Artist: Pete Rugolo
     Album: Rhythm Meets Rugolo
     Label: Mercury MG 20551
     Year: 1956
     Format, bitrate: mp3@320 kbs LP Rip from Original Mecury LP
     Time: ~ 36 min
     Size: 83,07 MB (Covers Front/Back HD )




Though still young, Pete Rugolo has been instrumental in shaping the professional careers of names like Stan Kenton and June Christy, among others. Now along comes stereo to help shape the career of this young California arranger. Rugolo has a penchant for taking any instrument and in solo performance or in an ensemble part of an arrangement getting a sound never thought possible. This musical logic, if it may be termed that, seems to be the basic recipe to cook up a real musical chowder for the stereophile. He's heard everything, monaurally and stereophonically, and wants something palatable, yet ultra different, which Rugolo prepares so well. Here the puckish Pete ranges from his imitation of the early Duke Ellington band to some modernistic approaches that make Dave Brubeck sound staid and conservative in comparison. ~ From liner notes of LP

     Artist : Gerald Wilson
     Boxset :The Complete Pacifid Jazz recordings of Gerald Wilson and His Orchestra 5CD
     Bonus : The California Soul Album
     Label : Mosiac Records
     Years: 1961-1969, release: 2000
     Format,bitrate : MP3; 320 kb/s
     10 files : 960 MB


It's fitting that Mosaic was able to license Gerald Wilson's Pacific Jazz recordings rather than his earlier work from the '40s and '50s, when he was in the shadow of his compadres Ellington and Basie and Dizzy Gillespie -- who he wrote for and performed with during those years. Wilson's Pacific Jazz period begins at the dawn of the 1960s -- though he and Richard Bock, owner of Pacific Jazz, had talked as early as 1953 -- and the eventual deal was set up through Albert Marx, who owned the recordings and acted as producer. A total of ten albums were recorded for Pacific Jazz and two more for World Pacific. The story on these albums of Wilson as a composer and arranger -- and to a lesser extent a virtuoso trumpet player -- is as much as anything the story of popular big-band jazz during the tumultuous period. There are plenty of explorations here: in harmony, rhythm, and melody, extrapolated from long studies of composers as varied as Stravinsky and Debussy, but all of them are tonal. All of them swing; all of them groove. Whether it is "The Wailer" from 1960 or James Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)" from 1965 or "Down Here on the Ground" and "Baby, Baby Don't Cry" from 1969, Wilson had his finger firmly on the pulse of popular music as it changed, transformed itself into something else, and then became popular music again. Through it all, his ever-changing lineup of musicians -- including Groove Holmes, Teddy Edwards, Harold Land, George Duke, Bud Shank, Mel Lewis, Leroy Vinnegar, Wilton Felder, Victor Feldman, Bill Perkins, Bobby Hutcherson, Tommy Flanagan, Jimmy Rowles, Roy Ayers, Joe Pass, and countless others -- created a virtual history of the intertwining of jazz and popular music from both sides of the aisle during that decade. This is man who, late in the decade, would perform "'Round Midnight" and the Doors' "Light My Fire" in the same concert. These recordings are all full of intimate groove, lush swing, gorgeous nuances, and an elegance that hasn't been equaled since that time. There is none of the frenetic harshness associated with Buddy Rich's bands of the era, but rather an innate funkiness and sophisticated swing that is confident enough not to hurry through anything.>>>

     Artist: Benny Goodman
     Album: Benny Goodman In Moscow
     Label: RCA Victor
     Year: 1962, Release: 1989
     Quality: MP3@256kb/s (megaupload) 320 kb/s (rapidshare)
     Size: 136 Mb (megaupload); 157 Mb (rapidshare)
     Total time - 73:05
     AMG Rating

   



Benny Goodman arranged to record a number of concerts during his 1962 tour of the Soviet Union, and arranged for RCA Victor to release excerpts of his final week in Moscow within this two record set. In spite of the rather unreliable electric service, and a blown fuse in the middle of a septet version of "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" (which was still edited and released), the sound quality is generally very good, and the audiences are respectfully quiet while enjoying a rare visit by an American Jazz icon. The clarinetist is in great form throughout this recording. Although there are a number of standards present long associated with Goodman, there's also plenty of valuable new material. Tommy Newsom's "Titter Pipes," features both Phil Woods and Zoot Sims, and was a hit with the audience. Pianist John Bunch's swinging "Why You" and "Feathers" merit praise, as do the surprise inclusion of two of Tadd Dameron's compositions, "Fontainebleau" and "Swift as the Wind." Teddy Wilson takes over on piano for the quintet medley of time-tested favorites. Strangely overlooked during RCA's various series of CD reissues, this music has only been reissued by the European bootleg label Giants of Jazz, though it omits two tracks, makes some odd changes in the sequencing of the music, and incorrectly credits Wilson as the pianist on the octet selections. But the original album will be fairly difficult for most Benny Goodman fans to track down. ~ Ken Dryden, All Music Guide

     Artist: John Handy
     Album: Recorded Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival 1965
     Label: Koch Jazz
     Style: Post-Bop, modal Music
     Year: 1965, release: 1996
     Quality: MP3@320 kbps
     Size: 98,5 mb (sharebee)
     Total time: 47:04
     AMG Rating:



John Handy's performance at the 1965 Monterey Jazz Festival was a sensation and arguably the high point of his career. The altoist, using a quintet that included violinist Michael White, guitarist Jerry Hahn, bassist Don Thompson, and drummer Terry Clarke (all of whom were young unknowns at the time), played two lengthy songs: the 27-minute "If Only We Knew" and "Spanish Lady," which lasts a mere 19 and a half minutes. After a brief theme, "If Only We Knew" mostly features unaccompanied solos. Handy's opening statement immediately quieted the crowd, which was amazed by the altoist's courage and the logic of the advanced yet tonal music. "Spanish Lady" also has a long Handy statement and builds up to a very exciting conclusion. Even over three decades later, the music sounds fresh, colorful, and innovative. The original Columbia LP (which has been long out of print) had reversed the order of the songs and even their titles so this Koch CD reissue is very welcome on several levels. Highly recommended. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

    Artist: Milt Jackson
    Album: The Birth of Modern Jazz Quartet
    Label: Avid
    Year: Jul 2, 1948-Dec 22, 1952 ; release: 2003
    Genre: Jazz/Hard-Bop
    Format mp3, bitrate: 320 kb/s
    Time: 1:15:33
    Size: 178 Mb

Its title and many other felicities notwithstanding, the key figure throughout this CD is Milton 'Bags' Jackson (1923-99). A pioneer of modern jazz and a member of one of the most important jazz outfits there has been, he was a great artist who happened to play the vibraharp. Even in his twilight he was an artist of impeccable taste and blues-drenched sensitivity, reflected in his many and durable compositions. At his peak - which spanned forty-plus years - he was quite simply one of the greatest soloists jazz has seen. Incapable of not swinging at even the gentlest tempi, he also had an instinctive sense of structure and an infallible feel for dynamics, and the heat he could generate from an instrument some still associate with ice-cream music was just awesome. There have been great vibists before and since - Bobby Hutcherson and Gary Burton in particular belong in that latter category - but it is most unlikely that anyone will be considered Milt Jackson's equal. - Dr. Richard Palmer

     Artist: Art Pepper
     Album: Besame Mucho: Live In Tokyo '79
     Year: rec.Jul 16, 1979-Jul 23, 1979 / rel.2004
     Label: JVC, Japan
     Format, bitrate: FLAC+CUE+LOG+Covers
     Time: 46:54
     Size: 107 MB(+5% recovery)
     AMG rating:

     Artist:Art Pepper
     Album: Landscape: Live in Tokyo '79
     Label:JVC, Japan (24 bit remastered)
     Year: rec.Jul 16, 1979-Jul 23, 1979 / rel.2003
     Format:MP3 @ 320 Kb/s
     Time: 52:00
     Size: 111 Mb
     AMG rating: