Artist: Keb' Mo'
   Album: Keep It Simple
   Label: Epic
   Year: 2004
   Format, bitrate: mp3, 320 kb/s
   Size: 101MB



   Keb' Mo' is less a blues singer than a performer who works from that conceptual base, not in the way Taj Mahal does, knowingly carrying a tradition forward, half teacher and wise elder, but more as a populist, the James Taylor of blues, say, or a less recalcitrant J.J. Cale. To criticize him for not being Skip James or Robert Johnson sort of misses the point of what Keb' Mo' is shooting for, and like Bonnie Raitt discovered, bringing a modern pop-blues to a wide audience sure beats playing authentic for purists. Either path is as fake or as real as the other in a post-postmodern age where the blues creaks along as a single DNA strand in a world of rap, metal, and neo-soul. All of which makes the blues a strange career path to use to get straight out of Compton, yet that's exactly what Keb' Mo' has done, rising out of one of toughest urban landscapes in the world by covering Robert Johnson songs on his National steel guitar. So enough about whether he's a real bluesman or not, because in the end he has to put supper on the table, and he does it by crafting a warm, wry, blues-informed version of pop Americana that wrestles with contemporary problems like how to pay the mortgage, the high price of coffee, or how to afford a vacation in France. "France," the lead track on Keep It Simple, pretty much states the case with the lines "Wake up Mama/Don't you fret/I found two cheap tickets/On the Internet," which Keb' Mo' sings in a honey-tinged voice over a patented and tasteful blues shuffle. Later, in "House in California," he sings, "Better have good money/If you're looking for a house/In California," and again, he uses a shuffle to hang the news on, looking no further into the past than necessary to put the song across. Keb' Mo' is a solid guitar player, and is a master of the easy, nuanced vocal, and he makes like Denzel Washington on this album, commenting on the little problems and travails of contemporary life with a winning grin and an assured stance that you can't help but like. Is this a great album? No, just a good one, all of a piece with his earlier work, and his debut release, simply called Keb' Mo', is still probably your best bet for a first purchase. That's the album the critics like best because it stays closest to the Delta definition of the blues, and it is a good album, but Keb' Mo' didn't trade Compton for the Delta just to stay there. He's looking for a house in California and a plane ticket to France. Aren't we all? That's the blues, folks.
   

   Artist: Ahmad Jamal
   Album: Chamber Music Of The New Jazz
   Year: 2004
   Label: Verve
   Format: Flac
   Size: 90mb
   Time: 36:00
   AMG Rating:

   This album is unusual in two ways. Because pianist Ahmad Jamal would soon become famous for his piano/bass/drums trios, it is often forgotten that, up until 1956, his group consisted of bassist Israel Crosby and guitarist Ray Crawford. Crawford's percussive hitting of his guitar would soon be utilized by Herb Ellis in Oscar Peterson's Trio. And, although it is know that Miles Davis listened closely to Jamal and often "borrowed" his repertoire, few probably realize that Gil Evans based some of his famous arrangements on Jamal's interpretations. A comparison of "New Rumba" and "Medley" (which is really "I Don't Want To Be Kissed") on this album with Evans' version for Miles Ahead in 1957 sounds nearly identical despite the very different personnel. It is a pity that Jamal would soon change his group's instrumentation since his communication with Crawford and Crosby (heard here on such tunes as "A Foggy Day," "All of You," "I Get a Kick out of You" and "Spring Is Here") was often magical, but he would soon gain great popularity with the upcoming guitarless trio (which was just as telepathic).

   Artist: Roberta Gambarini
   Album: So In Love
   Year : 2009
   Label: Emarcy
   Fpormat, bitrate: Mp3, 192 kbps
   Size: 84 Mb

   Eagerly awaited brand-new recording by GRAMMY-nominated singer Roberta Gambarini! Another straight-ahead winner with impeccable singing, great arrangements and superb musicianship! With Tamir Hendelman, Chuck Burghofer, Jake Hanna, James Moody, Roy Hargrove and more!

   Born and raised in Turin, Italy, to music-loving parents (who had actually first met at a jazz concert), Roberta Gambarini grew up listening to her father's record collection constantly. Her first vocal inspiration was Louis Armstrong, but she soon discovered Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, and Billie Holiday, as well as blues artists like Mahalia Jackson and Bessie Smith. At age 12 she began playing the clarinet, but realizing the versatility and talents of her clear alto, she moved to voice, singing and performing in clubs by the time she was 17. The next year she decided to move to Milan to pursue her career more seriously, and a third-place finish at a national jazz radio competition brought her enough exposure to jump-start her career, sending her around Europe performing at festivals and with other artists, including Hammond organist Emmanuel Bex in 1997.
   In 1998 Gambarini received a scholarship to study for two years at the New England Conservatory in Boston, and soon after arriving she competed, and eventually finished third, in the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition behind Teri Thornton and Jane Monheit. Though Gambarini did not receive a recording contract from this accomplishment (unlike Monheit), it did give her enough performing opportunities that she decided to leave Boston and move to New York, where she could focus better on her music and the scene. In 2006, after years of working and becoming a kind of cult favorite in the New York jazz world, though she was still rejected by every label she pitched her album to, Gambarini started Groovin' High in order to release her American debut, Easy to Love. A collection of standards, the record impressed critics enough to garner the singer a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album, alongside Diana Krall and Nancy Wilson, among others.
   ~ Marisa Brown, All Music Guide

   Artists: VA
   Album: The Best of Smooth Jazz Ever Vol. 1,2,3
   Label: EMI Records Ltd.
   Year: 2004
   Size: 930 mb

Краткая биография русского переводчика с английского, критика, историка джаза, педагога музыкального училища Юрия Тихоновича Верменича.

В дополнение - книга Юрия Верменича "Мои друзья - джазфэны", в которой рассказывается о "организаторах советского джаза в той или иной форме, его невоспетых героях, без которых у нас и джаза-то не было бы", о "джазфэнах", с которыми автор был лично знаком. Среди них Сергей Мелещенко, Валерий Мысовский, Юрий Вихарев, Алексей Баташев, Натан Лейтес, Владимир Фейертаг, Ефим Барбан, Игорь Лундстрем...

ФИАЛКИ по СРЕДАМ (выпуск двадцать восьмой)

   Artist: Granados Trio
   Album: Pictures at an Exhibition
   Label: FSM
   Year: 1995
   Format, bitrate: mp3, 320 kbps
   Time: 58 min, 6 sec
   Size: 143 mb.

   Итак, друзья мои, очередная среда вынуждает меня в очередной раз распахнуть двери моей цветочной лавки и пригласить уважаемую публику послушать классическую музыку. Сегодняшний пост посвящается всем ценителям творческого наследия Модеста Петровича Мусоргского, а также всем, чьё сердце неровно бьётся при звуках классической гитары.
   Итак, выпускники Музыкального Университета города Франкфурта-на-Майне, Christopher Brandt, Elmar Rothe и Rainer Grunz собрались в Granados Trio и исполнили замечательные "Картинки с выставки". Что у них получилось - судите сами. А если Вам уже надоело слушать очередную вариацию на тему ... в репертуаре трио найдутся произведения других композиторов - Исаака Альбениса и Энрике Гранадоса.
   Итак...

      ЗЫ. Ух ты, соточка, надо отметить!

    Artist: Buddy Guy
    Album: Jammin' Blues Electric and Acoustic
    Label: BMG Special Products
    Release: 2003
    Format, bitrate: mp3, 320 kb/s
    Time: 57:08
    Size: 133 Mb

   This live set features the great Chicago blues guitarist Buddy Guy performing some of his best-known material, as well as covers of other classic blues songs, in both electric and acoustic settings. Included are searing versions of "Talk to Me Baby," "Hoochie Coochie Man," and "Key to the Highway," the latter a masterly display of folk blues guitar.
   - Shopper.com

   Artist: Ahmad Jamal
   Album: Poinciana Revisited
   Label: Impulse!
   Year: 1969
   Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
   Size: 101 mb


   On ''At the Top: Poinciana Revisited'' and ''Tranquility,'' which feature the drummer Frank Gant and Mr. Nasser, Mr. Jamal interprets pop hits of the day, ''The Look of Love,'' ''I Say a Little Prayer,'' and even the ''Theme From 'Valley of the Dolls,' '' in inventive ways that respect the integrity of the compositions.
   ~ Ben Waltzer, Arts and Leisure Desk

   Artist - Dave Brubeck
   Album - Dave Brubeck Octet
   Label - Fantasy/OJC
   Style - Cool, West Coast Jazz
   Years: 1946-1950, release - 1999
   Quality - MP3@320 kbps
   Size - 101 mb
   Total time - 47:32
   AMG rating

   From 1946 to 1949, Dave Brubeck was involved in a co-op octet based in San Francisco that was in many ways more innovative than anything he did henceforth, and was also a parallel to the Miles Davis Birth of the Cool sessions. When you listen to this marvelous ensemble, the threads connect between later period 1950s bands of Stan Kenton, Gerry Mulligan, Bill Holman, Manny Albam, Gil Evans, and Bob Brookmeyer arrangers and composers whose music was intricate, involved, and evolved like that of this Brubeck band. The difference is that the members were students of 20th century icon Darius Milhaud, and to a lesser extent Roger Sessions. So the music has a quality that is directly related to fugues, rondos, and especially counterpoint, while retaining the cool bop flavor of California. While many of these players had a certain amount of credibility, they gained much more after the group was disbanded for lack of work. Cal Tjader was the drummer before forming his Latin jazz band and playing the vibraphone exclusively. Alto saxophonist Paul Desmond was just coming into his own, William O. (Bill) Smith played clarinet on this date, and with Brubeck for many years thereafter, and trumpeter Dick Collins was a mainstay in the bands of Woody Herman. It is the arrangements of tenor saxophonist David Van Kriedt that hold great interest. "Love Walked In" sports a clever in and out melody away from the original, "September in the Rain" and "I Hear a Rhapsody" are deceptively subtle, while Van Kriedt's originals "Prelude," "Fugue on Bop Themes," and "Serenade Suite" are respectively soulful, layered with individualism and diffuse. They display extreme intelligent design within a chamber jazz framework. Smith's no slouch in this department as his reworking of "What Is This Thing Called Love?" is a sneaky 5/4 to 4/4 swing, skating around this famous melody. His out-and-out original bopper "IPCA" makes the band sound larger than it is, while "Schizophrenic Scherzo" features the tart trumpet of Collins and Smith's lively, tuneful clarinet. Oh...Brubeck...he contributes a wonderfully engaging circular underpinned and involved arrangement of "The Way You Look Tonight," the epitome of West Coast cool bop. The pianists "Playland at the Beach" is an urban waltz, his version of "Laura" showcases his Erroll Garner-ish piano, "Rondo" is ultra-dramatic and foreshadows his famous "Blue Rondo а La Turk," while his chiming piano during "How High the Moon" is the highlight of a tune interrupted by announcer Jimmy Lyons. The most remarkable aspect of this recording is the incredible interplay ever present, pronounced throughout, and utterly delightful. A strong record full of the intent, purpose, and directives of all the bandmembers, and in many ways far ahead of its time, this is a highly recommended recording that all Brubeck and modern jazz fans should re-investigate, embrace, and take to heart.

    Artist: Buddy Guy
    Album: North Sea Jazz Festival 2002
    Label: bootleg
    Year: 2002
    Format, bitrate: avi, 122 kb/s
    Time: 50:34
    Size: 700 Mb (cover)

   Buddy Guy participated to the famous North Sea Jazz Festival several times. (his last visit in Rotterdam was in 2008). We offer you his 2002 show held on the 14th of July 2002 at Statenhall (19:15 - 20:30 hours local time) which is kinda special.

   The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual jazz festival held each second weekend of July in The Netherlands. It used to be in The Hague but since 2006 it's being held in Rotterdam.
   The founder of the three-day festival was Paul Acket, a businessman and jazz lover who had made fortune in the 1960s with his pop magazine publishing company. When Acket sold his company in 1975, he was able to start up and sponsor the North Sea Jazz Festival. Acket desired to present a great diversity of jazz music to the public, from American jazz to European avant-garde. In 1976 the first edition of the North Sea Jazz Festival took place. It was an immediate success: six stages, thirty hours of music and 300 performances drew over 9000 visitors. Many great jazz legends were presented, like Benny Goodman, Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz...

    Artist: Buddy Guy
    Album: The Complete Vanguard Recordings 3cd
    Label: Vanguard Records
    Release: 2000
    Format, bitrate: mp3, 256 kb/s
    Time: 2:22:49
    Size: 261 Mb (cover)

   Young man leaves impoverished home, heads out to seek fame & fortune, becomes legend. It's the stuff of myth, and it's also the tale of many a blues musician who headed north to Chicago after World War II. One such bluesman was Buddy Guy, who has achieved mainstream success beyond what most of his compatriots have, thanks to his fiery stage presence and undeniable energy that keeps going and going and going. This reissue of his sessions for Vanguard in the late 60s & early 70s, however offers a different flavor; the pieces are smoother and lower-key than Buddy Guy we're used to. . . .

   Artist: Frank Zappa
   Album: Hot Rats
   Label: Bizarre/Reprise
   Year: 1969
   Release: 1969
   Format, bitrate:mp3, 192 kb/s & FLAC
   Time: 47:05
   Size: 42.93 MB & 323.7 MB

REPOST with new links for lossless from Mr. Klovius

   Frank Zappa's first solo album, Hot Rats is a far-cry from the da-da adventures and audio collages of the original Mothers of Invention. Mostly instrumental and filled with long jams between Zappa, Jean-Luc Ponty and Ian Underwood, this slickly-produced album--one of the first 16 track recordings made--is filled with hummable tunes. The opening track, "Peaches en Regalia," is one of Zappa's most enduring songs and the album's only vocal track, "Willie the Pimp," is by Zappa's long-time friend Don Van Vliet, a.k.a. Captain Beefheart.
    ~ Andrew Boscardin