Artist:Shelly Manne & His Men
     Album: Vol. 4: Swinging Sounds
     Label: Contemporary/OJC
     Year:1956 ; Release:1996
     Format, bitrate: Mp3, 320 Kbps
     Time: 40:32
     Size: 97.5 mb
     AMG Rating:

     This early edition of Shelly Manne & His Men is a well-integrated unit featuring the light-toned trumpet of Stu Williamson, the cool but hard-driving altoist Charlie Mariano, pianist Russ Freeman and bassist Leroy Vinnegar in addition to the drummer/leader. The excellent quintet plays one original apiece from each musician except Vinnegar in addition to Bud Powell's "Un Poco Loco," Sonny Rollins' "Doxy," the standard "Bernie's Tune" and their closing theme, Bill Holman's "A Gem from Tiffany."

     Artist: Benkó Dixieland Band
     Album: Christmas Mass
     Label: Hungaroton Records
     Year: 1993
     Format, bitrate: mp3 320 kbps CBR
     Time: 01:15:02 min
     Size: 171.05 Мb

     Formed in 1957, the Benkó Dixieland Band is one of most popular jazz groups in Hungary while also one of the best in the world. A truly world class ensemble whose very first album was a golden disk. Winners of a great many Hungarian festivals and competitions, the BDB has been honored with numerous awards. The group has played to tens of thousands, and some of the greatest international stars were invited to play with them on stage. Over the years, the guests have included Milt Jackson, Freddie Hubbard, Al Grey, Buddy Tate, Joe Newman, Buddy Wachter, Henry Questa, Joe Muranyi, Eddy Davis, Cynthia Sayer, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Albert Nicholas, or Wild Bill Davison from the United States as well as Chris Barber, Kenny Ball, Tony Scott, Huub Janssen, Acker Bilk and many others from this side of the Atlantic.

     The BDB went international way back in the sixties, first touring the Soviet Union, Poland, Czechoslovakia and East Germany. They were further afield by the seventies: winning the First Prize in Montreux in 1971 and the Grand Prix awarded by the public in San Sebastian in 1972. The prestigious English magazine, Music Week picked them as “Stars of the Year” in 1976. The eighties saw their first successes in America. In 1982, the BDB won the Grand Prix of the Sacramento Jazz Festival in California. In the same year, they were honored by an official recognition of the California State Assembly. In 1983, they received the title, “International Jazz Band of the Year” in California and their excellence was recognized by two consecutive California Governors, Mr.Jerry Brown and Mr. George Dukmenjian. In 1987, they received a distinction from Mr. Ronald Reagan, then President of the United States who expressed his gratitude on behalf of the American people for the Benkós being such outstanding ambassadors of American Jazz in the world. In 1998, Sándor Benkó received the European Inter-LYRA Prize, a distinction awarded by the international community of musicians for his outstanding contribution to music. With several golden disks to their credit, they received an award for lifetime achievement from Hungaroton, the Hungarian Record Company in 2001. The Hemingway group put them on its Wall of Fame in 2002.

     The Benkós are fully appreciated also in Hungary. Himself recognized with a LISZT PRIZE and State Award, Sándor Benkó and the group received from the hands of then President Árpád Göncz the Officer’s Cross of the Order of the Hungarian Republic in 1997. In 2004, the BDB was awarded the PRIMA Prize, in 2004, the PRO URBE Miskolc and in 2005, the PRO URBE BUDAPEST distinction.

     The BDB plays some 200 – 250 concerts every year in Hungary and abroad. They have released 64 albums and have had a total of 110 hours of television show time. The interviews and other TV programs in which they feature are being annually seen by 600 million viewers in the world. Their regular international tours have taken them to the most different countries of Europe, America and the Far East where they have been received as traveling ambassadors of both Hungary and New Orleans jazz. What a wonderful combination! ~ benko-dixie.hu

     Artist: The Red Garland Quintet
     Album: Dig It!
     Label: Prestige/OJC
     Year: 1958
     Format: MP3 @320kbps
     Size: 85 mb (RS.com) (includes covers)
     AMG Rating:


     Pianist Red Garland is best known for his work in the 1950s with The Miles Davis Quintet, where he provided a rootsy foil for the trumpeter. But he was already established as a leader of trios and small groups. On this 1957 album for Prestige, the young John Coltrane and Donald Byrd, bassist George Joyner and drummer Arthur Taylor join Garland for a relaxed, fine set. - Cduniverse.com

     Artist: Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
     Album: Bigbands Live
     Label: Jazz Hous/SWR Music
     Year: 1967; release: 2011
     Quality: MP3@320 kbps
     Size: 158 mb
     Total time: 73:20

     Ellington considered two topics to be off-limits: illness and death. It was for this reason he refused to make a will to the last, fearful of tempting fate and provoking his own demise. He was able to maintain his orchestra (”the most important thing in my life”) with the millions he earned from Tempo, his music publishing company – always conscious of the need to surround himself with individualists; some players stayed with him for decades. Almost constantly on the road following his comeback in Newport in 1956, his career staging posts were largely marked by the studio recordings. He released around 35 albums between 1960 and 1967 alone, including adaptations of classical works, the ”Far East Suite” and the ”Sacred Concerts”. 1967 was a year of triumphs: the outstanding trumpeter Cootie Williams, unbelievable in ”The Shepherd” and ”Tutti for Cootie”, was back on board; but then tragedy struck again a few weeks after the Stuttgart concert with the death of Duke's alter ego Billy Strayhorn. Throwing caution to the wind and refusing to rely solely on time-served hits, Duke and his 14 musicians launch themselves into the new adventure. ”Johnny Come Lately” breaks the ice, ”Swamp Goo” featuring clarinettist Russell Procope has the magical ”Jungle Sound”, Paul Gonsalves' tenor sax dances though ”Knob Hill”, Cat Anderson's trumpet hit the stratosphere and Harry Carney's baritone horn gives a close-up account of ”A Chromatic Love Affair”.

     Artists: Philippe Maté & Jef Gilson
     Album: Workshop
     Label: Palm Records (Catalog#: PALM 07)
     Year: 1973
     Format:FLAC (LP-Rip)
     Size: 285MB
     Time: 47:12


     Here we have another rare Palm Records free jazz album from the early seventies. This old well-used vinyl has been ripped and restored as well as possible for new appraisal. An innovative free jazz exploration at a time when musicians were grappling with the introduction electric instrumentation and learning to harmonise these primitive sounds along with other sound effects co-joined in a fusion of jazz. An exciting and yet challenging listen compared to modern day attempts to compose and interpret the free jazz/avant-garde idiom.

     Artist: The Spanish Donkey
     Album: XYX
     Label: Northern Spy Records
     Year: 2011
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320
     Time: 59:53
     Size: 132 mb
     Downbeat Rating:

     Sometimes, it is just easier to let the mind go and be “one” with music rather trying to analyze it. Such is the case with The Spanish Donkey’s XYX. There is so much sound on this recording that finding a resting place is occasional, if simply rare.
     Jamie Saft wallows in the electronics that render the sonic configuration complexly integrated. He works with the MiniMoog, Roland Jupiter 6 and SH-09, Korg Lambda and CX3, Yamaha CS-01 and finally the bass guitar. Joe Morris is clearly heard on his electric guitar. And Mike Pride, of course, distinguishes his contributions on drums, percussion and, once, on the nose whistle.
     The first track “Mid-Evil” is itself close to thirty-eight minutes long. The music’s patternless linearity opens the doorway to total innovation, where brazen unpredictability decides surprising directions. It is a remarkable phenomenon that musicians on such a large booming scale can keep it together so long that to make music is patently the goal, not just to grow a tone monster which eats time. Rather it is time that is the music’s colleague because development can only happen within it. Sure the drums and cymbals crash in contrast to the bass guitar rumbling so forcefully that Morris’ guitar work sensibly provides breaks before reinvigorating other extended bouts of electronics and drum shapes, reverb, riffing and all. But it is the demanding nature of the sound that communicates its self-reflective, supposedly torturous, message.
     The second, “XYX,” boasts enormous bass-ness. It is next to impossible to use conventional language to untangle its purpose. Perhaps the music’s profusion of paradoxically unfettered vitality is the main event, despite the fact that electronic devices predominate as instruments. Saft still drives them, Morris still plucks at his guitar strings and Pride explodes the drumset in acoustic grandeur.

     Featuring Jamie Saft on electric keyboards & bass guitar, Joe Morris on electric guitar and Mike Pride on drums. Jeez, this is something else! Joe Morris warned me about this record and he was right. It is not what I would’ve expected from him, yet it is pretty f*cking amazing! This music harks back to the early days of free/jazz/rock. It is an hour long with just two long tracks. When we played this in the store recently, someone remarked that this music was ugly & evil. Hmmmm. I am not so sure about that, but it is a certainly pretty scary. Joe Morris has a particularly distinctive and effective tone which reaches through this music like a hot blade through a slab of butter. I don’t think that I’ve heard drummer Mike Pride sound any more brutal or powerful as he whips up a storm on his drums. One of John Zorn’s closest collaborators and quite a dynamic composer / keyboardist / producer himself, Jamie Saft also goes for the gusto by adding some throbbing electric bass and/or ancient mutant synthesizers. If you are patient with this disc, you will see/hear how well it all fits together and evolves from section to section. Without a doubt, this is one this year’s most awesome and overwhelming offerings. Are you brave enough to dig in?!?

     Artists: Various Artists
     Album: Mojo Club Presents Dancefloor Jazz, Vol. 4
     Label: Universal Records
     Year: 1997
     Quality: mp3@320
     Size: 150 mb with covers


     The record label Universal Records launched a sampler collection with the title “Mojo Club Presents Dancefloor Jazz”, of which 12 volumes were published between 1992 and 2005; volume 13 was published in 2008 by Edel Records.


     The Mojo Club is a currently closed down music club in Hamburg, Germany – located on the city’s most famous street: the Reeperbahn. Founded in 1989 and relocated to the Reeperbahn in 1991, the Mojo Club developed to be one of the leading lights of Hamburg nightlife, with an international reputation similar to the Star Club.
      With its characteristic “M”-logo, the club became the continental stage for the progressive London club sounds during the 1990s. The Mojo Club can be seen as the German voice of Dancefloor Jazz and as a mastermind regarding modern breakbeat sounds like Acid Jazz. With performances of artists like Gilles Peterson, Massive Attack, Moloko, the Propellerheads, Pizzicato Five, Roni Size, Goldie, the E-Z Rollers as well as Kruder & Dorfmeister, the club ranked among the protagonists of the German club scene during the 90s. Furthermore, the successful club compilations “Electric Mojo” and “Dancefloor Jazz” became known over the years and a highly innovative cultural program completed the picture with lectures like “Urban Poetry” and “Macht Club” in 1993 or “Le Café Abstrait” of Rafaël Marionneau, which paved the way for the chill out sound in 1996.
      Between 1992 and 1997 the Mojo Club ran two fashion stores in Hamburg named “Mojo – the shop”.
     In April 2003 the Mojo Club was closed down and the building was torn down in 2009. Today three different building units are being under construction on the premises of Reeperbahn 1: a twin tower office block, a hotel and the new Mojo Club. ~ Wikipedia

      Artist: Various Artists
      Album: Mojo Club Presents Dancefloor Jazz, Vol. 3: Work to Do
      Label: Universal Records
      Year: 1997
      Format, bitrate: Mp3, 256 Kbps
      Size: 120 mb with covers

      The record label Universal Records launched a sampler collection with the title ”Mojo Club Presents Dancefloor Jazz”, of which 12 volumes were published between 1992 and 2005; volume 13 was published in 2008 by Edel Records.


      The Mojo Club is a currently closed down music club in Hamburg, Germany – located on the city’s most famous street: the Reeperbahn. Founded in 1989 and relocated to the Reeperbahn in 1991, the Mojo Club developed to be one of the leading lights of Hamburg nightlife, with an international reputation similar to the Star Club.
With its characteristic ”M”-logo, the club became the continental stage for the progressive London club sounds during the 1990s. The Mojo Club can be seen as the German voice of Dancefloor Jazz and as a mastermind regarding modern breakbeat sounds like Acid Jazz. With performances of artists like Gilles Peterson, Massive Attack, Moloko, the Propellerheads, Pizzicato Five, Roni Size, Goldie, the E-Z Rollers as well as Kruder & Dorfmeister, the club ranked among the protagonists of the German club scene during the 90s. Furthermore, the successful club compilations ”Electric Mojo” and ”Dancefloor Jazz” became known over the years and a highly innovative cultural program completed the picture with lectures like ”Urban Poetry” and ”Macht Club” in 1993 or ”Le Cafй Abstrait” of Rafaлl Marionneau, which paved the way for the chill out sound in 1996.
Between 1992 and 1997 the Mojo Club ran two fashion stores in Hamburg named ”Mojo – the shop”.
In April 2003 the Mojo Club was closed down and the building was torn down in 2009. Today three different building units are being under construction on the premises of Reeperbahn 1: a twin tower office block, a hotel and the new Mojo Club. ~ Wikipedia.org

      Artist: Various Artists
      Album: Mojo Club Presents Dancefloor Jazz, Vol. 2
      Label: Universal Records
      Year: 1997
      Format, bitrate: Mp3, 256 Kbps
      Size: 99mb with covers

      The record label Universal Records launched a sampler collection with the title ”Mojo Club Presents Dancefloor Jazz”, of which 12 volumes were published between 1992 and 2005; volume 13 was published in 2008 by Edel Records.


      The Mojo Club is a currently closed down music club in Hamburg, Germany – located on the city’s most famous street: the Reeperbahn. Founded in 1989 and relocated to the Reeperbahn in 1991, the Mojo Club developed to be one of the leading lights of Hamburg nightlife, with an international reputation similar to the Star Club.
With its characteristic ”M”-logo, the club became the continental stage for the progressive London club sounds during the 1990s. The Mojo Club can be seen as the German voice of Dancefloor Jazz and as a mastermind regarding modern breakbeat sounds like Acid Jazz. With performances of artists like Gilles Peterson, Massive Attack, Moloko, the Propellerheads, Pizzicato Five, Roni Size, Goldie, the E-Z Rollers as well as Kruder & Dorfmeister, the club ranked among the protagonists of the German club scene during the 90s. Furthermore, the successful club compilations ”Electric Mojo” and ”Dancefloor Jazz” became known over the years and a highly innovative cultural program completed the picture with lectures like ”Urban Poetry” and ”Macht Club” in 1993 or ”Le Cafй Abstrait” of Rafaлl Marionneau, which paved the way for the chill out sound in 1996.
Between 1992 and 1997 the Mojo Club ran two fashion stores in Hamburg named ”Mojo – the shop”.
In April 2003 the Mojo Club was closed down and the building was torn down in 2009. Today three different building units are being under construction on the premises of Reeperbahn 1: a twin tower office block, a hotel and the new Mojo Club. ~ Wikipedia.org

      Artist: Various Artists
      Album: Mojo Club Presents Dancefloor Jazz, Vol. 1
      Label: Universal Records
      Year: 1997
      Format, bitrate: Mp3, 256 Kbps
      Size: 106mb with covers

      The record label Universal Records launched a sampler collection with the title ”Mojo Club Presents Dancefloor Jazz”, of which 12 volumes were published between 1992 and 2005; volume 13 was published in 2008 by Edel Records.


      The Mojo Club is a currently closed down music club in Hamburg, Germany – located on the city’s most famous street: the Reeperbahn. Founded in 1989 and relocated to the Reeperbahn in 1991, the Mojo Club developed to be one of the leading lights of Hamburg nightlife, with an international reputation similar to the Star Club.
With its characteristic ”M”-logo, the club became the continental stage for the progressive London club sounds during the 1990s. The Mojo Club can be seen as the German voice of Dancefloor Jazz and as a mastermind regarding modern breakbeat sounds like Acid Jazz. With performances of artists like Gilles Peterson, Massive Attack, Moloko, the Propellerheads, Pizzicato Five, Roni Size, Goldie, the E-Z Rollers as well as Kruder & Dorfmeister, the club ranked among the protagonists of the German club scene during the 90s. Furthermore, the successful club compilations ”Electric Mojo” and ”Dancefloor Jazz” became known over the years and a highly innovative cultural program completed the picture with lectures like ”Urban Poetry” and ”Macht Club” in 1993 or ”Le Cafй Abstrait” of Rafaлl Marionneau, which paved the way for the chill out sound in 1996.
Between 1992 and 1997 the Mojo Club ran two fashion stores in Hamburg named ”Mojo – the shop”.
In April 2003 the Mojo Club was closed down and the building was torn down in 2009. Today three different building units are being under construction on the premises of Reeperbahn 1: a twin tower office block, a hotel and the new Mojo Club. ~ Wikipedia.org

      Artist: Freddie Roach
      Album: The Soul Book
      Label: Prestige
      Year: 1966
      Format, bitrate: Mp3, 160 Kbps
      Time: 34.45
      Size: 41,4 MB + Info 370kbps

      As Freddie Roach's Blue Note career progressed, his work increasingly celebrated contemporary black culture, and accordingly developed a greater interest in funky, jukebox-ready grooves, a stylistic departure from his initial melodic finesse. Roach took both interests with him to Prestige, for whom he debuted in 1966 with The Soul Book. But while Roach definitely brings the hard funk on some tracks, there's a laid-back, even meditative quality to others, which is surprising since his liner notes seem to suggest a concept album about the urban grit of Harlem. That isn't a problem, though; The Soul Book is a fine effort that, even if it doesn't hang together quite as well as his Blue Note dates, does find Roach exploring an impressively wide range of sounds. The cool-toned opener "Spacious" has a modal flavor, and the spiritual "Avatara" is even dreamier, with Roach's chords sounding straight out of worship service. The standard "Tenderly" is given a bright, airy treatment, with some intricate soloing from Roach that harks back to his early sound. The second half of the album gets markedly grittier and more jukebox-friendly, with some down-and-dirty organ funk on "The Bees" and the boogaloo-tinged "One Track Mind"; there are some surprisingly gutsy solos from lesser-known tenor player Edlin "Buddy" Terry, and guitarist Vinnie Corrao comes off decently. Plus, the groovy, conga-driven arrangement of the Fortunes' British Invasion pop hit "You've Got Your Troubles" percolates gently and breezily. Roach had one of the more distinctive styles on the Hammond B-3, and The Soul Book captures him at his most diverse.

     Artist: Lino Patruno & The American All Stars
     Album: It Had To be You
     Label: Jazzology CD JCD-369
     Year: 2008 ; release: 2009
     Format, bitrate: MP3 320KPS
     Time:77 Min
     Size: 111 MB