Artist: Rabih Abou-Khalil
     Title Of Album: Em Portugues
     Original Release Date: June 30, 2008
     Label: ENJA Records
     Genre: Oriental Jazz, World Music, Arabic
     Quality, Bitrate: FLAC, image+.cue, lossless; MP3, 256 kbit
     Total Time: 59:28
     Total Size: FLAC - 333.3 Mb; MP3 - 107.48 MB; FULL COVERS - 15.68 MB

Seasoned Abou-Khalil watchers are probably starting to play a little game amongst themselves of guessing what he is going to do next. In recent years the impishly charming Lebanese composer has collaborated with the BBC Concert Orchestra, a Sardinian folk singer, a jazz big band and a serpent player, as well as releasing a highly individual and beautifully crafted solo oud (lute) recording. So, it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that his latest album finds him working with a rising star of Lisbon fado, Ricardo Ribeiro. However, this isn't fado music, or remotely Portuguese in character, although Ribeiro's rich, distinctive voice and the beauty of the poetry leave us in no doubt as to where its heart lies. Abou-Khalil's music is rarely Arabic in any traditional sense, but through these songs he has clearly found common ground between the melancholic passion of Andalusian muwashshahat and Portuguese saudade, the wistful longing that suffuses fado. The instrumental accompaniment of oud, accordion, bass and percussion subtly weave around the voice and, for such a small ensemble, provide a remarkably broad palette of colours. The lyrics have been specially written by contemporary Portuguese writers, with the exception of `Casa da Mariquinhas', a verse made famous by Alfredo Marceneiro.
Songlines readers know only too well that cross-cultural collaborations can be tricky beasts, and apparently even Abou-Khalil had reservations about this project at the outset. It's a good thing he took the plunge, for the results of this partnership are extraordinarily successful - creating something wholly original while remaining true to all its parts.
Bill Badley
amazon.co.uk

     Encyclopedia Of The Blues
     Author: Edward Komara
     Hardcover: 1440 pages
     Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (October 28, 2005)
     Language: English
     Size: 8 MB



An impressive list of contributors... Besides being rich with biographical entries, this Encyclopedia also includes entries for important record labels, instruments, styles, geographic regions, aspects of the business, and additional topics that have been lacking in other encyclopedic efforts... This is a valuable addition to the reference shelf of blues literature... Highly recommended.
This two-volume A-to-Z set effectively categorizes the history of the blues. A great benefit is that the book features blues artists from all time periods, and the number of obscure blues artists listed in remarkable. Essential for any library collecting the history of the blues.

     Artist: Paul Weston & His Orchestra
     Album:Music For Memories
     Label:Capitol (LP)
     Release: 1959
     Format/Bitrate: MP3/320
     Size:81MB



     The music is smooth and gentle...

     Enjoy...

     Artist: Penguin Cafe Orchestra
     Album: When in Rome...
     Recorded at the Royal Festival Hall, London on 9th July 1987
     Label: Virgin (1988)
     Format: FLAC & mp3 (320k/s)
     Size: 368 & 158 MB (scans)
     Total time: 68:24
Genre: neoclassical, modern creative

Penguin Cafe Orchestra is truly difficult music to define. It is as if Django Reinhardt, Brian Eno, JS Bach, and Flatt & Scruggs all got together to make a truly unique piece of music. The music is upbeat, humourous, melodic, and beautiful and I usually feel lifted up by what I hear. This album is especially interesting because the Penguin music, to me at least, was hard to imagine played live, and this concert, performed in what I believe is a usually very conservative concert hall (I saw St Matthew's Passion there 30 years ago) is really a joy. Somehow, the sober, polite response of the audience is even part of the fun because they respond like they are listening to a nice string quartet, and the Penguin Orchestra is a little like classical music, but not quite. The audience just makes it even more fun. Finally, these selections for the most part are my favourites, so this is nice
introduction the this music. - by Michael James Knight, amazon.com

     Справочник Джеймса Уингса «КНИГА ГАММ БЕЗ НЕНУЖНОГО ХЛАМА»


     Справочник Джеймса Уингса «КНИГА ГАММ БЕЗ НЕНУЖНОГО ХЛАМА» переведен мной для тех, кто испытывает трудности в английском. Должен сказать, что музыкальная литература, особенно иллюстрированная нотами (упражнениям, примеры), достаточно легко читается даже теми, кто едва знаком с английским языком. Тем не менее, материалы этого справочника я потрудился перевести еще и в формат GP5, чтобы и вовсе избавить читателя от трудов со словарем.
     Всем успеха в освоении теории и практики гамм!
     Leonidas

     Kevin Downing - Selected Lessons


     Кевин Даунинг (Kevin Downing) – новозеландский гитарист и преподаватель. Его уроки показались мне полезными для гитаристов и начального, и продвинутого уровней. Они систематизированы не по сложности, а по времени их появления в информационных сетях, так что не судите строго.
     Своеобразный подход этого преподавателя показался мне заслуживающим внимания любителей гитарной музыки.
     Всем удачи!
     Leonidas

     Трехтомник Аарона Ширера (Aaron Shearer) «Learning Guitar Classic»

     Artist: Stella Chiweshe
     Album: Talking Mbira - Spirits of Liberation
     Format: FLAC + MP3 (320k/s)
     Size: 385 & 142 MB (scans)
     Year: 1988-2001
     Label: Piranha (2002)
     Total time: 61:14
     Genre: world music, ethno (african)

     Publisher: Oxford University Press
     Pub. Date: January 1985
     ISBN-13: 9780195037272
     on Russian

     New York: Oxford University
     Press. 1987.
     ISBN 0027229858
     on: Russian

     Artist: Euphoria
     Album: Tech Dance Mixed by Yoji
     Label: Ministry Of Sound
     Genre: Hard Trance / Tech Trance
     Quality: MP3, 128 kbps / 44.1KHz
     Year: 2008
     Size: 185 mb

     Все знают Yoji Biomehanika, японского супер звездного, артистичного, невероятно харизматичного любителя тяжелой музыки, участника почти всех фестивалей, хоть как-то связанных с hard style форматами. Больше похожий на рок-звезду, чем на ди-джея, Yoji разрушает все известные стандарты, чтобы шокировать публику и предвосхитить все ожидания.
     С начала этого года он безжалостно уничтожает второе слово своего псевдонима, тем самым еще раз подчеркивая всю непредсказуемость образа. И настоящий релиз не противоречит его привычке рушить стереотипы о себе и своей музыкальной политике.
     «Tech-Dance Euphoria» от John 00 Fleming’а представляла собой компиляцию в формате psy-trance и состояла из трех компактов: Essential Tech-Dance, Trance Selection и Classic Selection. Можно лишний раз не напоминать поклонникам электронной музыки, насколько хорош релиз от Джона Флеминга. Но в том случае учтены все тонкости – Флеминг и «Tech-Dance Euphoria» - все сходиться.
     Участие Yoji в серии компиляций Ministry of Sound уже играет мировому бренду на руку. А если упомянуть то, что музыка всех трех дисков из компиляции ненормального японца сплошь быстрая, разъяренная и неумолимая? Смиксованные hard dance, trance и classic форматы включают треки от Vandall, Vinylgroover, Si Begg, Darude и многих других.

     The second in the Euphoria DJ series following from John '00' Flemings' Psy Trance Euphoria comes 'Tech Dance Euphoria mixed by Yoji'.
     Tech Dance is Yojis own bespoke take on Hard Dance and Trance. Formerly known as Yoji Biomechanka, Yoji hailing from Japan has become a God in the Hard Dance scene playing all over the globe to crowds of thousands. The album comes in three parts, 'Essential Tech Dance', 'Trance Selection' and 'Classic Selection' and features tough nuts from the likes of Vandall, Judge Jules, Si Begg, Darude and of course Yoji himself. The album is a none stop assault on the senses that will ensure the high energy spirit of Euphoria continues.

     Artist: Savina Yannatou
     Album: Terra Nostra
     Quality: APE & MP3@320 Kbps
     Size: 453 & 168 MB (scans)
     Label: ECM (Recorded live in Athens)
     Total playing: 74:18
     Genre: ethnic fusion

     No one can accuse Savina Yannatou of not taking chances. On this live recording (with the pristine sound quality one associates with everything on ECM), she not only goes through Mediterranean and Sephardic music, but also some Celtic and a healthy dose of Arabic. Her band, Primavera en Salonico, keep things close to the edge, as on "Madonna de la Grazia," which skirts the avant-garde (or the end of "Jaco," for that matter). On "Balio Dardo," they all prove that you can make electrifying noise without electricity. On several of the Arab-inflected tracks, singer Lamia Bedioui joins the group to sing (or in the case of "Close Your Eyes and See," recite) while Yannatou adds improvised vocal accompaniment. Mostly, however, this album is about the songs and the way the modalities connect the genres. Yannatou seems most at home on the Greek and Mediterranean material, but also acquits herself well on the songs that are more of a geographical stretch. It's a step forward for her, daring and satisfying. - by Chris Nickson, AMG

Artist: Kronos Quartet
Album: Released 1985-1995 & Unreleased
Label: Nonesuch
Year: 1995
Genre: Classical
Style: Contemporary, Post-Modern
Format, bitrate: MP3@320 kbps
Time: 101:00
Size: 185.05 Mbytes



Kronos has recorded more than 30 albums for such labels as Nonesuch, Gramavision, Landmark, and CRI. Many of its recordings have demonstrated enormous crossover appeal that reflects the quartet's diverse audience. Six albums recorded for Nonesuch during the 1980s and 1990s were Grammy Award nominated, including Kronos Quartet Plays Alfred Schnittke: The Complete String Quartets, Early Music, Black Angels, White Man Sleeps, Terry Reily: Salome Dances for Peace, and Different Trains, and the album Kronos Quartet spent more than 40 weeks on the top 20 on Billboard's classical music chart.
The first disc ("Released") contains selections from 10 different albums. This serves both to give a sense of the breadth of the group's work (as well as the breadth of 20th century composition!), and also the flavor of some of their records if you decide to hear more. It is astounding music --RELEASED works as a unified whole, with two exceptions in my opinion, and those are the excerpts from the Reich and Glass albums.
The second disc ("Unreleased") is where my more serious dissatisfaction lies, and hence only 4 stars. -Amazon.com