Artist - Mel Torme
     Album - Mel Tormé - Sings Fred Astaire
     Label - Bethelem
     Year - 1956
     Quality - MP3@320kbps (LP-rip)
     Size - 78,2 mb
     Total time - 35:15
     AMG Rating:


Though it's sometimes relegated to second or third place among Torme's best albums of the '50s (behind Mel Torme and the Marty Paich Dek-Tette and It's a Blue World), it's difficult to hear how Mel Torme Sings Fred Astaire can't be the best album of his entire career. Featuring an artist at the peak of his ability and talent, a collection of top-drawer songs from the best pop composers ever, and a swinging ten-piece that forms the perfect accompaniment, Sings Fred Astaire is one of the best up-tempo vocal albums ever recorded. Coming hot on the heels of Mel Torme and the Marty Paich Dek-Tette in 1956, this tribute to Hollywood's most stylish dancer finds Torme obliging with his nimblest and most elegant singing. Even while Marty Paich's band takes "The Way You Look Tonight" and "Cheek to Cheek" at a breakneck pace that Astaire himself would've had trouble with, Torme floats over the top with death-defying vocal acrobatics. He's breezy and sophisticated on "They Can't Take That Away from Me," ecstatic and effervescent on "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails" (matching an exuberant solo by trumpeter Pete Candoli), and even breaks out an affectionate croon for "A Foggy Day." A collection of perfect hard-swinging pop with a few ballads thrown in for good measure makes Sings Fred Astaire a masterpiece of the vocal era. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide

     Artist: Jimmy Rogers
     Album: Ludella
     Label: Antone's Records
     Year: 1990
     Format, bitrate: 320kbps
     Time: 48:26
     Size: 121.7 MB
     AMG rating




One of the most enriching contemporary items in Rogers's growing album catalog. Combining studio tracks with live performances, the set trods heavily on the past with loving renditions of "Rock This House," "Ludella," "Sloppy Drunk," and "Chicago Bound." Kim Wilson proves a worthy harp disciple of Little Walter, while bassist Bob Stroger and drummer Ted Harvey lay down supple grooves behind the blues great. ~ Bill Dahl, All Music Guide

     Artist - John Williams Trio
     Album - 1954-1955 Complete Master Takes
     Label - Fresh Sound Records
     Years: 1954-1955, release - 2006
     Quality - MP3@320 kbps
     Size - 144 mb
     Total time - 66:47



These trio recordings, made in 1954 and 1955, are the only ones pianist John Williams made as a leader in his entire career. Influenced by Horace Silver, Bud Powell and Hank Jones, Williams is most remembered for his very fine recordings with the Stan Hetz Quintet. However, and despite his talent, today he remains a pianist relatively unknown for many people; but those who had the chance to have him as accompanist and all those who enjoyed his stabbing and leanly imaginative playing as a soloist, surely have not forgotten it. ~ Absolute Distribution

     Artists: Joe Gordon & Scott LaFaro
     Album: West Coast Days
     Label: Fresh Sound FSRCD 370
     Year: 1958/60
     Format, bitrate: mp3@320 kb/s covers
     Time: ~ 56 min
     Size: 116,40 MB

     This compilation might indicate that Joe Gordon and Scott LaFaro appear together on these live recordings made at the Lighthouse, but they are individually featured with two separate groups. Gordon, a fine trumpeter who died far too young, is heard with pianist Russ Freeman, tenor saxophonist Richie Kamuca, bassist Monty Budwig, and drummer Shelly Manne. "Our Delight" is joined in progress at the end of Gordon's opening solo, but the band is clearly energized. Gordon opts for a mute and interacts well with Freeman in a loping, extended treatment of "Summertime." Kamuca kicks off the long take of "Poinciana" with a blistering solo; Gordon's solo is equally full of energy, even if he isn't picked up as well by the microphone. Scott LaFaro is joined by Kamuca, pianist Victor Feldman, and drummer Stan Levey for a 1958 set. The first track is identified as "It Could Happen to You" (by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke) and is introduced as such by Kamuca at the end of the performance, but it sounds nothing like the well-known standard. This midtempo ballad has a snappy rhythm and good solos, though LaFaro's intricate work is backed only by Levey. Since this set was likely a jam session, there are no phenomenal solos like those that featured LaFaro in his recordings with the Bill Evans Trio. Feldman's solo is the highlight of John Coltrane's "Bass Blues." Both recordings were purportedly made by Lighthouse jam session organizer (and sometime bassist) Howard Rumsey; they add to the recorded legacy of two potentially great musicians who died far too young. ~ Ken Dryden, AMG

     Artist:Abbey Lincoln
     Album: Wholly Earth
     Label: Polygram Records
     Release: 1999
     Genre: Vocal Jazz
     Format, bitrate: MP3, 320 kbps
     Time: 67:00
     Size: 154 MB

     Swaying gently and confidently, singer Abbey Lincoln possesses a voice and singing style like no other. When she’s hanging behind the beat, gently rasping heartfelt expression, or sliding around the pitch, the singer is in complete control of her performance and is offering it in her own sweet way. Bobby Hutcherson joins Lincoln on this latest project, bringing in the vibraphone for a traditional mainstream jazz feeling and opting for marimba when a mellower touch is required. She can shock you with her spontaneous rapport or she can offer soothing ballads to fill a need; Lincoln does both on Wholly Earth. An influence by Billie Holiday is never doubted; yet, the singer is entirely unique and quite recognizable. Even from a distance. An excerpt from Lincoln’s vast biographical datasheet may be found at http://www.ums.org/artists/lincolnnotes.htm .

     Abbey Lincoln wrote both music and lyrics to the title track and six others. In a way, these represent her whole body of work. Pronouncing the words slowly and deliberately, phrasing with a natural conversational style, slurring some syllables for effect, and remaining slightly off the beat, Lincoln captures your mind and heart with her performance. She pares "If I Only Had a Brain" down to a piano trio and delivers a slow emphatic reading of the lyrics. Maggie Brown joins the ensemble for "And It’s Supposed to be Love" and "Caged Bird" along with a different rhythm section. The contrast of their singing voices is refreshing. Brown, the daughter of legendary singer Oscar Brown, Jr., has a career of her own. There’s more information at http://www.maggiebrown.com/magbio.html . Nicholas Payton, who guests on two songs, displays his Louis Armstrong tone and uniquely smooth trumpet articulation on "Look to the Star." Benny Carter’s "Another Time, Another Place" summarizes the album’s ensemble spirit, with ballad solos from Payton (flugelhorn), Hutcherson (vibes), and Cary. Abbey Lincoln continues to impress with her unique easy-to-love ballad style and lucid storytelling manner.
~ Jim Santella

     Artist: Keith Jarrett
     Album: Paris Concert
     Label: ECM
     Year: Oct 17, 1988
     Release: 1990
     Genre: Jazz, Post-Bop, Free, Improvisation
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320 kbps
     Time: 50:17
     Size: 99 MB
     AMG Rating:

     The self-imposed quarantine on solo concerts over, Keith Jarrett returned to the improvisatory format that he virtually invented, mellower and more devotional than ever. Indeed, within the 38 minutes of solo improvisation captured at Paris's Salle Pleyel, Jarrett pulls further away from the old rousing (and thoroughly American) gospel, blues and folk roots of earlier concerts toward a more abstract concept. Opening with a soaring, lyrical canonic melody, he rambles through his familiar obsessive hammering, grand tremolos, and the like before topping it off with an ethereal tune that turns somber. There are two encores -- Russ Freeman's "The Wind," awhich begins with a brief swatch of Steve Reich-like minimalism but swiftly turns reflective the rest of the way, and "Blues," a welcome if brief return to one of the pianist's root sources. Again, Jarrett's virtuosic abilities are never in doubt, and he rarely flaunts his technique for its own sake, but one senses that the inspiration level is down; one doesn't come out of the CD all charged up as with many earlier solo concerts.- by Richard S. Ginell, AMG

     Artist: Steve Smith, Jerry Goodman, Howard Levy, Oteil Burbridge
     Album: Stranger's Hand
     Label: Shrapnel Records Inc.
     Year: 1999
     Genre: Fusion
     Format, bitrate: MP3, 256 kbps VBR
     Time: 51:20
     Size: 81.8mb (includes scans)

     In the late 1990s, drummer Steve Smith set out to reinvigorate the long slumbering jazz-rock fusion movement with a series of all-star recordings on his own Tone Center record label. The Stranger's Hand is the best of the lot, with four instrumental masters coming together for nine days of spontaneous combustion that recalls the music's heyday while also bringing the freshness of new discovery into the updated mix. The assembled cast includes fusion pioneer Jerry Goodman. He was the wild electric violin-slinging frontman for the Flock a once-great but long forgotten band which came out in the wake of the Blood, Sweat & Tears horn-band rush of the late '60s. (Goodman would make his most lasting mark as an original member of John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra in the early '70s.) Also on board is multi-instrumental wizard Howard Levy, best known for his work with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Anchoring the rhythm section with Smith is Allman Brothers bassist Oteil Burbridge. The material brings to mind the players' past associations. "Brick Chicken" and "Glimmer of Hope" are reminiscent of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, with the latter in the 11/8 time signature used on some of that group's classic material. "Sufferin' Catfish" would have fit neatly into a Flecktones recording. "Caliente" sounds quite contemporary in an organic-funk way, while "Moonchild" is a beautiful piece for violin and acoustic piano, and the title track closes the disc with a blaze of heat and atmospheric fireworks. ~Jim Newsom, All Music Guide

     Artist: Jimmy Witherspoon
     Album: Evenin' Blues
     Label: OBC/Prestige
     Year:1963, release: 2008
     Format, bitrate:mp3;320 kb/s
     Size: 95 Mb
     AMG rating:




A good, relaxed (but not laid-back) session, and one of his bluesier ones, with organ, Clifford Scott (who played on Bill Doggett's "Honky Tonk") on sax, and T-Bone Walker on guitar. Nothing too adventurous about the song selection, including well-traveled items like "Good Rockin' Tonight" and "Kansas City," but Witherspoon sings them with ingratiating soul, reaching his peaks on his cover of "Don't Let Go" (perhaps better than the hit version by Roy Hamilton) and the late-night ambience of the title track. The CD reissue adds previously unissued alternate takes of four of the songs. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide

    Artist: Steve Kuhn
    Album: Porgy
    Label: Evidence
    Release: 1989
    Style: Post-Bop
    Format mp3, bitrate: 320 kb/s
    Time: 54:54
    Size: 126 Mb
    AMG Rating:

"Porgy" is yet another album of superlative jazz trio music from Steve Kuhn. Kuhn has been vastly underrated for many years. The best of his work is on par with Jarrett, Evans, etc.
"Porgy" is well played and recorded. Although it is not as adventurous as his ECM efforts, it is still a solid album. - Amazon.com

    Artist: Keith Jarrett
    Album: Byablue
    Label: Impulse!
    Release: 1977
    Style: Post-Bop
    Format mp3, bitrate: 320 kb/s
    Time: 41:57
    Size: 96,6 Mb (cover)
    AMG Rating:

Amidst rumored tension within the band, Keith Jarrett's "American" Quartet met for one last marathon recording date before disbanding, and Impulse made the most of it by spreading the music out over two separate releases. From the evidence of this, the first and slightly superior LP, the band certainly doesn't sound as if it was ready to break up; the interplay has become telepathic, the musical ideas are still fresh and there is a willingness to experiment. "Rainbow," credited to Margot Jarrett, is top-flight lyrical Keith, while "Trieste" evokes the mood and some of the language of spiritual Coltrane. There is adventure, too; with Dewey Redman and Jarrett wailing on tenor and soprano respectively, "Konya" sounds almost like a muezzin call to prayer, and "Yahllah" is a rare, brave, moving merger of jazz and the Middle East. Highly recommended on LP, since the Middle Eastern tracks were deleted from the CD reissue. - Richard S. Ginell at AMG

    Artist: Keith Jarrett
    Album: Silence
    Label: GRP
    Release: 1977
    Style: Post-Bop
    Format mp3, bitrate: 320 kb/s
    Time: 1:06:20
    Size: 152 Mb
    AMG Rating:

The 1992 CD reissue of the Keith Jarrett "American" Quartet's last recording session combines most of the contents of the LPs Byablue and Bop-Be, omitting "Yahllah" and "Konya" from the former and "Pyramids Moving" from the latter. (Tellingly, in keeping with conservative '90s tastes — never mind the time-limit excuse — the deleted tracks are the ones which have an experimental Middle Eastern flavor.) Still, this partial sampling of the session indicates that the quartet went out on a high note, still exciting and inventive, the old interplay very much in action, unrepentantly acoustic in an electric era. Like the LP of the same name, "Byablue" brackets the CD with a group version at the beginning and a solo piano benediction at the close, which under these conditions becomes an emotional elegy for the soon-to-be defunct quartet by its leader. [/b]- Richard S. Ginell at AMG