Artist - Count Basie
     Album - Basie Jam 2
     Label - OJC/Pablo
     Genre - swing, post-bop
     Year - 1976, release - 1991
     Quality - MP3@320kbps
     Size: 104 mb
     Total time - 48:35



For this enjoyable jam session, Count Basie heads up a very impressive cast of players, including altoist Benny Carter, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis on tenor, trumpeter Clark Terry, trombonist Al Grey and guitarist Joe Pass. The four lengthy performances give each of the principals plenty of solo space and the results are predictably exciting. It's a big improvement over the first Basie Jam. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

     Artist: Van Morrison & Linda Gail Lewis
     Album: You Win Again
     Label: Virgin
     Year: 2000
     Genre: Blues
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Size: 94MB



     Van Morrison has always been eccentric, but as he grows older, he seems to get more comfortable with his eccentricities and doesn't strain as hard to be distinctive. That's why it seems natural to have two albums in one year be as willfully individual as The Skiffle Sessions and You Win Again, a duet album with Linda Gail Lewis. In all honesty, in 2000, nobody but Jerry Lee Lewis fanatics really remembered that his sister Linda Gail is a talent in her own right, but Morrison had a soft spot for her and decided to record a full album with her. It's a modest affair, sporting only one Morrison original ("No Way Pedro") and relying heavily on Jerry Lee's catalog, opening with four songs inextricably associated with his Sun recordings. But, if this is a tribute album, it's only because this music is in the same spirit as those great recordings. Not everything here is associated with Jerry Lee, but Linda Gail's piano is reminiscent of her sibling, and both she and Morrison have the same fearless spirit as the Killer, easily making these songs fit their voices and blur the distinctions between R&B, blues, country, and rock & roll. Best of all, this is never a conscious decision; they're just pounding out a bunch of songs they love. You Win Again sounds like it was knocked off in one afternoon by a bar band that knows each other so well, they can anticipate each other's next move. It wasn't, of course, but that's the highest compliment it can be paid. No, it's not a major work in Van's catalog, but it's hard not to smile when listening to it, just like The Skiffle Sessions. It's a roots effort that never sounds studied -- just easy, welcoming, and thoroughly enjoyable.

      Artist - Count Basie
      Album - Get Together
      Label - Pablo
      Year - 1979, release - 1986
      Quality - MP3@320kbps
      Size - 99,2mb
      Total time - 43:34

   

This typically enjoyable Basie all-star jam is particularly noteworhty because it includes the great (but underrated) tenor of Budd Johnson along with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and trumpeters Clark Terry and Harry "Sweets" Edison. The music is quite delightful, topped by a fine ballad medley. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

     Artist: Various
     Album: The Playboy Jazz All Stars
     Label: Playboy Records PB #1957 (2LP)
     Year: 1940 - 1956
     Format, bitrate: mp3@320 kbs (LP-rip)
     Time: ~ 90 min
     Size: 204,87 MB (Covers Front/Back HD)

All the cats joined in to make the first annual Playboy Jazz Poll the biggest, most successful popularity poll ever conducted in the field of jazz music. The winners, selected by readers for the 1957 Playboy All-Stars Jazz Band, are a real Who's Who of jazzdom. The result of the poll is a double LP supervised by Leonard Feather (as Playboy Jazz Editor), an issue available only for Playboy Magazine subscribers at this time.


One can usually predict which jazz musicians will win the various popularity polls, and the 1957 poll sponsored by Playboy, the American magazine, proved no exception. That magazine, however, has chosen to give a tangible form to the choice of its readers by issuing these 12-inch LPs, containing tracks by all the winners plus a few of the runners-up. Several of the major American companies loaned their artists or permitted the use of their material, so quite a few items come into rather surprising juxtaposition. The compilation was done in the United States and in the case of two artists—Frank Sinatra and Stan Kenton—it appears as if the recording company concerned did not care to co-Operate. The result is that both Sinatra and the Kenton orchestra are represented by very early and rather untypical examples of their work. Naturally the level of any anthology of this kind is bound to be uneven, but on the whole this is a reasonably good collection, presenting quite a high proportion of new material, and the two records are packaged in a very attractive album, containing nine pages of notes by Leonard Feather.>>>

     Artist: Count Basie
     Album:Basie Jam
     Label: Pablo, Japan, 24 bit remastered
     Year:rec.Dec 10, 1973 / rel.2002
     Format:MP3 @ 320 Kb/s
     Time: 49:03
     Size: 106 Mb

     Artists : VA
     Album : The Mood Mosaic Volume 3 & 4
     Label: Yellp
     Year: 1997
     Format : MP3,VBR
     Files : 64+137 MB (incl covers)

After two volumes' worth of straightforward lounge tunes, the Mood Mosaic compilation series pushed in a more adventurous direction on its third installment. Mood Mosaic, Vol. 3: The Sexploitation makes for a highly amusing listen because it is dedicated to erotic music; that is, sleazy-sounding lounge music and soundtrack cuts used for the love scenes in exploitation movies. As one might expect, several of these cuts incorporate orgasmic female moaning into their sonic attack: "Continental Exchange" is a Sounds Nice cut that paces its funky combination of wah-wah guitar and swirling organ licks with the sound of a woman's amorous-minded heavy breathing, and Ray Brown's amusingly titled "Coming and Going" is a guitar-led slice of light funk that prominently features the sound of a woman driving herself into an erotic frenzy while the band jams along behind her. Other cuts present a different but no less sexy take on the album's concept: "Good Time Woman" by Dan Seepers Soul spices up its horn-drenched soul by throwing in a female chorus that romantically coos along with the melody and De Giafferi's unhinged "Sado Maso" features a man raving in French about the titular subject while sweet female voices back him up. Despite these amusing tracks, Mood Mosaic, Vol. 3: The Sexploitation doesn't entirely succeed because some of its cuts fail to fit the concept. Clay Pitts' "Caribbean Sunrise" is a pleasant bossa nova track that lacks the erotic elements of the other tracks and Lil Louis' "French Kiss" is a techno track whose purely electronic style makes it stand out like a sore thumb amongst the band-driven tracks that surround it. However, the majority of Mood Mosaic, Vol. 3: The Sexploitation works and the rare nature of most of its tracks ensures that it will appeal to hardcore lounge fanatics.

     Artist: Lester Young Quartet
     Album: Live At Birdland
     Label: Bandstand
     Year: 1951
     Release: 1989
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Size: 111MB

  
    Artist: Nicole Henry with Eddie Higgins Trio
    Album: Teach Me Tonight
    Label: Venus/Tokuma Records
    Genre: Vocal Jazz
    Format mp3, bitrate: 320 kb/s
    Time: 54:45
    Size: 129 Mb (cover)

An even deeper jazz set than Nicole Henry's first album recorded with the Eddie Higgins Trio, and done in a style that's traditional, yet extremely soulful! There's a sound here that reminds us a lot of Carmen Lundy as Nicole's singing jazz, but doing so in a mode that's never draped with any of the torchy cliches of other singers and which is as informed by a history of soul music as it is more standard influences from jazz. The recording quality is great, thanks to the top-shelf Venus Records standards. - Dusty Groove America

     Artist: Van Morrison
     Album: Magic Time
     Label: Geffen
     Year: 2005
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Size: 125MB
     AMG rating:



     Magic Time is one of those rare, intermittent Van Morrison records that consciously offers a bird's eye view of everywhere he's been musically and weaves it all together into a heady brew. The last one was The Healing Game in 1997. He's made fine records since (Down the Road, Back on Top), but they've been focused on whatever Muse was pulling his coattails at the time. Magic Time is restless and freewheeling. Lyrically, it's alternately bittersweet, celebratory, and ornery. Like all of his records, notions of the past haunt these songs like familiar specters making sure they are not forgotten. Here, Celtic soul, gritty blues, fingerpopping swing, R&B, and classic pop all jockey for dominance over ten originals and three covers. Morrison's sequencing keeps them balanced and the proceedings sharp. "Stranded" has a gorgeous faux doo wop lilt, and an elegant, timeless piano that cascades from the ether as a nocturnal alto saxophone (Morrison) announces a stolid yet world-weary vocal that unhurriedly moves along to a backing chorus. One can hear traces of the Platters' "Twilight Time" and the Penguins' "Earth Angel" in its grain. "Celtic New Year" is trademark Morrison; the long, loping, repetitive line that is his trademark fuels this one. It's carried by the interplay between Morrison's acoustic and the late Foggy Lyttle's electric guitar fills, and aided by Chieftain Paddy Moloney's whistle. A moving yet unobtrusive string arrangement by Fiachra Trench lifts this tale of separation and longing into the large space inhabited by Morrison's voice....

     Artist: Dizzy Gillespie
     Album: Matrix (The Perception Sessions) 3LP/2CD
     Label: Sanctuary Records
     Years: 1970-1971, release: 2000
     Styles:Hard Bop, Jazz-Funk, World Fusion
     Quality: MP3@320 kbps
     Size: 163+105 mb
     Total time: 75:44+49:04
     AMG Rating




The three albums on this double-disc collection actually document Dizzy Gillespie's relatively short stay on the Perception label between 1970-1971. For jazz purists, the latter two, Portrait of Jenny and the live Giants (with a band co-led by Diz and Bobby Hackett) will be of most interest. The first of these -- making up the latter four titles on disc one -- consists of four long tracks showcasing the more balladic style of the Gillespie band along with some subtle funk elements (courtesy of guitarist George Davis), and the latter is a burning live date with Hackett and Gillespie crashing through standards from bop's yesteryear (with a few surprises). The anomaly here is The Real Thing, which is a soul-jazz date that incorporates very successfully the grittier funk sounds coming out of the jazz world since Miles Davis threw down the gauntlet with Bitches Brew. This is hardly a fusion date, though. It's Diz with guitarist Eric Gale, Phil Upchurch and Chuck Rainey on bass, pianist Mike Longo (who wrote a slew of cuts here), and drummer Bernard Purdie. "Soul Kiss" might have been a Sly Stone instrumental, and just smokes. "Closer" has Diz trying to sing soul with a backing female chorus (yes, it does work), and the deep soul read of Gershwin's "Summertime" simply has to be heard to be believed -- it and Gillespie's "N'Bani" (which nods to Santana's "Soul Sacrifice") are the standouts on the set. This is an essential purchase for fans of Gillespie in that it shows just how deep his creative spirit ran as he was always looking for new modes of expression.

     Artist: Les Elgart
     Album: Just One More Dance
     Label: Columbia (mono)
     Year: rel. 1954
     Format: MP3 @ 320 Kb/s (LP rip)
     Time: 30:20
     Size: 63, 9 Mb

    Artist: Ahmad Jamal Trio
    Album: Complete Live At The Pershing Lounge 1958
    Label: Gambit
    Genre: Piano Jazz
    Format mp3, bitrate: 320 kb/s vbr
    Time: 1:12:03
    Size: 106 Mb
    AMG Rating:

On January 16 and 17, 1958 pianist Ahmad Jamal, bassist Israel Crosby and drummer Vernell Fournier shared their elegant, intimate and supremely well-crafted jazz with the audience at the Pershing Lounge inside Chicago's Pershing Hotel, a venerable institution located on East 64th Street, west of South Cottage Grove Avenue. Nearly half-a-century later, Gambit Records issued all 19 tracks from the Pershing engagements on one CD, bringing before the public a body of work that two generations of jazz heads had gathered piecemeal on Argo and Chess LPs or various partial CD reissues. Tacked on to this historical edition is an edited version of "Poinciana," released as a single after it became apparent that it had hit potential. A humorous moment occurred when the trio launched into a rapid rendition of "Music Music Music," a pop hit borrowed from perky Teresa Brewer. Ahmad Jamal transformed each familiar melody into a sculpted ritual of improvisation, conducted with brilliant precision and immaculate ease. Even as this can and does occur in the controlled recording studio environment, when the artist performs in public, the magic might well magnify itself. Anyone who loves jazz or wants to understand it more clearly should really make an effort to hear this music played live, and pursue the best recorded examples of jazz performed in front of living, breathing audiences. Examples that spring to mind are Willie "The Lion" Smith Live at Blues Alley, Louis Armstrong at Town Hall, Billie Holiday at Storyville, Duke Ellington at Newport, Yusef Lateef Live at Pep's, Sonny Rollins at Montreux, Charles Mingus Mingus at Antibes, John Coltrane at the Vanguard, Miles Davis at the Fillmore, Lee Morgan Live at the Lighthouse and Rahsaan Roland Kirk at Keystone Korner. One essential addition needs to be made to that list: the music presented live in 1958 by the Ahmad Jamal Trio at the Pershing Lounge and the Spotlite Club. All of Jamal's recordings from these two engagements that are known to exist are now available from the Gambit reissue label. - arwulf arwulf at All Music Guide

     Artist: Various Artists
     Album: An Anthology Of California Music - Jazz West Coast, Volume. 5
     Label: Pacific Jazz JWC 511
     Year: 1958
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320 kb/s
     Time: 42 min
     Size: 94,84 MB (+Covers)

     Artist: Various Artists
     Album: An Anthology Of California Music - Jazz West Coast, Volume 4
     Label: Pacific Jazz JWC 510
     Year: 1959
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320 kb/s
     Time: 44 min
     Size: 99,34 (+Covers)

     Artist: Webster Young
     Album: For Lady
     Label: Prestige PR 7106
     Year: 1957
     Format, bitrate: mp3@320 kbs (LP-rip)
     Time: ~ 44 min
     Size: 99,33 MB (Covers Front/Back HD)

While trumpeter Webster Young pays tribute to Billie Holiday on this, his only studio date as a leader, the set is equally a tribute to Young's musical role model, Miles Davis. Young has Miles' soft-focus tone from the early to mid-'50s and, according to Ira Gitler's liner notes, he is actually playing Miles' cornet on the date. The similarities between the two players make this 1957 session a satisfying companion to Miles' work circa 1951-1953. Young is nicely matched here with tenor saxophonist Paul Quinichette, with the two of them using a pleasantly blowsy approach to weave loose, discursive counterpoint around each other. Guitarist Joe Puma distinguishes the set with thoughtful, understated playing that calls to mind Kenny Burrell's own Prestige dates from this period. Pianist Mal Waldron, drummer Ed Thigpen, and bassist Earl May infuse the performances with a cohesive, relaxed swing. They give each other lots of space, and Waldron makes astute choices in his chord selection, phrasing, and comping strategies. The tracks comprise five pieces associated with Holiday and one Young original, written in homage to Lady Day. True to Holiday's approach, the mood is world-weary, bordering on bleak, but with breaches of light like those that would briefly suffuse Holiday's songs.
"Strange Fruit" is the one track that misses the mark. Where Holiday allowed the stark irony of the lyrics to carry the song, Young's instrumental version labors the point by including an execution squad drum roll. This could have been effective had it been limited to the intro and ending, but when Thigpen's martial snare also crops up midsong it breaks the subtle, macabre atmosphere of the piece.