Artist - Stan Getz
     Album - The Girl From Ipanema - The Bossa Nova Years (4CD)
     Label - Verve
     Year - 1962, release - 1989
     Quality - MP3@320kb/s
     Size: 144+99,8+112+115 mb
     Total time - 66:49+46:22+52:19+53:38
     





This five-LP box set (which has been reissued on CD) contains nearly all of Stan Getz's classic bossa nova sessions, five wonderful yet diverse LPs (Jazz Samba, Big Band Bossa Nova, Jazz Samba Encore, Stan Getz/Laurindo Almedia, and Getz/Gilberto). The cool-toned tenor is heard on his groundbreaking collaboration with guitarist Charlie Byrd (which resulted in the best-selling "Desafinado"), is showcased with a big band arranged by Gary McFarland (introducing "No More Blues" and "One Note Samba"), stars in recordings with guitarists Laurindo Almeida and Luiz Bonfa, and is heard at the famous meeting with composer/pianist Antonio Carlos Jobim, guitarist Joгo Gilberto, and singer Astrud Gilberto, which resulted in the major hit "The Girl From Ipanema." This essential set finishes off with three previously unissued performances from a 1964 Carnegie Hall Concert, concluding with a remake of "The Girl From Ipanema." These recordings stand as proof that it is possible for good music to sell.

     Artist: Johnny "Hammond" Smith
     Album: The Stinger
     Year: 1965
     Label: Prestige
     Genre: Soul-Jazz, Hard Bop
     Format, bitrate: MP3@320 kb/s
     Time: 32:41
     Size: 75,4 MB(+5% recovery)
     Recorded by Rudy Van Gelder

     Artist:Bobo Stenson
     Album:Cantando
     Label:Universal Japan
     Year:2008
     Format:mp3, 320kbs
     Size:195mb (95+95+5)



     The Swedish pianist Bobo Stenson possesses a highly pianistic touch, similar to Keith Jarrett's but far more elegant and reserved than that of his American peer. Clocking in at 78 minutes, Stenson's latest trio session, CANTANDO, is a lengthy recital yet still varied in its distinctive choice of material--Astor Pizzaolla, Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, even Alban Berg ("Lebesode")! Exquisitely produced by Manfred Eicher, the disc reveals a shifting tonal palette of subtle greys, whites, and blacks, with highly nuanced musicianship to match. Stenson is aided in his explorations by the able duo of bassist Anders Jormin (who also contributes two fine originals, "Wooden Church" and "M") and the deft percussionist, Jon Falt. Stenson's ruminative brand of improvisation can best be described as aristocratic Euro-jazz, ideal for those meditative afternoons at home or the cafe. ~ cduniverse.com

Artist: Joe Henderson
Album:Big Band
Label:Verve
Year: 1992
Format, bitrate: MP3, 320kb/s
Time:: 60:05
Size: :102 MB
AMG rating

On this 1996 recording, improbably the first to ever feature him leading a big band, the inimitable Joe Henderson assembled nine compositions (seven of which were self-penned) and a topnotch band for a very interesting record. Volumes have been written about Henderson as a soloist but, on Big Band, even the longest-term Henderson fan gets to hear his prodigious skills as a big band arranger for the first time. Influenced by Bill Holman and Bill Russo as much as by classical composers Igor Stravinsky and Bela Bartok, his charts are cool and sophisticated. Of course, Henderson's cause is helped by the absolutely unquestioned majesty of the core material, as well as a fine batch of co-soloists, including Chick Corea, Christian McBride, and Freddie Hubbard. The Slide Hampton-arranged "Isotope" is one of the finest moments on the record, with an almost amusingly dramatic introduction that evokes a film noir score before it accelerates into the famous theme. Corea's solo is absolutely masterful, a headlong rush into nothingness that somehow manages to land on its feet. When laid side by side, his solos often outstrip the leader's in their inventiveness and capability to draw the listener into the song. This is not, however, to downplay the contributions of the leader as a soloist; Henderson's tenor is as lovely as ever. Fantastic solos notwithstanding, it is the wonderful arrangements of these deservedly classic songs that make this album so valuable. Listen to the Robin Eubanks-led trombone section in "A Shade of Jade" for a quick taste of what it sounds like when everything about a big band comes together just so. There is not a lot to dislike about Joe Henderson's first recorded foray into big-band arranging. Recommended.

   Artist: Brad Mehldau
   Album: The Art Of The Trio, Vol. 4: Back at the Vanguard
   Release: 2005
   Label: Nonesuch
   Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kbs   Time: 76min
   Size: 173mb




      Appearing just three months after Brad Mehldau's elegant solo piano album Elegiac Cycle, Art of the Trio, Vol. 4: Back to the Vanguard provides a remarkable contrast to the refined, cerebral, hypnotic affair that was released before it. Not that the performances on Back to the Vanguard aren't hypnotic, since they're utterly captivating. The difference is that this live recording captures exactly how vital and impassioned Mehldau's playing is. Working with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy, he turns these songs -- including three originals, one Miles Davis number, two standards, and Radiohead's "Exit Music" -- inside out, finding the heart of the song, and exploring a bewildering array of variations of the themes and chords. This music surges forward, unhinged and forceful, complex but completely accessible. Mehldau spends much of his liner notes on the defensive, explaining how many jazz critics have misread his music. He has a point -- he has often been ghettoized as a jazz intellectual, but as this exceptional album proves, there is considerable emotion and feeling and plain excitement behind his music, even during the mesmerizing quiet sections.
       ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

   Artist: Brad Mehldau
   Album: Lugano 99
   Label: A SwissBird & SimplexSimplicissimus
   Year: 1999
   Format, bitrate: mp3, VBR ~200kbs
   Size: 111mb
   Time: 59min


   Brad Mehldau was another of the plethora of young jazz pianists in the '90s to adopt Bill Evans as their role model. Yet while the influence of Evans still thoroughly dominates Mehldau's introspective manner, harmonic constructions, and preferred format (the piano trio), he is one of the more absorbing and thoughtful practitioners within that idiom, and he is receptive to the idea of using material from the rock era (Paul McCartney's "Blackbird," for example). Though Mehldau's training is primarily classical, his interest in jazz began early. He played in the Hall High School jazz band of Hartford, CT, winning Berklee College's Best All-Around Musician Award while still in his junior year of high school. He studied jazz at New York's New School for Social Research under Fred Hersch, Junior Mance, Kenny Werner, and Jimmy Cobb. Cobb soon hired him to play in his band, Cobb's Mob, and Mehldau also played and recorded with the Joshua Redman Quartet before forming his own trio in 1994 and recording his first Warner Bros. album, Introducing Brad Mehldau, in 1995. Art of the Trio, Vol. 1 followed in 1997, with the next two volumes in the series appearing over the following months. Two years later, Mehldau returned with Elegiac Cycle, as well as Art of the Trio, Vol. 4: Back at the Vanguard. Places followed in 2000, consisting of all original compositions that focused on a certain city, hence the title of the album. Another Art of the Trio album came in 2001, but the most significant release was Largo, which recorded Mehldau performing with other groups outside of his usual trio format. This was a big change from his previous work, and offered new challenges as he adapted to several interesting lineup situations. Mehldau followed the genre-bending album with the standards-based Anything Goes and Live in Tokyo in 2004, with Day Is Done arriving the following year. In 2006, he released House on Hill as well as Love Sublime, the latter with soprano vocalist Renйe Fleming, on Nonesuch Records.
   ~ Richard S. Ginell, AMG

   Artist: Jutta Hipp
   Album: The Legendary Jutta Hipp Quintet: Frankfurt Special - 1954 Complete Recordings
   Label: Fresh Sound Records
   Year: 1954
   Release: 2006
   Format, bitrate: Flac & Mp3, 320 kbps
   Size: 211 Mb (with HQ Scans)


   When in 1954 German pianist Jutta Hipp (1925-2003) made these recordings, she was already considered ”Europe’s first Lady of Jazz.” Jutta not only was building a solid reputation among the European audiences, but also amazed American visitors with her playing. She was a musician of rare sensitivity, strength of imagination, and fresh individuality, who had been influenced by Lennie Tristano. But however touched she was by Lennie and other major pianists, she was making her own way.
   Leonard Feather, who introduced her to the American jazz fans, said: ”That a new jazz star should be a German is almost without precedent. That this brilliant young discovery should also be a girl is rare too, and a pretty girl even rarer.”
   ~ freshsoundrecords.com

     Artist: Brad Mehldau
     Album: Day Is Done
     Year: 2005
     Label: Nonesuch
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kbs
     Size: 140 mb


         "Mehldau continues to emphasize his personal take on the modern songbook, with new interpretations of his reigning favorites....It's got a timeless jazz feel..."
   Mojo (Publisher) (p.64) - Ranked #9 in Mojo's "2005 Jazz Albums Of The Year."
   Mojo (Publisher) (p.98) - 4 stars out of 5 - "Meldau still burns brightly....[He] tackles a couple of Fabs numbers, including 'Martha My Dear', artfully reconfigured as a contrapuntal baroque fugue for solo piano. Exhilarating." ~
   JazzTimes (p.83)

   Artist: David Goloschokin/Jazz Old Trio (Давид Голощёкин/Джазовое Старое Трио)
   Album: Again Together (Опять Вместе)
   Label: Ermatell Records JCD 033
   Year: 1999
   Format, bitrate: mp3, 224 kbps
   Time: 68:47
   Size: 111 Mb

   Релиз альбома петербургского мультиинструменталиста Давида Голощекина "Снова вместе" состоялся на новосибирском джазовом лейбле Ermatell Records 5 декабря (его выход удачно совпал с выступлениями Голощекина в Новосибирской филармонии 6 и 7 декабря). В основу этого альбома лег концерт питерского музыканта с новосибирским "Джазовым старым трио" (пианист Игорь Дмитриев, басист Дмитрий Аверченков, барабанщик Сергей Беличенко) в Большом зале Новосибирской филармонии, состоявшийся в январе 1999 г.
   Это первый релиз новосибирского лейбла более чем за год (в 1995-1998 гг. Ermatell Records, которым руководит Сергей Беличенко, выпустил около трех десятков наименования альбомов российских джазовых музыкантов, записанных почти исключительно в Новосибирске). Ранее на Ermatell Records выходил еще один альбом Давида Голощекина - "Нежно, нежно и только нежно", который Сергей Беличенко называет наиболее коммерчески успешным релизом своей компании.

    Artist: Robert Cray
    Album: Midnight Stroll
    Label: Mercury Records
    Release: 1990
    Format, bitrate: mp3, 256 kb/s
    Time: 49:57
    Size: 113 Mb (full covers)

   Robert Cray adds a bit more soul to the mix on this album, which features the Memphis Horns most prominently. Most of the songs are Cray doing what Cray does best--slow, soulful, done-me-wrong (or, alternatively, I-done-wrong) songs chock full of great guitar. No complaints there, and when he adds a bit of vocal growl here and there, as on the album opener "The Forecast (Calls for Pain)" (also featuring some excellent bass from Richard Cousins), and the slow shuffle "Holdin' Court," it keeps things interesting. This album indicates a slight shift in Cray's direction; although he's always included a touch of soul in his blues, here it's more pronounced than before, a tendency he continued in subsequent recordings. -
   -Genevieve Williams, Amazon.com

    Artist: Robert Cray
    Album: Sweet Potato Pie
    Label: Mercury Records
    Release: 1997
    Format, bitrate: mp3, 256 kb/s
    Time: 50:46
    Size: 86,6 Mb (full covers)

   Robert Cray always flirted with gritty Southern soul, but it wasn't until Sweet Potato Pie that he made a full-fledged soul-blues record in Memphis. Cray hasn't abandoned blues, but he's woven punchy horns and sexy rhythms into the mix, resulting in one of his stronger records of the '90s. The material remains a bit uneven, but his taste is impeccable — few blues guitarists are as succinct and memorable as he, and the soul settings of Sweet Potato Pie only confirm that fact.
   - Thom Owens at AMG

    Artist: Robert Cray
    Album: Live at the BBC
    Label: Mercury Records
    Year: 1988-1991
    Release: 2007
    Format, bitrate: mp3, 320 kb/s
    Time: 1:10:44
    Size: 170 Mb (cover)

   Live at the BBC excerpts two performances by the Robert Cray Band at Hammersmith Odeon in 1988 and 1991, respectively. The Hammersmith shows were multi-night affairs — in 1991 there were four — from which the BBC assembled a pair of hour-long broadcasts. Unfortunately, this hastily issued, shoddily notated CD package gives only the dates of the original radio programs. There are no musician's credits whatsoever. The liner notes by Peter Doggett simply offer a thumbnail biography. . . .