Artists: Scott Hamilton and Tommy Flanagan
     Album: After Hours
     Label: Concord Jazz
     Year: 1996, release: 1997
     Quality: MP3@320 kbps
     Site: 139 mb
     Total time: 64:41

Renowned pianist Tommy Flanagan doesn't ordinarly appear as a guest on other musicians' recordings. But then again, Scott Hamilton is no ordinary tenor saxophonist. Put the two together in the recording studio and you have a rare, not-so-ordinary situation that results in some extraordinary, empathetic music-making. Highlighting Sott Hamilton's relaxed supple phrasing and warmly melodic improvisations meshing magically with Tommy Flanagan's subtle-yet-complex, elegantly swinging piano, supported sensitively by bassist Bob Cranshaw and drummer Lewis Nash, AFTER HOURS is the perfect album for those late nights when nothing else but some heartfelt ballads and some soulful blues will do. "This recording is called AFTER HOURS for the excellent reason that it recalls the Hamilton-Flanagan Town Hall performance with a transcendent relaxation which evokes the profoundly communicative, almost autumnal atmosphere sometimes achieved late at night in a club ... individual egos have been subsumed into the common goal of allowing each bar, phrase and chorus to flow into the next, and the music is set free to express itself with joyous, unforced warmth."

     Artists: Miles Davis Sextet
     Album (EP): At the Birdland
     Year: 1959
     Label: bootleg (no label)
     Audio Quality: Very nice
     Format: MP3 192kbps
     Size: 34,1 MB
     Total time: 24:24

AFRS (Armed Forces Radio Service) radio broadcast, New York City, August 25, 1959 (recorded the night Miles got beaten and arrested).

This disc is practically a EP or single, with just two songs: “So What” and “The Theme”. However, it’s an important historical record and marked a day that Davis probably did not like to remember. In the night of August 25, 1959, he heard a police phrase "you're under arrest!" That became to be the title of one of their albums in 1985. Everything happened in front of Birdland, One of the most important jazz clubs in the late '50. The Sextet had just finished playing a set of songs for a radio broadcast, live in the Birdland, In celebration of Armed Forces Day, in the end of the performance, Miles accompanied a friend at the door to leave her in a taxi, getting there briefly in order to smoke a cigarette, get some fresh air, or something. Then emerges a cop in the best style W.A.S.P. (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) decided to show the whole warmth of the local police to citizens african-american, ordering the black man that stood there in a suit of five thousand dollars, to go away (after all, with that expensive suit just could be a bum). Miles did not like the tone, but still argued that he would not go to anywhere because was working there, pointed at the sign with your name. The officer replied: "I do not care where you work for, I told you to drop off or I'll arrest you." In summary, the musician has not walked away and the officer decided to arrest him, only that Miles, who was also boxer, decided that it would not so easy. It all ended in a police station with Miles Davis, arrested and beaten, with your suit of five thousand dollars stained by blood, being forced to pay a fine absurd and even had his license to ring in New York quashed. What happened to the cop? Probably was promoted with honors. And this way the American police showed all your gratitude to Miles Davis for the transmission of your presentation in honor of Armed Forces Day!

     Artist: Yusef Lateef
     Album: The Blue Yusef Lateef
     Label: Atlantic SD 1508
     Year: 1968, release: 1992
     Format, bitrate: mp3@320 kbs
     Time: ~ 47min
     Size: 107,08MB (with Covers Front/Back HD)
     AMG Rating

Though there is some confusion about what happened to the 32 Jazz label, producer Joel Dorn's other project, his label M, is following closely in its footsteps; unique packaging and a wealth of fine material licensed from Dorn's years as a jazz producer at Atlantic Records seems its sole M.O.. On The Blue Yusef Lateef, listeners get an amazing chapter from the late '60s, an amazing period when everything in the world of jazz was changing. Lateef was big on concept recordings. He and Dorn did no less than ten during their tenure together at Atlantic. This one examines, in a painterly way, all the different ranges of emotion contained within the blues genre. With a band that included Detroit jazz gods Roy Brooks on drums and Kenny Burrell on guitar, Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Hugh Lawson on piano, Sonny Red on alto, Bob Cranshaw on electric bass, and a very young Cecil McBee on acoustic bass, you get the idea that Lateef was after something different. Lateef performs on not only his tenor and flute, but bamboo and pneumatic flutes, tamboura, koto, and others; Lateef was exploring the outer reaches of the blues as they might appear and appeal to Eastern as well as Western cultures. From the opening moments in "Juba Juba," everything comes in one package -- the slow, snaky groove only the blues can provide, with the Eastern scale modalities and polyphony attached via Lateef's flute and Brook's percussion. But before becoming too ethereal, Mitchell chimes in with a barrelhouse muted trumpet and Buddy Lucas wails a shuffle on harmonica. There is also an unidentified female gospel chorus humming in the background -- reminiscent of the Staples at their spookiest. Next up is the even-more Eastern-tinged "Like It Is," sounding like it was left off "Blues from the Orient." Lawson's minor key explorations and Brooks' spontaneous actions with a variety of percussion instruments usher in a groove that only Lateef could create. It is very slow, harmonically complex, and lush in a manner that suggests exotica sans the corniness of Les Baxter. It quietly roars with a melodic polytonality courtesy of Lateef's tenor, joined by Lawson's striking mode changes in his solo. Then comes the barrelhouse romp of "Othelia," the Japanese psychedelia of "Moon Cup," and the samba-fied bluesiana of "Back Home," citing Afro-Cuban pop Machito arrangements inside a Brazilian carnival-chant created of vocal overtones and greasy rhythms. You get the picture. The Blue Yusef Lateef is one wild album. In sound, it is the very best the '60s had to offer in terms of experimentation and accessibility. This is blues you can dance to, but also meditate to and marvel at; a pearl worthy of the price.

     Artists: Spontaneous Music Ensemble
     Album: Withdrawal
     Label: Emanem
     Genre: Free Improvisation
     Years: 1966-1967, release: 1997
     Format, bitrate: FLAC
     Size: 447.8M

Sometimes, unearthed documents can leave you cold, even though the intellect appreciates the historical gap being filled. With Withdrawal, history doesn't matter and the "archival document" ends up superseding the legit material by the Spontaneous Music Ensemble. This is gold -- pure artistic beauty. The year is 1966. John Stevens' group records the soundtrack for a movie (now lost) by George Paul Solomos. The continuous performance is edited into two parts for a total of 30 minutes of music. A slow piece dominated by a glockenspiel leitmotif, "Withdrawal Soundtrack" features beautiful trumpet work by a Kenny Wheeler who was just beginning to play free music. Other players are Stevens (drums), Paul Rutherford (trombone), Trevor Watts (saxophone, oboe), Barry Guy (bass, limited to sustained drones), and a very young and discreet Evan Parker (saxophone). A few months later, in early 1967, the same lineup, plus Derek Bailey on amplified guitar, recorded a reworked version of the soundtrack in three sequences, plus a suite called "Seeing Sounds & Hearing Colours," both intended for an LP release that never materialized. Watts plays some beautiful flute on "Withdrawal Sequence 2." Actually, the whole CD contains fantastic free music, almost completely detached from jazz -- very atmospheric, delicate, and highly organic with a strong sense of discovery. These are the earliest available recordings by Barry Guy and Evan Parker (even though the latter doesn't play much), and one of Bailey's earliest sessions playing free music (even though he is buried in the mix). Historical significance notwithstanding, Withdrawal is simply a great album, still very relevant and "new" today.

     Artists: Prestige All Stars
     Album: Roots
     Year: 1957, release: 1996
     Label: Prestige / OJC
     Format: MP3 320kbps
     Size: 97,5 MB
     Total time: 42:09

     Artist : Gabor Szabo
     Album : The Szabo Equation
     Label : DCC jazz
     Year: 1969, release:1990
     Genre : Jazz, guitar jazz
     Format : MP3/320 kbps / FLAC (inc. artwork)
     File : 91 MB / 254 MB
     Total time: 44:56





This is an awesome cd from the master of gypsy- jazz guitar Gabor Szabo. Gabor's hypnotic guitar playing is the perfect thing to listen to when you're in a mellow mood on a rainy day. I recommend this album to fans of jazz guitar that want to hear something that is a little different. ~ amazon.com

        Artist: Ego-Wrappin'
        Album: Blue Speaker
        Label: RD Records
        Year: 1998
        Format, bitrate: mp3 192kps
        Time: 56:33
        Size: 76.3 mb
 

The songs produced by this highly inventive duo mix various types of music such as jazz, rock and ska, making it impossible to categorize their music into an established genre. Their music is indisputably original, their songs being infused with both a distinct, inimitable atmosphere and infused with a palpable passion. It is perhaps for this reason that their music appeals to so many people. It would not be too much to say that at times songs by Ego-Wrappin’ seem nothing short of a miracle! ~ toysfactory.co.jp

     Artist: Hank Jones
     Album: The New York Rhythm Section
     Label: Fresh Sounds Records
     Year: 1956, release: 2004
     Quality: MP3@320 kbps
     Size: 152 Mb
     Total time: 70:57
     AMG rating


During the second half of the 1950s, pianist Hank Jones, guitarist Barry Galbraith, bassist Milt Hinton and drummer Osie Johnson were constantly in demand for studio dates, recording in a countless number of settings. The music on this CD, which is an entire LP plus a few related selections by the same quartet, features the rhythm section as its own entity. Trombonist Jimmy Cleveland guests on three numbers and there are individual features for Hinton and Galbraith although Jones is generally the lead soloist. The music falls between swing and bop (just like Jones' style), ranging from a variety of melodic and catchy originals to Thelonious Monk's "Ruby, My Dear." The music features each of the musicians in prime form and is particularly valuable for the Galbraith solos since the guitarist did not record often enough in small-group jazz settings. Recommended. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

     Artist: Bob Mintzer
     Album: Latin From Manhattan
     Label: DMP
     Year: 1998; release : 1998
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320 Kbps
     Size: 131 MB
     Total time: 59:42
     AMG rating


For this recording by Bob Mintzer's big band, the tenor saxophonist and his 17-piece ensemble perform ten numbers with an Afro-Cuban beat provided by percussionist Louis Bauzo. Although Mintzer's group does not really have its own distinctive musical personality, it is full of talented players. Best-known among the sidemen are tenor saxophonist Bob Malach, altoist Pete Yellin, trumpeter Mike Mossman, trombonist Dave Taylor and pianist Phil Markowitz. Mintzer and Markowitz have the best spots and although Mossman unfortunately does not get any solos, many of the lesser-known horn players are heard from. Other than "Oye Como Va" (which is given a fresh new arrangement) most of the pieces were newly-written. Overall this Afro-Cuban flavored effort serves as a strong change of pace for Mintzer's orchestra.

     Artist: Steve Davis
     Album: Images
     Year: 2010
     Label: Posi-Tone Records
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320 kb/s
     Total time: 56:14
     Size: 135.26 Mb

Images is trombonist Steve Davis' love letter to his hometown of West Hartford, CT. The ten pieces he wrote for the album, and which make up his "Hartford Suite," are all dedicated to people or places associated with this geographic region. While Davis' penchant for crisp swing and clear, lyrical lines plays a big part here, some compositional cunning—and some pieces that fall outside this general area—helps to keep things from falling into a stylistic rut. Dedicated to bassist Nat Reeves, the mid-to-up-tempo swing of "Nato" possesses a persistent, four-note figure that drops in as the parade of soloists pass along. "The Modernist" plays off of oddly placed accents, slightly obscuring an otherwise straightforward feel, while the horns stretch out over some cymbal rolls and arco bass before the music starts to cook on "Twain's World." A phrase with a cycling rhythm leads into the solos here, putting Davis and trumpeter Josh Evans in the spotlight. "J Mac's Way," dedicated to Jackie McLean, features some of pianist David Bryant's most absorbing solo work on the album, while the bass hook at the start of the waltzing "Mode For Miantonomoh" is an instant attention grabber. Bryant's zeal adds a lot to this track, bit its alto saxophonist Mike DiRubbo who is the standout soloist, showcasing his unique phrasing and style. While the first half of the album has plenty to offer, the two tracks that seem to rise above the rest are on the latter half of the recording. Davis admittedly acknowledges the Billy Strayhorn influence on "Rose Garden," a ballad that exudes all of the tender sophistication and class associated with that genius of jazz composition. While Davis and DiRubbo carefully shape their lines to fit the song's mood, bassist Dezron Douglas provides some thick bass notes that hang, seemingly suspended in mid-air, behind them. "Park Street" has an infectiously joyous, party-like vibe, and uses a Latin groove as its rhythmic framework, set behind a 12-bar blues-like progression. All the soloists take things up a notch here, and Douglas' solo is bursting with creative energy. While familiarity with the city of Hartford would probably yield a unique appreciation for this album, the musical images presented here can easily stand on their own.

      Artist: Wynton Marsalis
      Album: The Midnight Blues
      Original Release Date: April 28, 1998
      Format: MP3 320kbps
      Time: 76:03
      Size: 160 MB
      Label: Sony

With his extensive classical training and a background steeped in jazz tradition, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis made an indelible mark on both classical and jazz worlds in the early 1980s. Thus, Marsalis seemed a natural to combine jazz with strings. However, he has only sporadically used them in a jazz setting outside of his 1984 Grammy-winning classic, Hot House Flowers. On "Spring Will be a Little Late This Year" from the 1998 release The Midnight Blues -Standard Time, Vol. 5 (arranged and conducted by Robert Freeman), we hear him displaying his passion and strengths on both sides of the equation. JAZZIZ Magazine Copyright

     Artist: Ponga
     Album: Ponga
     Label: Loosegroove
     Year: 1999
     Genre: Free Improvisation, Avantgarde Jazz, Electronica, Trip-Hop, Free Funk
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320
     Size: 118 mb
     AMG Rating:

     Entirely improvised from start to finish, this collection of what were essentially jam sessions (both live and in the studio) captures some moments of extremely heavy jazz. On Ponga, fusion giants Wayne Horvitz (keyboards) and Bobby Previte (drums) are joined by two relatively upstart Seattle musicians Skerik (sax) and Dave Palmer (keyboards). All four players had credible resumes when Ponga was assembled in the late '90s, but nothing they had done (especially recently) suggested the power and rare musicality of this eponymous debut. The music is difficult to describe and the word fusion comes to mind most often, but with so much wrongheaded jazz and barely salient prog titles often listed under the lowly rubric, well, it wouldn't be a fair description. The minimal "Awesome Wells" is a standout only for its spacious, bluesy texture that effectively gives the listener a break from the full-tilt progressive and noisy jazz that comes before and after. Cacophonous but utterly musical, Ponga is first-rate funk, experimental racket, and free jazz combined into one righteous package.

     Artists: Scott Fields Ensemble
     Album: Fugu
     Label: Clean Feed
     Year: 2010
     Format, bitrate: FLAC
     Size: 266.8M

Fugu was recorded in 1995, not long after Fields returned to music after what he says were ”15 years of trying to find something I liked to do better.” (Fields was barely 21 when he quit music and, he now says, ”it’s not as though I was a big deal and anyone missed me. I was the only one who knew I was retired and even that took me a few years to realize.”) Fugu was first released on Fields’ own, short-lived, label Geode. Fields wrote the compositions for dance, specifically for the chorographer Li Chiao-Ping. But, as Fields explains in his liner notes, the music’s irregular (usually additive), and frequently changing, time signatures, not to mention numerous changes in tempo, proved too difficult for most dancers to follow. Of the five compositions on Fugu, only ”The Plagiarist” is in a simple meter, 4/4. But its high tempo, just somewhat less than the 300 beats per minute marked on the score, presents its own difficulties for dance. One composition was choreographed and none were performed. Tonally all of the material, and to a large extent the improvised sections as well, work within what Fields says is a radically simplified version of Stephan Dembski’s post-serial pitch organizations system, sometimes called a system of circles. This system generates related sets of seven-pitch scales that are used the same way as common major and minor scales, but in different patterns. This version of the Scott Fields Ensemble grew out of Fields’ first post-retirement group, the Silt Loam Ensemble, whose recorded output consisted of two cassette-only releases. Bassist John Padden, an original member of Silt Loam, was primarily a classical musician. Fields says Padden was one of his favorite people to play with because of his beautiful sound, solid time, and generous temperament. Geoff Brady, also a Fields favorite, joined Silt Loam shortly before it morphed into a Fields-led group. Padden and Brady, along with vibist Robert Stright, who earned a doctorate in music composition at the University of Wisconsin, appear on Fields’ first Geode CD, Running with Scissors. For cellist Matt Turner, Fugu was the first of many recordings, tours, and performances with Fields. Turner also appears on the Fields recordings 48 Motives, Disaster at Sea, Sonotropism, 96 Gestures, and Christangelfox. Fields recruited Turner shortly after the cellist returned to his native Wisconsin from Boston. cleanfeed-records.com

     Artist: Joe Cain & His Orchestra
     Album: Latin Explosion
     Year:1960
     Label: Time Records
     Quality:320 kbps
     Total Time: 00:30:11
     Total Size: 70mb

     Artist: Adam Kolker
     Album: Sultanic Verses
     Label: Satchmo Jazz Records
     Year: 2001, release: 2003
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320
     Size: 116 MB


Reedman Adam Kolker has garnered three Grammy nominations for his work alongside percussionist Ray Barretto. Now, as the leader on Sultanic Verses, he teams up again with Barretto, whose churning rhythms aid and abet pianist Bruce Barth, bassist John Herbert, and drummer Billy Hart.

Four tunes are "Verses," shuffled in with the Kolker originals and a couple of time- polished classics: Monk's "Epistrophy" and the American Songbook gem, "All or Nothing at All." The Verses are duets, featuring Kolker's sweet-toned soprano weaving around Barretto's fluid grooves. "All or Nothing at All" showcases Kolker's airy yet still substantial tenor tone, along with Barth's crisp and sublime keyboard accompaniment. On the Monk tune Barth eschews Thelonious's angularity and sits in with a straight up precision, and "Blues" has that relaxed, smooth-flowing after-hours feel. "Remembrance," Kolker's dedication to his mother, closes the with a beautiful, delicate melody on tenor that Barth accentuates with reverent light touch. ~ Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz

     Artist: Stephane Grappelli
     Album: Improvisations/Piano a Gogo
     Label:Universal Music S.A.S. France
     Years: 1954, 1956; release: 2003
     Quality: 320 CBRkbps / 44,1kHz / Joint-Stereo
     Size: 170Mb
     Time:74:08 min


In the winter of 1950/51 Stephane Grappelli was playing piano in Nice at the Hotel d'Angleterre, and in 1953 he joined Henri Crolla's ensemble as both pianist and violinist. If his talents as a pianist have rarely been mentioned, it's because his piano recordings are exceedingly rare. This was partly Art Tatum's fault Stephane discovered the genius one afternoon in 1935, on the beach at Le Touquet, where the local council had installed some loudspeakers. That incredible music, and Tatum's unimaginable virtuosity, left a lasting mark on him (Grappelli was so impressed that for a moment he thought he was hearing two pianists!), a mark that made him lose his enthusiasm for the piano, and concentrate on the violin instead. Actually, Grappelli thought that this "Piano а gogo" record was a mistake ("Someone asked me to do it" he said). >>>