Artist: Zoot Sims Plays Duke Ellington
     Album: Passion Flower
     Label: Original Jazz Classics
     Years: 1979-1980; release 1980
     Format, bitrate: MP3@320 kbit/s
     Time: 0.40:39
     Size: 92 MB

     Benny Carter provided the arrangements for the 16-piece band that accompanies the great tenor Zoot Sims on this set of Duke Ellington songs. The album is highlighted by "In a Mellow Tone," "I Got It Bad," "Passion Flower" and "Bojangles," but all nine selections are enjoyable and Sims is in top form. In fact it can easily be argued that Zoot Sims never made an indifferent or unswinging album, so it is not much of a surprise that this date is quite successful and should greatly appeal to straightahead jazz fans. ~ Review by Scott Yanow, AMG

     Вечнозелёные темы в весьма достойном исполнении - так музыканты отдали дань уважения памяти великого Дюка...

     Artists: Roy Haynes, Phineas Newborn, Paul Chambers
     Album: We Three
     Label: Prestige / New Jazz
     Year: 1958, release: 2007
     Format, bitrate: MP3@320 kbit/s
     Time: 0.39:37
     Size: 91 MB
     AMG Rating:

     Приятный хард-боповый альбом трио известных музыкантов, в составе которого играет пианист Phineas Newborn.

     Artist - Paul Desmond
     Album - Easy Living
     Label - Bluebird
     Years: 1963 - 1965, release - 1990
     Quality - MP3@320 kbps
     Size: 128 mb
     Total time - 59:33
     AMG Rating

As the Paul Desmond/Jim Hall quartet's recording activities gradually came to a halt by 1965, RCA Victor assembled the remains of a number of their later sessions into one last album, adding two outtakes, "All Through the Night" and "Rude Old Man," when the album was transferred to CD in 1990. These are, however, anything but leftovers; indeed, they constitute the best Desmond/Hall album since Take Ten, more varied in texture and mood and by and large more inspired in solo content than Bossa Antigua and Glad to Be Unhappy. As a near-ideal example of this collaboration at its intuitive peak, "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" opens with Hall paraphrasing the tune, and Desmond comes in on the bridge with a perfectly timed rejoinder that sounds as if he's asking a question. "Here's That Rainy Day" is another apt match of a standard to Desmond's sophisticated personality; he is at his dry, jaunty best on the uptempo "That Old Feeling"; and both have a ball jamming on the blues in Desmond's wry, quick "Blues for Fun." Nothing wrong with the outtakes, either; both are gems, although you will hear one -- just one! -- of Desmond's extremely rare smudged notes on his last entrance of "All Through the Night." Besides mainstays Hall and Connie Kay, three bass players -- Gene Cherico, Gene Wright, and Percy Heath, all no stranger to Desmond sessions -- alternate on these tracks. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide

     Artist: John Kirby & His Orchestra
     Album: 1941-1943
     Label: Classics
     Year: 1995
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Time: 54:53
     Size: 129MB
     AMG Rating: 


   The third John Kirby CD from the European Classics label has 21 performances that trace Kirby's unique sextet from the peak of its popularity in 1941 through the war years. In addition to a dozen songs originally released by Victor, this set has nine rarer numbers that appeared on V-Discs. With trumpeter Charlie Shavers, clarinetist Buster Bailey, and altoist Russell Procope (along with pianist Billy Kyle and drummer O'Neil Spencer), Kirby was able to form an unusual and very distinctive group sound that, although comprised of swing virtuosos, looked toward the cool jazz of the 1950s. The band was starting to come apart a bit by the later tracks of this CD, with first Specs Powell and then Bill Beason replacing the late Spencer, George Johnson ably filling in for Procope, and Shavers departing before the final number; however, the group sound remained intact. Among the many highlights of this CD are "Coquette," "Royal Garden Blues," "Night Whispers," "St. Louis Blues," and "9:20 Special." ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

     Artist - Duke Ellington
     Album - ...and His Mother Called Him Bill
     Label - RCA / Bluebird
     Year - 1967, release - 1987
     Quality - MP3@320kb/s
     Size: 131 mb
     Total time - 61:25
     AMG Rating:

   B 1969 году Ellington победил сразу в шести номинациях Грэмми с альбомом And His Mother
Called Him Bill, который был посвящен Billy Strayhorn , скончавшемуся в 1967 году.


When Billy Strayhorn died of cancer in 1967, Duke Ellington was devastated. His closest friend and arranger had left his life full of music and memories. As a tribute, Ellington and his orchestra almost immediately began recording a tribute to Strayhorn, using the late arranger's own compositions and charts. The album features well-known and previously unrecorded Strayhorn tunes that showcased his range, versatility, and, above all, the quality that Ellington admired him most for: his sensitivity to all of the timbral, tonal, and color possibilities an orchestra could bring to a piece of music. The set opens with a vehicle for Johnny Hodges called "Snibor," written in 1949. A loose blues tune, its intervals showcase Hodges against a stinging I-IV-V backdrop and turnaround, with a sweeping set of colors in the brass section before Cootie Williams takes a break and hands it back to Hodges to take out. The melancholy "Blood Count" was written in 1967 for the band's Carnegie Hall concert. It proved to be his final composition and chart. Hodges again gets the call and blows deep, low, and full of sadness and even anger. The music is moody, poignant, and full of poise, expressing a wide range of feelings as memories from different periods in the composers' and bandleaders' collective careers. Given all the works Strayhorn composed, this one -- with its muted trumpet section set in fours against Hodges' blues wailing -- is both wistful and chilling. Also included here is a remake of 1951's "Rock Skippin' at the Blue Note," in a spicy, funky version with a shimmering cymbal ride from Sam Woodyard and a punched up, bleating Cootie Williams solo as well as one from Jimmy Hamilton on clarinet, smoothing out the harmonic edges of the brass section (which features a ringing break from John Sanders). In cut time, the tune shuffles in the groove with Ellington accenting on every eight as the brass and reeds mix it up joyously. There are two versions of "Lotus Blossom." Ellington claimed it was the piece Strayhorn most liked to hear him play. The LP version is a quiet, restrained, meditative rendition played solo by Ellington, with the most subtle and yet emotional nuances he ever presented on a recording as a pianist. Finally, closing the album is a bonus track, a trio version played in a whispering tone with only baritone saxophonist Harry Carney and bassist Aaron Bell accompanying Ellington. The piece was supposedly recorded as the band was packing up to leave. Its informality and soulful verve feel like they are an afterthought, an unwillingness to completely let go, a eulogy whose final words are questions, elegantly stated and met with only the echo of their last vibrations ringing in an empty room, full of wondering, longing, and helplessness, but above all the point of the questions themselves: "Is this enough?" or "Can there ever be enough to pay an adequate tribute to this man?" They are interesting questions, because only five years later we would all be saying the same thing about Ellington. For a man who issued well over 300 albums, this set is among his most profoundly felt and very finest recorded moments. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
     

     Artist: Benny Golson
     Album: The Modern Touch
     Label: Riverside/OJC, Limited Edition
     Year: rec. Dec 19, 1957,Dec 23, 1957/rel.1992
     Format: MP 3 @ 320 Kb/s
     Time: 40:00
     Size: 87.5 Mb
     AMG rating:

     Artist: Teddy Wilson
     Album: Blues in C Sharp Minor: Original Recordings 1935-1937
     Label: Naxos Nostalgia
     Year: 1935-1937
     Release: 2003
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Time: 01:04:26
     Size: 129MB
     AMG Rating:      
     


     The legacy of pianist Teddy Wilson (1912-1986) is well served by Blues in C Sharp Minor, a 20-track collection released by Naxos Nostalgia in 2003. That's because the more or less chronologically stacked selection of recordings made between July 1935 and October 1937 includes some of Wilson's very best performances from this time period. What made his little bands so solid and swing-worthy was the constant involvement of skilled improvisers drawn from the orchestras of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Teddy Hill, Fats Waller, Willie Bryant, Fletcher Henderson, and Benny Goodman. Note that "Body and Soul" and "Where or When" are performed by the Benny Goodman Trio with Teddy Wilson and drummer Gene Krupa. The rest of these fine tunes were recorded and issued under Wilson's name. There is an unusually high number of instrumentals in this package -- the very best being "I Found a New Baby," the extended blues known as "Just a Mood," and the organically grown "Blues in C Sharp Minor." The abundance of outstanding musicianship on this disc is simply staggering. Vocals are by Billie Holiday, Roy Eldridge, and Ella Fitzgerald.      ~ arwulf arwulf, All Music Guide

     Artist: Ethel Waters
     Album: Chronological 1929-1931
     Label: Classics
     Year: 1929-31
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320 kb/s
     Size: 160 mb

Продолжаем открывать забытые джазовые имена. Этель Уотерс - певица и актриса. Её более ранние записи (1921-23) - типичные блюзовые изыскания того времени. Её более поздние записи - более утонченные и сложные в вокальном плане, раскрывающие весь широкий диапазон её голоса, но неизбежно уводящие её от джаза в популярную музыку. Данный период я считаю переходным в её творчестве и предлагаю послушать эту удивительную певицу в сопровождении отличных музыкантов, среди которых братья Дорси, Джо Венути, Бенни Гудмен и др.

     Artist - Mary Lou Williams
     Album - A Grand Night For Swinging
     Label - Highnote
     Year - 1976, release - 2008
     Quality - MP3@320 kbps
     Size - 116 mb
     Total time - 52:47



This High Note release is a live recording of Mary Lou Williams at the Statler Hotel in Buffalo during the winter of 1976 accompanied by bassist Ronnie Boykins and drummer Roy Haynes. First off, the sound of the recording isn't perfect. These tapes were from a private collection and there is a noticeable amount of tape hiss and some crackle throughout. It hardly matters, though, because in spite of it, all three instruments can be heard with startling clarity and immediacy. The material, astonishingly enough, includes only one Williams' original. An accomplished composer, even a prolific one, Williams is heard here playing through tunes like Billy Taylor's "A Grand Night for Swinging" a tune she actually opens and closes with Vernon Duke and George Gershwin's "I Just Can't Get Started," "My Funny Valentine," Duke Ellington and Juan Tizol's "Caravan," W.C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues," and, compellingly, "Baby Man," which proceeds from it. Saxophonist John Stubblefield wrote the latter cut. This is poignant in that Williams was capable and indeed saw great value in celebrating the modernism of jazz as a fitting and necessary part of its evolution, just as certain critics as well as musicians were turning from it. The way both pieces are played here are startling, full of finesse, grand rhythmic interplay, and a jaw dropping harmonic reach by the pianist, who had been playing professionally for over 50 years at this point. Here she was still in charge and could front a rhythm section like this with the ease of total command and enjoy its sense of support and skittering improvisation. The only Williams' composition here is "Bag's Blues," a striking variation on Milt Jackson's "Bag's Groove," the melody of which she quotes and harmonically extrapolates on from the very beginning of its performance. The final cut on the CD is a nearly five-minute interview with Williams that is interesting but needs only be heard once. This is a welcome and necessary entry in Williams catalog. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

     Artist: The Nimmo Brothers
     Album: Moving On
     Year: 2001, release: 2004
     Label: Armadillo Music
     Quality:mp3; 320 kbps | 44.1 Khz | Joint Stereo
     Total Time: 67 min 44 sec
     Total Size: 146.05 mb





The Nimmo Brothers are guitarists/vocalists Stevie and Alan Nimmo, plus their rhythm section of Sam Firth (bass) and Mark Barrett (drums). Based in Glasgow, Scotland, the Nimmo Brothers began mixing modern electric blues and rock & roll in 1997, and built an audience by touring the U.K. and Europe on the festival and club circuits. In 2001, the British modern blues label Armadillo issued their debut album, Coming Your Way. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide

     Artist: Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers
     Album: The Witch Doctor
     Label: Blue Note 84258
     Year: 1961
     Format: mp3@320 kbit/s
     Time: 40:33
     Size: 95 MB

     This 1961 session is less well known than many of the other Jazz Messengers' Blue Note dates from the same period. THE WICTH DOCTOR is, however, a strong outing by the legendary group in its most prolific period. Featuring the classic lineup of Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Timmons, and Jymie Merritt, Blakey and his Messengers groove hard on cuts like Morgan's title track and the rhythmic "Afrique." Shorter and Morgan make a grand team as always on tasty arrangements like Shorter's "Those Who Sit and Wait," working together on the melody and then blowing tremendously powerful solos. Blakey is in his prime, spurring on his younger charges with burning grooves and rhythmic waves that would crush weaker men. His intricate patterns on the aptly titled "A Little Busy" provide only a small clue of his overall drumming brilliance. Other worthwhile cuts include Shorter's pulsating "Joelle" and the blistering screamer "Lost and Found."

    Artist: Frank Zappa
    Album: Roxy & Elsewhere
    Label: Zappa Records
    Year: 1974
    Format, bitrate: MP3, 320 Kbps
    Time: 68:03
    Size: 136 MB (with HQ Scans)

   After his affair with jazz fusion (Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo, both released in 1972), Frank Zappa came back in late 1973 with an album of simple rock songs, Over-Nite Sensation. But the temptation for more challenging material was not long to resurface and, after a transitional LP (Apostrophe, early 1974), he unleashed a double LP (reissued on one CD) of his most complex music, creating a bridge between his comedy rock stylings and Canterbury-style progressive rock. Three-quarters of the album was recorded live at the Roxy in Hollywood and extensively overdubbed in the studio later. Only three tracks ("Dummy Up," "Son of Orange County," and "More Trouble Every Day"), taken from other concerts, are 100 percent live. The band is comprised of George Duke (keyboards), Tom Fowler (bass), Ruth Underwood (percussion), Bruce Fowler (trombone), Walt Fowler (trumpet), Napoleon Murphy Brock (vocals), and Chester Thompson (drums) — drummer Ralph Humphrey, keyboardist Don Preston, and guitarist Jeff Simmons appear on the non-Roxy material. The sequence "Echidna's Arf (Of You)"/"Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?" stands as Zappa's most difficult rock music and provides quite a showcase for Underwood. Other highlights include "Penguin in Bondage" and "Cheepnis," a horror movie tribute. All the pieces were premiere recordings, except for "More Trouble Every Day" and "Son of Orange County," a revamped, slowed down "Orange County Lumber Truck"/"Oh No." Compared to the man's previous live recordings (Fillmore East, June 1971, Just Another Band From L.A.), this one sounds fantastic, finally providing an accurate image of the musicians' virtuosity. For fans of Zappa's intricate material like "RDNZL," "The Black Page," or "Inca Roads," this album is a must-have.    ~ Franзois Couture

     Artist: Miles Davis
     Album: Manchester Concert
     Label: Lone Hill Jazz
     Year: 1960-1963, release 2005
     Format, bitrate: MP3@320 kbit/s
     Time: 2.10:01
     Size: 298 MB plus 26.1 MB sized HQ scans

     A rare 1960 appearance by the Miles Davis quintet in England!

     Довольно редкий концерт квинтета Майлса Девиса в Великобритании в 1960 году.

     Artist: Bob Berg
     Album: Riddles
     Label: GRP Records
     Year: 1994
     Recording Date: Apr 29, 1994-May 10, 1994
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320 kbps
     Time: 49:33
     Size: 102 MB



     Bob Berg, whose tenor playing often hints at Michael Brecker, is heard leading a medium-sized group (ranging from five to seven pieces) that often includes Gil Goldstein's accordion and Jim Beard's keyboards on this CD. The music is a bit poppish in spots but the solos are of a generally high caliber with Berg sounding most original on soprano. ~ Scott Yanow, AMG