Artist: Bob Mamet
     Album: Signs of Life
     Label: Atlantic Jazz
     Format: FLAC + MP3 (320)
     Size: 276 + 94 MB (inc. artwork)
     Total time: 40:24


Bob Mamet showed considerable promise on his debut album, Signs of Life, which could easily be described as "pop-jazz with a brain." This 1994 release is hardly the work of a jazz purist or a bop snob; the pianist/keyboardist combines jazz with elements of pop, rock, and R&B, and he has been heavily influenced by the electric work of Chick Corea, the Yellowjackets, and Joe Sample. But at the same time, anyone who claims that Signs of Life is merely instrumental pop doesn't give Mamet enough credit -- the pop elements are strong, but so are the jazz elements. Mamet brings an improviser's mentality to the table, and he enjoys a real dialogue with well-known guests like guitarist Larry Carlton, saxman Sam Riney, and Yellowjackets members Jimmy Haslip (bass) and William Kennedy (drums). Another guest is saxman Richard Elliot, and here's the ironic part: Elliot's playing is a lot more substantial and meaty on Signs of Life than it is on his own albums. Elliot has recorded more than his share of brainless elevator Muzak, but he sounds pretty good on Mamet's debut. Meanwhile, Mamet detours into straight-ahead jazz on Miles Davis' "Nardis," which finds him forming a traditional piano trio with Haslip and Kennedy. But most of the time, he favors a pop-jazz approach on Signs of Life, which is definitely his strongest and most consistent album. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide

     Artist: Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood
     Album: Out Louder / Live At The Bowery Ballroom
     Label: Indirecto
     Year: 2006
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Size: CD1 131 ,CD2 96MB

      Out Louder reunites keyboardist John Medeski, drummer Billy Martin, and bassist Chris Wood with guitar great John Scofield, who employed the trio on his 1997 A Go Go album. That record opened the creativity gates for both the trio and Scofield, who fed off and goaded each other into territories neither party had previously gone separately. Out Louder isn't so much a rematch as an upgrade. Both Scofield and MMW have continued to explore in the near-decade since A Go Go, and they come to this project with a greater understanding of their collective abilities as well as a willingness to explore the possibilities further. Not unexpectedly, the four musicians work hard here, but they also have a ton of fun. The opening track, "Little Walter Rides Again," serves notice that this isn't going to be an exercise in showing off but rather four envelope-pushing musicians picking each other's brains and seeing what they find. An easygoing blues vamp with a funky, Memphis-style beat, the track keeps the quartet reined in while simultaneously allowing each musician to dance around a bit within its structure. That idea of holding back doesn't last long, however, as that leadoff gives way to "Miles Behind," a nod to electric Miles Davis minus the trumpet. Although the players, particularly Medeski and Scofield, take several opportunities to reach for the outside fringes, Out Louder never becomes inaccessible, even during its freer-jazz moments. "Tequila and Chocolate," for example, takes up with a simple bossa nova rhythm that eventually goes wildly astray without losing touch with its form, and the John Lennon tune "Julia" (which, honestly, borrows only minimally from the original melody) is a soft, sweet, and sensual ballad that never strays even close to the edge yet still manages to feel edgy. That's not to say that those looking for the heavy jams will be disappointed. "What Now" finds Medeski and Scofield challenging each other as if they were Keith Emerson and Jimi Hendrix having it out at some late-night club, and "Down the Tube," though essentially a simple funky blues, flirts with psychedelia, Scofield turning in some of his most startling playing of the set. The session ends with a virtually unrecognizable improv on Peter Tosh's reggae anthem "Legalize It" that spotlights Martin and Wood in lockstep groove. If ever MMW and Scofield decided to make something more permanent of their meet-ups, one can only guess where else they might go. [2007 also saw the release of an edition that came packaged with an additional CD of bonus material.]

     Artist: Colosseum
     Album: Tomorrows Blues
     Label: Qrious Music
     Year: 2003, release: 2004
     Quality; mp3, VBR
     Size: 72,09 mb

Colosseum (англ. Колизей) — британская джаз-рок группа, относится к ранним представителям и одним из основателей английского прогрессив-рока. Группа была основана в 1968 году барабанщиком Йоном Хайсманом (Jon Hiseman), а также тенор-саксофонистом Диком Хекстолл-Смитом (Dick Heckstall-Smith) и басистом Тони Ривзом (Tony Reeves). В 1994 году состав 1971 года был восстановлен, и группа продолжила свою деятельность.

Eще один студийный альбом прог-джаз-роковых титанов после реюниона 1994 года! В этом году группа отмечает 40 лет, правда, имя замечательного саксофониста Дика Хекстол-Смита теперь вспоминают в прошедшем времени: 17 декабря 2004 в возрасте 70 лет музыкант умер. Великолепная работа, наполненная сильнейшей энергетикой и обширной звуковой палитрой. Такие мастера не могли ограничиться чисто блюзовой направленностью, оттого умудряются включать в 10 треков элементы джаза, фанка и хард-рока. Великолепный альбом легендарных музыкантов! Необходимо иметь поклонникам блюз/ джаз-рока!

While Colosseum lasted only a little more than three years, producing five albums in that time, they made a great impression on the blooming subgenre of progressive rock, first with the energetic jazz- and blues-influenced Those Who Are About to Die Salute You, with its unusual chord progressions and variant song structures, and then with the epic Valentyne Suite. The title track of Valentyne Suite, a 17-minute composition, pushed keyboardist Dave Greenslade to the forefront of the band and into the spotlight of progressive music, a position he was increasingly uneasy with over the years. Drummer Jon Hiseman, on the other hand, gradually moved towards the jazz fusion area. Colosseum began to undergo personnel shifts with their third album, Grass Is Greener, with everyone calling it quits upon the departure of Greenslade in 1971. In 1975, Hiseman formed Colosseum II, but this time the mandate was firmly jazz fusion.

     Artist: Various
     Album: Classics In Jazz - Sax Stylists
     Label: Capitol EBF-328
     Years: 1945 - 1949
     Format, bitrate: mp3@320 kb/s Covers Front/Back HD ripped from original 10inch LP
     Time: ~ 24 min
     Size: 54,78 MB

     Artists: Dave Brubeck Quartet Featuring Bill Smith
     Album: Near-Myth
     Label: OJC/Fantasy
     Year: 1961, release: 1995
     Quality: MP3@320 kbps
     Size: 93,2 mb (sharebee)
     Total time: 44:34
     AMG Rating


This is the third and final guest appearance by clarinetist Bill Smith in the place of Paul Desmond with the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Like the earlier record dates, this 1961 session focuses exclusively on Smith's compositions, resulting in a very different sound for the band than its normal mix of the leader's songs and standards. Smith was a member of Brubeck's adventurous octet of the late '40s and, like the pianist, also studied with French composer Darius Milhaud. So the clarinetist is willing to take chances, utilizing a mute on his instrument in "Pan's Pipes," and having drummer Joe Morello use his timpani sticks on the piano strings in the swinging "The Unihorn." Smith proves himself very much in Desmond's league with his witty solos and equally amusing, pun-filled liner notes. While none of these songs became a regular part of Brubeck's repertoire, even after Smith replaced tenorist Jerry Bergonzi as a member of the quartet in 1982, this is easily the best of the three albums that he made with Dave Brubeck during the late '50s and early '60s.

     Artist: Joris Posthumus Quartet
     Album: The Abyss
     Label: Challenge
     Year: 2010
     Quality: mp3\320
     Size: 142 mb




After the project The New Quartet meets and The New Quartet invites, Dutch saxplayer Joris Posthumus and bassplayer Jurriaan Dekker have found their two 'partners in crime' to stay: Jeroen van Vliet and Pascal Vermeer. With the four of them they now form the new Joris Posthumus Quartet (featuring on this record also Tom Beek on tenorsax). This band is unbelievably strong and no-nonsense. You can call it nu-bop! They themselves call it a kick-ass jazz band! ~ challenge.nl

Artist: Al Di Meola
     Album: Electric Rendezvous
     Label: Columbia
     Year: 1982
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320 kbps
     Time: 30:34
     Size: 54.97 Mb



Al di Meola's fifth of seven fusion albums as a leader for Columbia is a typically fiery effort, with di Meola joined by keyboardist Jan Hammer, electric bassist Anthony Jackson, drummer Steve Gadd, percussionist Mingo Lewis, and guest spots for flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía ("Passion, Grace & Fire") and keyboardist Philippe Saisse. This lesser-known effort is easily recommended to fans of rock-ish jazz guitar. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

     Artist: Ahmad Jamal
     Album: Intervals
     Label - 20th Century Records
     Year: 1979
     Quality: mp3\320 \ LP-rip
     Size: 79,97 mb






Ahmad Jamal's recording career became temporarily aimless as the 1970s were ending. This very forgettable LP features Jamal on both electric and acoustic piano, saddled by rather commercial arrangements. The tunes are not always bad (five are by the keyboardist), but the dated pop trappings and Jamal's near-anonymity on electric piano make this a set deserving of being quickly passed by. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

     Artist: Ron Carter
     Album: Brandenburg Concerto
     Label: Blue Note
     Year: 1995
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320 kbps
     Time: 42:35
     Size: 100 mb (megaupload)




Итак, дорогие друзья, хочу представить вашему вниманию, на мой взгляд, более удачный (в отличие от "Ron Carter Meets Bach") "классический" альбом Рона Картера в сопровождении оркестра.

The distinguished jazz bassist's third "classical" album on jazz's Blue Note label is one of those exercises best heard as a one-off bit of live fun in the artist's living room. The title track finds a string orchestra led by Kermit Moore performing a perfectly straight, if not terribly neat, run-through of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, with Carter playing a bass continuo above (rather than below) the group, as well as soloing in spotlit passages. The jazz solos grate uncomfortably against the metrical classical strings; it sounds superimposed, forced, and ultimately pointless. The "Aria" from Grieg's Holberg Suite and Handel's "Largo" from Xerxes are also fairly straightforward from a classical point of view -- and not well played at that. However, the straight portions of Ravel's "Pavanne pour une Infante Defunt" and Bartók's "Joc cu Bata" are interspersed with more comfortable, swinging passages for jazz trio. Carter's own "Desert Winds" for himself and cello quartet is actually the most successful work on the program; the Bartók-influenced classical and jazz elements are better integrated, and one doesn't have any classical originals buzzing around in one's head as a reference point.

     Artist:Popa Chubby
     Album:The Fight Is On
     Label: Provogue records
     Year:rel. 22 Feb 2010
     Format:MP3 @ 320 Kb/s, flac+cue+scan
     Time:60:38
     Size: 133 mb, 442 mb

    Artist: Andre Previn & His Pals
    Album: West Side Story
    Label: JVC/XRCD
    Year: Aug 24 - 25, 1959 ; release: 1990
    Genre: Piano Jazz
    Format mp3, bitrate: 320 kb/s vbr
    Time: 37:51
    Size: 62,3 Mb (covers)
    AMG Rating:

The last of a series of showtune albums recorded by the trio of pianist Andre Previn, bassist Red Mitchell and drummer Shelly Manne finds the all-star group focusing on the music of West Side Story (Previn and Manne alternated leadership, and it was the drummer's good fortune to have the famous My Fair Lady album under his own name). This CD reissue has eight of the main themes from the famous musical, including "I Feel Pretty," "Maria" and "America." As usual, the melodies are treated respectfully yet swingingly, and Andre Previn in particular excels in this setting. Recommended. - Scott Yanow at All Music Guide

     Artist:Bill Harris
     Album: Complete Fifties Sessions
     Label:Lone Hill Jazz, Spain (LHJ10252)
     Year: rec.1946,1952,1957/rel.July 10, 2006
     Format: MP3 @ 320 Kb/s
     Time: 61:10, 61:39
     Size: 123, 122 Mb.