Artists: Weather Report
     Album: Night passage
     Label: Columbia
     Year: 1980
     Format, bitrate: MP3@320 kbit/s
     Time: 0.48:04
     Size: 96 + 13 MB
     AMG rating:


     All things being relative, this is Weather Report's straightahead album, where the elaborate production layers of the late-'70s gave way to sparer textures and more unadorned solo improvisation in the jazz tradition, electric instruments and all. The flaw of this album is the shortage of really memorable compositions; it is more of a vehicle for the virtuosic feats of what is considered by some to be the classic WR lineup — Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Robert Thomas, Jr. and Peter Erskine. For Erskine, this is is first full studio album and he amply demonstrates his terrific sense of forward drive unique among the other superb drummers in WR annals. "Port of Entry" is a tour de force for Jaco, who knocks off several of those unbelievably slippery, pointed runs that have made him a posthumous legend. There is also a tremendously fun retro trip to Duke Ellington's "Rockin' in Rhythm," everybody swinging their heads and hands off. ~ Review by Richard S. Ginell, AMG

     Artist:The Count Basie Orchestra
Directed By Frank Foster
     Album:THE LEGEND, THE LEGACY
     Label: Denon
     Year: 1989
     Quality:Flac
     Size:350 mb


Three years after Frank Foster had become leader of the Count Basie Orchestra, the group continued to place very well in jazz polls; few big bands were in its class. This fine CD finds Foster extending the tradition of Count Basie with new arrangements and features for both veterans (including trumpeter Sonny Cohn, altoist Danny Turner, and the tenors of Kenny Hing and Eric Dixon) and the newer members (such as trumpeter Byron Stripling and pianist Ace Carter). With Carmen Bradford proving to be the band's best vocalist since Joe Williams, Frank Foster had succeeded at not only reviving the Count Basie Orchestra but restoring it to its prime. The lengthy "Count Basie Remembrance Suite," "Booze Brothers" and a new version of Neal Hefti's "Whirly Bird" are among this enjoyable CD's highlights. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

Artist:Michael Brecker
Album:Now you see it...now you don't
Label: GRP Records
Year:1990
Format: FLAC
Size: 300 mb

For Now You See It..., Michael Brecker's third recording as a leader, the tenor great used different personnel on most of the selections but played consistently well. Jim Beard's synthesizers were utilized for atmosphere, to set up a funky groove, or to provide a backdrop for the leader. Some of the music sounds like updated John Coltrane (Joey Calderazzo's McCoy Tyner-influenced piano helps), while other pieces could almost pass for Weather Report, if Wayne Shorter rather than Joe Zawinul had been the lead voice. Most of the originals (either by Brecker, Beard, or producer Don Grolnick) project moods rather than feature strong melodies, but Michael Brecker's often-raging tenor makes the most of each opportunity. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

     Artists: Hank Jones & Ron Carter
     Album: Kobe, Japan
     Year: 1996
     Label: Matsushita Electric (Panasonic)
     Format: Ogg Vorbis (Extract from DVD "Great Jazz in Kobe '96")

     16 tracks by Hank Jones Trio & Ron Carter Quartet in Kobe, Japan, Dec 4, 1996. Including ''Round Midnigjht', 'Polka Dots and Moonbeams', 'Blue Monk', 'A Night in Tunisia', 'Speak Low', 'On Green Dolphin Street', 'What's New', 'Take the 'A' train', etc.