Artist:Phineas Newborn
     Album:Plays Again!
     Release:2002
     Label:Blue Moon
     Format/Bitrate:mp3/320
     Size:63.3mb


     One of the most technically skilled and brilliant pianists in jazz during his prime, Phineas Newborn remains a bit of a mystery. Plagued by mental and physical problems of unknown origin, Newborn faded from the scene in the mid-1960s, only to re-emerge at irregular intervals throughout his life. Newborn could be compared to Oscar Peterson in that his bop-based style was largely unclassifiable, his technique was phenomenal, and he was very capable of enthralling an audience playing a full song with just his left hand ~ Scott Yanow
    

     Artist: Kurt Rosenwinkel
     Album: The Remedy: The Remedy: Live at the Village Vanguard
     Label: Artistshare
     Year: 2006; release: 2008
     Format, bitrate: 320 kbps
     Time: 120 minutes
     Size: 168 MB
     AMG rating

For electric guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel's seventh offering, he has taken the challenge of recording live at the hallowed Village Vanguard in NYC, written new music for the occasion, put together a dynamic backup band, and offers lengthy composed music foundations followed by extensive solo discourses. As usual, Rosenwinkel's style is an interwoven, complex fabric of melodies and harmonies that seem brighter and luminous, yet have an inward and insular confidence that belies a more mysterious nature. Saxophonist Mark Turner, the incredible drummer Eric Harland, and acoustic pianist Aaron Goldberg help Rosenwinkel lift the bandstand, while unobtrusive bassist Joe Martin provides the support underneath for the others to fly. The watchword in listening to this music is patience -- a short attention span will not do it justice. A whopping two CD's of material is presented, with compositions ranging from eleven-and-a-half to nearly twenty minutes. It is difficult to distinguish the degrees of difficulty or appeal between any tracks because they are all rendered with a similar stance, heart, and soul -- pick 'em. One can say Rosenwinkel uses a steelier tone on "Chords" which has a British Canterbury fusion school feeling in its interplay with Turner. On the mid-tempo title track "The Remedy," you can hear the sigh, the gulp, and the relief in a melancholy, slightly reserved tango feel that is laid-back and liquid. A singsong melody and Native American tone with dynamics explored in spurts informs the very arranged "Flute," navigated rhythmically by the astounding, pronounced Harland. Breaking down one- and two-note phrases, "View from Moscow" develops into a kinetic, driving, modal 6/8 line with terrific musicianship urging Turner's long solo, while the magnum opus closer "Myron's World" is a song of peace, cutting loose with the guitarists jangling sound, briefly with solo time for the very talented Goldberg, a stompy jones or hard bop section, and Harland again proving why there is not a better working drummer in contemporary music. The only repeat piece from a previous recording is "A Life Unfolds" from Rosenwinkel's fourth CD Next Step. This version, nearly 18 minutes, is satisfyingly slow to develop with a piano-bass-drums trio section and bass-drums duet. Fans of Rosenwinkel are unfazed to begin with, as his recordings are spaced by several years. His style being similarly unhurried in general, but always poignant and substantive, is in full display on this jam-packed double-disc of music that is so personally his own.

     Artist: Don Friedman
     Album: Maybeck Recital Hall Series
     Volume Thirty-Three: Don Friedman
     Label: Concord Jazz
     Year: 1993; release: 1994
     Format, bitrate: FLAC
     Time: 63:30
     Size: ~275 MB incl. 3% recovery (2 files)
     AMG Rating

Don Friedman had been active as a jazz pianist for nearly 40 years by the time of this solo concert at Maybeck Recital Hall in 1993, yet still deserving of wider recognition. Friedman's performance is a breathtaking from the first track to the last, beginning with his incredible interpretation of Dave Brubeck's "In Your Own Sweet Way." His shimmering take of the moody ballad "Alone Together" incorporates a few Art Tatum-like runs. The beautiful voicings within his arrangement of "Prelude to a Kiss" are not to be missed. "Memory for Scotty" is an original dedicated to Scott LaFaro, a talented young bassist killed in a 1961 car wreck just a few days after making history at the Village Vanguard during a date which produced several memorable albums by Bill Evans. Friedman's classical background becomes obvious during this brilliant lament. For those unfamiliar with Don Friedman's extensive recordings under his own name, this is a great CD to start with, though one shouldn't tarry, as Concord has sadly deleted this highly recommended release from their active catalog.

     Artist: Cuong Vu
     Album: Bound
     Label: Omnitone
     Year: 1999 ; release: 2000
     Genre: Modern Creative, Avantgarde Jazz, Jazz-Rock, Trumpet Jazz
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320
     Time: 47:56
     Size: 97 mb
     AMG Rating:

Vietnamese-born trumpeter Vu displays a modern progressive aesthetic in his music that points to many influences in jazz, 20th century contemporary, and even pop music. Keyboardist Jamie Saft, electric bass guitarist Stomu Takeishi, and percussionist Jim Black are able to wring every ounce of emotion and power out of the leaders solid toned, never mushy, or slurred horn. The clarity of Vu's sound is astonishing, and this band may be bound by an avant- jazz pigeonhole, but not ever gagged by it. Vu wrote most of the material here. A naturally kinetic, dissented funk with throbbing Fender Rhodes from Saft acts as a fuse, setting off the artist's intense, searing trumpet on "Two." A Sun Ra-like mystery processional with yearning trumpet and flowing piano informs "Our Bridge." Contrary rhythms of six and four match a bass/drums versus trumpet/piano battle on the quintessential push me/pull you piece "Still Ragged," with wild bridge work á la Cecil Taylor via Saft. The title track, co-written by Vu and Holly Palmer, has a three-way personality, starting in lovely, soaring space musings, going to a pounding rock beat from Black, a sweet pop-type vocal from the surprisingly attractive Vu, and an acidic tail. "The Drift" is as it sounds, from introspective to dramatic three piano chords, first somber, then forceful. "Acid Kiss" is a lower, edited Swiss cheese funk, with holes filled by Vu's inquiring trumpet and Saft's here and there Rhodes. It's quite Miles Davis-esque, building to peak intensity. The finale, "The Burn," written by Scott Wilk and Palmer, claims to be Charles Ives influenced. It's more rockish under urban landscape vista sonorities, a very free and unforced wall of sound that eventually settles on a glassy, aquamarine bottom. Vu's concept is unique and distinctive, but this is only the beginning for him. It's short in time at under 50 minutes, but fully charged with depth, substance, and fine musicianship. Recommended. ~ Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide

     Artist: Toninho Horta
     Album: Toninho in Vienna
     Lable: PAO Records
     Year: 2007
     Quality: MP3; 320 kb/s
     Size: 138 mb



New solo album by Toninho Horta : the famous guitar player, composer and singer from the Minas Gerais area of Brasil, who has been winning the respect of a solid international audience for almost three decades. After playing and recording with ,Milton Nascimento, Elis Regina, Gal Costa, Wagner Tiso and Nana Caymmi, among others, he recorded his first album as leader in 1980. He has made many albums since then. He employs his highly individual, virtuoso guitar style, often with improvised vocal interplay, in a wonderfully rhythmic & melodic way - mixing jazz and Brazilian music. He has worked with ,Pat Metheny, ,George Duke, Gil Evans, ,Joe Pass, Randy Brecker, ,Wayne Shorter, Larry Carlton, etc - and with almost every main Brazilian star, including : ,Tom Jobim, ,Sergio Mendes, ,Astrud Gilberto, ,Flora Purim, ,Maria Bethania, ,Caetano Veloso, ,Eliane Elias, Joao Bosco, ,Hermeto Pascoal, ,Joyce, and countless others.

     Artist: Andy Mckee
     Album: Gates Of Gnomeria
     Label: Candyrat Records.
     Year: 2007
     Genre: Instrumental/Roots
     Format, bitrate: mp3; 320kbps.
     Time: 42:50
     Size: 90 mb

Гитарист-виртуоз из США, штат Канзас. Родился 4 апреля 1979 года. В 13 лет впервые взял в руки гитару. В 2001 году выпустил свой первый альбом Nocturne. Позже вышли ещё четыре: Dreamcatcher (2004); Art of Motion (2005); Gates of Gnomeria (2007); Joyland(2010).

Andy McKee (born in 1979 in Topeka, Kansas, United States) is an American fingerstyle guitarist currently signed to the American record label Candyrat Records. His style of playing and his compositions have earned him a considerable international fanbase; in late 2006, a live performance of his flagship song "Drifting" became a Featured Video on YouTube and MySpace, achieving over 28,000,000 views on the former to date and remaining one of its highest rated music clips. A handful of McKee's other songs have experienced lesser success on YouTube, such as "Rylynn" with over 13,000,000 views. Similarly, McKee's cover of "Africa" reached over 9,000,000 views before suddenly being removed by Candyrat Records.

After his popularity due to his performances on YouTube and touring extensively throughout much of 2007, McKee returned to the studio to record his fourth CD, Gates of Gnomeria. The album contains six new songs, one of which had already been seen on YouTube ("Gates of Gnomeria"), as well as two cover songs. McKee spent the majority of 2008 on tour throughout the world, performing with other Candyrat artists and promoting both Gates of Gnomeria and his collaborative album with Don Ross, The Thing That Came From Somewhere. He released a split DVD that same year with labelmate Antoine Dufour, each artist contributing eight songs to the disc; two of McKee's from Gates of Gnomeria.

     Artist: John Pizzarelli
     Album: Rockin' In Rhythm: A Duke Ellington Tribute
     Year: 2010
     Label: Telarc
     Bitrate: VBRkbps / 44.1Khz / Joint-Stereo
     Total Size: 72.15 MB


John Pizzarelli takes so naturally to these Ellington classics that if you didn't know better, you might think they were written for him. Following With a Song in My Heart, the guitarist/vocalist's 2008 tribute to songwriting icon Richard Rodgers, and, prior to that, 2006's Dear Mr. Sinatra, it would seem that Pizzarelli is systematically checking off all of those to whom he feels indebted. And that's a good thing, because his dedication to and understanding of this music is unquestioned. Rockin' in Rhythm doesn't stray all that far stylistically from those previous outings: Pizzarelli isn't out to rewrite history here, just to celebrate a hero. On the zippy opening "In a Mellow Tone," Pizzarelli, his rhythm crew, and his brass section come out swinging. Larry Fuller's mid-song piano solo is brisk and sparkling, and when it gives way to Pizzarelli's guitar-and-scat solo, the transition is smooth and sweet. As always, Pizzarelli's guitar playing is skilled and striking, though nowhere does he let it upstage the tunes that he's here to honor. And although his vocalizing has been described as thin, on easygoing tracks like "Satin Doll" and "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good" he puts it to fine use, much as Chet Baker did: the emotionalism in his low-key delivery is palpable and Pizzarelli understands that soft and cool fit the bill, so no need to shout. His song choices aren't exactly radical, but neither are they entirely predictable (there's no "Take the 'A' Train," for example). Some tunes, though covered to death, suit the program despite their ubiquity: you can't go wrong with either "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" or "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," and Pizzarelli fuses them seamlessly into a medley whose arrangement hews closely to the originals while still leaving room for his personalization. Other less celebrated numbers ("Just Squeeze Me," performed solo; "Love Scene") break up the familiarity, and there are several guests joining the proceedings to liven things up -- not surprisingly, dad Bucky Pizzarelli sits in on a few tracks (soloing on "Satin Doll"), and Kurt Elling and (John Pizzarelli's wife) Jessica Molaskey's duet on "Perdido" (with a Gerald Wilson arrangement) makes for a natural pairing that gives the set a welcomed lift midway. And "C Jam Blues," featuring violinist Aaron Weinstein and saxophonist Harry Allen, is a gem. Horn arrangements by Don Sebesky give more than half the tracks a zest that Ellington would certainly have approved of. ~ Jeff Tamarkin, All Music Guide.

     Artist: Paul Bley
     Album: Solo In Mondsee
     Label: ECM
     Year: Recorded 2001; release: 2007
     Format, bitrate: MP3, 320kb/s
     Time: 55:39
     Size: 156.5MB (with 1400x1400 cover)
     AMG Rating

Fully 35 years after Open, To Love, Paul Bley's seminal solo piano recording for ECM (which stands as a watermark both in his own career and in the history of the label -- i.e., unconsciously aiding Manfred Eicher in establishing its "sound"), the pianist returns to the label for another go at it on Solo in Mondsee. Recorded in Mondsee, Austria, in 2001, and not issued until Bley's 75th year, these numbered "Mondsee Variations" were played on a Bösendorfer Imperial grand piano, an instrument that is, like its player, in a class of its own. Bley moves through ten improvisations lasting between two and just under nine minutes each. His range of thought, instinct, and motion is staggering. In a little over 55 minutes, he combines melodic and abstract notions of jazz and blues (especially on "VII" for the latter), ghost traces of popular song from the 1930s to the present, various folk musics, contemporary classical ideas, and reflections on the art of improvisation itself. This set isn't about flash, nor is it about transcendence. It's about the investigation of space, and the arrangement of music within it. While Bley has recorded other solo albums in the last 35 years, none is more diverse and tender in its sparseness than this one. His sense of detail is also his sense of economy on the instrument, which is graceful and elegant, rarely simply "percussive." In this manner Bley is a poet of sound. He pushes a line only as far as the extension of his own "breath," as the late poet Charles Olson put it regarding written language. Where the writer felt compelled to use the "/" symbol as a way of creating a break, Bley is not so specific; he is not interested in being a celebrated "technician." He pushes the line in any way that suits the idea at hand, which in turns suggests others; he allows room for its reverberations and trace echoes to inform each following sound, creating song from silence, lyric from air. His vast knowledge of musical forms is never knotty or purely intellectual; there is a great deal of emotion put into -- and coming out of -- each and every piece; the harmonic reflections on "IV" and "V" are particularly beautiful in very different ways. There is a wall that writing about this music presents; there is only so much explaining to do, because there isn't a written language that can even hope to convey this except poetry itself, and even there, it falls short. For anyone who has ever wondered about Bley and his amazing 60-year career in jazz, or for anyone interested in either the piano or improvisation, this recording, like its predecessor, will mystify, delight, and satisfy in ways that cannot really be imagined until Solo in Mondsee is actually encountered.

     Artist: Jo Stafford
     Album: Jo+Jazz
     Label: CBS/Corinthian
     Year: 1960,release: 1961
     Format, bitrate: MP3, 320 Kbp/s
     Time: 42:28
     Size: 80 MB:

     Artist: Various
     Album: Swedish Jazz - Siesta Vol.1
     Label: Metronome JMLP 2-104 (Double LP)
     Year: 1949-1956
     Format, bitrate: mp3@320 kbs Covers Front/Inside/Back HD ~ Ripped from original LP
     Time: 48/48 min
     Size: 11,97+112,55 MB




This is a very valuable two-LP set for it documents many of the top modern jazz recordings made in Sweden during the 1949-56 period. Cool jazz caught on in that country and quite a few talented jazzmen had opportunities to record including altoist Arne Domnerus, clarinetist Ove Lind, pianist Bengt Hallberg, trombonist Ake Persson and the great baritonist Lars Gullin, all of whom are heard from on this exciting two-fer. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

     Artist - Wynton Kelly
     Album - Full View
     Label - OJC/Milestone
     Year - 1966, release - 1996
     Quality - MP3@320kbs/s
     Size - 83,1mb
     Total time - 37:01



Pianist Wynton Kelly's next-to-last set as a leader (he would record a slightly later date for Delmark) featured him at a time when his influence was waning and he was overshadowed by more advanced players. However, Kelly's impact would begin to grow again after his death, when the Young Lions movement began in the early '80s; certainly pianist Benny Green was greatly touched by Kelly's conception. This Milestone trio set, reissued on CD, matches Kelly with bassist Ron McClure and drummer Jimmy Cobb on a fine program mostly filled with standards but also including the then-recent Burt Bacharach hit "Walk on By" and Kelly's original "Scufflin'." ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

     Artist: Larry Elgart
     Album: More Music in Motion (21 Channel Sound)
     Label: MGM SE 4080
     Year: ;1962 release:1962
     Format, MP3 bitrate: 256 LP RIP
     Time: 27 min
     Size: 52.2 MB

Larry Elgart appears to be something of an unstoppable force in dance band and big-band music, bordering on jazz mostly through the appropriation of various swingy instrumentalists to fill section ranks. The Elgart name itself is legendary in this kind of music; brother Les Elgart also fronts his own, similar orchestra and the siblings collaborated on the Les & Larry Elgart Band from the mid-'40s through much of the '50s. The boys' mother was a concert pianist but it was perhaps a Connecticut musician named Hymie Shertzer who had the most influence early on, successfully pushing a still teenage Larry Elgart for the spot of lead alto saxophone in the Charlie Spivak ensemble.

When Les Elgart headed for the West Coast near the end of the '50s his brother took on major control of the band they had formerly shared, guiding the shifting lineup of hired hands through a series of fine recordings for labels such as RCA Victor and Decca. Some four decades later, Les Elgart was merrily and energetically announcing that his band was still going strong and on the verge of conquering new frontiers, in this case an Australian tour. Exotica fans are obsessed with an earlier Elgart exploration, the 1953 10" entitled Impressions of Outer Space, in which Sun Ra is given a run for his intergalactic money. A more recent Elgart recording is the 2003 Bandstand Boogie. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide

     Artist: Tadd Dameron
     Album: The Tadd Dameron Memorial Album
     Label:Prestige Records
     Year: 1956
     Format, bitrate: MP3 320kbps
     Size: 50,85 MB
     AMG rating



Also released under the more widely available Fontainebleau title, the Tadd Dameron Memorial Album is one of most original sets from the burgeoning hard bop days of the mid-'50s. Blessed with Dameron's complex yet seamlessly atmospheric charts, the five-track set features some of the pianist's most involved (the title track, "The Scene Is Clean") and swinging pieces ("Delirium," "Flossie Lou"). And helping out along the way, bop standouts like trumpeter Kenny Dorham, alto saxophonist Sahib Shihab, and drummer Shadow Wilson make choice contributions throughout. A must for any jazz collection. ~ Stephen Cook, All Music Guide

     Artist: David Sánchez
     Album: Obsesión
     Label: Sony
     Year: 1998
     Format, bitrate: mp3 @ 192kbps
     Time: 54:16
     Size: 88,1 MB
     AMG rating


David Sanchez took up the conga when he was eight and started playing tenor at age 12. He graduated from a performing arts high school in 1986, spent a year studying psychology, and then moved to New York City in 1988, having decided to become a musician. Sanchez attended Rutgers University, studying with Kenny Barron, Ted Dunbar, and John Purcell. After a period freelancing in New York with many top Latin players (including Paquito D'Rivera and Claudio Roditi), Sanchez joined Dizzy Gillespie's United Nation Orchestra in 1990, also getting the opportunity to play with Dizzy's small group. Since then he has toured with the Philip Morris SuperBand, recorded with Slide Hampton's Jazz Masters, Charlie Sepulveda, Kenny Drew, Jr., Ryan Kisor, Danilo Perez, Rachel Z, and Hilton Ruiz (among others), and headed his own sessions for Columbia. David Sanchez is a tenor player whose music mixes together Afro-Cuban rhythms with advanced bebop on releases like 1994's Sketches of Dreams and 1996's Street Scenes. Obsession followed two years later and Melaza in mid-2000. Since that time, Sanchez has kept busy releasing Travesía in 2001, Coral in 2004 and Cultural Survival in 2008. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

     Artist: Fiona Apple
     Album: Tidal
     Label: Epic (a subsidiary of Sony)
     Year: 1996
     Genre: Jazz fusion, Alternative, Experimental
     Format, bitrate: mp3; 320kbps.
     Time: 51:29
     Size: 120MB.
     AMG rating




Fiona Apple demonstrates considerable talent on her debut album, Tidal, but it is unformed, unfocused talent. Her voice is surprisingly rich and supple for a teenager, and her jazzy, sophisticated piano playing also belies her age. Given the right material, such talents could have flourished, but she has concentrated on her own compositions, which are nowhere near as impressive as her musicianship. Most of Tidal is comprised of confessional singer/songwriter material, and while they strive to say something deep and important, much of the lyrics settle for clichés. Apple does have a handful of impressive songs on Tidal, like the haunting "Shadowboxer" and "Sullen Girl," but the gap between her performing talents and songwriting skills is too large to make the album anything more than a promising, and very intriguing, debut.

     Artist: Ron Carter
     Album: Stardust
     Label: Blue Note
     Year: 2001
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320 kbps
     Time: 52:10
     Size: 121 mb (megaupload)


     Stardust is another satisfying record from Ron Carter, this one in part a tribute to the late Oscar Pettiford. Leading a quintet with Benny Golson on tenor, Joe Locke on vibes, Sir Roland Hanna on piano, and Lenny White on drums, Carter picks three choice tunes by Pettiford - the swing-to-tango "Tamalpais," the minor-key bop classic "Bohemia After Dark," and the masterfully simple "Blues in the Closet." Carter's originals, also numbering three, include the slow 14-bar blues "Nearly," the mid-tempo swinger "Tail Feathers," and "That's Deep," which is Carter's answer to the question, "How Deep Is the Ocean?" Locke sits out on a fairly upbeat rendition of "The Man I Love"; Carter and Hanna close with a duet on "Stardust," with Carter taking the melody. Golson and Hanna are in particularly good form, their richly seasoned sounds meshing well with the elan of the younger Locke.

     Artist: Stan Getz
     Album: Teenage Stan 1943-1947 Complete Edition Vol.1,Vol.2 (2CD)
     Label: Masters of Jazz
     Year: 1943-1947
     Release: 1997,1998
     Format: mp3, 320 kb/s
     Size: 350M　(inc. booklet)

     At the tender ages of 18 and 19-going-on-20, tenor saxophonist Stan Getz was plowing his own furrow in the fertile turf of the postwar jazz scene, developing his own sound while honoring the influence of Lester Young. Vol. 2 in the Masters of Jazz Getz chronology is appropriately entitled Teenage Stan. Rather than including every single Benny Goodman recording on which Getz blew his horn as a member of the Goodman sax section, the producers of this exciting retrospective have selected the sides on which Getz actually soloed. The first five tracks portray Getz as a fine featured horn with Goodman in the Los Angeles area during the first few weeks of 1946. Getz is also heard swinging with West Coast bands led by trumpeter Randy Brooks and tenor saxophonist Vido Musso; sitting in with the second-to-last-ever Blue Rhythm Band in 1947 and jamming on-stage at one of Gene Norman's Just Jazz concerts. Smack in the middle of this invigorating compilation Getz presides at his very first recording date as a leader (see tracks eight through eleven). This Savoy session, which took place in New York on July 31, 1946, involved pianist Hank Jones, bassist Curly Russell and drummer Max Roach; the group was billed both as "the Bebop Boys" and the Stan Getz Quartet. This superb collection is packed with great music and is guaranteed to please anyone who loves big-band swing, vintage bop and formative Stan Getz.

     Artist: Miles Davis
     Album: The Complete On The Corner Sessions
     Label: Sony Music Distribution
     Year: 1972-1975
     Release: 2007
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320
     Time: 6:47:13
     Size: 6 CD: 169 mb/151 mb/134 mb/141 mb/157 mb/141 mb
     AMG Rating:

      From the opening four notes of Michael Henderson's hypnotically minimal bass that open the unedited master of "On the Corner," answered a few seconds later by the swirl of color, texture, and above all rhythm, it becomes a immediately apparent that Miles Davis had left the jazz world he helped to invent — forever. The 19-minute-and-25-second track has never been issued in full until now. It is one of the 31 tracks in The Complete On the Corner Sessions, a six-disc box recorded between 1972 and 1975 that centers on the albums On the Corner, Get Up with It, and the hodgepodge leftovers collection Big Fun. It is also the final of eight boxes in the series of Columbia's studio sessions with Davis from the 1950s through 1975, when he retired from music before his return in the 1980s. Previously issued have been Davis' historic sessions with John Coltrane in the first quintet, the Gil Evans collaborations, the Seven Steps to Heaven recordings, the complete second quintet recordings, and the complete In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew, and Jack Johnson sessions. There have been a number of live sets as well; the most closely related one to this is the live Cellar Door Sessions 1970, issued in 2005....

     Artist: Various Artists
     Album: Americans In Sweden - Dear Old Stockholm Vol.1
     Label: Metronome JMLP 2-102 (Double LP)
     Year: 1949-1953
     Format, bitrate: mp3@320 kbs (Covers Front/Inside/Back HD Ripped from original LP)
     Time: 42/46 min
     Size: 101,84+97,08 MB


     This double-LP from the Swedish Metronome label has a variety of intriguing bop-oriented performances by Americans who were visiting Sweden during 1949-1953. Some of these selections were leased by Prestige, and a few became famous, including two that were utilized for vocalese performances. Tenor saxophonist James Moody is featured on a dozen selections, including his version of "I'm in the Mood for Love" that became the basis for "Moody's Mood for Love." Zoot Sims is heard on two numbers; the great Swedish baritonist Lars Gullin leads a date that also includes Conte Candoli, Frank Rosolino, Lee Konitz, and Zoot Sims; and pianist George Wallington heads a sextet for an extended "Blue Bird." In addition, Annie Ross sings two songs (including the original version of "Jackie") and Stan Getz's eight numbers include the first American version of "Dear Old Stockholm" and his "Don't Be Afraid" (which would become a vocalese classic); pianist Bengt Hallberg is in the supporting cast. Some of these performances have not yet become readily available on CD, and, in any case, this is a particularly attractive two-fer that includes pictures of many of the main soloists.

     Artist: Kahil El'Zabar's Ritual Trio with Billy Bang
     Album: Live At The River East Art Center
     Label: Delmark Records (566)
     Year: 2004; release: 2005
     Format, bitrate: FLAC
     Time: 67 mins
     Size: 450 MB (4 files)

     The diminutive but mighty acoustic bassist Malachi Favors was a charter member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago and Kahil El'Zabar's Ritual Trio, and since his passing both groups have suffered. This recording for El'Zabar and his revamped trio including longtime member saxophonist Ari Brown and guest violinist Billy Bang is the first offering with bassist Yosef Ben Israel filling the chair of the late Favors. Because the unit was so reliant on the witty and unique elegance of Favors, not to mention his good humor, the band is at once somber and joyous, mourning his departure and celebrating his rich and wonderful artistic life. This live performance at the River East Art Center in Chicago sports a production value that also reflects the mood of the band -- a bit detached and thin, but full of spirit, body, and true reverence for their great friend. The set starts with a typical ceremonial tribute, "Big M," a 4/4 instrumental with mbira lead lines and shakers from El'Zabar, tenor sax and violin eventually soloing after a nearly ten-minute intro. "Return of the Lost Tribe" acknowledges Israel's new role as he leads the quartet out in an easy-walking jazz swing, with El'Zabar on the drum kit, Brown's John Coltrane/Pharoah Sanders/David Murray-like tenor brimming with emotion and power, and Bang's signature off-minor, harmonic-drenched violin solo a highlight. El'Zabar then moves to the conga drums, and with Israel forms a base to build on during "Where Do You Want to Go?," with the distraught violin of Bang up-front in a team workout and the line of the title vocally repeated by the leader. Following a spoken statement about "real" life and living, losing friends, and perpetual fear-mongering reared by governmental administrations, "Oof" is a similar instrumental theme to "Big M," but at the end El'Zabar and Brown speak out about "Big Favors." You hear and feel their pain and sorrow, with the tenor and violin in more understated moods -- slower, deep, heavy-hearted, and beautiful. The band would go into the studio two days later to produce an extended homage to Favors, feelings still fresh about the loss of a true giant in creative improvised music. Both CDs are good companions, well worth owning, and abundant in remembrances of the great man and musician, Malachi Favors.