Artist:Yoshiaki Masuo
     Album: Masuo Special
     Label: King Records
     Year:1980
     Format, bitrate:320kb/s
     Size: 48Mb






Japanese guitarist Yoshiaki Masuo did this audiophile 45rpm LP in 1980 on King Records, players are Yoshiaki Masuo and Motoaki Masuo on guitar, Victor Bruce Godsey on keyboards, T.M. Stevens on bass, Robbie Gonzales on drums, Shirley on percussion and Margaret Ross on harp, plus on track #3 Eric Gale on guitar, Richard Tee on keyboards, Mike Nock on synthesizer, Gordon Edwards on bass and Howard King on drums.

     Artist: Herbie Mann
     Album: Caminho De Casa
     Label: Chesky Records
     Year; 1990, release: 1991
     Format; Mp3 320 kbps
     Time; 53:49
     Size; 106 MB




Flutist Herbie Mann and his group of the time (Jasil Brazz) perform contemporary Brazilian music on this CD, including three numbers by Ivan Lins. Some of the treatments are strictly easy listening or close to bossa nova, while others would fit into the "contemporary jazz" category. On a whole, this is a pleasing set, both as background music and for close listenings -- one of Mann's better ones from the past 20 years. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

     Artist: Dizzy Gillespie
     Album: Jambo Caribe
     Label: Verve
     Recorded: 1964
     Bitrate: MP3/VBR & MP3@320 kbit/s; lossless
     Size: 50, 1 MB or 78 MB ; 245 MB
     Time: 33:27

The populist Dizzy Gillespie gets full rein in this lively, happy collection of tunes exploring rhythms and idioms from the Caribbean. Gillespie is in an ebullient mood, even offering some sly lead calypso vocals on three numbers (perhaps his lighthearted presidential "campaign" of 1964 contributed to the high spirits; the sessions began a day after Election Day). Much of the material comes from Dizzy's band on the session which includes the formidable James Moody on tenor and flute, Kenny Barron on piano, and percussionist Kansas Fields -- and there are some genuine calypsos by Joe Willoughby to round out the package. The cut with the biggest quota of fun is "Barbados Carnival," with guitarist Chris White doubling as a calypso singer, and the lengthy "Trinidad, Goodbye" offers the largest amount of straight-ahead playing. This slice of enjoyable minor Gillespie, originally on Limelight, was reissued on Verve with the original cover on its By Request series in 1998. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide

    Artist: Enrico Pieranunzi
    Album: Enrico Pieranunzi plays Domenico Scarlatti
    Label: Cam Jazz
    Release: 2008
    Style: Baroque
    Format mp3, bitrate: 256 kb/s vbr
    Time: 1:00:00
    Size: 114 Mb

Enrico Pieranunzi Plays Domenico Scarlatti (May 5, 2009) presents the marvelous fusion of two worlds: the creative sensibility of Pieranunzi, whom is considered by most to be Europe s best jazz pianist, and the brilliance of Scarlatti, the most original composer/improviser of the Baroque harpsichord and the most important classical composer of the 18th century from Italy.
After many recordings in duo or trio form, this fearless Roman artist takes on a unique and unprecedented challenge: improvising on the sonatas of the famous classical composer Domenico Scarlatti. It s a very significant leg of the journey, and a long awaited one says Pieranunzi in an interview with Andrea Scaccia included in the liner notes of the CD. I ve always cultivated classical piano along with jazz; two paths that have characterized my musical life since the beginning. I ve always kept them separate in public but now, thanks to Scarlatti, I ve been able to bring them together. The decision to devote himself to Scarlatti was a natural evolution. Scarlatti is a musician I ve always deeply loved; books of his sonatas have always been by my piano. I could list so many reasons for this love affair his formal imagination, rhythmic vitality, passion, Mediterranean flavor. His sounds contain the colors of the Italian sky and sea, our desire for life and love and our yearning.

Artist: Matthew Shipp Trio
Album:The Multiplication Table
Label: Hat Hut
Year:1997, release: 1998
Format, bitrate:mp3; 320 Kb/s
Size: 142 Mb
AMG Rating:

When The Multiplication Table was released in 1997, it once and for all threw down a gauntlet to the remaining critics who erroneously chose to see him as a direct spiritual descendent of Cecil Taylor. It was one they couldn't pick up. Shipp has always been a player who has taken the idea of music as a series of worlds and influences and made something entirely new not in response to, but because of them. The Multiplication Table is a kind of suite where Shipp's own compositions and those of his musical forbears such as Duke Ellington, ("C Jam Blues"), Billy Strayhorn ("Take the A Train"), and Joseph Kosma ("Autmun Leaves") are woven into a theory and practice of musical language that extends jazz beyond its known parameters in both traditional and so-called "free" worlds. Shipp's style -- as well as his compatriot's who are both musical giants and bandleaders: bassist William Parker and drummer Susie Ibarra -- is trans-harmonic and, of course, simultaneously trans-tonal. The many timbral shifts and images presented by the trio in the standards and in Shipp's originals detail a kind of evolutionary force at work that seems to respect systems while taking them apart in order to open them up to one another. Whether it's Scriabin's pan-tonality, which is seemingly at work in "ZT1," the lilting touch of an Ahmad Jamal in "The New Fact," or the aggressive re-harmonizing of "C-Jam Blues," Shipp has his fingers on the pulse of something else entirely when it comes to jazz. And this is jazz, make no mistake. There is a swing in his freest passages under girded by Ibarra's light polyrhythmic touch where textures become as important as the ideas she feeds Shipp. Parker, who contours the body of that music and anchors it in any way necessary, carries within his grasp the melodic subtleties and physical force necessary to produce counter timbres and rhythms, allowing Shipp to explore the inner workings of his own inventive muse, not as speculation but as musical statement. Shipp is no mere free jazz player. He is a musician who has already in his short lifetime created new practices of melodic improvisation and a diverse array of approaches to playing the piano that make him a genuine stylist in this music. His only peer, theoretically anyway, is Anthony Braxton, and Shipp is in many ways more open to explore previously held notions of musicality than even he is-which is saying plenty. The Multiplication Table is, along with a previous Hat release, By the Law of Music with strings, Shipp's masterpiece thus far. Mr. Shipp may be the most exciting composer/pianist since Herbie Nichols. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

     Artist: Jackie McLean
     Album: Jackie's Pal
     Label: Original Jazz Classics
     Year: 1956, release: 2005
     Quality: MP3 @ 320kbps
     Size: 97mb (RS.com) - with Scans
     Time: 41:38





Here was Bill Hardman, who he introduced into a quintet with Mal Waldron (piano), Paul Chambers (bass) and Philly Joe Jones (drums). Hardman's hot breaking tone sounds a bit less forceful than on his (soon-to-be) later work with The Messengers, but it was already identifiable...Chambers has some exciting bowed spots, Mal Waldron was a bit bland and while Jones' drumming fills the role, it missed the push Art Taylor's drumming seemed to invite so often with McLean. ~ Bob Rusch, Cadence, All Music Guide

     Artists - Buddy Tate & Wild Bill Davis
     Album - Broadway: The Definitive Black & Blue Sessions
     Label - Black & Blue
     Style - Soul Jazz
     Year - 1972, release - 2005
     Quality - MP3@320 kbps
     Size - 146 mb
     Total time - 70:33

Regardless of the setting, tenor saxophonist Buddy Tate never seemed to fail to deliver swinging performances. The robust reedman is joined by organist Wild Bill Davis, guitarist Floyd Smith, and drummer Chris Columbus (the latter three had worked together on several earlier recordings) for these 1972 sessions recorded in Paris for Black & Blue. Davis, who made numerous records with alto sax great Johnny Hodges, and also worked alongside him in Duke Ellington's band, provides the same strong backing to Tate -- as his longtime musical partner. Smith, who is best known for his work with Andy Kirk, adds several very bluesy solos. The music runs from old war horses like "Sugar" and the bland "Peg O' My Heart," to timeless jazz compositions ("Blues in My Heart," "Jumpin' With Symphony Sid," and "Blue Lou"), and the modern pop song, "Hello Dolly," which was beginning to wear out its welcome after everyone began recording it following Louis Armstrong's huge success with it. French trumpeter Franзois Biensan is added on five tracks, but never really makes much of an impression. Recommended. ~ Ken Dryden, All Music

    Artist: Ada Montellanico & Enrico Pieranunzi
    Album: Danza di una Ninfa (Storie di Tenco)
    Label: Egea
    Release: 2005
    Style: Post-Bop
    Format mp3, bitrate: 224 kb/s
    Time: 56:38
    Size: 96,8 Mb

Montellanico is a treasure of a singer who has great technical facility and a strong range—sounding, in some ways, like an Italian Flora Purim. Her terrific articulation allowed her to scat along with Pieranunzi and/or McCandless on some particularly difficult uptempo tunes. Her most appealing quality is her avoidance of the kind of vocal showboating in which singers so often indulge. Montellanico may not be as subtle as Swiss/Dutch singer Susanne Abbuehl, but neither she relies on pyrotechnics. Instead, she interpretes the songs with reverence, delivering the lyrics passionately and adding some lovely improvised scats that are perfectly in keeping with the material's overall elegance. - All About Jazz

     Artist: Barney Kessel
     Album: Kessel Plays Standards
     Format: FLAC + MP3 (320k/s)
     Size: 170 + 92 MB (inc. covers)
     Label: OJC (1987, Dig. Remastered)
     Total time: 39:52




     Guitarist Barney Kessel teams up with Bob Cooper (mostly on oboe but also doubling a bit on tenor), either Claude Williamson or Hampton Hawes on piano, Monty Budwig or Red Mitchell on bass, and Shelly Manne or Chuck Thompson on drums. Other than his own "64 Bars on Wilshire" and "Barney's Blues," the repertoire on this CD reissue is comprised of jazz standards. Inventive frameworks and the utilization of Cooper's jazz oboe (a real rarity in jazz of the time) give the otherwise boppish reissue its own personality. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

     Artist: Steve Coleman and The Mystic Rhythm Society
     Album: Myths, Modes and Means (Live)
     Label: RCA
     Year: 1995, release: 1997
     Format: FLAC (cue, log) + MP3 (320k/s)
     Size: 478 + 177 MB (inc. full artwork)
     Total time: 75:40




One of a trio of RCA CDs taken from altoist Steve Coleman's week at Paris's Hot Brass Club, three of the six performances on this set ("Finger of God," "Song of the Beginnings" and "Transits") are over 19 minutes long, and, with the exception of a rap on "The Initiate" and one during the last part of "Song of the Beginnings," this is a jazz set. On "Finger of God," Yassir Chadly's spiritual chant is followed by some intense Coleman alto over a drone by the keyboards. Other selections feature passionate free funk with plenty of Coleman alto and Ralph Alessi trumpet solos; Vijay Iyer's spooky keyboards and Miya Masaoka's koto are assets in the ensembles. Not everything works, but one cannot fault Steve Coleman for stretching himself and taking chances. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

    Artist: Enrico Pieranunzi
    Album: Live in Japan 2 cd
    Label: C.A.M. Jazz
    Year: 2004
    Release: 2007
    Style: Post-Bop
    Format mp3, bitrate: 320 kb/s
    Time: 1:51:11
    Size: 256 Mb (full covers)
    AMG Rating:

Enrico Pieranunzi has long been recognized as one of the best European jazz pianists. This two-CD set with bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joey Baron, not actually a regular trio but one whose members have worked together on a number of occasions over two decades, was recorded during a concert tour of Japan in the spring of 2004, with selections taken from a number of different venues. Three engaging extended trio improvisations upon familiar standards are the highlight of this collection, though the pianist's delicious jazz waltz "How Can You Not?" and moody ballad "If Only for a Time" leave lasting impressions. The trio also explores four originals by noted Italian film composer Ennio Morricone, highlighted by the dramatic interpretation of "Musashi," in which the pianist's lyricism is complemented by Johnson and Baron's sensitive accompaniment. The spirit of Bill Evans is often present in Enrico Pieranunzi's playing throughout this collection, though it never takes over his musical persona. Highly recommended. - Ken Dryden at AMG