Artist: The Gomorran Social Aid and Pleasure Club
     Album: Self-titled
     Label: Mishap
     Year: 2008
     Genre: neo-trad / hot jazz
     Format, bitrate: MP3, 320
     Time: 34:01
     Size: 70.5 MB


Baptism by moonshine must be a wonderful thing, if the music of the Gomorran Social Aid and Pleasure Club is any indication. Dunk me in the river, with one hand on my head and the other on the Good Book, I say, because this, friends, is glorious release. Preaching a sweaty, red-faced gospel of saturnalian abandon, cleansing the soul through Mardi Gras immoderation, these N’Awlins-infatuated ragtime pranksters deliver sinfully divine horn-and-banjo celebrations of the good life, circa 1920. With songs such as “Whiskey Paycheck” in their repertoire, the Gomorran Social Aid and Pleasure Club will leave you with no choice but to bear witness to their holy spirit. ~ Todd Lavoie, SF Bay Guardian.

I’m not sure what to make of the Gomorrans, especially when they give you “I’m a Good Woman” to chew on. Here the band blends jazz, Balkan brass, pop, and some Latin touches for an interesting if odd result. Think of the Soundtrack of Our Lives if they were tamer and inspired by tuba players. Meanwhile, “Whiskey Paycheck” is an old-school ragtime-ish ditty that could be mistaken for the Squirrel Nut Zippers. The same can be said for the shuffling, strolling “Not Sleeping” that saunters along, and the high-stepping “Fried Fish” which is probably the album’s true toe-tapper. Some instrumentals are also thrown in, including the alluring “Klangzmeirtong” and the frantic klezmer of “The Westbrook Two-Step”. But these songs are fabulous compared to the tired and stale “The World Has Never Known”. ~ Jason MacNeil

ALbum: Martin Scorsese Presesents The Blues
Label: Columbia
Year: 2003
Genre: Blues/ Блюз, Документальный
Time: 92, 93, 79, 99, 119, 106, 133.
Quality:: DVDRip
Перевод: Russian
Format: AVI
Видео кодек: XviD
Аудио кодек: AC3
Видео: Video: XVID 704x384 25.00fps 1289Kbps [Video 0]
Аудио: Audio: Dolby AC3 48000Hz 6ch 448Kbps [Audio 1] Audio: Dolby AC3 48000Hz 6ch 448Kbps [Audio 2]

The Blues™, executive produced by Martin Scorsese, consists of seven feature-length films that capture the essence of the blues while exploring how this art form so deeply influenced music and people the world over.

The series begins with the journey from Africa to the Mississippi Delta — where the music grew from slaves' field hollers, work songs and spirituals — then travels up the Mississippi River to the juke joints, house parties and recording studios of Memphis and Chicago, and culminates with the emotional embrace of this African-American creation by musicians and people throughout the world.

"The blues is at once American and worldly," said Martin Scorsese, who began work on the project six years ago. "It's a form of storytelling that is so universal that it has inspired people beyond our borders and continues to influence music here and abroad. We're hopeful that the series and YEAR OF THE BLUES will introduce new audiences worldwide to this music and also inspire kids, whether they like rock or hip hop, to better understand the struggles and genius that gave birth to what they listen to today."

"Our goal never was to produce the definitive work on the blues," Scorsese added. "It was, from the start, to create highly personal and impressionistic films as seen through the eyes of the most creative directors around with a passion for this music."

The Blues is the culmination of a great ambition for Scorsese — to honor the music he loves, to preserve its legacy and to work closely with talented feature film directors united in their desire to celebrate this art.

Go behind the scenes for more information on The Blues, with film synopses, director bios and transcripts, video clips, musician bios, and a discography for each film. ~ pbs.org

Описание: “Блюз” - это уникальный проект Мартина Скорсезе, визуальная история блюза, одна из самых впечатляющих документальных серий последнего десятилетия ХХ века. В реализации проекта приняли участие Чарльз Барнетт, Клинт Иствуд, Майк Фиггис, Ричард Пирс, Вим Вендерс, один из фильмов снял сам Мартин Скорсезе. Общая цель была у всех одна - постичь душу блюза, обратиться к его истокам и проследить, как эта музыка обрела вес и влияние в Северной Америке и за ее пределами. Но каждый из режиссеров двигался к этой цели по-своему. Серия “Блюз” демонстрирует широчайший диапазон стилей и настроений от нежной любви до жесткого иконоборчества. Это музыкальное путешествие в шести частях, заряженное энергией блюза, на которой выросло не одно поколение знаменитых музыкантов.

     Artist: Mike Mainieri
     Album: Northern Lights
     Label: NYC Music
     Year: 2006
     Format, bitrate: mp3 320
     Time: 61 mins
     Size: 138 mb


Vibraphonist Mike Mainieri has never garnered the same attention as Gary Burton, five years his junior, despite being equally cutting edge. Mainieri was one of fusion's early progenitors: Journey Through an Electric Tube (Solid State, 1968) and White Elephant (Solid State, 1969) explored new ways to incorporate a rock aesthetic with jazz. But while Burton has settled into a more mainstream comfort zone in recent years, Mainieri continues to test new waters. Northern Lights teams him with the "Norwegian Posse"—a veritable who's who of the contemporary Norwegian scene. The result blends the groove and ambience of nu jazz with a somewhat more emphatic approach to soloing. >>>

     Artist: Steely Dan
     Album: Aja
     Year: 1977, release: 1999
     Label: MCA Records
     Format, bitrate:MP3@320K & FLAC
     Size: 87.2MB & 248.7MB
     Time:39:58
     AMG Rating

Steely Dan hadn't been a real working band since Pretzel Logic, but with Aja, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen's obsession with sonic detail and fascination with composition reached new heights. A coolly textured and immaculately produced collection of sophisticated jazz-rock, Aja has none of the overt cynicism or self-consciously challenging music that distinguished previous Steely Dan records. Instead, it's a measured and textured album, filled with subtle melodies and accomplished, jazzy solos that blend easily into the lush instrumental backdrops. But Aja isn't just about texture, since Becker and Fagen's songs are their most complex and musically rich set of songs — even the simplest song, the sunny pop of "Peg," has layers of jazzy vocal harmonies. In fact, Steely Dan ignores rock on Aja, preferring to fuse cool jazz, blues, and pop together in a seamless, seductive fashion. It's complex music delivered with ease, and although the duo's preoccupation with clean sound and self-consciously sophisticated arrangements would eventually lead to a dead end, Aja is a shining example of jazz-rock at its finest.

     Artist: Teri Thornton
     Album: Somewhere in the Night
     Label: Dauntless Records
     Release: 1963
     Format: MP3 320kbps
     Total time: 38min
     Size: 88Mb



Jazz singer Teri Thornton was a favorite of critics in the '60s and after a three decade-long year hiatus, returned to performing in the '90s amid critical acclaim. She's best known for singing "Somewhere in the Night," the theme of detective TV series The Naked City, starring Paul Burke.
Born in Detroit, Michigan, she began performing in local jazz clubs in the '50s. Moving to New York in '60s, she got into singing on national ad jingles and recorded for different record labels. On her Devil May Care LP, the impressive lineup was trumpeter Clark Terry, guitarists Freddie Green and Sam Herman, sax players Earl Warren and Seldon Powell, trombonist Britt Woodman, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Sam Jones, drummer Jimmy Cobb and arranger Norman Simmons. To find more work, Thornton journeyed to Los Angeles. Returning to New York in 1983, the singer found steady work in jazz clubs.

Thorton also won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition in the Vocal category with her rendition of "I'll Be Easy To Find" in 1998. That same year, she was diagnosed with cancer. Winning the competition bolstered her career leading to a new recording, I'll Be Easy To Find after more than three decades. At the age of 65, Thornton died of complications from bladder cancer at Englewood Hospital in Englewood, NJ on May 2, 2000 ~ Ed Hogan

     Artist: Ray Nance
     Album: Body And Soul
     Label: Mighty Quinn
     Year: 1969, release: 2006
     Quality: MP3@320 kbps
     Size: 92 mb
     Total time: 42:40
     AMG rating

This is a very unusual date by Ray Nance, as he sticks exclusively to violin with an occasional vocal. Accompanied by either Jaki Byard or Roland Hanna on piano, the shifting supporting cast also includes guitarists Tiny Grimes and Tommy Lucas, and tenor saxophonist Brew Moore. Nance swings like mad through "Get Happy" with some hot licks from Grimes and Lucas, and delivers a poignant "Body and Soul" in a duet with Hanna. Some of the pop tunes from the 1960s fare less well, especially the rather monotonous "Sunny" and an uninspired arrangement of the gospel tune "Oh Happy Day." The two tracks from the Duke Ellington-Billy Strayhorn songbook are the album's highlights. "Guitar Amour" (which strangely omitted guitar in the many renditions of it by Ellington) has a gypsy flavor. But the masterpiece of this long unavailable LP is Nance's dirge-like duet with Hanna of "Take the 'A' Train" (which Nance had earlier performed at Strayhorn's memorial service); it is difficult not to be moved by this emotional arrangement, which contrasts starkly with typical recordings of it. ~ Ken Dryden, All Music Guide

     Artist: Louis Armstrong
     Album: Heart Full of Rhythm Vol 2
     Years: 1936-1938, released: 1993
     Label: MCA Records
     Size: 107 mb
     Time: 58:21



Some of Louis Armstrong's better Decca recordings from the 1936-1938 period are reissued on this CD. Inferior to the much more "complete" series undertaken by the European Classics label, this set nevertheless does have some classics from Satchmo including two versions of "Swing That Music," a remake of "Mahogany Hall Stomp," "Once in a While," "On the Sunny Side of the Street," "Jubilee," and "Struttin' With Some Barbeque." The backup band (the remains of Luis Russell's Orchestra) does not have a great deal to do, although trombonist J.C. Higginbottham gets in a few good solos. But this is largely Armstrong's show (both instrumentally and vocally) and he comes up with some masterful statements.

     Artist: Urbie Green
     Album: The Complete Persuasive Trombone 2LP/1CD
     Label: Lonehill Jazz
     Years: 1961-1962, release: 2007
     Quality: MP3@320 kbps
     Size: 153 mb
     Total time: 71:41

This killer set combines both volumes of master Urbie Green's early-'60s The Persuasive Trombone of Urbie Green recordings on a single disc. The sessions for these dates took place between 1960 and 1962, and featured two different bands. The first sessions feature cats like Hal McKusick, Milt Hinton, Doc Severinsen, a very young Rolf Kuhn, and Detroit baritone boss Pepper Adams. The track list is impressive as well: Johnny Mercer's"Dream," a romping reading of "I Can't Get Started," and Johnny Burke's "It Could Happen to You." The latter volume keeps Hinton and Severinsen on some tunes but adds the great vibraphonist Eddie Costa, and baritone saxophonist Stan Webb replaces Adams. The program is equally divided between ballads and swinging modern big-band material, including great arrangements of "Skylark" and "I Fall in Love Too Easily." If this weren't enough, to fill out the CD the producers added four numbers from Green's sextet sessions, including "On a Slow Boat to China" and "Poor Soul," with some beautiful interplay between the leader and Costa. It seems Lonehill Jazz always does it right. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide