is "Stone Free," and it is almost as relentless in its pace, solos, and arrangement as the previous disc's "Voodoo Chile." Howard Johnson again provides fabulous contributions on the bottom with rumbling tuba, mellow baritone sax, and effective bass clarinet. Trumpeter Marvin Peterson, tenor saxophonist George Adams, and Chris Hunter on alto sax are the top soloists. Evans concludes the discs with a poignant version of Charles Mingus' "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat," capturing the leader's intent to commemorate while also putting an '80s spin on the arrangement.
    ~ Ron Wynn, All Music Guide

   Artist: Ida Sand
   Album: True Love
   Year: 2009
   Label: ACT Music
   Format, bitrate: MP3, 174 kbps
   Time: 52:26
   Size: 65.4 MB

   For the new album True Love (ACT 9481-2), there has been no change of direction. Rather it takes on an even more personal sound than her previous work – one reason for this is that in the interim period Sand has become the mother of a baby girl. ”Some of the songs have to do with my family and my good fortune to have a loving man and a child. But of course, I also sing other pieces that are more about companionship or have social meaning.” Did her pregnancy change her voice? ”Not physically, but my attitude is different, and now it’s even more fun.”
   The production was also a ”family affair”. Ida’s husband, guitarist Ola Gustafsson, is once again on board, just as he was on her ACT debut CD. On True Love he not only plays the guitars, including the pedal steel and dobro resonator; he also takes on the role of producer. The album’s light and relaxed atmosphere has much to do with Gustafsson, who, after all, is a well-known name in Sweden’s pop and rock scene, and he has worked in the USA with Elvis Costello. The permanent members of the band include Per Lindvall on drums, Peter Forss on bass, Mattias Torell on the second guitar, along with guest musicians Peter Asplund on trumpet and woodwind player Magnus Lindgren. ”All the musicians are friends of ours, and we’ve spent so much time over the years at the Atlantis Studio in Stockholm that it feels like our second home – so it was a real family get-together.”
   One can hear how creative and harmonious the whole process was during the recording of True Love. ”We played all the pieces together. I don’t tell the musicians what to play; each one should put their own personality into the music. A song should develop intuitively and naturally.”
   The common denominator running through all the songs on True Love are their deep-rooted emotive qualities. At the album’s core are five outstanding original compositions, each with its own unique approach and direction, subtly catchy pieces that you can’t get out of your head.
   ~ Liner note

   Artist - Oscar Peterson
   Album - Classic Jazz Archive 2СD
   Label - Membran
   Years: 1951-1953, release - 2005
   Quality - MP3@320 kbps
   Size - 278 mb
   Total time - 72:32+56:27

     Artist: Charles McPherson, Carmell Jones , Barry Harris
     Album: Bebop Revisited!
     Label: Original Jazz Classics
     Year: 1964
     Release: 1992     
     Format, bitrate: MP3@320 kbps
     Time: 45:52
     Size: 112 Mb

   Bebop is the thing on this excellent outing as altoist Charles McPherson and pianist Barry Harris do their interpretations of Charlie Parker and Bud Powell. With trumpeter Carmell Jones, bassist Nelson Boyd and drummer Al "Tootie" Heath completing the quintet, the band romps through such bop classics as "Hot House," "Nostalgia," "Wail" and "Si Si" along with an original blues and "Embraceable You." A previously unissued "If I Love You" is added to the CD reissue. McPherson and Jones make for a potent frontline on these spirited performances, easily recommended to fans of straightahead jazz.
   ~ Scott Yanow, AMG

   Artists: Clifford Brown, Max Roach
   Album: Clifford Brown And Max Roach
   Label: EmArCy/Verve
   Year: 1954-1955
   Release: 2000
   Format, bitrate: mp3; 320 kb/s
   Size: 139 mb
   AMG Rating:


   According to the original 1955 liner notes to Clifford Brown and Max Roach, the announcement that Clifford Brown and Max Roach had begun recording and playing together sent shock waves throughout the jazz community and predictions ran rampant about how the two might shape bop to come. The last duo to really shape the music had begun over ten years earlier, with the relationship between Bird and Diz. This recording was early fruit from a tree that would only live as long as Clifford Brown was around to water it (1956, the year of his tragic auto accident). The result is by far some of the warmest and most sincere bebop performed and committed to tape. Brown's tone is undeniably and characteristically warm, and he keeps the heat on alongside Roach's lilting vamps and pummeling solos. What really keeps this record on the orange side of things (other than the decidedly orange cover) is the solo work of saxophonist Harold Land, who plays part Bird and part Benny Goodman. His tone is as delightful as it gets on the sultry "Deliah" and as bop-expressive as it gets on "The Blues Walk" and "Parisian Thoroughfare," where he and Brownie go head to head blowing expressive runs of sheer New York-style jazz. This collection of songs runs a nice gamut between boplicity and pleasant balladry. It represents bop at its best and is recommended for collectors and casual fans alike. [The 2000 Verve reissue includes alternate takes of "The Blues Walk," "Daahoud," and "Joy Spring."]
   ~ Jack LV Isles, AMG

    Artist: Judy Holliday and Gerry Mulligan
    Album: Holliday with Mulligan
    Label: DRG
    Year: 1961
    Release: 1980
    Format, bitrate: MP3, 320 Kbp/s
    Time: 32:52
    Size: 64MB




   Baritone-saxophonist Gerry Mulligan and actress Judy Holliday were an "item" around the time of this recording. Their one meeting on record features Holliday doing some effective singing on eleven songs, mostly lesser-known standards plus four songs co-written by the two leaders. Unfortunately Mulligan's Concert Jazz Band is largely wasted, being restricted to anonymous accompaniment of Holliday, making this CD of greater historical value than of interest to jazz listeners.
   ~ Scott Yanow , AMG

    Artist: Various Artists
    Album: Jazz at the Phylharmonic - Live in Italy
    Label: Rai Tre
    Year: 1961
    Format, bitrate: Video Avi, 101 kb/s
    Time: 42:59
    Size: 350 Mb

            EVERY DAY IS AN OSCAR PETERSON DAY!

   This 43 minutes long black and white video is taken from a television live broadcast of the Italian channel Rai Tre depicting Norman Granz' famous Jazz at the Phylharmonic on tour in Europe live in Italy. The venue is perhaps The Giuseppe Verdi Conservatorio Hall in Milan. While the video quality is quite fair, the sound is a little bit stiffened and has some occasional hicks.
   The whole concert is smooth, professional, inspired and exciting no matter the performers on stage. Oscar's fans will be delighted because the lion's share is taken by his trio.

   Artist: Taraf de Haпdouks
   Album: Maskarada
   Year: 2007
   Label: Crammed
   Format, bitrate: mp3@320 kbps + all covers
   Size: 143 mb

   On this new album (their first studio recording since 2001's acclaimed "Band Of Gypsies"), the world's leading Balkan Gypsy band tackles classical music!
   In the early 20th century, many composers drew their inspiration from national folklore, often borrowing from Roma musicians to create their own vision of an exotic and largely imaginary Orient. Things have now been turned around, as one of the world's leading Gypsy bands have taken hold of classical pieces by Bartуk, Khachaturian, Albeniz & more, and have "re-gypsyfied" them, giving them an exhilarating make-over. Starting out in a concert hall, Maskarada takes us through various stages which inevitably lead back to the type of repertoire for which the Taraf de Haпdouks are known and loved.
   We first imperceptibly move into a cabaret, where Gypsy musicians have long been adapting classical pieces to entertain their audiences during the early hours of the night. We're treated to a piece featuring distinguished singer/cymbalum player Virginica Dumitru (the first-ever female Taraf guest instrumentalist) and to an interpretation of "Les Portes de la nuit" (written by French composer Kosma for the soundtrack of the eponymous 1946 film by Marcel Carnй). The mood gradually heats up and the album closes on a wild finale.
   Crammed.be