Artist: Dizzy Gillespie
    Album: Norman Granz Jazz in Montreux: Presents Dizzy Gillespie Sextet '77
    Label: Eagle Vision USA
    Year: 1977
    Release:2005
    Time: 46:07
    Format: Online-video
    AMG Rating:


    Dizzy Gillespie leads a powerful all-star sextet including Jon Faddis (also playing a similar upswept trumpet), vibraphonist Milt Jackson, bassist Ray Brown, pianist Monty Alexander, and drummer Jimmie Smith in this appearance at the 1977 Montreux Jazz Festival, most of which was issued on the Pablo album Montreux '77. While there are fireworks on-stage, especially in the rousing take of the old chestnut "Get Happy," the expected chemistry between Gillespie and Faddis (who was inspired by the senior trumpeter and built upon his style) never comes to fruition, as they don't get into any tradeoffs. One highlight is a ballad medley, showcasing Gillespie in "Once in a While," Jackson in a driving "But Beautiful," and Faddis in a blistering rendition of "Here's That Rainy Day." The one previously unissued song is "Here 'Tis." Beautifully photographed and edited, with generally good audio (though Jackson's vibes are recorded a tad too hot in places), this DVD will be of interest to fans of the late Dizzy Gillespie.
    ~ Ken Dryden, AMG

    Artist: Oscar Peterson
    Album: Genesis 2cd (compilation)
    Label: Proper Pairs
    Year: 1945 - 1950
    Release: 2002
    Format, bitrate: mp3, 192 kb/s
    Time: 2:35:07
    Size: 114 + 123 Mb

          EVERY DAY IS AN OSCAR PETERSON DAY !

   This 2-CD set chronicles the early work of Oscar Peterson, beginning in Montreal and ending in New York. There are a lot of good points about the set, and a few downsides, so your actual rating may vary from my four stars.
   For Peterson fans, it might be five stars. Listening to the 2 CDs in sequence, one can hear how Oscar's style matured between 1945 and 1950. The first cut, I Got Rhythm, shows great technique. . . .

    Artist: Al Di Meola
    Album: World Sinfonia: Live From Seattle and Elsewhere
    Label: Valiana Music and Media
    Year: 2009
    Format, bitrate: mp3, 320 kbps
    Time: 55:17
    Size: 144 mb
    AMG Rating

    Comparing early Al di Meola dates like Land of the Midnight Sun and Casino to his albums of the 1990s, it's clear how much his playing has softened. The exceptional World Sinfonia, an entirely acoustic CD, makes it clear that what hasn't changed is his unpredictable, spontaneous nature. Di Meola's right-hand man throughout this highly introspective date is the soulful bandonean player Dino Saluzzi, with whom he enjoys an undeniably strong rapport. A long-time lover of world music, di Meola incorporates South American, Spanish, and Middle Eastern elements, and makes Argentine tango a very high priority. The improvisor's reverence for Argentina's musical heritage is especially evident on Astor Piazzola's haunting "Tango Suite" and di Meola's soul-bearing ode to the tango legend, "Last Tango for Astor." But World Sinfonia's standout track and most pleasant surprise of all is a 12-minute interpretation of Chick Corea's 1975 Return to Forever classic "No Mystery," which works quite well in an acoustic setting.
    ~ Alex Henderson, AMG

   Artist: Dave Brubeck
   Album: Interchanges'54
   Year: 1954, 1955
   Label: Columbia
   Format, bitrate: mp3, 192 kbps
   Size: 85 mb



   This is a compilation of two of Dave Brubeck's records (1955's "Brubeck Time" and 1954's "Jazz: Red Hot and Cool"). The only drawback of this album is that it has four songs from "Jazz: Red Hot and Cool": Sometimes I'm Happy, The Duke, Indiana, and Love Walked In. "Jazz Red Hot and Cool" is a wonderful live album which should be reissued ("Brubeck Time" is available on CD). You can get one side of the album "Jazz: Red Hot and Cool" by buying CD this while all except one of the second side of "Jazz: Red Hot and Cool's" tracks are available on a Japanese compilation. I love the combination of Paul Desmond's sax and Dave Brubeck's piano and the 1954 lineup of the quartet was the best Brubeck in my opinion. There is something warm and accessible about this album which I really like although I would be more satisfied (and more logical) if this disk were a reissue of "Jazz: Red Hot and Cool" with a few of the songs from "Brubeck Time." All in all the "Jazz: Red Hot and Cool" tracks make this worth the cost of admission even if you already own "Brubeck Time".
   ~ J. C. M. Bannerman, Amazon.com

   Artist: Etta James
   Album: Playlist: The Very Best Of Etta James
   Year: 2009
   Label: Sony Legacy
   Format, bitrate: MP3, 224-320 kbps
   Size: 85.1 MB

   Buyer beware: this is not nearly "the very best of Etta James"; the title of this addition to Sony Legacy's Playlist series is wildly misleading. James cut her best sides for Chess; that is the critical as well as the commercial view. In the late '90s and early part of the 21st century, she made a series of recordings for the Private Music and RCA imprints, and that's where the music on this 14-track set comes from — including the version of "At Last" tacked on at the end, which is a live version from Burnin' Down the House. That is not to say that this music isn't worth hearing or isn't good; it's all quite good. One complaint is that her killer ballads album Love's Been Rough on Me is underrepresented here, but that's life. This set should be considered an adjunct to Etta James' Chess sides. If one has her true greatest hits already, this is a wonderful counterpart to fill out the portrait of the artist, but it is not what it claims to be.
   ~ Thom Jurek, AMG

Artist:Mel Torme
Album: Songs for Any Taste
Label: Bethlehem
Year:1956-57
Format/bitrate: mp3, 256 kb/s
Size: 50 mb


Mel Torme recorded a number of lovely albums for Bethlehem during the '50s, including It's a Blue World and Sings Fred Astaire. Consisting of a few studio sides interspersed with material recorded live at the Crescendo in February of 1957, Songs for Any Taste finds Torme asserting himself with confidence and style. Pianist/leader Marty Paich offers beautifully understated arrangements, featuring trumpeter Don Fagerquist and accordion player Larry Bunker. The set is heavy with lesser-known standards from Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, and the Gershwins. Torme begins the set with a "French" version of "Autumn Leaves," complete with a fake accent that serves to warm up the audience. "I Wish I Were in Love Again" and "It's Delovely" are two upbeat knockouts, while "Tenderly" proceeds at a more languorous pace. The background singing and formal arrangements of "I Got Plenty O' Nuttin'" mark it as a studio track, but quality-wise, it fits in well with the other material. The quiet "Nobody's Heart" closes the set, a moody late-night piece with piano accompaniment. This is a beautiful set, with great songs, in-between chatter, and sympathetic backing. Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., AMG

   Artist: Arthur Jones
   Album: Scorpio
   Label: BYG Records
   Year: 1971
   Format: FLAC (cue+log)
   Time: 38:35
   Size: 207 Mb

   Arthur Jones had one of the warmer and more romantic styles in "energy music," making this, his debut as a leader, a highly enjoyable set. While the late-'60s avant-garde jazz scene is typically associated with heated and furious solo flights, Jones managed to fuse his love of older bop and blues players with the prevalent tendencies of the day. In this way, Jones was as adept at caressing a ballad as he was at shredding apart a fast one. Both of these sides are in evidence -- quite literally -- on this disc. The searing "C.R.M." opens the session with a relentless frenzy of notes; cutting and slashing everything in it's path. It is one of four Jones originals. The evocative and gritty ballad "Sad Eyes" begins the second on a much different note. This piece as well as the opening bars of the album's closer, "Brother B," provide a wonderful example of an avant-garde player digging into his blues roots. Where Archie Shepp incorporated a soulful Ben Webster swagger into the New Thing, Jones applies the style of another elder statesman, particularly that of Johnny Hodges. The result is also reminiscent of Ornette Coleman's mid-'60s trio sessions with David Izenzon and Charles Moffett, only Jones had the tendency to employ more squeaks and growls than did Coleman. Bassist Beb Guerin and drummer Claude Delcloo round out the trio and both are given a good amount of solo/duet time on each side's opener. Scorpio was recorded only a month after the trio supported Jacques Coursil on his first Actuel date, the quartet session, Way Ahead. This is a very warm and firmly rooted free jazz record. Highly recommended.
   ~ Brandon Burke, All Music Guide

Artists: VA
Album: Makin' Whoopee! - Capitol Sings Broadway
Label: Capitol
Years: 1946-1957, release: 1995
Quality: MP3@320 kbps
Size: 130 mb
Total time: 58:46




     A scattershot, but enjoyable, collection featuring Broadway hits performed by artists like Tony Bennett, Peggy Lee, Keely Smith, Nat King Cole, Gordon MacRae, and Eddie Cantor.

   Artist: Eddie King
   Album: Another Cow's Dead
   Label: Roesch
   Year: 1997
   Format, bitrate: mp3, 320 kbps
   Time: 51:42
   Size: 112 MB

Впервые услышал этого исполнителя на концертнике Коко Тэйлор. Очень понравился гитарист. Стал искать сольник. Оказалось, что есть всего один, его и выкладываю.
Очень хорошая , грамотно спродюсированая запись!

   Artist: Various Artists
   Album: A Collection of Avant Garde Jazz Byg/Actuel Catalougue 1969-71
   Label: Get Back
   Year: 2001
   Format, bitrate: MP3@320 kbps
   Time: 3:42:11
   Size: 181+157+171Mb


   Музыкальные эксперименты людей в "пограничном" состоянии…
   Только для тренированных ушей VIP авангардистов…
   У прочих, при полном прослушивании, может вызвать патологическую любовь к абсолютной ТИШИНЕ!

   In 2002 a compilation album featuring the best of the label, JazzActuel: a collection of avant garde/free jazz/psychedelia from the BYG/Actuel catalogue of 1969-1971, was released by Charly (as a 3CD set) and Get Back Records of Italy (as a 6LP set). The collection was curated by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth and journalist Byron Coleyх . . .

     Artist: Tony Bennett
     Album: Playin' with My Friends: Bennett Sings the Blues
     Label: Columbia
     Year: 2001
     Format, bitrate: MP3, 320 kb/s; FLAC
     Size: 131 MB; 346 MB (full scans)



     Tony Bennett's latter-day albums tend to have themes, and this one has two, as indicated by its double-barreled title: It is both a duets album and a blues album. The duet partners include ten singers who range from his recent touring partners Diana Krall and k.d. lang to fellow veterans Ray Charles, B.B. King, and Kay Starr, and younger, but still mature pop stars Stevie Wonder, Bonnie Raitt, and Billy Joel. All sound happy to be sharing a mic with Bennett. Not surprisingly, the singer's conception of the blues does not extend to the Mississippi Delta or the South Side of Chicago; rather, he is interested in the blues as filtered through the sound of the Swing Era, particularly from around Kansas City, and as interpreted by Tin Pan Alley and show tunes. For the former, his true mentor is Count Basie, whose overt influence is heard on six of the 15 tracks. Bennett makes no attempt to hide this, leading off the album with two songs, "Alright, Okay, You Win" (a duet with Krall) and "Everyday (I Have the Blues)" (a duet with Wonder), closely associated with Basie singer Joe Williams. The Broadway and Hollywood blues style is introduced in three selections written by Harold Arlen. On about half the tracks, the Ralph Sharon Quartet is augmented by Harry Allen's saxophone and Mike Melvoin's Hammond organ, but this remains a small, intimate affair that emphasizes the singers. There are missteps -- Sheryl Crow's Billie Holiday impersonation on "Good Morning, Heartache" is unfortunate, and Natalie Cole, as usual, sounds out of her depth on "Stormy Weather." But the trade-offs Bennett enjoys with King and Charles are priceless, and the Joel duet is surprisingly effective. On the whole, this is yet another entry in Bennett's lengthening series of autumnal recorded triumphs.
   

     Artist: Jackie McLean
     Album: A Long Drink of the Blues
     Year: 1957
     Label: New Jazz
     Format: FLAC/mp3, 320 kb/s
     Size: 194 MB/101mb
     Time: 45:00
     AMG Rating:



   The first side of this obscure but worthwhile session is a loosely-organized, extended jam session on a blues in the key of F, much like Jimmy Smith's celebrated "Sermon." The cast combines obscure players (Gil Coggins, Webster Young) with established stars (Curtis Fuller, who offers some of his best choruses on record; Paul Chambers, the heart of the rhythm section; the long-lived, much-traveled Louis Hayes) . . .

    Artist: Steps Ahead
    Album: Live in Tokyo 1986
    Label: NYC (New York City)
    Release: 1986
    Format, bitrate: mp3, 256 kb/s
    Time: 1:04:14
    Size: 152 Mb (full covers)
    AMG Rating:

   This Steps Ahead concert (which has long been available on laser disc) has both good and bad points. Michael Brecker's virtuosic tenor solos show a great deal of passion and creativity within the genre. Also Mike Maineri's vibes are an attractive part of the ensemble sound, making the R&B-ish unit sound like Spyro Gyra with guts. Unfortunately the rhythm section (which consists of guitarist Mike Stern, bassist Darryl Jones and drummer Steve Smith) is never subtle, the rhythms are bombastic and the electronics (including at one point a drum machine) are excessive. The solos might be fiery but the unimaginative backup makes this potentially super band often sound run of the mill and monotonous. There are much better Steps Ahead concerts to preserve than this one.
   - Scott Yanow at AMG

   Artist: Pat Metheny
   Album: In Tokyo, Japan 2009
   Label: Blue Note
   Year: 2009
   Format, bitrate: mp3, 192 kbps
   Time: 2h,37min, 5 sec
   Size: 217mb


   Well this is very special for us. We haven’t played a concert like this – for guitar, piano, bass and drums – for very close to 30 years. And the connection that we have had with this group and also the connection that I have felt with all the other projects that I have done over the years, with Japan and particularly the community of listeners that live in the Tokyo area, is very special and is something that we value very much. And I’ve been lucky to present music here under many different circumstances. And the invitation came to play here, and I had been thinking about what it would be like to play a quartet, and this seemed like the best place to do it.

The first recording by the Pat Metheny Group features the innovative guitarist along with keyboardist Lyle Mays, bassist Mark Egan, and drummer Dan Gottlieb. The music is quite distinctive, floating rather than swinging, electric but not rockish, and full of folkish melodies. The best known of these six Metheny-Mays originals are "Phase Dance" and "Jaco." This music grows in interest with each listen.

   Artist: Johnny Richards
   Album: The Rites Of Diablo
   Label: Roulette
   Year: 1958
   Format, bitrate: MP3, 320 Kbps
   Time: 35:02
   Size: 70,7 MB

   Johnny Richards put together this lp after studying the rituals of the Bantu,the family of tribes which inhabits southern Africa.Intrigued by the rhythmic possibilities he composed the six part Rites of Diablo which has been described as a sort of Black Mass during which the participants vilify,insult and by every means possible degrade the gods of evil.Augmenting his regular orchestra with SEVEN percussionists,including Sabu Martinez ,Potato Valdez and Jose Mangual,brought in to to emulate the sounds of the authentic drums used in the genuine ritual,plus the eight voiced Dave Lambert Singers,Richards took over New Yorks Webster Hall for four sessions in march and april 1958.The flaring excitement of the band ,the superlative solo work of men such as Gene Quill,Seldon Powell and Jimmy Cleveland and the meshing of the huge percussion section gives the music a unique quality.
   This is another great example of jazz exotica which had been long deleted until recently when it was reissued as part of the wonderful Mosaic Select series.This rip is from the original vinyl.

    Artist: Mike Stern
    Album: New Morning: The Paris Concert
    Label: Inakustic Gmbh
    Release: 2006
    Format, bitrate: mp3, 256 kb/s (DVD audio rip)
    Time: 1:41:33
    Size: 158 Mb
    AMG Rating:

   During an interview Mike Stern briefly discusses his taste in music. The fusion guitarist explains that even though he enjoys a wide variety of music, he listens to jazz more than anything. And that statement speaks volumes about the performance that dominates this concert, which was taken at the New Morning (a Paris jazz venue) on May 16, 2006 (when Stern was 55). There is plenty of rock influence and funk influence coming from Stern and his sidemen, who include Tom Kennedy on electric bass, Dave Weckl on drums, and the Michael Brecker- influenced Bob Franceschini on tenor sax. But the spirit of jazz improvisation is so strong on New Morning: The Paris Concert that only the most dogmatic jazz purists and bop snobs would be able to listen to this and claim that Stern isn't really a jazz musician. Although Stern's appreciation of rock and funk is evident during a pleasingly long set (which lasts about 100 minutes), his jazz mentality is unwavering when he dives into "That's All It Is," "What Might Have Been," or "Tumble Home." So as Stern points out in the interview, he is not a jazz snob by any means but is definitely someone whose artistic vision is being affected by jazz more than anything. New Morning: The Paris Concert isn't simply instrumental rock with jazz overtones.
   Alex Henderson, AMG