Artist: Sly & The Family Stone
    Album: The Essential (2cd compilation)
    Label: Epic/Legacy
    Year: 1967 - 1975
    Release: 2002
    Style: Psychedelic Soul
    Format, bitrate: Mp3 320 kb/s
    Time: 2:05:13
    Size: 288 Mb
   
            WOODSTOCK - 40 YEARS ANNIVERSARY
                    DAY TWO
     The Essential Sly & the Family Stone does what a double-CD best-of/career overview should do: it packs a lot of career highlights into a two-disc set for listeners who want more than the basic greatest hits, but don't want every last album. Of course, all of those greatest hits are here, including a few from 1970 that didn't make it onto album releases at the time...

     Artist: Bobby Troup
     Album: Bobby Troup Sings Johnny Mercer
     Label: Bethlehem
     Year: 1955
     Quality:mp3;320 kb/s
     Size: 97 mb

     Bobby Troup is not strictly a jazz performer but he has made several important contributions to the music. As a composer he has written "Daddy," "Snooty Little Cutie," "Baby, Baby All the Time," and the major hit "Route 66." Troup has long been a fine pianist (having a regular jazz trio in the 1950s), a personable singer (although some of his early records were overly mannered), and an actor, and during 1956-1958 he moderated a legendary television series (Stars of Jazz) that featured a who's who of jazz players. He also produced some best-selling records for his wife, Julie London. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

     Bobby Troup is better known as a composer ("Route 66") than performer, but the English CD reissue of Bobby Troup Sings Johnny Mercer, a mid-'50s studio session made for Bethlehem, showcases his vocals. Accompanying himself on piano on some of the tracks and accompanied by bassist Red Mitchell, guitarist Howard Roberts, drummer Don Heath, and valve trombonist Bob Enevoldsen, Troup explores a dozens pieces with lyrics by the masterful Mercer. Troup doesn't have a great vocal range, but his smooth singing style is very appealing. The selection of material includes rarities like the happy-go-lucky "Jamboree Jones" (a piece which also has music by Mercer), "I'm With You" (which he co-composed with Mercer), and the equally fun "Cuckoo in the Clock." Among the many standards present are the swinging but subtle take of "That Old Black Magic," cool instrumental arrangements of "Laura" and "Jeepers Creepers," and a mellow "Skylark." This mellow album is easily recommended. ~ Ken Dryden, All Music Guide

     Artist: Charles Mingus
     Album: East coasting By Charles Mingus
     Label: Bethlehem
     Year: 1957
     Quality: FLAC (with covers)
     Size: 278 mb




     One of Charles Mingus's lesser-known band sessions, this set of five of his originals (plus the standard "Memories of You") features his usual sidemen of the period (trombonist Jimmy Knepper, trumpeter Clarence Shaw, Shafi Hadi on tenor and alto and drummer Dannie Richmond) along with pianist Bill Evans. The music stretches the boundaries of bop, is never predictable and, even if this is not one of Mingus's more acclaimed dates, it is well worth acquiring for the playing is quite stimulating. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

     Artist: Crimson Jazz Trio
     Album: King Crimson Songbook, vol.I
     Label: BMG Music Publishing, Ltd
     Year: 2005
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320 kbps
     Time: 1h, 1 min, 49 sec
     Size: 149 mb.

     Вот мне интересно, когда классику играют в джазовой аранжировке - это называется "Third stream". А если в джазовой аранжировке исполняются роковые - это какой стрим? Впрочем, наверное, это не так и важно.
     Давайте лучше вместе послушаем джазовые аранжировки всем знакомой прогрессив-рок группы King Crimson. Основателем и идейным вдохновителем трио был покойный ныне Ian Wallace, участвовавший в записи кримсоновского альбома Islands.

     A jazz piano-bass-drums trio performing the songs of the rock group King Crimson? That's what the Crimson Jazz Trio accomplished on this intriguing CD, King Crimson Songbook, Vol. 1, the first of several. By re-harmonizing the music a bit, adding vamps, and digging into the grooves, the Crimson Jazz Trio transforms the pieces from rock anthems into viable devices for jazz improvisations. Electric bassist Tim Landers has nearly as much solo space as pianist Jody Nardone; the trio (which also includes drummer Ian Wallace) works together very closely and they not only create new versions of unexpected material, but show that they have developed their own group sound. Recommended, particularly to listeners who are familiar with King Crimson's recordings. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

     Artist: Crimson Jazz Trio
     Album: King Crimson Songbook, vol.II
     Label: BMG Music Publishing, Ltd
     Year: 2009
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320 kbps
     Time: 1h, 9 min, 44 sec
     Size: 168 mb.




     Итак, трио разрослось до квартета, появился саксофонист (на отдельных треках). Как увеличение состава повлияло на качество музыки? Судите сами. Предлагаю Вашему вниманию второй, и увы, последний альбом джазового трио, исполняющего хиты всем Вам известной прогрессив-рок группы King Crimson. Покойся с миром, мистер Ian Wallace. Ты ушёл, осталась музыка...

     Artist - Charlie Parker
     Album - The Complete Dial Masters 2СD
     Label - Definitive Records
     Years: 1945-1947, release - 1999
     Quality - MP3@320 kbps
     Size: 128 + 130 mb
     Total time: 59:47 + 60:57


     Charlie Parker's Dial recordings have appeared on over 30 different compilations, and titles from this part of his discography are among the most commonly tapped for inclusion in Parker collections. In the year 1999, Definitive (a label that has put out more than 18 Parker editions) reissued the master takes from eight different Dial recording sessions that took place in Hollywood and New York City between February 5, 1946 and December 17, 1947. Unlike most Parker Dial retrospectives, this particular anthology includes four sides cut in June 1945 by Red Norvo & His Selected Sextet, a marvelous ensemble that included Bird, Dizzy Gillespie, Flip Philips, Teddy Wilson, Slam Stewart and J.C. Heard. Since these were technically Parker's first recordings for Dial, it would have been nice if the folks at Definitive had placed them at the beginning rather than the tail-end of this otherwise chronologically exact compilation. The West Coast Dials begin with one selection from a session led by Dizzy Gillespie that took place in Glendale; the rest of Parker's West Coast Dial sessions were recorded under his own name at two different studios in Hollywood. During this time period, Parker survived a horrible drug and alcohol induced breakdown, underwent extensive therapeutic rehabilitation at Camarillo State Mental Hospital, and subsequently presided over a triumphant resumption of creative activity that resulted in some of his all-time greatest recordings. For those familiar with Bird's story, the sessions may be read like chapters in an experimental novel. In March 1946 Parker led a septet that included Miles Davis, Lucky Thompson and Dodo Marmarosa; although this session yielded recordings that are now regarded as central to the canon of early modern jazz, Bird himself was heading for disaster. In July 1946. guzzling gin to compensate for his inability to score heroin, he attempted to make records with a quintet that was essentially being led by trumpeter Howard McGhee. Bird's heartbreaking struggle with the ballad "Lover Man" speaks volumes about addiction and the human condition. His next studio recording date took place six months later, and the improvement in his physical constitution is evident. Although Dial was an exclusively instrumental label, Parker convinced producer Ross Russell to allow vocalist Earl Coleman to participate in this session. Coleman, somewhat of a Billy Eckstine impersonator, sang "This Is Always" in a sensuous style that brings to mind the exaggerated mannerisms of Al Hibbler. Contrary to Russell's expectations, it turned out to be one of the best selling titles in the entire Dial catalog. This part of the chronology is also a treat for those who wish to hear pianist Erroll Garner negotiating the futuristic topography of Parker's music. The "Charlie Parker All Stars" session which took place one week later was Bird's last West Coast date for Dial; it was also the only time that he and tenor man Wardell Gray made records together in a studio. Back on the East Coast, during October, November and December 1947, Parker recorded 18 titles at the WOR Studios in New York. This fine little band consisted of Miles Davis, Duke Jordan, Tommy Potter and Max Roach, with trombonist J.J. Johnson added on the third and last of Parker's East Coast Dial sessions. Bird's next move would be to resume recording for Savoy while beginning to work with Mercury's enterprising producer Norman Granz. ~ arwulf arwulf, AMG

     Artist: Oscar Peterson
     Album: The Jazz Soul Of Oscar Peterson
     Label: Verve
     Original Release Date: Jul 21 1959
     Studio/Live: Studio
     Mono/Stereo: Stereo
     Format/Bitrate: MP3/320 kbit/s
     Size: 82 MB

REPOST with new links from Mr. Bubu Hans.

     Второй альбом Oscar Peterson c Ray Brown и Ed Thigpen - The Jazz Soul Of Oscar Peterson

     Artist: Oscar Peterson
     Album: Affinity
     Label: Verve Records (Japan)
     Orig Year: 1962
     Street Date: Oct 12, 2004
     Studio/Live: Studio
     Mono/Stereo: Stereo
     Format/Bitrate: MP3/320
     Size: 92 MB



This is a fairly typical date from the Oscar Peterson Trio (which features the pianist-leader, bassist Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen). Many of the songs on this LP are associated with other musicians (such as "Waltz for Debbie," "This Could Be the Start of Something Big" and "Six and Four") but Peterson has little difficulty swinging them in his usual fashion; a highlight is the original version of Ray Brown's "Gravy Waltz." [A Japanese version of Affinity was released in 2004 and includes bonus tracks.]

    Artist: Jessy J
    Album: True Love
    Label: Peak Records
    Release: 2009
    Style: smooth jazz
    Format, bitrate: Mp3 256 kb/s
    Time: 39:36
    Size: 53,1 Mb

The problem with attacking easy targets in order to make a point is that they're, well, too easy to attack. Take smooth jazz, for example. If one's premise is that smooth jazz in general is bland, mindless, and devoid of substance, it's easy to make that point by lambasting Kenny G, Richard Elliot, and other whipping boys of the jazz media. But when names like Grover Washington, Jr., George Benson, and David Sanborn are brought into the discussion, it becomes much harder to make the argument that nothing worthwhile ever came out of smooth jazz...

    Artist: Janis Joplin
    Album: Joplin In Concert
    Label: Columbia
    Release: 1972
    Style: blues-rock
    Format, bitrate: Mp3 256 kb/s
    Time: 1:16:51
    Size: 143 Mb (cover)

            WOODSTOCK - 40 YEARS ANNIVERSARY
                    DAY TWO

About half of this two-record set features Janis Joplin with Big Brother & the Holding Company in 1968, performing songs like "Down on Me" and "Piece of My Heart." The rest, recorded in 1970, finds her with her backup group, Full Tilt Boogie, mostly performing songs from I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! Joplin puts herself out on-stage, both in terms of singing until her voice is raw and describing her life to her audiences. Parts of this album are moving, parts are heartbreaking, and the rest is just great rock & roll. - William Ruhlmann at AMG

    Artist: Janis Joplin
    Album: Pearl (bonus tracks)
    Label: Columbia/Sony
    Year: 1971
    Release: 1999
    Style: blues-rock
    Format, bitrate: Mp3 256 kb/s
    Time: 57:45
    Size: 126 Mb (full covers)
    AMG Rating:

            WOODSTOCK - 40 YEARS ANNIVERSARY
                    DAY TWO
Janis Joplin's second masterpiece (after Cheap Thrills), Pearl was designed as a showcase for her powerhouse vocals, stripping down the arrangements that had often previously cluttered her music or threatened to drown her out. Thanks also to a more consistent set of songs, the results are magnificent — given room to breathe, Joplin's trademark rasp conveys an aching, desperate passion on funked-up, bluesy rockers, ballads both dramatic and tender, and her signature song, the posthumous number one hit "Me and Bobby McGee." The unfinished "Buried Alive in the Blues" features no Joplin vocals — she was scheduled to record them on the day after she was found dead. Its incompleteness mirrors Joplin's career; Pearl's power leaves the listener to wonder what else Joplin could have accomplished, but few artists could ask for a better final statement. [The 1999 CD reissue adds four previously unreleased live July 1970 recordings: "Tell Mama," "Little Girl Blue," "Try," and "Cry Baby."] - Steve Huey at AMG

     Artist: Art Tatum
     Album: Portrait [10 CD Box Set]
     Release: 2001
     Label: Past Perfect
     Format: FLAC + Booklet + Covers
     Size: 2,1 GB

REPOST in Losseless quality with Scanned 40-page Booklet in PDF format and Full Covers including Session info.

     "... Art Tatum is something of an enigma. There is little indication of what or who his influences were, and there is similarly little evidence to fill in the details of most of his life. He left no autobiography, not even a fanciful exaggeration of a life in jazz, and there are no personal letters in existence. Despite the huge number of recordings mode there is virtually nothing to be heard of his voice, only two pieces with some vocals and a few words from a radio interview. Even his resting-place provides on enigma - his gravestone is marked simply "Someone To Watch Over Me". And the ultimate puzzle - how on earth did he learn to play like that? How did he physically manage to play like he did?

     So virtually all that remains of Art Tatum's life is contained in his recordings. And what recordings they are! " (from booklet)

     Artist: Dean Peer
     Album: Ucross
     Label: High House Music
     Year: 1991
     Format, bitrate: Lossless FLAC, 44.1 KHz / 16 bit
     Time: 38:91 min
     Size: 140 MB

     "Peer wrote the book on harmonics - literally... -so it's not surprising that his solo-bass disc is an extravaganza of ringing notes, chords and clusters. It's not just an academic demonstration, though, and Peer's pieces make a convincing case for the creative use of harmonic technique." - BASS Player Magazine

     "UCROSS is an Audiophile Classic, and its release heralded Peer's arrival to electric bass-playing's highest echelon."- Stereophile magazine