Artist: Tom Harrell
     Album: Live at the Village Vanguard
     Label: Bluebird
     Year: 2001, release: 2003
     Format, bitrate: MP3, 192Kbps
     Time: 71 minutes
     Size: 78,84 MB
     AMG rating

This is Tom Harrell's first live record, and what a pleasure a stirring hour-plus in the company of the trumpeter's working quintet, with Jimmy Greene on tenor sax, Xavier Davis on piano, Ugonna Okegwo on bass, and Quincy Davis on drums. Harrell wrote a new batch of music, full of depth and ingenuity, for this November 2001 engagement at the Village Vanguard. The carefully chosen track list begins with "Asia Minor," an angular line and hard-swinging round of solos, followed by the brief and unorthodox "Manhattan, 3 A.M.," a dark, melodic idea that frames a thoughtful improvisation by Okegwo. "Where the Rain Begins," co-composed by Harrell's wife, manager, and co-producer, Angela, balances a bright 5/4 blowing section with a wistful 4/4 ballad interlude. Harrell continues to mess with rhythm and form on "Blues in Una Sea," embedding blues changes in an involved harmonic pattern with odd phrase lengths; he achieves a similarly unpredictable effect on the mellow, bossa-based "A Child's Dream." The high point arrives with "Design," a deft unison line that picks up in speed and complexity after a series of initial exchanges with Quincy Davis' drums. Solo commentary ensues, churning and intense. Harrell then changes the pace entirely, summoning the angels with a sublime duo reading of "Everything Happens to Me," backed only by Xavier Davis. The boogaloo-ish "Party Song" closes the set with a flavor that's subtly reminiscent of "Cantaloupe Island." Among the many gems in Harrell's discography, this one certainly stands out. ~ David R. Adler, AMG

     Artist: Marvin Gaye
     Album: Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing
     Label: Prism Leisure
     Year: 1983
     Quality: mp3, 320 kb/s
     Size: 157mb (inc. Covers)
     Time: 01h:05m:49s




      This live set is drawn from Marvin Gaye's 1983 tour, and while it is relatively well recorded (the crowd noise is a bit intrusive at times), only die-hard Gaye fans should bother. Although he was never less than charismatic on-stage, Gaye was most at home in the studio, where his soft and subtle vocal phrasings could be layered into amazingly expressive suites. For live performances he tended to strip his melodies down and resort to larger gestures (up to, and including, taking off his clothes) in a probably unavoidable attempt to be the consummate showman. While it is interesting to hear a live version of "Sexual Healing," one of Gaye's greatest songs, it is also obvious that the gentle tension that makes the song so arresting in its studio version gets dissipated here in this ten-minute expansion. Gaye hits the right notes, but the hushed intimacy is gone. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide

     Artist - Django Reinhardt
     Album - Django Reinhardt With Vocals - Classic Recordings 1933-1941
     Label - Naxos Jazz Legends
     Years: 1933-1941, release - 2005
     Style - swing, vocal jazz
     Quality - MP3@320 kbps
     Size - 98,8 mb
     Total - 60:14



Immortalised in the annals as a key innovator in the European jazz tradition, "gypsy jazzman" par excellence Django Reinhardt was the first non- American to make a decisive impact in the genre. A curious blend of extrovert showman and selfstyled loner, this volatile yet elegant miniaturist, although prodigal of his talents - not averse to "disappearing" for lengthy periods to pursue other interests (among which fly-fishing and billiards at which he was a champion) - left a legacy of finely-honed gems. The son of travelling entertainers (his father a violinist, his mother a dancer) Django was born Jean Baptiste Reinhardt in a caravan in a French-speaking Manouche gypsy settlement at Liberchies, near Luttre, Belgium on 23 January 1910.

From 1918 Django lived with his mother and guitarist brother Joseph in a shantytown caravan, near Choisy on the outskirts of Paris. There, his family formed part of a troupe of players whose incessant wanderings made his youth a nomadic and unstable existence. He was surrounded from his earliest youth by music making, however, and took early to both violin and banjo, although he soon changed to guitar and from the start his playing of this was intuitive also, rather than in any sense formally instilled. Self-taught and selfmotivated, Django learned most from observing the playing of others. His playing, even after the superimposition of the Afro-American jazz idiom, was steeped in the spontaneous, Magyar-derived Francophone tsigane traditions.>>>

     Artist: Nova Scotia Jazz Band
     Album: Echoes of the Mauve Decade
     Label:C Side Records
     Year: 2009
     Quality: mp3; 192mb
     Size: 44 mb




Formed by early in 2009 by old friends and long time playing partners, Roy Percy and John Burgess, the Nova Scotia Jazz Band is firmly in the tradition of the groups led by Eddie Condon, Muggsy Spanier, Bix Beiderbecke and Alex Welsh. Featuring the world class cornet of Mike Daly and the banjo wizardry of Duncan Findlay this sweet and hot quartet are a fresh take on the classic jazz style and a welcome addition to the long list of excellent groups from Edinburgh, Scotland which includes bands of the quality of Sandy Browns Jazz Men, Alex Welsh and his Band, The Climax Jazz Band, Old Bailey’s Jazz Advocates and the Archie Semple Jazz Band. ~ myspace.com

     Artist: Bud Powell
     Album: Bud Powell / Groovin' At The Blue Note, 1959-1961 volume 5
     Label: Mythic Sound MS 6001-2
     Year: 1959-61
     Format, bitrate: mp3@320 kb/s covers front/retro 300dpi
     Time: 59 min
     Size: 134,94 MB



This tribute to the great Bud Powell took 24 years to be completed, after his premature death. The well informed Jazzfans in the world are going to discover this original music. A music very often create outsider od the usuale professionale constraints. This project was able to be carried out thanks the association and complicity of several people conscious the importance of Bud Powell's genius. First Cecilia Barnes Powell, his daughter and heiress, to whom Francis Paudras gave as a legacy all the archives and personal recordings partly released here. Giacomo Battistella, passionate jazzfan, creator of Black Saint label and owner of Black Saint shop. Vittorio Castelli, another ardent jazzfan, musician journalist and partner in CD Team. Gigi de Leo, a well-informed jazz collector, documentalist, radio broadcast producer and also partner in CD Team. And lastly, Francis Paudras, who protected those precious archives over 30 years, a film maker and jazz producer. This work in an expression of their love and faithfulness to the probably most creative, the purest and the most underrated musician of our time. This is volume five of ten. ~ Paolo

      Artist:Buddy Rich
      Album:Mercy,Mercy(1968)
      Audio CD (March 25, 1997)
      Original Release Date: July 10, 1968
      Number of Discs: 1
      Label: Blue Note Records
      Genre:Modern big band, early fusion, Live performance
      Duration: 61 min 49 sec
      Number of tracks: 11
      Format: lossless (flac+cue+log+covers)
      Size: 450 MB



      Предлагаю прослушать оркестр, который своим "вторым пришествием" в середине 1960-ых вдохнул новую жизнь в жанр биг-бендовскогго джаза, несколько оттеснённого с ведущих позиций тогдашними экспериментами авангардистов.

     Artist: Barney Kessel
     Album: Guitarra
     Label: RCA CAS-2404
     Year: 1969
     Format, bitrate: mp3@320 kb/s
     Time: 38 min
     Size: 85,88 MB



Well despite the desperate subject line here, there is something good to come of it, and that comes in the form of a 1969 album by Barney Kessel called "Guitarra". Barney Kessel was one of my early jazz guitar heroes largely by way of an 8-track recording of "The Poll Winners" and especially confirmed upon hearing his blazing work on a tune called "Nagasaki". Barney has pretty much made the grade with every recording of his I've heard since. This apparently little known LP is generally no exception, although I would have to say it's not my absolute favorite Barney recording. When confirming that this album is OOP I first thought I had identified it as an obscure recording called "Reflections In Rome" since, like "Guitarra" it was recorded in Rome in 1969 with what appears to be the same supporting cast of European artists. However, "Guitarra" has an entirely different collection of songs than what I found for the "Reflections..." album. Yet I could find no internet information on any album called "Guitarra". So, whether this is somehow one in the same as the other recording from Rome, or whether it is, as it seems, a second recording done the same year by the same musicians in the same location, it seems that either one is OOP and not easily found in the
blogosphere. So here ya go, it's a fairly tame collection of relatively short tunes featuring Barney's "guitarra" and some pretty lively organ work from an Antonello Vannucchi. There's some samba and similar latinesque flavors here in keeping with the setting perhaps. Sometimes it strikes me as a little less than exciting but just as you think you might feel a little bit disappointed, Barney will come out with some fun Kessel-isms and reel you right back in to familiar ground...right back home with Barney and his guitarra...

     Artist - Mary Lou Williams
     Album - Black Christ Of The Andes
     Label - Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
     Year - 1963, release - 2004
     Quality - MP3@320 kbps
     Size - 88,7 mb
     Total time - 52:57


Complex and brooding suites by jazz artists have often received mixed reviews. Whether hailed as brilliant and visionary or slammed as self-indulgent and trite — Ellington's Black, Brown and Beige, Charles Mingus' infamous Town Hall Concert, or even Wynton Marsalis' Blood on the Fields all come to mind — these works are, if nothing else, great risks for the artists involved. At the time of its initial performance, "Black Christ of the Andes" (or "St. Martin de Porres") was called everything from "blues stripped of its accent" to a "hokey prayer," prompting Williams to cut it from her repertoire before the release of the LP in 1964. An unfortunate fate for a very enjoyable and, now, highly regarded piece of music. Williams explained her pioneering concept of pairing jazz with spirituals as an attempt to heal the disparity between the gifted nature of the African-American and his tendency toward the worst kinds of sin. In fact, the original title for this LP was Music for Disturbed Souls. Certainly, by 1962 others had employed the modes and feel of the church into jazz, but Williams' use of the Ray Charles Singers (no relation to the other Ray Charles) added an element that made "St. Martin," an a cappella choral piece, a much more church-oriented affair than, say, John Coltrane's "Spiritual." Williams' vision, like Coltrane's, was at times dark and sobering while at others full of warmth and hope. It would have been completely out of place, however, at the Village Vanguard. This is a piece that belongs, if not in the church, then certainly out of the nightclub circuit. Other tracks on this LP, though, like her sublime rendition of "It Ain't Necessarily So," would have been welcome in their dark and smoky confines. Otherwise, expect a jump blues number, a handful of trio cuts (some featuring Percy Heath), and a smattering of various vocal combinations throughout. A number of styles are represented here and they weave amongst one another with ease and grace. This is a very enjoyable record with some especially rewarding piano solos by Williams. ~ Brandon Burke, AMG

     Artist: Bud Powell
     Album: Bud Powell / Relaxin' At Home, 61-64 volume 4
     Label: Mythic Sound MS 6001-2
     Years: 1961-1964
     Format, bitrate: mp3@320 kb/s covers front/retro 300dpi
     Time: 57 min
     Size: 130,11 MB


This tribute to the great Bud Powell took 24 years to be completed, after his premature death. The well informed Jazzfans in the world are going to discover this original music. A music very often create outsider od the usuale professionale constraints. This project was able to be carried out thanks the association and complicity of several people conscious the importance of Bud Powell's genius. First Cecilia Barnes Powell, his daughter and heiress, to whom Francis Paudras gave as a legacy all the archives and personal recordings partly released here. Giacomo Battistella, passionate jazzfan, creator of Black Saint label and owner of Black Saint shop. Vittorio Castelli, another ardent jazzfan, musician journalist and partner in CD Team. Gigi de Leo, a well-informed jazz collector, documentalist, radio broadcast producer and also partner in CD Team. And lastly, Francis Paudras, who protected those precious archives over 30 years, a film maker and jazz producer. This work in an expression of their love and faithfulness to the probably most creative, the purest and the most underrated musician of our time. This is volume four of ten. ~ Paolo

    Artist: McCoy Tyner
    Album: Supertrios
    Label: Milestone
    Release: 1977
    Style: Post-Bop
    Format mp3, bitrate: 320 kb/s vbr
    Time: 1:17:37
    Size: 137 Mb (full covers)
    AMG Rating:

This album features the great pianist McCoy Tyner with two separate trios, either bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams or bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Jack DeJohnette. The former session, which has a Tyner/Williams duet on "I Mean You" and a collaboration between Tyner and Carter on "Prelude to a Kiss," is the more interesting of the two, with the pianist interacting with Miles Davis's former rhythm section on six highquality songs. But the Gomez-DeJohnette date (which includes four Tyner compositions plus "Stella by Starlight" and "Lush Life") also has its classic moments. Throughout, the percussive and highly influential pianist sounds inspired by the opportunity to create music with his peers. Recommended. - Scott Yanow at AMG