Artist: Bob Berg
     Album: Another Standard
     Label: Stretch Records
     Recorded at Sound On Sound, New York
     Orig Year 1997
     Format:Flac
     Total time: 56:36

     The first collection of standards by soprano and tenor saxophonist Bob Berg, 1997's Another Standard has a track listing as uninspired as its title. Seriously, there should be a permanent moratorium on new versions of "Summer Wind," "It Was a Very Good Year," "You and the Night and the Music," and especially "Michelle." (Although he does at least get credit for not choosing the even hoarier "Yesterday.") Berg, a supremely tasteful and occasionally inspired soloist, plays well throughout, with some particularly nice tenor work on "My Man's Gone Now" (from Porgy and Bess); he maintains some of the credibility light jazz saxophonists lost when Kenny G appeared. The arrangements are lightly swinging, with a refreshing lack of electric piano or bass, and there's nothing really wrong with the album, it's just got an unshakeable air of "been there, done that." Start with one of Berg's albums of originals instead.

     Artist: Simon Preston
     Album: Johann Sebastian Bach Great Organ Works 1 & 2
     Year: rec. 1989 – 1990
     Format: Mp3@320/kbs
     Size: 259.09 MB



Органист – лишь одна из профессий этого выдающегося музыканта, которого англичане уже давно числят своим национальным достоянием. В 1970-е он был хормейстером и учителем музыки в оксфордском колледже Christ Church, в 80-е руководил хором Вестминстерского аббатства. Установленные им высочайшие исполнительские стандарты служат точкой отсчета до сих пор. Иногда выступает как клавесинист, а случается – и как композитор. Именно ему доверили написать большую часть «музыки А.Сальери» для легендарного фильма М.Формана «Амадей».

     Artist: E.S.T. & S.H.C.O. feat. Pat Metheny
     Album: German Concert at Jazz Baltica (Bootleg)
     Label: ACT
     Year: 2003
     Format: MP3 VBR 260-320 kbps
     Time: 60:38
     Size: 141 MB


     

     Artists - Pepper Adams, Jimmy Knepper
     Album - The Pepper-Knepper Quintet
     Label : Fresh Sound Records
     Year - 1958, release - 2004
     Quality - MP3@320 kbps
     Size - 82,1 mb
     Total time - 40:02
     AMG rating:

     Although Leonard Feather, in the original liner notes that are reproduced for this reissue, says that it is an oversimplification to call the music on this 1958 session "hard bop," the performances are actually pretty definitive of the idiom. Baritonist Pepper Adams, freshly arrived in New York from Detroit, co-leads a quintet with the up-and-coming trombonist Jimmy Knepper that also includes such young notables as pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Doug Watkins and drummer Elvin Jones. They perform an obscure Jon Hendricks song, a lyrical version of "All Too Soon," the straight-ahead bebop blues "Beaubien," a couple obscure originals, Duke Ellington's "I Didn't Know About You" (which has Kelly switching to a spooky-sounding organ) and Knepper's "Primrose Path." The blend between baritone and trombone is quite effective, the musicians all take consistently excellent solos and the music is state-of-the-art 1958 modern mainstream jazz; in other words, hard bop. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

     Artist: George Shearing
     Album:White Satin
     Label: Capitol
     Year:1960
     Quality:mp3; 160 kb/sec (LP-rip)
     Size:47 mb

     The author of Black Satin's original liner notes would have one believe the album was recorded for the sole purpose of aiding swinging bachelors in their quest to seduce women (ranging from "the girl in blue gingham to the lady in luxurious black satin"). Astute jazz lovers know, however, that even the poppiest George Shearing records are far more than simple cocktail lounge dreck. It's mellow music for sure, and heavily orchestrated, but there is a level of harmonic sophistication and brilliant arranging here that qualifies Black Satin for classic status. George Shearing's sublimely elegant tone, touch, and phrasing are perhaps never better and more simply displayed than on this album. Plus, the record in some ways serves as a primer to his style, as he manages to add subtle shadings of Latin music, bebop, and barrelhouse throughout (sometimes all in the same tune). As the title suggests, this isn't an album full of ferocious up-tempo jazz chops, but rather mood music in the best possible sense of that term. Often sounding like a soundtrack to a non-existent film noir classic or a concept album in the vein of Frank Sinatra's In the Wee Small Hours, it's by turns mysterious, jovial, exotic, romantic, melancholy, and wistful. Black Satin owes a good part of its success to the strings (co-arranged by Billy May, who also worked with Sinatra), which are perfectly mated to the quintet in a manner that recalls the best work of George Martin with the Beatles. Though often lumped in with the lounge genre, Black Satin is by no means simply background music. Best listened to as a continuous piece, the album (which is available on CD with its sister disc, White Satin) reveals deeper and deeper subtleties upon repeated listening. ~ Pemberton Roach, AMG

     Artist: Comus
     Album: First Utterance
     Year: 1971
     Genre: Psychedelic Folk
     Format, bitrate: MP3@256kbps
     Time: 44:43
     Size: 89.8 Mb

Extraordinary mix of folk and psyhodelic/progressive rock

     Taking their name from a character in a John Milton poem, Comus was a short-lived yet powerful folk-rock band that seems to have made an attempt to mix elements of King Crimson with the influences of Pentangle, Fairport Convention and other more traditional folk outfits. Their debut, First Utterance, was followed by To Keep From Crying in 1974, moving into even more experimental sounds. ~ Last.FM

     Artist:Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio with Strings
     Album: Star Dust
     Label: TBM
     Year: 1977, release: 1997 on 'Three Blind Mace' Label [XRCD,TBM-3009]
     Format:APE
     Size: 174MB
     Total time: 38:12

     This score features the romantic piano of T. Yamamoto, with bass and drums and accompanied by strings. The graceful touch of Yamamoto’s piano has brought about a tranquil setting of a star-studded night. The piano, being well closed-miked, is clean and shimmering. In a good system, one can hear the location of each piano note in between the breadth of the foreground clearly. The strings, though purposely placed at the background, so as not to compete with the solo piano, are soothing and silky, yet very delicate and articulate. They should never sound thin and harsh. The different sections of the strings: the violins, violas, cellos, double bass, or for that matter, the light touches of the cymbals are evenly spread in the full spectrum of the soundstage.

     Artist:Gail Pettis
     Album:May I Come In
     Genre:Vocal Jazz
     Label: Origin Arts
     Release:Origin Arts, August 21, 2007
     Format:MP3@ 256Kbps
     Time:54:27 min
     Size: 105 mb

     On her debut recording, Gail Pettis shows off a nice sensitivity to her music. The songs, a mix of standards, originals, and lost classics, are given a touching respect... Maybe more importantly though, Pettis is singing along with the band, as opposed to singing in front of a backing group. The piano (alternately played by Randy Halberstadt and Darin Clendenin) comes out front nearly as often as Pettis does, and when the time is right other instruments come to join it (in particular, Marco de Carvalho's guitar on the classic "Desafinado"). Pettis has a nice quality to her vocals that goes along with those sensitivities as well. Her tone is more relaxed than that of many singers, with a natural touch to it. The songs sound like they're simply part of her day, not overpracticed or overdone. There's interplay between her vocals and each instrument individually (even a bit of a duet with the bass in "I've Grown Accustomed to Your Face"). This has the feel of catching an underappreciated songstress at a small club — the romantic ideal of the jazz hole-in-the-wall. There's passion in her singing, and the execution is excellent on the part of Pettis as well as her two trios. Definitely worth a spin. Review by Adam Greenberg (AMG)

     Artist: Dorothy Dandridge & Oscar Peterson Trio
     Album: Smooth Operator
     Label: Polygram Records/Verve
     Year: 1958, 1961, release 1999
     Genre: Jazz
     Format Mp3, bitrate: 256 kb/s
     Time: 47:43
     Size: 88,3 Mb
     AMG Rating: ****

     Smooth Operator explores a little-known aspect of the beautiful, troubled African-American actress Dorothy Dandridge: her vocal abilities. Most of this album comes from a 1958 recording session featuring Dandridge's lovely interpretations of "When Your Lover Has Gone," "Body & Soul" and the title track. That her backing band is an augmented version of the Oscar Peterson Trio makes her album even more special, and a must for jazz fans and film buffs. by Heather Phares - AMG
This set of recordings matched Dandridge the nightclub singer with pianist Oscar Peterson and his group - which was sleek enough to highlight the singer's coarse overtones that recall late Billie Holiday recordings - and with an unnamed large orchestra that pushes the vocalist to shine brilliantly on the collection's title tune. Dandridge had all the tragic dynamics that would make her voice deservedly and artfully rough at the edges. Her magnetism is palpable, and hearing the bulk of these tracks for the first time in 1999, it's clear they should've hit the airwaves decades ago. Andrew Bartlett at Amazon.com

     Artist:Milt Jackson
     Album: Bags' Opus
     Label: United Artist
     Quality: FLAC & MP3@320
     Size: 186 MB & 77 MB
     Time: 34:34

     Vibraphonist Milt Jackson welcomes the two future co-leaders of The Jazztet (trumpeter Art Farmer and tenor-saxophonist Benny Golson) along with a fine rhythm section (pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Connie Kay) on this CD reissue. The repertoire (which includes early versions of Golson's "Whisper Not" and "I Remember Clifford" in addition to two standards, a Milt Jackson blues and John Lewis's "Afternoon in Paris") is very much in The Jazztet hard bop vein and Jackson fits in very well with the two lyrical horn soloists. A successful outing by some of the greats.
Scott Yanow, AMG

     Artist: Lew Soloff
     Album: Speak Low
     Label:King Rcds
     Year: , release 1987
     Genre: Jazz
     Format, bitrate: mp3 320 Bps
     Time:55:20
     Size: 123Mb

     A brilliant high-note trumpeter long in great demand for big bands and session work, Lew Soloff is also a distinctive soloist and an expert with the plunger mute. After studying at Juilliard, he freelanced in New York with Maynard Ferguson, Joe Henderson, and Clark Terry, among others, and then was a part of Blood, Sweat & Tears during 1968-1973. Soloff was closely associated with Gil Evans from 1973 on, and also played with George Gruntz's Concert Jazz Band, the Manhattan Jazz Quintet, and Carla Bley; he was also teamed with the colorful trombonist Ray Anderson on several often-humorous recordings. ~
Lew Soloff's brilliant technique has often been utilized to hit the high notes in adventurous big bands, but he is also a very talented soloist. This quartet set with pianist Kenny Kirkland, bassist Richard Davis and drummer Elvin Jones (a reissue of a CD cut for the King label and first released domestically by Projazz as Speak Low) is sometimes a little more laid-back than expected, but has its fiery moments. Soloff shows off his warm tone on the ballads (such as "But Beautiful") and swings hard on such numbers as "Speak Low," Charles Mingus' "Reincarnation of a Lovebird" and his own "Duty Blues." There are relatively few Lew Soloff albums available (and none thus far have been made for American labels), so this enjoyable CD is easily recommended. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide.

     Artist: Henry Mancini
     Album: A Lover's Concerto
     Label: Readers
     Year: 1988
     Genre: Jazz
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Size: 108MB

     Artist: John Coltrane
     Movie: Masters of Jazz, part 3: Portrait of John Coltrane.
     Format: DVD-rip
     Size: 15 x 195 mb
     Duration: 59 minutes

     
In this Award winning series you will see a 59 minute portrait of the life and music of John Coltrane. Lots of interviews, with Wayne Shorter, his wife Alice Coltrane, and many others........

     Masters of American Music is an award-winning television series of ten shows that celebrate a pantheon of the greatest innovators in Jazz. Both the video and audio content now has been restored and remastered in accordance with state-of-the-art specifications, employing award-winning tools exclusively for this production. Produced by Toby Byron, it was the first TV series devoted to Jazz. Individual programs trace the lives and works of master musicians who defined the course of America's classical music. From its birth in New Orleans, to swing, the big bands, bebop, free Jazz and beyond: all of it is explored with sensitivity and in unique depth. John Coltrane was the most innovative and influential jazz musician since the 1960s. The World According To John Coltrane, the only authorized documentary, shows that he was that, and more—much more. "John Coltrane was the pivotal musician of the mid-twentieth century," says writer/director, Robert Palmer. He was the first musical master with a global perspective. Coltrane was there, blazing the trail first. The World According To John Coltrane captures a musical meeting between Art Ensemble of Chicago saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell and dervish musicians in Morocco's Eastern Sahara desert filmed in 1990. With Wayne Shorter, Alice Coltrane, Rashied Ali, Tommy Flanagan, La Monte Young and special guest artist Roscoe Mitchell performing with members of the Aissaoua brotherhood. Narrated by David Smyrl. Filmed in Ouarzazate, Morocco and New York City. Awards: 2003--Special Invitation "In-Edit," Madrid and Barcelona, Spain: "Bluesland," "The World According to John Coltrane" 1995--Special invitation to Beat Culture and the New America, 1950-1965 exhibition, Whitney Museum: "The World According to John Coltrane" 1993--Special invitation, Berlin International Film Festival, Germany: "The World According to John Coltrane" 1992--Music video special, MIDEM (France): "The World According to John Coltrane" 1991--Swing Journal’s Best Music Program of the Year (Japan): "The World According to John Coltrane"