Artist: Woody Herman & His Orchestra
     Album: Get Your Boots Laced Papa!
     Label: Naxos Jazz
     Year: 2003
     Genre: Jazz
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Time: 58:37
     Size: 128MB

     A major player in the broader, commercial canopy of jazz, during his long career Woody Herman underwent several metamorphoses and, surviving various vicissitudes remained in the vanguard of American popularity as "the best white band of the Big Band Era". In his youth almost universally recognised as an ace clarinettist, during the Swing Era he was admired for his individuality of style and for the innovation, versatility and distinctive timbre of his playing. Latterly, and perhaps more famously still, this noted "talent-spotter" converted Dixieland to Progressive and went on to structure and organise the longest-running, most innovative big-band in jazz history. Between 1937 and 1952, he charted with more than fifty hits.
Woody was born Woodrow Charles Herman in Milwaukee on 13 May 1913, the son of a shoemaker. Encouraged in music by his family, he also had from the start the advantage of a precocious musical talent which showed itself simultaneously in more than one direction. After early experience as a child-singer and tap-dancer on the vaudeville stages of his native-town and music-hall circuits of the Midwest from the age of eight, he at last came face to face with jazz in his own home town. At twelve he had already mastered the saxophone prior to taking up the clarinet with even greater distinction. Billed 'The Boy Wonder Of The Clarinet', he quickly evolved a solo routine and at fourteen, while still a high-school student, joined his first band.
Woody studied at the Marquette School of Music in Milwaukee and from his mid-teens onwards played in a variety of locally active commercial society outfits, including Myron Stewart's at the Blue Heaven Club and, in 1930, Tom Gerun's at the Schroeder Hotel (in this last his fledgling fellow vocalists included Ginny Simms and saxophonist Tony Martin). Soon in demand himself not only as a clarinettist-saxophonist but also as a vocalist in his own right, from 1931 he toured with Gus Arnheim's Los Angeles-based Cocoanut Grove Orchestra in both capacities. Following a spell in Chicago with Harry Sosnik, in 1934 he was appointed saxophonist-vocalist with Isham Jones's renowned 'sweet' band and, more significantly, became a member of Isham Jones' Juniors, the small jazz group within the band with whom he made his first records, eight sides for Decca, early in 1936. When Jones retired later that same year to his Colorado ranch, the band temporarily folded until resurrected — at first as a co-operative — by a nucleus of its leading former sidemen with Herman at its helm.
The Jones style was initially still apparent in Herman's first outfit, 'The Band That Plays The Blues' but by 1937, the high summer of Swing, thanks largely to Woody's outstanding skill as an organiser and integrator of talent, the band was playing alternately sweet and hot with equal success. Effectively a swing big-band with a superimposed Dixieland flavour comparable to that of Bob Crosby, it held its own with the competition. During 1937 Herman gave the world a first inkling of his native talent for fronting a band and in December of that year his first hit "I Double Dare You" charted at No. 18. In purely discographic terms, however, his first true milestone was reached in 1939 with his trademark hit "At The Woodchoppers' Ball". A collaboration by Herman and his flugelhorn-player and arranger Joe Bishop (1907-1976), this provided him with a recognisable signature-tune and (by 1948) his first Golden Disc.
The first Herman band housed two noted jazz small groups within its larger framework: The Four Chips (a quintet comprising Herman, Linehan, White, Yoder and Carlson, heard here on Chips' Boogie Woogie, Elise and Yardbird Shuffle) and The Woodchoppers (a septet featuring Herman, Lewis, Reid, Linehan, White, Yoder and Carlson, on South and Fan It). However, while consistently never less than jazz-inspired, Herman kept an eye firmly fixed on other more commercial requirements. With this full-scale pre-1944 (i.e. pre-First Herd) band he steadily carved a reputation with a succession of other jazz-swing titles in the American popular charts, including, in 1940, "Blues On Parade", "Looking For Yesterday" and Get Your Boots Laced, Papa (No. 27); in 1941, "Frenesн" and his other theme-tune "Blue Flame"; in 1942, "By-U, By-O" and Amen (No. 5) and, during 1943, Four Or Five Times (at No. 14) and, both at No. 21, I Dood It and a chart re-entry of "At The Woodchoppers' Ball" during the musicians' strike.
In addition to blues and jazz-orientated items, a staple early-1940s Herman programme also featured a significant cross-section of popular Tin Pan Alley war-effort and film repertoire. Into these categories fall his fine versions of "Rose O'Day" and "Someone's Rockin' My Dreamboat" as well as two hit songs from the 1941 Oscar-winning Abbot & Costello-Andrews Sisters vehicle Buck Privates and, one of his greatest — if uncharted — successes: the Academy Award-nominated Johnny Mercer—Harold Arlen title-song from the 1941 Warner melodrama Blues In The Night.
Peter Dempsey, 2003

     Artist: Ella Fitzgerald
     Album: Royal Roost Sessions 1948-49
     Release Date:1993
     Label:Cool & Blue
     Type:Compilation, Live
     Genre:Vocal
     Format:Flac(separate tracks)
     Size:190+98,1Mb

     Сборник концертных выступлений 1948-49 годов знаменитой джазовой певицы Эллы Фицджеральд (Ella Fitzgerald) совместно с трио и квинтетом басиста Рея Брауна (Ray Brown).

These rare sessions capture Ella at the transition point between her previous professional incarnation as teen swing ingenue and her new incarnation as First Lady of American Popular Song and jazz virtuosa extraordinaire.

     Artist: Woody Herman
     Album: The Fourth Herd
     Label: Capitol/Ultradisc
     Year: 1959/2002
     Genre: Jazz
     Format, bitrate: MP3@320 kbps
     Size: 83,3 Mb
     Total time: 34-32


Released in 1959, The Fourth Herd showcases the Herman group formed in 1954 that was one of the bandleader's strongest. This version of 'Herman's Herd' included Ernie Royal and Red Rodney on trumpets; Bob Brookmeyer, Jimmy Cleveland and Frank Rehak on tro mbones; Al Cohn and Zoot Sims on reeds; and Nat Pierce, Milt Hinton and Don Lamond on rhythm. The Fourth Herd also displayed one of the finest small bands of the period.

     Artists: VA
     Album: Jazz Cafe The Soul Mix 2CD
     Year: 2004
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 192kbps
     Size: 196Mb (rar + 3% recovery)

     Artist: Sonny Landreth
     Album: Prodigal Son
     Label: Demon Music Group Ltd.
     Year: 1973-77 , release 2004
     Genre: Slide guitar, Blues
     Format MP3, bitrate: 320kb/s
     Size: 95,8 + 23,8 MB

     Любителям бутлегов посвящается!
Компиляция ранних (1973-1977г.г.) записей короля слайд гитары.

This compilation brings together slide guitar master Sonny Landreth's earliest known recordings. The bulk of these sides were recorded in a single session in 1973 (when Landreth was 22), while the remaining tracks were cut in 1977. It's a youthful Landreth, playing more Southern than distinctly Louisianian, but this still holds some of the secrets of his signature style. A fascinating glimpse into this slide genius' beginnings. ~ Cub Koda, AMG

Artist - Perry Como
Album - Season's Greetings from Perry Como
Label - RCA Victor
Year - 1959, release - 1990
Quality - MP3@320 kbps
Size - 82,1 mb
Total time - 36:13

Season's Greetings from Perry Como, originally released in 1959, was Perry Como's sixth RCA Victor 12" long-play
album and fourth recorded in full "living" stereophonic sound, as well as his first full-length Christmas album.

The album is warm and relaxed, feuturing lush renditions of "Winter Wonderland," "The Christmas Song," "O Holy Night"
and seven other Christmas tunes (including a re-recording of Como's own 1954 hit, "Home for the Holidays").

A holiday album in the classic Perry Como mold, Season's Greetings is warm and relaxed, with lush renditions of
"Winter Wonderland," "The Christmas Song," "O Holy Night" and seven other Christmas favorites. ~ Marvin Jolly, All Music Guide

Его знали и любили наши мамы и бабушки. Всего несколько дней Перри Комо (Perry Como), легенда мировой музыки и знаменитый шоумен, не дожил до своего 89-го дня рождения, пережив многих наших родных. Но его песням, его голосу суждено пережить и нас...

Artist: Stephane Grappelli
Album: I Hear Music
Year: 2003
Label: The Intense Music
Format:EAC(WAV)+CUE+LOG or MP3@320 Kb/s Full scans
Size: 325 Mb ; 118 Mb



One of the all-time great jazz violinists (ranking with Joe Venuti and Stuff Smith as one of the big three of pre-bop), Stéphane Grappelli's longevity and consistently enthusiastic playing did a great deal to establish the violin as a jazz instrument.

Artist: Eric Clapton
Album:Me And Mr Johnson
Label:EMI Warner
Year: , release 2004
Format, bitrate: 320 kb/s
Size: 123 mb

Ten years after his first all-blues album, From the Cradle, Eric Clapton released Me and Mr. Johnson, an album-length tribute to his hero, the legendary bluesman Robert Johnson. Not that this is the first time Clapton has paid tribute to Johnson. Throughout his career, Clapton has not only drawn on Johnson for inspiration, but he has covered his songs at pivotal moments: "Ramblin' on My Mind" on his classic album with John Mayall, Bluesbreakers; "Four Until Late" on the first Cream album; and, most memorably, the rampaging cover of "Crossroads" on Wheels of Fire that became his anthem and arguably his defining moment. Considering this long history, perhaps a full-length tribute was inevitable, yet Me and Mr. Johnson still is welcome, in part because it's been a long time since this guitarist has sounded so comfortable and relaxed, as if he was having fun making music. With the possible exception of the spotty yet charming B.B. King duet album Riding With the King, this is simply the most enjoyable record he's made since From the Cradle, and in some respects it's a better blues album than that since it never sounds as doggedly serious as that guitar-heavy affair. Given the somber, sometimes chilling lyrics Johnson wrote -- Clapton admits that "At first [his music] scared me in its intensity," an accurate summary of the haunting nature of those 29 sides the bluesman cut in the '30s -- it's a little ironic that this tribute winds up being fun, not somber, but the light touch makes for a better album. That lightness comes from the deep love Clapton holds for this music, since the enthusiasm and enjoyment he and his band -- all the old regulars like Andy Fairweather-Low plus Billy Preston on keyboards -- give the performance results in the album's light, infectious feel. While that does result in versions of "If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day" and "Hell Hound on My Trail" that sound anything but haunted, they do sound nicely next to the up-tempo rave-ups of "They're Red Hot," "Last Fair Deal Gone Down," and "Stop Breaking Down Blues" since all of them sound like Clapton is having a hell of a good time. Some might take issue with this, and others may find the album too slickly produced -- admittedly, blues albums should never boast a credit for Pro Tools, as this does -- but this is a heartfelt tribute that's among Clapton's most purely enjoyable albums. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Artist: Miles Davis
Album:The Birdland Sessions
Release Date: Jan 4, 1996
Recording Date: Feb 18, 1950-May 3, 1952
Quality:mp3 294 kb/s
Size:88,39 mb
Label: Le Jazz
Time: 75:39

Given the strange, low-key appearance of these recordings, the lack of attribution in the liner notes, a latter-day picture of Miles (despite the fact that the recordings are from the early '50s), and the fact that this release is from Spain, Complete Birdland Recordings has all the marks of a bootleg. Nonetheless, much of the material here has great value to the Davis enthusiast. The first six tracks, recorded in 1952, feature a very young Jackie McLean on alto, Don Elliot on vibes, and Connie Kay on drums. The quality varies since the gig was obviously miked from the audience -- but Blue Note has put out worse legitimately. It's a jam session set (Charlie Parker's "Confirmation," Davis' own "Out of the Blue," and "The Chase," among others), and is notable for how fiery Miles was in the early '50s. McLean and Kay stand out as well, but only the latter for the right reasons. The next three tunes feature Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Kenny Drew, J.J. Johnson, and Tommy Potter. Unfortunately, the sound quality on these sides is really dodgy; it's difficult to even hear Rollins. Musically, it's awesome, tight, cutting-contest heavy. The remaining three tracks feature Charles Mingus, Billy Taylor(!), and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. Two of the tracks are Tadd Dameron tunes and, again, poor sound quality notwithstanding, the performances are topnotch (there's a Lockjaw Davis solo on "Move" that is better than anything on his own records), rivaling anything in Miles' late-'40s to early-'50s period. Complete Birdland Recordings is a cool and curious document that's for die-hard fans only. ~ Thom Jurek, AMG

Artist: Г. Гаранян, А. Кузнецов, Д. Крамер
Album: Соло для трио
Label: МП "Авторская песня" АООТ "A3Г"
Year: 1997
Genre: Mainstream jazz
Format, bitrate: mp3, 320
Time: 61 мин.
Size: 146 МБ

Два представителя российского (он же — советский) джаза старшего поколения (Георгий Гаранян и Алексей Кузнецов), а также один джазовый “миддл” (естественно, не в социальном, а в возрастном плане) Даниил Крамер издали программу с удивительно точным, хотя и внешне каламбурным названием. Альт–саксофон, гитара, фортепиано — при другом составе исполнителей здесь еще можно было бы предполагать более–менее традиционное деление на солирующий “главный” инструмент и маленькую ритм–группу. Однако все три замечательных солиста ухитрились превратить записанные на кассете композиции в непрерывный поток сменяющих друг друга сольных импровизаций, плавно и без видимых “швов” перетекающих одна в другую. Возможно, лишь Кузнецов, гитарист, удивительно тонко чувствующий партнеров, чуть–чуть отошел в тень, предоставив больше звукового пространства своим коллегам.
Наибольшее впечатление на меня в этой программе произвел Гаранян. Боюсь, что большинство молодых любителей джаза больше знают его по композиторской деятельности и по ансамблю “Мелодия”. Тем неожиданнее для них будет открытие Гараняна как прекрасного саксофониста с универсальной техникой и ярким, даже, пожалуй, цветистым звучанием. Выше всяких похвал сыграл и Крамер. Его инструмент звучал достаточно строго, точно в контексте пьесы, и Даниил, как опытный регулировщик, организовывал музыкальное движение внутри каждой пьесы, “зажигая зеленый свет” то одному, то другому своему партнеру.
Для своей программы трио подобрало в основном известные классические стандарты: две знаменитые темы Фэтса Уоллера “Honeysucle Rose” и “AinТt MisbehavinТ”, одну из самых популярных тем Лестера Янга “Lester Leaps In”, композиции Мингуса, Гершвина, Теда Джонса. У каждого из участников этого ансамбля с лихвой и не на одну программу хватило бы и собственных сочинений. И выбор именно данного репертуара говорит об одном: музыканты решили встретиться на “нейтральном поле” и со всем присущим каждому из них блеском дать слушателю возможность еще раз прочувствовать красоту джазовых эвергринов, благодаря которым, кто знает, может быть, они сами в свое время и пришли в джаз.

Леонид АУСКЕРН
© 2007 Jazz-Квадрат

Artist: George Braith
Album: The Complete Blue Note Sessions
Years: 1963/1964, release:2001
Label: Blue Note
Quality: mp3@192 kbps
Total Size: 161 MB



The use of multiphonics in jazz has been mastered by very few players, and while at times shrill and thin, can be enlivening and exciting. Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Albert Mangelsdorff set the gold standard, while several trumpeters like Rayse Biggs and Corey Wilkes have tried it with two brass instruments, and contemporary saxophonist Jeff Coffin gives it ago. George Braith holds a singularly unique place in the pantheon of these stylistas, following the path of Kirk in playing two saxophones while combining bop and soul-jazz. This set represents the complete works of Braith on Blue Note in 1963 and 1964 from the albums Two Souls in One, Soul Stream, and Extension. While a consistently satisfying set, it does take some orientation and a bit of patience warming up to the duality presented on a combination of soprano, alto, straight alto aka the stritch, and tenor sax. The brilliant guitarist Grant Green and Braith's high school classmate Billy Gardner on the Hammond B-3 organ are heard throughout, with three different drummers per album. Braith wrote the bulk of the material, with an occasional cover or traditional song tossed in for good measure. Because of the uneven level of song choices overall, there are definitive standout cuts, but the Two Souls in One recording features the great drummer Donald Bailey, and that factor alone lifts the first five tracks. Theoretically, doing "Mary Ann" and "Mary Had a Little Lamb" brings the session down to a childish level. A unique version on alto only of the choppy, Latin shaded "Poinciana," the original light waltz "Home Street" with the dual horns agreeably merging together, and the 13 1/2 minute soprano sax jam "Braith-A-Way" lifts the cache of Braith's music. Hugh Walker on the drum kit stokes the rhythms for Soul Stream, six cuts that range from a stealth, slinky variation of "The Man I Love" (dedicated to assassinated Pres. John F. Kennedy,) the spatial ballad title track, the hot bop "Boop Bop Bing Bash" with Braith's woodwinds a tad bleating, and the Spanish castanet flavored traditional "Billy Told," adapted from the "William Tell Overture." Finally Clarence Johnston is the drummer on the final six selections, all originals save for a bop take of the Cole Porter standard "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye," which closely foreshadows the style of Kirk. Braith adopts a lilting quality for the spirit waltz "Nut City," paraphrases Dizzy Gillespie and Gil Fuller's "Things to Come" on "Extension," while Johnston proffers the perfect small shuffle beat on "Sweetville." "Out Here" is the most fun and playful tune of the entire collection, using pedal point start-stops, shifting bop lines, and tangents that stream out of the nimble beat. Grant Green is the true star here at a time where he was ultimately empowered as a sideman, and special attention must be given to the obscure but cozy and talented Gardner. Where the saxophonist's personal sound may not universally appeal to all, his style next to Kirk compares favorably. One of the truly lost figures of modern jazz, George Braith deserves a revisit, and this complete compilation is quite worthy of more attention as the years go passing by. Michael G. Nastos, AMG

Artist: Benny Golson
Album: Benny Golson and The Philadelphians
Label: United Artists UAS 5020
Year: 1958
Genre: Jazz
Format, bitrate: mp3@320kb/s with front/back cover
Time: ~35 min
Size: 88,50MB (LP-rip)

Benny Golson could be, and in many quarter is, considered the outstanding composer-arranger in the field of Jazz today. According to the critics and buffs, he is also ranked high among the tenor sax men, thus projecting himself as one of the very few triple-threath personalities in the world of modern music.
The four men who are heard here with Golson all have one thing in common-they call Philadelphia their home town. Like Golson, each has achieved stature in a field where competence is not always the password to reconigtion.
The true greatness of Jazz can be tested by its lasting qualities. From a writing, an arranging, and finally, a performance viewpoint, this album can rightfully find itself a nice among the Great.

Artist: Big John Patton
Album: Blue John
Year: 1963
Release Date: 1986
Label: Blue Note
Quality: mp3@320 kbps
Total Size: 81,3mb
Total time - 40:21

Big John Patton's second album, Blue John, was one of several '60s sessions the organist led for Blue Note that remained unissued until much later (in this case, 1986). Although the six selections are all straightforward soul-jazz, the results end up far more offbeat than one might expect. That's due largely to the presence of soprano sax/stritch player George Braith, one of the very few Rahsaan Roland Kirk disciples to master the art of playing multiple horns simultaneously. Braith is far and away the most distinctive element of Patton's quintet, which also includes trumpeter Tommy Turrentine and frequent Patton collaborators Grant Green on guitar and Ben Dixon on drums. While the grooving interplay between Patton, Green, and Dixon is as instinctive as ever, Braith's piercing, honking stabs are what really liven up the proceedings, giving Blue John a crazed sense of fun that makes it one of Patton's most infectious and enjoyable records. There may be something of a novelty element to Braith's playing, but bluesy, groove-centered soul-jazz rarely sounds this bright and exuberant, which is reason enough not to dismiss his contributions. Highlights include the opener, "Hot Sauce," one of Braith's signature compositions, and drummer Dixon's "Nicety." ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide