Artist: The Pete Jolly Trio
     Albums: Yeah!
     Released: 1996
     Label: VSOP
     Quality: lossless (FLAC+Cue)
     Size: 397 MB




     Pete Jolly and his sidemen (bassist Chuck Berghofer and drummer Nick Martinis) celebrated their 21st year as a regularly working trio with this fine V.S.O.P. CD. The musicians sound quite enthusiastic and creative within the boundaries of straight-ahead jazz, showing that they had not run out of ideas yet. Jolly alternates hot pieces with ballads, standards with obscurities. It is a particular pleasure to hear the powerful pianist interpret such rarely performed songs as George Wallington's "Variations," "Crazeology," Al Cohn's brooding ballad "Ah-Moore" and Shorty Rogers' "Diablo's Dance." Other highlights of the enjoyable set include Horace Silver's "Yeah," "Lullaby of the Leaves" and Zoot Sims' "The Red Door." All those years of playing together have definitely paid off.

     Artist: Yusef Lateef
     Album: Yusef's Mood: Complete 1957 Sessions with Hugh Lawson (4CD Set - 8 albums)
     Label: Fresh Sound Records
     Year: 1957
     Release: 2008
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Size: 4 CD - 150, 153, 158, 152 MB

     This massive four-disc set of Yusef Lateef's first recordings as a leader was issued by Spain's Fresh Sound imprint and contains a total of eight different records, all but one recorded under the guidance of engineer Rudy Van Gelder for the Savoy, Verve, and Prestige/New Jazz imprints. Considering he was 37 when he began recording as a leader -- and had served tenures in New York with Hot Lips Page, Roy Eldridge, and Ernie Fields -- Lateef was fully developed as a composer and arranger. His band for these sessions is stellar. His Detroit crew was comprised of monsters even as the band mutated a bit: the original unit featured Lateef with trombonist Curtis Fuller, bassist Ernie Farrow, pianist Hugh Lawson, and drummer Louis Hayes. Changes would take place later in the year: Oliver Jackson replaced Hayes, and flugelhorn boss Wilbur Harden took over the chair vacated by Fuller. In the Lateef vision, these differences were all part of the plan: exploring his passions in uniting African and Asian folk traditions with American music.
     Some of the albums included here are now considered legendary sessions. Those include Jazz for the Thinker, Jazz Mood, Before Dawn, and Other Sounds. The other four -- Stable Mates, Jazz and the Sounds of Nature, Prayer to the East, and The Sounds of Yusef -- are no less satisfying. That said, only one of these recordings (Other Sounds,) has remained continually in print during the CD era. While it was not uncommon for recording artists to spend loads of time in the studio (the system was different then than it is now), making records and getting paid in addition to gigging at clubs, eight albums (and part of a ninth) is a lot of work in a year for anyone. This only underscores the depth of commitment Lateef and his collaborators had when it came to exploring new sounds, and incorporating different scalar elements, tonalities, and in Lateef's case, instruments, into the group sound. Lateef alternately plays tenor, flute, argol, scraped gourd, and an Indian reed whistle. While the music perhaps sounded otherworldly at the time, it always swung, no matter how much space was incorporated, no matter the rhythmic structure, melody, and lushly integrated harmonic sensibilities among the musicians, which were part of the core musical architecture. Some of the key tracks here are "Happyology," "Morning,""8540 Twelfth Street," "Taboo," "Love Is Eternal," and the title track to Before Dawn. Check the slightly angular structure at the beginning of "Space," from Jazz Mood: one can hear a gorgeously knotty nod to Thelonious Monk's compositions of the era, but it's all Lateef.
     While it is true that sometimes Fresh Sound offerings are lacking in quality, this set, for the most part, is quite good. The sound is requisitely full and warm. A/B'ing from the LPs, it represents quite accurately the range and depth -- especially in the piano and basslines -- what is there. The price is also quite reasonable for such an extensive collection. The booklet contains the liner notes to each of the individual albums, and full session details. This is a fine investment for the jazz fan in general, and essential for those deeply interested in the still futuristic work of Lateef.

     Artist: Harry "Sweets" Edison
     Album: Sweets For The Sweet
     Label: Collectables Records
     Year: 1965, release: 1996
     Quality: MP3@320 kbps
     Size: 71,7 mb
     Total time: 34:53

Veteran trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison is awash in strings on this collection of ballads originally recorded for the Sue label in 1965. The material includes established standards ("Willow Weep for Me" and "On Green Dolphin Street"), pop songs of the day (including a corny "Hello, Dolly" with honky tonk piano and "Call Me Irresponsible"), as well as a pair of originals ("Blues for Christine" and "Sweets for the Sweet") by the leader. Edison's solos, whether muted or with open horn, are enjoyable, though rather reserved due to the nature of the arrangements. His accompanists include either Gerry Wiggins or Don Abney on piano, Leroy Vinnegar or (possibly) Red Callendar on bass, and drummer Jackie Mills. ~ Ken Dryden, All Music Guide

A well-titled album from Harry "Sweets" Edison – not just because of its play on his nickname, but because of its overall sound! The set's an obscure "with strings" date for Harry – one that has his trumpet nicely wrapped up in larger backings that have a gentle, laidback feel. The moody, mellow sound is a great complement to Harry's horn – really showcasing his talents on muted ballads – and the album also features contributions from Gerald Wiggins on piano and Leroy Vinnegar on bass. Titles include "But Beautiful", "What Is There To Say", "Green Dolphin Street", "Everything Happens To Me", "Days Of Wine & Roses", and "Blues For Christine". © 1996-2010, Dusty Groove America, Inc.

     Artist: Bill Dixon
     Album: Vade Mecum II
     Label: Soul Note
     Year: 1993; release: 1996
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320
     Time: 70:05
     Size: 154 mb
     AMG Rating:


     Maybe it's the relatively unusual instrumentation of this quartet (trumpet/fluegelhorn, two acoustic basses and drums), and more likely the talents of the individuals involved, but among many other delights, the sense of air-filled space, of the listener being among the musicians, is astonishing. Bill Dixon's horns flit and hover in the air above, describing arabesques as intuitive as they are mathematical, as natural and arcane as bird cries. The dual basses of Barry Guy and William Parker, with approaches so different in manner that they often sound as though issuing from unrelated instrument, prod and cajole from the sides, sometimes echoing Dixon, other times steering the direction of the improvisation as they see fit, and always rambunctiously inventive. Tony Oxley's percussion, as unobtrusive and essential as a floor, pervades the atmosphere, providing sonic surfaces for the others to glance off or to mirror. Graham Lock's fine liner notes assure readers that Dixon provided a compositional framework for the group (who hadn't worked together as a quartet before this session), but it's a testimony to his conception that the entire recording has the aura of a superb, intimate, and powerful improvisation. Paradoxically, if one concentrates on each individual's playing, there is a kind of sparseness, even hermeticism in the sound, but in the group context it becomes a lush, breathing, blooming creation. In some ways, Vade Mecum II is an extension and descendent of Cecil Taylor's '60s classic Unit Structures, on which Dixon also played. It is, in any case, one of the very finest jazz albums of the '90s and one that cannot be recommended too highly.

     Artist: Sue Raney with orchestra conducted by Billy May
     Album: Songs For a Raney Day
     Year: 1959
     Label: Capitol
     Format, bitrate: mp3 320Kbps
     Time: 31:21
     Size: 64,44 Mb



Sue Raney (born June 18, 1940) is an American jazz singer. Signed by Capitol Records at the age of seventeen, her debut album, the Nelson Riddle-produced When Your Lover Has Gone, was released in 1958. Raney begin singing at only four years of age, and encouraged by her mother, began working as a professional before she was a a teenager. When she was nearly 14, she joined Jack Carson’s Los Angeles-based radio show in 1954, and later worked on television as Ray Anthony’s band’s main vocalist. Sue worked briefly with Stan Kenton in 1962. After a hiatus in the 1970s, Raney has continued to record sporadically, with her most recent album being a 2006 tribute to Doris Day entitled Heart’s Desire.

     Artist: Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers
     Album: Solid Ice
     Year: 2006, release: 2007
     Label: Telarc
     Quality: mp3 | Stereo
     Bitrate: 320 kbps | 44.1 Khz
     Total Time: 50 min 18 sec
     Total Size: 146.85 mb

Ex-Nighthawks guitarist Jimmy Thackery has been playing his own brand of blues-tinged rock as a solo artist for some twenty years now (he left the Nighthawks in 1987) and there's no denying that he's a first-class guitarist with a sharp ear for tone and a knack for perfectly placed fills and evocative leads. His quavering, shaky voice is a problem, though, and while he conjures up the feel of an old veteran country singer on some of his slower numbers, his singing often lacks the punch, power and sass of his guitar playing on the more upbeat material. You don't buy a Jimmy Thackery album for the vocals, though, and fans of his crisp guitar work won't be disappointed at all with Solid Ice, which comes packed with wonderful riffs and multi-tracked leads. Thackery took half a year off from the road to write the songs for this project, so it's a bit ironic that the best five tracks (roughly half the album) are instrumentals. The vocal cuts are certainly passable, with "How Long," which uses Thackery's hesitant country twang to good advantage, and the powerful "Fifteen Minutes," a treatise on the hollowness of fame that rides over an archetypal chord progression that sounds like a slowed-down version of the riff to AC/DC's "Problem Child," being the most singular. It's the instrumentals, though, that really shine here, beginning with the no-frills simplicity of "Hobart's Blues" and the fluid, gliding prettiness of "Daze in May." The album ends with a sort of instrumental suite, including the title track, "Solid Ice," the country-tinged "Blue Tears Reprise" (which revisits a vocal track, "Blue Tears," from earlier in the album sequence) and a solid cover of Jimi Hendrix's funky "Who Knows," which brings everything to a close on a fiery up note. The end result of all this is a solid outing, but it feels a bit like Thackery is in a holding pattern. His singing isn't likely to change, so unless he decides to go completely country and turns that voice from a shaky point into an effective character study, he might give a thought to an album of instrumentals because his guitar sure can talk that talk and he has already proven that he can play anything from surf to jazz. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide

Artist: Django Reinhardt
Album: Jazz Ballads
Label: Membran Music
Year: 1936-1949; release: 2004
Format, bitrate: mp3, 320 kbps
Time: 1h, 57 sec + 58 min, 39 sec
Size: 147+149 mb.

Очередная встреча с джазовыми балладами. На этот раз для Вас играет Великий Джанго. Как обычно - ничего нового, просто великолепный джаз.
Приятных выходных!

The strong point of atmospherical jazz ballads is their timelessness. The titles that excited the audience already at the beginning of the 19th century did never lose their magic. We present over 170 recordings of unforgotten jazz artists:
Billie Holiday - Oscar Peterson - Stan Getz - Coleman Hawkins - Django Reinhardt - Louis Armstrong and many others

     Artist: Mörglbl
     Album: Grotesk
     Label: Free Electric Sound
     Year: 2007
     Format, bitrate: mp3@CBR320kbps
     Time: 59:51
     Size:136 mb

Morglbl are a three piece mostly instrumental power trio from France. Consisting of Christophe Godin on guitar, Ivan Rougny on bass and Jean Pierre Frelezeau on drums these guys play a mix of progressive rock, jazz / fusion and straight ahead heavy metal. Godin is an incredible guitarist and it is amazing to me that this guy is not better known than he is. At times he reminds me of Joe Satriani and much of the material here would not found out of place on a Satriani album. I have seen these guys live and Godin ranks right up with the best guitarists I have seen over the years. Rougny and Frelezeau are no slouches on their instruments either as they support Godin with a rock solid rhythm section. The album is mostly instrumental, although there are some silly sounding vocals here and there mostly used as comic relief. These guys can play seriously heavy or light as a feather; they are all over the map. If you like great guitar pyrotechnics with a bit of humor thrown in for good measure this album may be for you. ~ from liner note

     Artist: Roma Trio
     Album: The Four Seasons
     Label: Venus Records
     Year: 2009
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320 kbps
     Time: 68:16
     Size: 148 Mb



Following the trios led by Stefano Bollani and Giovanni Guidi, Roma Trio is another splendid piano trio from Italy that debuted on Venus Records. The youngish trio consists of pianist Luca Mannutza, bassist Gianluca Renzi and drummer Nicola Angelucci. They are all up-and-coming artists who have played with Paolo Fresu, Steve Grossman, Fabrizio Bosso, Marc Johnson and Giovanni Mirabassi.
There have been many jazz interpretations of classical music since the pioneering works of Jacques Loussier, but attempts at The Four Seasons are rare. Roma Trio's approach here is decidedly modern and creative. They breathe new life into the compositions by employing boldly contemporary rhythms and launching into impressive, often fierce improvisations. This is definitely NOT your father's classical-turned-jazz experience! Highly recommended!

      Artist: Lester Young
     Album: Easy Does It
     Label: Past Perfect (UK)
     Years: 1945-1947, release: 2001
     Format:MP3 @ 320 Kb/s
     Size: 67 Mb, 33 Mb.




Lester Young was one of the true jazz giants, a tenor saxophonist who came up with a completely different conception in which to play his horn, floating over bar lines with a light tone rather than adopting Coleman Hawkins' then-dominant forceful approach. A non-conformist, Young (nicknamed "Pres" by Billie Holiday) had the ironic experience in the 1950s of hearing many young tenors try to sound exactly like him.

     Artist: Monty Alexander, Ray Brown, Herb Ellis with John Frigo
     Album: Triple Scoop 2СD
     Original Release Date: 1982, 1988, 1989
     Label: Concord Records
     Quality: MP3 VBR
     Size: 112 MB + 119 MB

     Unbridled swing and near-telepathic musical communication made the peerless trio of jazz stalwarts Monty Alexander, Ray Brown and Herb Ellis a consistently tasty and satisfying "Triple Treat" for fans of inspired jazz. Collected in this special package are three classic albums-the studio recording Triple Treat and two dynamic live albums. Triple Treat II and Triple Treat III-on two discs, providing music fans with a generous Triple Scoop of delectable music. An additional treat is the appearance of jazz violin legend John Frigo on several of the live tracks.

     Recorded at the sessions that resulted in Triple Treat II, this Concord release follows the same format with the trio of pianist Monty Alexander, guitarist Herb Ellis and bassist Ray Brown being joined by violinst John Frigo for around half of the selections. The music consists of boppish interpretations of standards ranging from "I Told You I Love You, Now Get Out," and "High Heel Sneakers" to "Corcovado." Fans of these veteran players will be very satisfied with the results. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide