Artist: Jackie McLean
    Album: Jackie McLean Plays Fat Jazz
    Label: ESH Sound / Jubilee
    Year: 1957, CD 2003
    Format: mp3@320 kb/s
    Size: 82 MB w/covers
    Time: 36:33
    AMG Rating:


    Jackie McLean, the young alto man who has gained much attention since leaving the Art Blakey Messengers a few years ago, is caught here with his sextet, a group which didn't exist until a few months ago. McLean, backed by R.Draper on tuba, W. Young on coronet, and a rhythm section, gets a chance to show off his driving, biting hard bop style here. Tunes are mainly originals, and in addition to McLean, Draper and Young also come through solidly. Strong bop for the hippies.

    Artist: Frank Zappa
    Album: Waka/Jawaka
    Label: Rykodisc
    Year: 1972, CD 1995
    Format: mp3@320 / flac
    Size: 88MB / 249MB w/scans
    Time: 36:08
    AMG Rating:


    When Frank Zappa found himself stuck in a wheelchair for most of the year 1972 (after a "fan" pushed him off the stage on December 10 of the previous year), he relieved his then-current band (including singers Flo & Eddie) of its duties and turned to studio work. One of the first things he tried was to write jazz fusion music scored for wider instrumentation than an average rock band. Waka/Jawaka was conceived in parallel to The Grand Wazoo, but with fewer players. The album, released in July 1972, is comprised of two extended instrumental pieces and two shorter songs. "Big Swifty," a theme-and-solos showcase, would become a live favorite, but the highlight came in the form of the orgiastic title track, recorded with ex-Mothers of Invention keyboardist Don Preston, trumpeter Sal Marquez, trombonists Bill Byers and Ken Shroyer, saxophonist Mike Altschul, bassist Erroneous, and drummer Aynsley Dunbar. The songs, never performed live, feel like filler material. Waka/Jawaka was Zappa's second solo album and is occasionally referred to as "Hot Rats II" (the handles of the faucets on the cover artwork show the words "hot" and "rats" instead of "hot" and "cold"). His writing and recording technique had matured a lot in very little time. The dirty blues jamming of the 1969 LP was replaced by clean, crisp jazz improvisations -- no need to say this was also an abrupt change in style from the Mothers' 1969-1971 incarnation. But this album was only transitional: Zappa's big-band stylings would really flourish in The Grand Wazoo a few months later.

~ Franзois Couture, All Music Guide

    Artist: Pepper Adams
    Album: The Cool Sound Of Pepper Adams
    Label: Savoy, Sony/Columbia
    Year: 1957, CD 1994
    Format: mp3@320 / flac
    Size: 86MB / 177MB w/scans
    Time: 33:11
    AMG Rating:


    The Cool Sound of Pepper Adams is the kind of record one buys for its remarkable cover art (depicting a flame-haired beauty cupping a seashell to her ear) only to discover the music contained therein is just as spellbinding. A wonderfully soulful session featuring striking contributions from pianist Hank Jones and drummer Elvin Jones, its four lengthy cuts pulsate with energy and invention. Despite complementing Adams' baritone leads with Bernard McKinney's euphonium, the music never sounds bloated. Instead, it's supple and slinky, with a dexterity that's utterly winning. Still, there's no mistaking the physicality of Adams' tone. Songs like "Bloos, Blooze, Blues" and "Like…What Is This?" are as rich and smooth as crushed velvet.

~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

    Artist: Red Mitchell
    Album: Presenting Red Mitchell
    Label: Contemporary/ OJC
    Year: 1957, CD 1992
    Format: mp3@320 / flac
    Size: 100 MB / 244 MB w/scans
    Time: 42:51
    AMG Rating:

     Bassist Red Mitchell, who had led two fairly obscure sessions for Bethlehem in 1955, came up with a gem on his lone Contemporary set as a leader (which has been reissued as this CD). Based in Los Angeles at the time, Mitchell utilized pianist Lorraine Geller and two up-and-coming players: James Clay (who splits his time between tenor and flute) and, in one of his first recording sessions, drummer Billy Higgins. The quartet performs then-recent tunes by Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Clifford Brown ("Sandu"), a pair of Mitchell originals, "Scrapple From the Apple" and "Cheek to Cheek." Despite Higgins' and (to a lesser extent) Clay's connections with Ornette Coleman, the music is strictly high-quality modern mainstream bop of the era. Easily recommended to collectors of straight-ahead jazz.

    Artist: Various Artists
    Album: Dial Collectors' Jazz, Vol. 1-10
    Label: Toshiba EMI (Japanese Import)
    Year: 1946-48, CD 1995
    Format: mp3@320
    Size: 1.23 GB w/scans
    Time: 9:20:16

    The artists and repertoire operation of Dial Records devoted to Jazz covered a relatively short period of time, from February 1946 to January 1948. In that short span Dial managed to capture on wax - the recording medium of the day - a significant amount of new jazz that was at it's most intense level during those years. This was thanks to the young hipsters who came in to Tempo Music Shop and preached the gospel of Bird and Diz as if it were a religious incantation. Dial's head start was also due to the fact that no other label was seriousley interested in recording bebop in 1946 and 1947.
    In the openion of many the best of Bird was captured on wax in the seven sessions he made for Dial. After the Dial contract had expired and Parker began crashing in on his great talent the results were never quite the same. Bird's Quintet, in residence for the best part of a year at the Three Deuces with it's modest pay scale, and later, only at slightly better wages at the Royal Roost around the corner on Broadway, were not able to pay Parker the amounts earned by Harry Belafonte, Dinah Washington, and Woody Herman.

    Artist: Jackie McLean Quartet
    Album: Tune Up
    Label: Steeplechase
    Year: 1966
    Format: mp3@320 / flac
    Size: 124MB / 334MB w/scans
    Time: 56:09
    AMG Rating:

    From the same "live in Baltimore" session that resulted in Dr. Jackle, altoist Jackie McLean and his regular quartet of the period (comprised of pianist Lamont Johnson, bassist Scotty Holt, and drummer Billy Higgins) explore lengthy versions of three standards ("Tune-Up," "I Remember You," and a passionate "Smile") along with McLean's original "Jack's Tune." As well as the altoist plays, it is the solos of the underrated and underrecorded pianist, LaMont Johnson, that make this explorative hard bop release most notable.

    Artist: Wynton Kelly Trio
    Album: Live At The Left Bank Jazz Society, Baltimore
    Label: Fresh Sound
    Year: 1967, release 2004
    Format: mp3@320 kb/s
    Size: 207 MB w/scans
    Time: 01:29:04

    A crack quartet set from 1967 -- one of the famous "lost" concerts recorded by Baltimore's Left Bank Jazz Society, and especially noteworthy because it features Hank Mobley sitting in with the trio of Wynton Kelly. The tracks are nearly all over 15 minutes long -- which means that Mobley and Kelly solo intensely, and with a great deal of freedom. Rhythm's by Jimmy Cobb and Cecil McBee, so things always stay right in the pocket -- and titles include "Hackensack", "On Green Dolphin Street", "Milestones", and "Speak Low".

    Artist: Sonny Stitt, Booker Ervin, Don Patterson
    Album: Soul People
    Label: Prestige
    Year: 1964-69 CD 1993
    Format: mp3@320 / flac
    Size: 141 MB / 375 MB w/scans
    Time: 63:00
    AMG Rating:

    There are dozens of Sonny Stitt records available at any particular time; this CD reissue is one of the better ones. Mostly sticking to tenor, Stitt battles fellow tenor Booker Ervin with assistance from the fine organist Don Patterson and drummer Billy James on five selections and a ballad medley from 1964. Because both Stitt and Ervin always had very individual sounds, their tradeoffs are quite exciting and end up a draw. Among the "bonus" cuts of this CD are a feature for Patterson with a trio in 1966 ("There Will Never Be Another You") and a collaboration between Stitt, Patterson, James and guitarist Grant Green on a 1966 version of "Tune Up." Enjoyable and generally hard-swinging music.

    Artists: Freddie Hubbard And Woody Shaw
    Album: The Eternal Triangle
    Label: Blue Note
    Year: 1987, release 1988
    Format: mp3@320 kb/s
    Size: 124 MB
    Time: 56:29
    AMG Rating:

    No one should consider the pairing of great jazz trumpeters Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw akin to oil and water. Both are on fire, defer to each other's personalized sound, and swing hard with fervor, supported by an equally talented band featuring the always wondrous pianist Mulgrew Miller, bassist Ray Drummond, and drummer Carl Allen. The X factor is alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett, fresh off a stint with Miles Davis, who rounds out the overall sound and contributes a vital harmonic element to the double-edged swords Hubbard and Shaw wield. The eight tracks are balanced between originals by the co-leaders and compositions from their revered predecessors, all molded into straight-ahead, no-nonsense hard bop.>>>

    Artist: Benny Golson
    Album: The Other Side Of Benny Golson
    Label: Riverside / OJC
    Year: 1958, CD 1992
    Format: mp3@320 / flac
    Size: 92 MB / 199 MB w/scans
    Time: 37:13
    AMG Rating:

    Tenor-saxophonist Benny Golson's third recording as a leader was significant in two ways. It was his first opportunity to work with trombonist Curtis Fuller (the two would be members of The Jazztet by 1960) and it was one of his first chances to really stretch out on record as a soloist; up to this point Golson was possibly better known as a composer. Three of the six originals on this CD reissue of a Riverside date are Golson's ("Are You Real" was the closest one to catching on) but the emphasis is on the solos of the leader, Fuller and pianist Barry Harris; bassist Jymie Merritt and drummer Philly Joe Jones are excellent in support.

    Artist: Bud Shank And Bob Cooper
    Album: Mosaic Select 10 3CD
    Label: Mosaic
    Year: 1954-1958, Release 2004
    Format: mp3@320 / flac / scans
    Size: 966MB / 445MB / 10MB
    Time: 02:09:13
    AMG Rating:
    

    For hardcore West Coast jazz fans, this Mosaic Select volume will be a kind of treasure-trove, though for most it will simply be a compelling curiosity piece. The collaborations of saxophonist and flutist Bud Shank and arranger, saxophonist, and oboist Bob Cooper created some tumult in the mid-1950s, when they recorded four albums together with various-sized ensembles, and, to a lesser degree, on Shank's date with Bob Brookmeyer arranged by Cooper. All tolled, there are five albums on these three discs: Bud Shank and Bob Brookmeyer (along with the session's remaining tracks that showed up on Bud Shank and Three Trombones on Pacific Jazz), Jazz at Cal-Tech (Pacific Jazz), Flute and Oboe (World Pacific), Swing's to TV, as well as the cuts from Jazz Swings Broadway (World Pacific) and of course, the classic, Blowin' Country (World Pacific). The quark strangeness and charm of these recordings cannot be underestimated, and neither can their swing. With sidemen like pianist Claude Williamson, drummers Chuck Flores or Shelly Manne, bassist Don Prell and others, these dates have a kind of quaintness that dates them in that restless yet ultra-hip period in the 1950s when almost anything went as long as it swung, and that stood outside the entire hard bop scene. These sides are not for everyone, but they are priceless for the sheer sophistication and adventurousness of their arrangements and the interplay between Shank and Cooper, which was symbiotic. A very fine idea by the folks at Mosaic.

    Artist: Gene Ammons
    Album: Gene Ammons All-Star Sessions
    Label: Prestige / OJC
    Year: 1950-55 Release 1955, CD 1992
    Format: mp3@320 / flac
    Size: 126 MB / 301 MB w/scans
    Time: 56:23
    AMG Rating:


    This is an excellent recording that pieces together three separate sessions. The first, with Art Farmer and Lou Donaldson marked Ammons' return to jazz after exploring R&B for a period of time. The second and third sessions find "Jug" teaming up with his musical soulmate Sonny Stitt for two separate dates. Their interplay over the years produced some of jazz's most stimulating moments and they don't disappoint here. The songs are short, but the addition of numerous outtakes make for a long, satisfying listen. Essential.

    Artist: Gil Scott-Heron
    Album: Pieces Of A Man
    Label: Flying Dutchman / RCA
    Year: 1971, CD 1995
    Format: mp3@320 kb/s
    Size: 96MB
    Time: 47:53
    AMG Rating:
    



    After decades of influencing everyone from jazz musicians to hip-hop stars, Pieces of a Man set a standard for vocal artistry and political awareness that few musicians will ever match. Scott-Heron's unique proto-rap style influenced a generation of hip-hop artists, and nowhere is his style more powerful than on the classic "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised." Even though the media -- the very entity attacked in this song -- has used, reused, and recontextualized the song and its title so many times, its message is so strong that it has become almost impossible to co-opt. Musically, the track created a formula that modern hip-hop would follow for years to come: bare-bones arrangements featuring pounding basslines and stripped-down drumbeats. Although the song features plenty of outdated references to everything from Spiro Agnew and Jim Webb to The Beverly Hillbillies, the force of Scott-Heron's well-directed anger makes the song timeless. More than just a spoken word poet, Scott-Heron was also a uniquely gifted vocalist. On tracks like the reflective "I Think I'll Call It Morning" and the title track, Scott-Heron's voice is complemented perfectly by the soulful keyboards of Brian Jackson. On "Lady Day and John Coltrane," he not only celebrates jazz legends of the past in his words but in his vocal performance, one that is filled with enough soul and innovation to make Coltrane and Billie Holiday nod their heads in approval. More than three decades after its release, Pieces of a Man is just as -- if not more -- powerful and influential today as it was the day it was released.

~ Jon Azpiri, All Music Guide

"...Here is an album that needs discovering. It's strong, deeply soulful and possessed of that rare and wonderful quality in this time of hollow and obligatory `relevance'..."

    Artist: Woody Shaw
    Album: The Complete CBS Studio Recordings of Woody Shaw
    Label: Mosaic
    Year: 1977-81
    Format: mp3@320 kb/s
    Size: 405 MB w/scans
    Time: 02:45:25
    AMG Rating:
        

    The bulk of Shaw's great sessions were recorded for independent labels (Muse & Contemporary,) ensuring them widespread critical evaluation but little audience except with the hardcore faithful. Things seemed about to change in the late '70s when Miles Davis suggested to Columbia that they record Shaw's group. They actually took his suggestion and signed Shaw. He issued a string of remarkable but low-selling records, and Columbia cut him loose after four years and four albums. They compounded the crime by deleting the records shortly after Shaw departed. Mosaic has corrected that slight with another of their marvelously produced and comprehensively notated and packaged box sets. This three-disc collection covers Shaw's Columbia sessions. While it is sad that Shaw's stay at Columbia was not more personally beneficial, it was quite musically productive.

    Artist: Airto Moreira
    Album: Fingers
    Label: 3D
    Year: 1973, CD 2002
    Format: mp3@320 / flac
    Size: 81 MB / 247 MB w/scans
    Time: 35:24
    AMG Rating:

    The 1970s were banner years for Airto Moreira--not only because of his association with Chick Corea's Return to Forever and his work on wife Flora Purim's Milestone dates, but also, because of the generally superb work he did under Creed Taylor's supervision at CTI from 1972-74. One of the five-star gems that the Brazilian percussionist recorded for CTI was Fingers, which employs Purim on percussion and vocals, David Amaro on guitar, Hugo Fattoruso on keyboards and harmonica, Jorge Fattoruso on drums and Ringo Thielmann on electric bass. Produced by Taylor and recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's famous New Jersey studio, this LP demonstrates just how exciting and creative 1970s fusion could be. When Moreira and his colleagues blend jazz with Brazilian music, rock and funk on such cuts as "Wind Chant," "Tombo in 7/4" and "Romance of Death," the results are consistently enriching. Fingers is an album to savor.

    Artist: Andrew Hill
    Album: Smoke Stack
    Label: Blue Note
    Year: 1963, CD 1995
    Format: mp3@320 kb/s
    Size: 127 MB
    Time: 60:56
    AMG Rating:

    This 1963 trio session was only the avant-garde pianist and composer Andrew Hill's second release for Blue Note, with whom he would enjoy a fruitful association throughout the decade. Already, on the previous BLACK FIRE, Hill had established himself as a worthy, somewhat more mainstream alternative to the radical Cecil Taylor. His musical style is heavily chromatic, both dense and angular, similar in part to McCoy Tyner's equally muscular explorations. For the most part however, SMOKE STACK takes things at a ruminative, deceptively leisurely pace. Still, the venerable drummer Roy Haynes remains energetic, supple. and busy throughout the set, much like the fiery Elvin Jones with the John Coltrane Quartet. One highlight: Richard Davis's arco bass stylings, moaning and keening throughout the exotic "Wailing Wall."

    Artist: Andrew Hill
    Album: Eternal Spirit
    Label: Blue Note
    Year: 1989
    Format: mp3@320 kb/s
    Size: 127 MB w/scans
    Time: 67:37
    AMG Rating:


    Andrew Hill returned to the Blue Note label (where he made many significant releases during 1963-80) for a stimulating quintet date with vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, altoist Greg Osby, bassist Rufus Reid and drummer Ben Riley in 1989. The pianist's six originals (which are joined by three alternate takes on the CD) his dense chords behind the other improvisers and his own unpredictable solos are not all overshaowed by his talented sideman, even Osby who is heard in particularly inspired form. There are no weak performances on this superb post bop effort, Andrew Hill's strongest recording in several years.

    Artist: Bobby Hutcherson
    Album: Patterns
    Label: Blue Note
    Year: 1968, Release 1980, CD 1995
    Format: mp3@128 / FLAC
    Time: 42:48
    Size: 38.8MB / 220MB
    AMG Rating:


    An entirely worthy Bobby Hutcherson LP that went unissued until 1980, Patterns finds the vibist working in typically challenging territory; what makes this session distinctive is that it features some of drummer and favorite Hutcherson composer Joe Chambers' most structured work, though that hardly means it's traditional or unadventurous. Four of the six pieces are Chambers'; the others are by altoist/flautist James Spaulding (the pensive Martin Luther King tribute "A Time to Go") and pianist Stanley Cowell (the warmly melodic waltz "Effi," dedicated to his wife). Given his past work, Chambers deals with melodic themes to a surprising degree, as with the madly driving title track and the odd-metered "Ankara," which is anchored by a repeated six-note bassline. His lovely, pensive tone poem "Nocturnal" also displays his interest in 20th century classical music, heavily featuring Spaulding's flute. In fact, Spaulding plays a great deal of flute throughout the album, his tone matching quite well with Hutcherson's vibes. Bassist Reggie Workman has a big, booming tone and brings out his upper register work with clarity and force, making himself an understated but important presence. All in all, it's another solid, inventive session by a musician who seemed capable of nothing less during this period of his career. [Note: Blue Note's 1995 reissue inadvertently flip-flops the original LP sides on the CD itself, but leaves the order of the titles intact on the packaging. That's why the bonus track, an alternate take of "Patterns," is the same piece misidentified as "Effi" on track four.

    Artist: Frank Morgan/Bud Shank Quintet
    Album: Quiet Fire
    Label: Contemporary Records
    Year: 1987, Release 1991
    Format: mp3@320 / flac
    Size: 108MB / 264MB w/scans
    Time: 47:16
    AMG Rating:

    At one time, there would have been a yawning stylistic gap -- indeed, a Grand Canyon -- between alto players Frank Morgan and Bud Shank. But by the time they finally collided head on at Seattle's Jazz Alley, they were perfectly compatible, as their often fiery live exchanges here graphically prove. It was Shank who had changed the most, having set his sights upon becoming a roaring bebopper upon his move to Washington State the year before this gig. On the title track, Shank sets the agenda and Morgan carries it even further, venturing thrillingly onto the outside after reasserting his bop base. Morgan and Shank trade bop licks with fervent upward sweeps on "Solar," where Morgan's fire cranks up Shank's playing. Each of them gets a solo showcase; Morgan waxes simply and pithily on "Emily," and Shank toys fluidly with "What's New." Pianist George Cables, bassist John Heard, and drummer Jimmy Cobb aid and abet the altoists' bop flights in mainstream fashion, and the presence of a live audience clearly pushes these horns into some exciting, ardent jazz territory.

    Artist: Jackie McLean
    Album: The Complete 1964-66 Blue Note Sessions
    Label: Mosaic Records
    Year: 1964-1966, release 1993
    Format: mp3@192 kb/s
    Time: 2:51:13
    Size: 338,82 Mb (covers-6,62Mb)
    AMG Rating:
   


     Altoist Jackie McLean has recorded so many fine albums throughout his career, particularly in the '60s for Blue Note, that Mosaic could have reissued his complete output without any loss of quality. This four-CD limited-edition box set contains six complete LPs worth of material plus one "new" alternate take. The music (which also features trumpeters Charles Tolliver and Lee Morgan; pianists Herbie Hancock, Larry Willis, and Harold Mabern, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, bassists Cecil McBee, Bob Cranshaw, Larry Ridley, Herbie Lewis, and Don Moore, drummers Roy Haynes, Billy Higgins, Clifford Jarvis, Jack DeJohnette, and Billy Higgins) is explorative (showing the influence of Ornette Coleman) but without totally disregarding McLean's bebop roots. The performances straddle the boundaries between advanced hard, post and free bop jazz with Jackie McLean consistently emerging as the main star. His solos are consistently exciting, full of unexpected twists and turns.