ruskaval jazz blog: April 2015

Thursday 30 April 2015

Joe Bonamassa - Tour de Force: Live In London - Shepherd's Bush Empire (2014) [2CD] {J&R Adventures}

Joe Bonamassa - Tour de Force: Live In London - Shepherd's Bush Empire (2014) [2CD] {J&R Adventures}

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© 2014 J&R Adventures | JRA44457

Rock / Blues Rock / Guitar

Guitar Hero Joe Bonamassa released his epic “Tour De Force – Live In London” as a 2-CD set on May 19, 2014. The unprecedented live concert event – which was released on four DVDs (or Blu-rays) last fall with all four debuting in the Top 10 on Billboard's Music DVD Chart – was captured last year when Bonamassa performed a quartet of shows at the iconic London venues he’s played throughout his career – Royal Albert Hall, Hammersmith Apollo, Shepherd’s Bush Empire, and The Borderline. The venues provide the backdrop for a ferocious four-night event, each evening marked by a unique theme featuring Bonamassa with different bands, different set lists, and different arrangements and ensembles performing over 60 songs in total – some never performed live before – from Bonamassa’s extensive career.

Lonnie Smith - Turning Point (1969) {2015 Japan SHM-CD Blue Note 24-192 Remaster}

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© 2015 Universal Japan / Blue Note | BN 75th The Masterworks | UCCQ-5127

Jazz / Soul Jazz / Post Bop / Organ

Reissue. Features the high-fidelity SHM-CD format (compatible with standard CD player) and the latest 24bit 192kHz remastering. A stone killer from organist Lonnie Smith – one of his completely cooking early albums for Blue Note, and a hard-burner all the way through! Smith's working here with a really great group that includes Idris Muhammad on drums and Melvin Sparks on guitar – both of whom give the album a really heavy bottom, and almost make the set feel like one of those classic Prestige jammers from the same time.

But added to them is a great horn section of Lee Morgan on trumpet, Julian Preister on trombone, and Bennie Maupin on tenor – all of whom give the record a slightly hipper, more modern feel – in keeping with the Blue Note groove of the time. Tracks are all nice and long – and titles include the originals "Turning Point" and "Slow High" – plus versions of "See Saw", "People Sure Act Funny", and "Eleanor Rigby".

Thelonious Monk - Monk's Music (1957) {Prestige-Riverside 50th Anniversary 20-bit K2 Edition}

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© 2001 Riverside / Fantasy | RCD-242-2 | 20-bit K2

Jazz / Bop / Piano

Monk's Music is among the most significant of Thelonious's classic Riverside albums. Here he was literally looking back and ahead at the same time, by bringing together Coleman Hawkins (the very first important voice on tenor saxophone) and John Coltrane (on the verge of becoming a major shaping force of the Sixties). Equally notable is the incredible rhythmic support provided by combining Art Blakey and Wilbur Ware; and, justifying the album title, a selection of vital Monk compositions–plus his choice of the 19th century hymn, "Abide with Me" (written by one William H. Monk).

R.E.M. - Green (1989) [2CD] {2013 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition}

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© 2013 Warner Bros. / Rhino / R.E.M. / Athens | 8122796570

Rock / Alternative Rock

As far as major-label debuts by underground bands go, Green is fairly uncompromising. While it displays a more powerful guitar sound on "Get Up," "Turn You Inside Out," and "Orange Crush," it also takes more detours than Document, whether it's the bizarrely affecting contemporary folk of "The Wrong Child" and "You Are the Everything," the bubblegum of "Stand" and "Pop Song 89," or the introspection of the lovely "Hairshirt" and "World Leader Pretend." But instead of presenting a portrait of a band with a rich, eclectic vision, Green is incoherent. While its best moments are flat-out great, the band has bitten off more than it can chew; many of the songs sound like failed experiments, and its arena-ready production now sounds slightly dated.

Young Galaxy - Ultramarine (2013) [2CD] {Paper Bag Records}

Young Galaxy - Ultramarine (2013) [2CD] {Paper Bag Records}

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© 2013 Paper Bag Records | PAPER073B

Pop / Synth-pop / Electronic / Indie Pop / Dream Pop / Alternative

Ultramarine is the fourth studio album by Young Galaxy, released in April 2013. As with their previous album, it was produced by Dan Lissvik and was released on Paper Bag Records. The album was named a longlisted nominee for the 2013 Polaris Music Prize on June 13, 2013 and named to the short list on July 16, 2013. Young Galaxy's 2013 album, Ultramarine, picks up on the mature, sophisticated pop sound the Canadian band developed for 2011's Shapeshifting. These are languid, gorgeously crafted tracks that find the band delving even deeper than on Shapeshifting into an atmospheric, slow-burn aesthetic that holds up on repeated listens. As with its predecessor, Ultramarine showcases lead singer Catherine McCandless' warm vocals framed in layers of chilly synthesizers.

Duke Ellington - Jazz At The Plaza, Vol. II (1958) {2014 Japan Jazz Collection 1000 Columbia-RCA Series}

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© 2014 Columbia / Sony Music Japan | SICP 4243 | 2014 DSD remaster

Jazz / Big Band

Reissue with latest 2014 DSD remastering. Comes with liner notes. Jazz at the Plaza Vol. II is a live album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded in 1958 at a party for Columbia Records and released on the label in 1973. The Miles Davis Sextet was also recorded at the same event and released as the first volume of Jazz at the Plaza. An intimate live session from Duke Ellington and his great late 50s orchestra – presented here at a private party hosted by Columbia Records at the Plaza Hotel in New York – at a time when Ellington was making some of his best music for the label! The tracks here are every bit on a par with Duke's late 50s gems for Columbia – and have the orchestra stepping out strongly on short numbers that maybe have a bit more swing and a bit less overall concept – as the soloist shift, and shine nicely on each tune!

Steve Vai - Stillness In Motion. Vai Live In L.A. (2015) [2CD] {Sony Music}

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© 2015 Light Without Heat / Legacy / Sony Music | 88875057512

Rock / Guitar Virtuoso / Hard Rock / Instrumental Rock

Steve Vai's first album for Sony/Legacy is Stillness in Motion, a double-live set -- it's available as a two-CD/two-DVD package -- that captures the guitarist's October 12, 2012 concert at Club Nokia in Los Angeles. This is, for want of a better word, something of an extravaganza: 22 tracks over the course of 130 minutes, Vai dipping into nearly every phase of his career. He's as precise on-stage as he is in the studio, which may mean Stillness in Motion lacks the kinetic energy that is the hallmark of so many great live albums. What it has instead is fluidity: Vai and his backing band may specialize in pyrotechnics, but there's a grace to the playing on even the frenetic numbers, and that lyricism may be eye-opening to skeptics. To the converted, it is certainly a good reason to dive into this generous live set.

Fleetwood Mac - English Rose (1968) {2009 Sony Music Japan Blu-Spec CD Remaster}

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© 2009 Sony Music Japan / Epic | EICP-20031

Rock / Blues Rock / Psychedelic Rock

Reissue in the high-fidelity Blu-spec CD format (fully compatible with standard CD players.) For reasons that no one seems to recall in detail -- but for which we can be grateful -- when it was time to release a second Fleetwood Mac LP in America, producer Mike Vernon and the band didn't just send the existing Mr. Wonderful album across the Atlantic -- a little fine-tuning and retooling was in order. The band had just expanded by one member, to a quintet -- with the addition of guitarist Danny Kirwan -- by the end of 1968, whereas Mr. Wonderful represented them as a four-piece outfit. Additionally, the group had just toured the U.S. for the first time, as a quintet, playing to very enthusiastic audiences, and so there was some point to sending U.S. licensee Epic Records something extra, representing who they were at the start of 1969.

Miles Davis - Jazz At The Plaza, Vol. I (1958) {2014 Japan Jazz Collection 1000 Columbia-RCA Series}

Miles Davis - Jazz At The Plaza, Vol. I (1958) {2014 Japan Jazz Collection 1000 Columbia-RCA Series}

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© 2014 Columbia / Sony Music Japan | SICP 4242

Jazz / Hard Bop / Modal Music / Trumpet

Jazz at the Plaza is a live album by Miles Davis. It was recorded in 1958 and released in 1973 by Columbia Records. A great lost live set – recorded in 1958 during that pivotal time when Miles was working with Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones. The whole thing's a great example of how the group could hold up the perfection of Kind Of Blue in a live setting – and the long tracks include "Straight, No Chaser", "If I Were A Bell", and "Oleo".

Albert "Tootie" Heath, Ethan Iverson, Ben Street - Philadelphia Beat (2015) {Sunnyside Records}

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© 2015 Sunnyside Records | SSC 1403

Jazz / Post Bop / Drums

There have been pivotal locales which were the nurturing ground for the vanguard in many art forms. Jazz music has had a number of these spots, from New Orleans up to Chicago, then to New York and outward. It would not be hard to argue that the great city of Philadelphia should be recognized with these others as a wellspring of talented musicians. One of Philadelphia s prominent sons is the fantastic drummer Albert Tootie Heath. He, like so many other Philly natives including his brothers Jimmy and Percy, grew up in the music, as the city was ripe with musicians of the first order and an important stop for many of the progenitors of the music. On his new recording Philadelphia Beat - Heath returns to his native ground to catch the spirit and preserve it.

John Zorn - Hen To Pan (2015) {Tzadik TZ 8329}

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© 2015 Tzadik | TZ 8329 | Tzadik Archival Series

Classical / Avant-Garde / Chamber Music

Focusing on the brilliant cellist Jay Campbell, soon to be a new music superstar, along with the equally masterful Michael Nicolas, Chris Otto and Stephen Gosling, these three powerful compositions take chamber music to a whole new level of intensity. Three realizations of Zorn’s infamous composition for two celli “Ouroboros” (two featuring guest percussionist Tyshawn Sorey) along with his canonic puzzle “Occam’s Razor” and the ten metaphysical ambiguities comprising the piano trio “The Aristos,” this is chamber music as you have never heard it before— visceral, intense and powerfully emotional.

Kid Rock - First Kiss (2015) {Warner Bros.}

Kid Rock - First Kiss (2015) {Warner Bros.}

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© 2015 Warner Bros. | 9362-49318-9

Rock / American Trad Rock / Hard Rock / Detroit Rock

Kid Rock gives away the game in his album titles, making it plain on 2015's First Kiss that he's taking a sepia-tinted look back at his past, thinking back fondly to lost love and old tunes. In short, he's tapping into the nostalgia that coursed through his last big hit, 2008's "All Summer Long," and turning it into a full album. Generally, this means leaning hard on his longstanding Bob Seger infatuation and ratcheting up the country inclinations that turned a little too stuffy on the Rick Rubin-produced Born Free.

Jackie McLean - Four Classic Albums (1957-60) [2CD] {2011 AVID Jazz Remaster}

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© 2011 AVID Jazz / Blue Note | AMSC 1043

Jazz / Hard Bop / Saxophone

AVID Jazz here presents four classic Jackie McLean albums including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD. All four albums have been digitally re-mastered for probably the finest ever sound quality! Fat Jazz / Jackie's Bag / New Soil / Swing Swang. I love being surprised by a newly discovered voice. It's like suddenly stumbling across new country: so much to explore, a Place To Be as Hiromi once so felicitously titled one of her projects. Jackie McLean affords the listener many pleasures.First, his balance of feeling and sensibility. Jackie is very much the Romantic, probing, adventurous, dynamic. Second, his gift for improvisation is very painterly. The pictures he creates in the listeners mind are fresh and repay repeated focused listening. Thirdly, his sense of drive and swing is flawless-the man can pivot from figure to the next with a lithe athletic grace. Fourth, Jackies improvisations are like the best modern poetry, full of the sound of surprise.

The Rolling Stones - Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! (1970) {2006 Japan MiniLP, UICY-93030}

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© 2006 ABKCO Records / Universal Music Japan | UICY-93030

Rock / Classic Rock / Blues Rock

Recorded during their American tour in late 1969, and centered around live versions of material from the Beggars Banquet-Let It Bleed era. Often acclaimed as one of the top live rock albums of all time, its appeal has dimmed a little today. The live versions are reasonably different from the studio ones, but ultimately not as good, a notable exception being the long workout of "Midnight Rambler," with extended harmonica solos and the unforgettable section where the pace slows to a bump-and-grind crawl.

Keith Jarrett - Byablue (1976) {2013 Japan Jazz The Best Series 24-bit Remaster}

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© 2013 Impulse! / Verve / Universal Japan | UCCU-9990

Jazz / Post Bop / Piano

There's a nicely warming vibe on this album from Keith Jarrett – a sound that's sometimes a bit more laidback and personal, but which is still carried off with familiar associates Dewey Redman on tenor, Charlie Haden on bass, and Paul Motian on drums! Most of the tunes are shorter compositions built around gently lyrical lines – somewhat introspective, and a bit less organic than in years past – but in a way that more than makes up for that difference with their own inner beauty. Titles include "Konya", "Rainbow", "Trieste", "Fantasm", "Yahllah", and "Byablue".

Joe Bonamassa - Tour de Force: Live in London - The Borderline (2014) [2CD] {J&R Adventures}

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© 2014 J&R Adventures | JRA44456

Rock / Blues Rock / Guitar

Shorty Rogers & His Giants - Martians Come Back (1955) {2013 Japan 24-bit Remaster} [Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series]

Shorty Rogers & His Giants - Martians Come Back (1955) {2013 Japan 24-bit Remaster} [Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series]

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© 2013 Atlantic / Warner Japan / Rhino | WPCR-27236 | Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series

Jazz / Cool / West Coast Jazz / Trumpet

Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. One of Shorty Rogers' greatest records – and a very nice set of tight west coast arrangements that really shows off the Rogers sense of sparkle and swing – a vibe that definitely comes through in the famous cover image too! Shorty wrote nearly all of the tracks, and the writing's a great example of the good side of the west coast style – when the tightness of arranging is used to bring out the best elements in the players, and bend them around in some nice twists and turns, with good solos, and lots of nice little surprising bits. And in this case, the players are all great – with Jimmy Giuffre and Bud Shank on reeds, Pete Candoli and Don Fagerquist on trumpets, and Lou Levy on piano. Titles include "Lotus Bud", "Martians Come Back", "Chant Of The Cosmos", and "Astral Alley".

Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil (1964) {2013 Japan SHM-CD Blue Note 24-192 Remaster}

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© 2013 Universal Japan / Blue Note | BN 75th The Masterworks | TYCJ-81019

Jazz / Hard Bop / Modal Music / Post Bop / Saxophone

Reissue. Features the high-fidelity SHM-CD format (compatible with standard CD player) and 24bit remastering. Includes an alternate take of "Witch Hunt" and a track for the first time in the world. On his third date for Blue Note within a year, Wayne Shorter changed the bands that played on both Night Dreamer and Juju and came up with not only another winner, but also managed to give critics and jazz fans a different look at him as a saxophonist. Because of his previous associations with McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, and Reggie Workman on those recordings, Shorter had been unfairly branded with the "just-another-Coltrane-disciple" tag, despite his highly original and unusual compositions.

Ninja Tune - Video Retrospective - ZEN tv DVD (2004) [DVD9 PAL] {ZEN DV85}

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© 2004 Ninja Tune Recordings | EN DV85

Electronic / Dance Pop / Indie & Art House / Nu Jazz / Trip Hop / Experimental

Welcome to ZenTV. Since the mid-nineties and the groundbreaking Stealth parties at the Blue Note in Hoxton Square, Ninja has been almost as well respected for its engagement with visuals as it has for its audio. The two came together on this massive retrospective of almost a decade of experimentation, innovation, humour and weirdness. Let’s get the spec out of the way first. The ZenTV DVD has twice the capacity of a normal DVD, containing as it does 35 promo videos from the label, a fifteen minute audiovisual mix and a 30 minutes audio mix from Hexstatic. And as if that wasn’t enough, the DVD has a menu system which means you can watch the videos either in the order we intended, randomly, or chronologically from the oldest to the newest or the newest to the oldest. You can also look up any specific act and check out their videos and album art. Or just leave a gallery of some of Ninja’s finest covers running in the corner of the room as a kind of ambient art installation dahlink… Mwah.

Lorde - Pure Heroine (2013) {2014 Universal Japan UICO-1262}

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© 2014 Universal Music NZ / Universal Japan | UICO-1262

Pop / Post Rock / Adult Alternative Pop / Indie Rock

Signed to a major label at an early age, she was groomed in the darkness of studios, the label knowing the potential they had in their singer/songwriter. She wrote on her own, then she was paired with a sympathetic producer/songwriter, live performances taking a back seat to woodshedding. If this story in the early years of the 2010s brings to mind Lana Del Rey, it's no coincidence that it also applies to New Zealand singer/songwriter Lorde, whose 2013 debut, Pure Heroine, contains all of the stylized goth foreboding of LDR's Born to Die and almost none of the louche, languid glamour. This is not a small thing. Lana Del Rey is a self-created starlet willing herself into stardom but Lorde fancies herself a poet, churning away at the darker recesses of her soul.

David Friedman - Winter Love, April Joy (1975) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000}

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© 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9149

Jazz / Post Bop / Cool / Modern Creative / Vibes

A fantastic record from vibist David Friedman – spare, hip, modern, and very moody! Friedman's playing vibes and marimba alongside David Samuels, who plays the same – and this twin-vibes approach sounds fantastic – especially as the record has no drums, just additional bass, plus flute by Hubert Laws – a very loose, open style that comes across with a completely unique sound! The approach is super-dope for any fan of laidback 70s vibes – and the tracks are never too free or way out, just gliding with this airy quality that's really wonderful – one of the best demonstrations of Friedman's great talents on record. Titles include "Truce", "Nyack", "Brite Piece", "Island", and "Saraband".

The Cannonball Adderley Sextet - In New York (1962) {2008 Riverside} [Keepnews Collection Complete Series] (Item #18)

The Cannonball Adderley Sextet - In New York (1962) {2008 Riverside} [Keepnews Collection Complete Series] (Item #18)

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© 2008 Concord / Riverside | 0888072305038

Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Saxophone

Orrin Keepnews' commentary (from his new liner notes): “Just a few weeks after Yusef [Lateef] was added, a booking at the Village Vanguard was used to bring about the recording that is reissued here. Considering how long the four original band members had been working together, it is quite amazing how quickly and how well the two newcomers fit in. The only real difference to be noted between this and previous Adderley band albums might be the absence of any newly written material by either of the Adderley brothers. But two of the half-dozen selections are by Lateef and one by Zawinul. The final number, one of Sam Jones’s rare writer credits, was for quite awhile the band’s standard way of closing each set in a club, but the decision here was to give it a rare full-length performance.”

Michael Jackson - Bad (1987) {2009 Japan Cardboard Sleeve Mini LP Reissue}

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© 2009 Epic / Sony Music Japan / MJJ | EICP 1196

Pop / Soul / R'n'B / Dance Pop / Quiet Storm

Cardboard sleeve (mini LP) reissue from Michael Jackson featuring 2009 digital remastering. Part of a five-album Michael Jackson Cardboard sleeve (mini LP) reissue series featuring the albums "Off The Wall," "Thriller," "Bad," "Dangerous," and "History." Also includes application card (valid only in Japan). The downside to a success like Thriller is that it's nearly impossible to follow, but Michael Jackson approached Bad much the same way he approached Thriller -- take the basic formula of the predecessor, expand it slightly, and move it outward. This meant that he moved deeper into hard rock, deeper into schmaltzy adult contemporary, deeper into hard dance -- essentially taking each portion of Thriller to an extreme, while increasing the quotient of immaculate studiocraft. He wound up with a sleeker, slicker Thriller, which isn't a bad thing, but it's not a rousing success, either. For one thing, the material just isn't as good.

Jeff Beck - Live In Tokyo 1999 (2011) [2CD] {IMC Music}

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© 2011 IMC Music / Immortal | IMA 104256

Rock / Blue Rock / Hard Rock / Fusion / Guitar

In this 1999 concert Jeff Beck once again displays the immense creativity and technical precision that have made him an idol to three generations of jazz and rock fans. This concert finds Beck at the end of the 1990's, having spent the preceding two decades developing both his artistry and his status as a guitarist, composer, and leader, working for artists from Kate Bush to Guns N' Roses but releasing few albums of his own. Then, in 1999, he released "Who Else!" in collaboration with Jennifer Batten, lead guitarist for Michael Jackson's biggest tours. That album underlies the concert here, in which Batten herself performs. Numbers like "What Mama Said," "Psycho Sam," "Brush With The Blues," and "A Space For The Papa" are drawn from "Who Else," which mixes Beck's brand of fusion with electronica, and showcase Beck's persistent commitment to innovation.

Dizzy Gillespie - Dizzy Digs Paris (1953) [2CD] {2006 Giant Steps Remaster}

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© 2006 Giant Steps | GSCR 016

Jazz / Mainstream Jazz / Bop / Trumpet

On February 9, 1953, Dizzy Gillespie played a live concert at the Salle Pleyel in Paris that was recorded, though when excerpts were first released, there were only enough used to fill one 10" LP. This two-disc set not only includes the entire 84-minute show (which actually fills just over one disc) for the first time on CD, it also adds 16 studio tracks that Gillespie cut in Paris that same month, as well as eight Gillespie-less studio tracks (also done in Paris in February 1953) by three of his sidemen, working under the name the Wade Legge Trio. It's the live Salle Pleyel set that's the main feature, presented here, according to the liner notes, in an "unedited remastered version of that evening's events with a number of butchered solos fully restored plus the addition of [alto and baritone saxophonist] Bill Graham's previously discarded showcase "'I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance,'" for which Dizzy made a rare appearance on piano."

Sonny Rollins - Plus 4 (1956) {Prestige 50th Anniversary 20-bit K2 Edition}

Sonny Rollins - Plus 4 (1956) {Prestige 50th Anniversary 20-bit K2 Edition}

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© 2002 Prestige / Fantasy | PRCD-7038-2 | 20-bit K2

Jazz / Hard Bop / Mainstream Jazz / Saxophone

One of the true monumental figures of jazz who is still vibrantly recording and performing, Sonny Rollins was still an upstart tenor saxman in 1956 when he delivered Plus Four, a classic date with the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet (of which he was a member). About the session, which featured Brown in one of his last recording dates, liner note writer Ira Gitler points out, "Within the overall empathy of Brown/Roach were interior connections: Roach, a master soloist himself, with all the soloists; and the bonding of Rollins and Brown."

Brian Eno - The Shutov Assembly (1992) [2CD] {2014 All Saints Records Deluxe Expanded Edition}

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© 2014 All Saints Records / Opal Ltd. | WAST032CD

Ambient / Electronic / Avant-Garde / Experimental

Brian Eno will soon issue expanded versions of four of his albums originally released in the 1990s Nerve Net (1992), The Shutov Assembly (1992), Neroli (1993) and The Drop (1997) will each be reissued as a two-CD deluxe editions containing the original album and an additional disc of unreleased and rare Eno work specific to each record. Nerve Net includes the first ever commercial release of lost Eno album My Squelchy Life; The Shutov Assembly features an album’s worth of unreleased recordings from the same period; Neroli includes an entire unreleased hour-long Eno ambient work New Space Music; and The Drop includes nine rarely heard tracks from the Eno archives. Each album comes in deluxe casebound packaging and is accompanied by a 16-page booklet compiling photos, images and writing by Eno that is relevant to each release.

Frank Zappa - You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 5 (1992) [2CD] {1995 Ryko Remaster Complete Series}

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Rock / Jazz Rock / Experimental Rock / Art Rock

Official Release #58. For the fifth volume in the You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore series, Frank Zappa prepared two unrelated discs. Disc one features the original Mothers of Invention in unreleased live and studio recordings mainly from 1969 (but also one from 1965 and a couple from 1967-1968). Disc two documents the 1982 European tour. There is something wicked -- almost obscene -- in this pairing, and it surely was intentional. Throughout the 1980s, fans of the early Mothers had attacked Zappa's integrity in the case of the re-recorded CD reissues of We're Only in It for the Money and Cruising with Ruben & the Jets, and often despised the scatological antics and straightforward rock stylings of his latter bands.

Keith Jarrett - Bop-Be (1976) {2013 Japan Jazz The Best Series 24-bit Remaster}

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© 2013 Impulse! / Verve / Universal Japan | UCCU-9991

Jazz / Post Bop / Piano

Here is another LP helping from the Keith Jarrett "American" Quartet's last recording session -- one that is almost as consistent in quality as its predecessor. The happy-go-lucky groove of the title track perfectly expresses its name, with Jarrett blithely singing along; both Dewey Redman and Charlie Haden get plenty of solo space on Redman's "Gotta Get Some Sleep" and Haden's "Pocket Full of Cherry" (a pun referring to Haden cohort Don Cherry); and Paul Motian remains a marvelously flexible drummer. Moreover, there is another fascinating swatch of Middle Eastern experimentation on "Pyramids Moving."

Arista All Stars - Blue Montreux (1978) {2014 Japan Jazz Collection 1000 Columbia-RCA Series}

Arista All Stars - Blue Montreux (1978) {2014 Japan Jazz Collection 1000 Columbia-RCA Series}

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© 2014 Arista / Columbia / Sony Music Japan | SICP 4266

Jazz / Fusion / Jazz Funk

Reissue. Comes with new liner notes. A sweet session of 70s electric jazz – recorded as a unique live all-star outing by a group of Arista's best jazz players at the time! The group's an octet, but plays together in differing formations throughout the record – with Warren Bernhardt on keyboards, Michael Brecker on saxes, Randy Brecker on trumpet, Steve Jordan on drums, Steve Khan and Larry Coryell on guitars, Tony Levin on bass, and Mike Maineri on vibes – the last of which really make for some of the best numbers on the album! Bernhardt's keyboards are pretty good too – stepping out with a spacious, fluid feel that's never jamming – and more in the open-ended Bob James side of the spectrum, although his overall sound is a lot different than Bob's! Titles include "Blue Montreux", "Rocks", "I'm Sorry", "Floating".

Gov't Mule - Dub Side Of The Mule (2015) [3CD+DVD] {Provogue Deluxe Edition}

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© 2015 Provogue / Gov't Mule / Mascot Music | PRD 7448 5

Rock / Jam Band / Blues Rock / Reggae / Southern Rock

The Gov't Mule live archival series, which began in 2014 with Dark Side of the Mule and continued with Sco-Mule, continues with this document from the band's 2006 New Year's Eve Beacon Theater show. This is the "standard version" (among several) of Dub Side of the Mule from the middle of a three-set evening. It's the reggae set with the legendary Toots Hibbert fronting the band on all but the last track. He is in excellent voice throughout, living up to his reputation as one of the greatest reggae singers of all time. For this evening, Gov't Mule comprised original members Warren Haynes on guitars and vocals and Matt Abts on drums, with Danny Louis on keyboards, Andy Hess on bass, and percussionist Sean Pelton.

John Zorn - Simulacrum (2015) {Tzadik}

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© 2015 Tzadik | TZ 8330 | Tzadik Archival Series

Jazz / Avant-Garde / Experimental Rock / Noise

The most extreme organ trio ever, Simulacrum is yet another wild new direction from Downtown Alchemist John Zorn, who continues to explore new worlds and new ensembles into his sixth decade.

Gabriel Fauré - Eric Le Sage & Daishin Kashimoto - Fauré - 5: Works for Violin and Piano (2014) {Alpha}

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© 2012, 2014 Alpha / AIM / OuthereMusic | ALPHA 604

Classical / Romantic / Chamber Music / Violin / Piano

This final instalment in this complete recording of Gabriel Fauré's chamber music features his compositions for violin and piano. Eric Le Sage and Daishin Kashimoto, concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, give us a particularly convincing and moving interpretation of these intimist works, thanks to a complicity polished in the course of numerous collaborations in concert. Gabriel Fauré was 30 when he began his first violin sonata in the summer of 1875. Not until four decades later, when he was director of the Paris Conservatoire, would he get round to a second sonata.

Einsturzende Neubauten - Lament (2014) {Mute Records}

Einsturzende Neubauten - Lament (2014) {Mute Records}

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© 2014 Mute Records / BMG | 538013752

Rock / Experimental / Alternative Rock

A document of a work designed to be performed live, and not an "official new Einstürzende Neubauten LP proper" according to the band itself, Lament is still a staggering work of soul-crushing genius, a work where a veteran idiosyncratic band takes on a broad topic and communicates myriad emotions while landing on the beneficial end of "art for art's sake." The topic is World War I and the idea that it never really ended, a concept reflected in the grinding gears and scraping metal of the opening "Kriegsmaschinerie," an arguably quintessential Einstürzende Neubauten number considering the band's avant and industrial roots. Still, as the mashed, familiar, and a cappella anthems of "Hymnen" display, there hasn't been anything quintessential about these artists since they dared to plunder the world of composition and classical music.

Bobby Hutcherson - Spiral (1968) {2012 Japanese BNLT Series Remaster}

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© 2012 Blue Note / EMI Music Japan | TOCJ-50280

Jazz / Post Bop / Vibes

Moody material from Bobby Hutcherson – and one of the first records to feature his vibes in the company of tenorist Harold Land – a player who would help Hutcherson make some mighty fine music over the years! The set's got a super-hip group – with Stanley Cowell on piano, giving the record a warm, spiritual undercurrent – one that works perfectly with the lyrical soul of Land's horn. Other players include Reggie Johnson on bass and Joe Chambers on drums – and titles include "Spiral", "Ruth", "Poor People's March", and "Visions". The album also includes one more track – "Jasper" – which was recorded in a 1965 session without Land and Cowell – but with Sam Rivers on tenor and bass clarinet, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, and Andrew Hill on piano! Recorded in the 60s, but only initially issued on vinyl in 1979!

Alisa Weilerstein - Dvorak (2014) {Decca}

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American cellist Alisa Weilerstein, described by BBC Music Magazine as “one of the most extraordinary” soloists of her generation, follows her critically acclaimed Decca debut recording of Elgar’s Cello Concerto with a vital new interpretation of Dvorák’s Cello Concerto, coupled with some of his best-known melodies. Alisa Weilerstein’s all-Dvorák programme includes the haunting melody from his “New World” Symphony, popularly known as Going Home; his song Lasst mich allein, the beautiful Silent Woods and more…

Van Morrison - Moondance (1970) {2013 Warner Deluxe Edition 4CD + BD}

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In the fall of 1969, Van Morrison entered the studio to record Moondance, the album that would soon become his commercial breakthrough and one of the most beloved recordings of all time. Fans will soon have the rare opportunity to experience this classic album like never before with the newly remastered and expanded version featuring 50 unreleased tracks including studio outtakes of favorites, plus multiple takes and a final mix of the unheard track "I Shall Sing." The Deluxe Edition includes 4 CDs/1 Blu-Ray Audio with newly remastered version of the original album, three discs of previously unreleased music from the sessions, a Blu-Ray Audio disc with high-resolution 48K 24 bit PCM stereo and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound audio of original album (no video). The package is presented in a linen-wrapped folio Includes a booklet with liner notes from Alan Light and original engineer Elliot Scheiner.

Jean-Louis Matinier & Marco Ambrosini - Inventio (2014) {ECM 2348}

Jean-Louis Matinier & Marco Ambrosini - Inventio (2014) {ECM 2348}

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Inventio is an inventive project at all levels, beginning with the instrumentation. Marco Ambrosini is one of very few musicians playing nyckelharpa outside the Swedish folk tradition, and Jean-Louis Matinier has similarly taken the accordion beyond any ‘folkloric’ frame of reference. On the present disc, the French-Italian duo plays a programme inspired by the baroque sonatas of Bach and Biber but also by the lyrical cadences of Pergolesi. They adapt and arrange works of each of these masters, and contribute compositions of their own.

Lee Morgan - Search For The New Land (1964) {2015 Japan SHM-CD Blue Note 24-192 Remaster}

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Reissue features SHM-CD format and the latest digital remastering (24bit 192kHz). A brilliant album that proves that even at the height of his success, Lee Morgan was one of the freest thinkers on Blue Note – always coming up with fresh ideas that continued to grow his talents! The first cut on the album is keep roof of that fact – the title track "Search For The New Land" – a beautiful 16 minute exploration of modal jazz themes, with an unusual stop/start device as a means of ushering solos by different bandmates – including Wayne Shorter on tenor, Grant Green on guitar, and Herbie Hancock on piano!

Wadada Leo Smith & Jack DeJohnette - America (2009) {Tzadik}

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Two creative music legends who share a remarkable spiritual connection in their first duo outing. Originally proposed to ECM in 1979 and rejected, this rare musical treasure is a project that has been brewing for thirty years. Featuring six new compositions by one of the most consistently brilliant composer/performers out of the legendary AACM, and telepathic interplay by two virtuoso instrumentalists who have been pushing the musical envelope since the 1960s, Red Trumpet is one of the highlights of this or any other year. Recorded at Bill Laswell's New Jersey studio, the sound is impeccable and the music incendiary.

Howard McGhee - Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries (1956) {2014 Japanese Bethlehem Album Collection 1000}

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Quite an unusual album for trumpeter Howard McGhee – one that has the famous bop trumpeter working in a sweet "with strings" format – ala similar 50s sessions on Verve! Frank Hunter handles the larger group here – working the strings with some nice touches that go way past just sleepy orchestrations – into a realm of playful passages that help coax some quite unfamiliar sounds from Howard's horn! The approach is quite different than some of McGhee's more seminal sides, but is also a great illustration of this under-acknowledge side of his talents – and a voice that definitely seems to echo some of his personal struggles at the time. Titles include "Sonny Boy", "The Thrill Is Gone", "The Best Things In Life Are Free", "Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries", and "My Sin".

Keith Jarrett - At The Blue Note: The Complete Recordings (1995) [6CD Box Set] {ECM 2000 Reissue}

Keith Jarrett - At The Blue Note: The Complete Recordings (1995) [6CD Box Set] {ECM 2000 Reissue}

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The six-CD box set Keith Jarrett at the Blue Note fully documents three nights (six complete sets from June 3-5, 1994) by his trio with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette. Never mind that this same group has already had ten separate releases since 1983; this box is still well worth getting. The repertoire emphasizes (but is not exclusively) standards, with such songs as "In Your Own Sweet Way," "Now's the Time," "Oleo," "Days of Wine and Roses," and "My Romance" given colorful and at times surprising explorations.

John Zorn - The Hermetic Organ vol. 3 (2015) {Tzadik}

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Zorn’s organ improvisations are transcendent, inspiring, outrageous and ecstatic experiences, offering a direct line to the workings of his rich compositional imagination. In this performance, recorded live at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in 2013, Zorn creates a shockingly dramatic world of bizarre sonorities, spectral experimentation, hypnotic moods and stirring melodies. From first throbbing moment to last this third volume documenting Zorn’s legendary organ recitals on majestic instruments around the world presents the power of organ music at its most surprising, extreme and sublime.

C. Spencer Yeh, Okkyung Lee, Lasse Marhaug - Wake Up Awesome (2013) {Software Records}

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Wake Up Awesome is the second volume of SSTUDIOS, a series of recordings that situates different experimental, avant-garde, and noise artists in new combinations of collaboration and spontaneous creativity. The album includes the trio of long-running Norwegian noise artist and Jazzkamer member Lasse Marhaug, experimental cellist Okkyung Lee, and New York-based sound collector C. Spencer Yeh, joining forces to create 15 tracks of collective improvisation and composed experimental sounds.

Michael Jackson - Thriller (1982) {2009 Japan Cardboard Sleeve Mini LP Reissue}

Michael Jackson - Thriller (1982) {2009 Japan Cardboard Sleeve Mini LP Reissue}

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Cardboard sleeve (mini LP) reissue from Michael Jackson featuring 2009 digital remastering. Part of a five-album Michael Jackson Cardboard sleeve (mini LP) reissue series featuring the albums "Off The Wall," "Thriller," "Bad," "Dangerous," and "History." Also includes application card (valid only in Japan). Off the Wall was a massive success, spawning four Top Ten hits (two of them number ones), but nothing could have prepared Michael Jackson for Thriller. Nobody could have prepared anybody for the success of Thriller, since the magnitude of its success was simply unimaginable -- an album that sold 40 million copies in its initial chart run, with seven of its nine tracks reaching the Top Ten (for the record, the terrific "Baby Be Mine" and the pretty good ballad "The Lady in My Life" are not like the others). This was a record that had something for everybody, building on the basic blueprint of Off the Wall by adding harder funk, hard rock, softer ballads, and smoother soul -- expanding the approach to have something for every audience.

Jose James - Yesterday I Had The Blues: The Music Of Billie Holiday (2015) {Blue Note}

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José James has a reputation as a 21st century musical renaissance man. He's issued a remarkably consistent series of records that blur the lines between soul, funk, dance music, jazz, and rock. In addition, in 2010, he released For All We Know, a fine collection of jazz standards in duet with Belgian pianist Jef Neve. It is from this place that James releases Yesterday I Had the Blues: The Music of Billie Holiday. In his liner essay he cites Holiday as the artist who made him aspire to be a jazz singer. Accompanied by pianist Jason Moran, drummer Eric Harland, and bassist John Patitucci, James delivers a program of beauty and restraint for the centennial of her birth. James, who has the ability to accomplish startling vocalese and scat techniques, brings none it.

Gretchen Peters - Blackbirds (2015) {Scarlet Letter Records}

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Songwriter Gretchen Peters is a go-to for artists seeking material whose lyric depth matches its hooks. She continually goes into the marrow, revealing secrets that result in defining decisions and cathartic actions. This is especially true of her own recordings and Blackbirds takes these to an entirely new level, one shared with peers like Mickey Newbury (It Looks Like Rain) and Bruce Springsteen (Nebraska). Here she explores mortality with an unflinching gaze through a variety of unique character perspectives and musical styles. The album was co-produced by the artist with keyboardist Barry Walsh and guitarist Doug Lancio (bassist Dave Roe and drummer Nick Buda round out the band's core). The title is a murder ballad onbe of three tunes co-written with Ben Glover.

Miles Davis - We Want Miles (1981) [2CD] {2014 Japan Jazz Collection 1000 Columbia-RCA Series}

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Reissue. Comes with new liner notes. 2014 latest DSD remastering. Well, it's not the Plugged Nickel or electric Japan in the 70s – but this is a surprisingly great 2LP set of live work by Miles from the early 80s – recorded in New York and Boston, with a lively full-on concert sort of feel! The group features Marcus Miller on bass, Bill Evans on soprano sax, Al Foster on drums, Mike Stern on guitar, and Mino Cinelu on percussion – and the tracks are long tunes, done with a bit of electricity, and sort of a joyous approach overall. Titles include "Kix", "My Man's Gone Now", "Jean Pierre", "Fast Track", and "Back Seat Betty".

The Grateful Dead - The Best of The Grateful Dead (2015) [2CD] {Rhino}

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Only the second major career-spanning retrospective of the Dead, The Best of the Grateful Dead -- released in the spring of 2015, just before a series of farewell shows in the summer -- takes advantage of the extra disc 2003's The Very Best of Grateful Dead lacked. Weighing in at 32 tracks -- a full 16 cuts longer than Very Best -- The Best of the Grateful Dead also follows a strict chronological sequence, so it takes a little while for the psychedelic haze to lift and the Dead to settle into the rangy, rootsy groove that characterized so much of their existence -- right around "St. Stephen" and "China Cat Sunflower," both from 1969's Aoxomoxoa. From there, many -- but by no means all -- of the group's warhorses are marched out, all in their studio incarnations.

Lou Donaldson - The Scorpion (1970) {Blue Note Rare Groove Series 1995}

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Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Saxophone

This previously unreleased live set, which has been issued on Blue Note's Rare Groove Series, will bore anyone who listens closely. The repertoire is dominated by lengthy funk grooves that are quite danceable but never develop beyond the obvious. Altoist Lou Donaldson was using a baritone horn at the time that gave him a generic and unappealing tone, the obscure trumpeter Fred Ballard does his best to no avail and the enthusiastic rhythm section (guitarist Melvin Sparks, organist Leon Spencer, Jr., and drummer Idris Muhammad) keeps the grooves repetitious. Bob Porter's liner notes (which colorfully give readers the history of Newark jazz of the past 30 years) are superlative but, even with the inclusion of a fast blues, musically nothing much happens.

Thursday 30 April 2015

Wednesday 29 April 2015

Tuesday 28 April 2015

Monday 27 April 2015

Sunday 26 April 2015

Friday 24 April 2015

Thursday 23 April 2015

Wednesday 22 April 2015

Tuesday 21 April 2015

Monday 20 April 2015

Sunday 19 April 2015

Saturday 18 April 2015