ruskaval jazz blog: May 2015

Sunday, 31 May 2015

Medeski Martin & Wood - It's A Jungle In Here (1993) {Gramavision}

Medeski Martin & Wood - It's A Jungle In Here (1993) {Gramavision}

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Jazz / Soul Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz

A cerebral soul-jazz trio gives up some art and some funk with guest horn players and guitarist Marc Ribot. They call it "Shuck It Up," and rightly so, since they're neither as dissonant nor as ironic as many of their peers playing around downtown New York City. But that doesn't explain why these three don't swing as hard playing Monk, Coltrane, and King Sunny Ade as they do laying down their own earnest grooves and dismantling Bob Marley for mixing up with the Monk. Whether it's insecurity, indifference, or the physical chops they haven't developed to match their minds is for demanding listeners to decide. Or else it's all the same dilemma and will go away with time, just like the band's slow tunes.

Johnny Hammond - Gears (1975) {2014 Japan Rare Groove Funk Best Collection 1000}

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© 2014 Milestone / Fantasy / Universal Music Japan | UCC0-90336

Jazz / Soul Jazz / Funk Jazz / Organ

Amazing stuff! Johnny "Hammond" Smith began his career as a simple soul jazz organist – but by the time of this album, he'd teamed up with the mighty Larry Mizell, the genius arranger/producer who'd breathed new life into the careers of Donald Byrd and Bobbi Humphrey. Mizell works with Hammond in the same way he does with other jazz artists – by taking a groove that works best with their solo style, and slowly layering other instrumentation and effects on top of it, so that when the solo kicks in, it's supported on waves and waves of funky sounds and soulful grooves.

John Zorn - John Zorn’s Olympiad Vol. 1 - Dither Plays Zorn (2015) {Tzadik TZ 8327}

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© 2015 Tzadik | TZ 8327 | Tzadik Archival Series

Jazz / Avant-Garde / Experimental

In the late ’70s and early ’80s Zorn presented yearly retrospectives of his game pieces at various Downtown venues. He called these events his Olympiads. This long awaited CD presents three of his classic pre-Cobra game pieces in multiple versions by the fabulous Brooklyn-based guitar quartet Dither. Here you will find the building blocks of Zorn’s trademark musical language—virtuosic extended techniques, surprising contrasts, fast group interaction and razor sharp changes. Featuring the first recording of Zorn’s legendary compositions Fencing and Curling, these fabulous realizations will keep you on the edge of your seat from first note to last!

Morrissey - World Peace Is None Of Your Business (2014) {Harvest Records}

Morrissey - World Peace Is None Of Your Business (2014) {Harvest Records}

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© 2014 Morrissey / Harvest Records | 378165-6

Rock / Indie Rock / Alternative

Arriving on the heels of Autobiography, a 2013 memoir that reveled in the cadences of revelation without ever laying bare his soul, World Peace Is None of Your Business feels curiously bereft of Morrissey's lyrical elegance. This, like so many of Moz's moves, is certainly deliberate. There is a directness to the lyrics on World Peace Is None of Your Business that initially feels unsettling, contradicting Morrissey's long history of obfuscation and sly winks. Such broad strokes accentuate his political beliefs -- he has no desire to be part of the voting process, he stands firm on animal rights, he disdains conventional masculinity while still feeling a pull toward pugilism -- while dulling the edges of his typical wistfulness. Perhaps Morrissey decided to wield his words as blunt instruments to offset the wildly off-kilter music of World Peace.

Gene Ammons - Preachin' (1962) {Prestige-OJC}

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© 1993 Prestige / OJC / Fantasy | 00025218679220

Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Saxophone

This is a most unusual session. With accompaniment by organist Clarence "Sleepy" Anderson along with bassist Sylvester Hickman and drummer Dorel Anderson, the great tenor performs 11 religious hymns that are straight from the church. Ammons mostly sticks very closely to the themes but gives such melodies as "Abide with Me," "You'll Never Walk Alone," "What a Friend," and "Holy Holy" passion, soul, and honest feelings. Reissued on CD, this little-known album is a rather touching and emotional outing, and is quite unique.

Milt Jackson & Coleman Hawkins - Bean Bags (1958) {2012 Japan 24-bit Remaster} [Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series]

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© 2012 Atlantic / Warner Japan / Rhino | WPCR-27161 | Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series

Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Saxophone / Vibes

Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. A wonderful little record – a real standout in both the careers of Milt Jackson and Coleman Hawkins! The album captures Hawk during his great later years – that time when his sound was even more soulful and inventive than ever – with lots of odd modern undercurrents that really work nicely with the album's slight Latin inflections – a bit like those you might hear on some of Hawkins' Impulse Records material from the same generation.

TNT - 30th Anniversary 1982-2012 - Live In Concert (2014) [CD+DVD] {Indie Recordings}

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Rock / Metal / Heavy Metal / Hard Rock / Pop Metal

Celebrating 30 years as a band, Norway’s TNT pulled out all the stops on this live anniversary concert. Bringing out the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, special guests like Dee Snider, and all three vocalists from the early years with Dag Ingebrigsten to the height of popularity with Tony Harnell and the latter days of Tony Mills, these 19 tracks encompass the wide discography of this Melodic Hard Rock band. I’ll admit a strong affinity in the 1980’s for this band- especially the period from 1984-1989 when the band would release a series of strong albums, “Knights of the New Thunder”, “Tell No Tales”, and “Intuition”.

Peter Hill - La Fauvette Passerinette: A Messiaen Premiere, with Birds, Landscapes & Homages (2014) {Delphian}

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© 2014 Delphian Records | DCD34141

Classical / Piano

Peter Hill’s latest CD for Delphian (DCD 34141) features the premiere of Messiaen’s recently discovered La Fauvette Passerinette, along with music by nine other composers who form part of the Messiaen ‘landscape’, from Ravel and Stockhausen to Dutilleux, Murail and George Benjamin. The CD has been selected as a record of the year in The Sunday Times, Editor’s Choice in Gramophone, and Instrumental Choice in BBC Music Magazine.

Nat Adderley - Work Song (1960) {2008 Riverside} [Keepnews Collection Complete Series] (Item #20)

Nat Adderley - Work Song (1960) {2008 Riverside} [Keepnews Collection Complete Series] (Item #20)

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© 2008 Concord / Riverside | 0888072305069

Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Cornet

Orrin's commentary (from his original liner notes): "There are two very good reasons why this album, which at this writing is just a couple of years short of being a half-century old, remains one of my warmest recording memories. Undoubtedly the more important reason is that this really represents the coming of age of Nat Adderley, a man I will always consider among the most adventurous and intelligent players and leaders I have ever worked with. But to step back and evaluate this album in a very personal way, it is half of what must be one of the most complicated and most rewarding weeks of recording activity I have ever experienced."

Gallon Drunk - The Soul Of The Hour (2014) {Clouds Hill Ltd.}

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© 2014 Clouds Hill Ltd | CH062CD

Rock / Alternative / Indie Rock

More than two decades on from their debut album and in the wake of the death of bassist Simon Wring, Gallon Drunk have developed a thicker skin than they once had. There's a bit less swagger and noticeably more focus and determination in Gallon Drunk's ninth studio effort, 2014's The Soul of the Hour, but the result is a powerful set of songs that live up to this band's formidable legacy.

Weather Report - I Sing The Body Electric (1972) {2014 Japan Jazz Collection 1000 Columbia-RCA Series}

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© 2014 Columbia / Sony Music Japan | SICP 4227

Jazz / Fusion

Reissue with DSD remastering. Comes with liner notes. Beautiful early work from Weather Report – one of the finest statements ever uttered by group, and a set that's got a bit more soul and warmth than their first album! The lineup's changed slightly at this point – still Wayne Shorter on reeds, Joe Zawinul on keyboards, and Miroslav Vitous on bass – but Eric Gravatt has replaced Alphonse Mouzon on drums, and Dom Um Romao's taken over for Airto on percussion – giving the record an even earthier feel at times!

Bill Evans - Autumn Leaves (1969) {2015 Japan Studio Songs Remaster YZSO Series}

Bill Evans - Autumn Leaves (1969) {2015 Japan Studio Songs Remaster YZSO Series}

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© 2015 Studio Songs Japan | YZSO-10053 | Mono

Jazz / Post Bop / Modal Music / Piano

Recorded live in Roma, 1969. Original recording by Joker Tonverlag Ag. Re-Mastered at Kojima Recordings, Inc. Bil Evans with Eddie Gomez (bass) and Marty Morell (drums).

Bobby Hutcherson - Live At Montreux (1973) {2012 Japanese BNLA Series 24-bit Remaster}

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© 2012 Blue Note / EMI Music Japan | TOCJ-50506

Jazz / Post Bop / Vibes

One of the most wonderful 70s albums from Bobby Hutcherson – and one of the most deeply spiritual, too! As with others in Blue Note's Montreux series, the tracks are long and very open – with a different flavor than the artists' studio work. Hutcherson works with a hip small group that includes excellent trumpet from Woody Shaw, piano from Hotep Cecil Bernard, bass from Ray Drummond, and drums from Larry Hancock – all snaking out beautifully on these long, spiritual tunes – very much shaped by Woody's presence.

Andrew Hill - Blue Black (1975) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000}

Andrew Hill - Blue Black (1975) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000}

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© 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9159

Jazz / Post Bop / Piano

A really great session from pianist Andrew Hill – and one of his few post-Blue Note sessions to feature a horn player! The style of the set draws from a few strands of Hill's career – in that Hill is playing in some freely exploratory piano modes, yet also manages to swing soulfully with the rest of the group, especially sax player Jimmy Vass – who makes a rare appearance here on soprano, alto, and flute. In a way, the album probably most closely resembles the Andrew LP on Blue Note – which is great by us, as it's one of his best sets! Titles include "One For", "Remnants", "Blue Black", and "Golden Spook".

Miles Davis - Miles: The New Miles Davis Quintet (1955) {2009 Prestige RVG Remasters Series}

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Jazz / Bop / Cool / Hard Bop / Trumpet

Although they had made a few slightly earlier cuts that would later be issued on Columbia, the first full-length album by the Miles Davis Quintet is quite intriguing in that it gives one a look at tenor saxophonist John Coltrane when he still had a hesitant style. This CD reissue has the same music that is currently available on an Original Jazz Classics set: five jazz standards plus "The Theme." Unlike Coltrane, who would develop rapidly within the next year, Miles was already very much in his prime, sounding quite lyrical on "Just Squeeze Me" and "There Is No Greater Love," and the classic rhythm section (pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones) was quickly starting to gel.

Miles Davis - Another Tracks of "Kind of Blue" (1959) {Core Collections 2003}

Miles Davis - Another Tracks of "Kind of Blue" (1959) {Core Collections 2003}

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Jazz / Hard Bop / Modal Music / Post Bop / Trumpet

Kind of Blue isn't merely an artistic highlight for Miles Davis, it's an album that towers above its peers, a record generally considered as the definitive jazz album, a universally acknowledged standard of excellence. Another tracks of Kind of Blue give listeners the unprecedented opportunity to enter the 30th Street studio and witness the creation of this remarkable album. Speed-corrected.

Dino Saluzzi & Rosamunde Quartett - Kultrum (1998) {ECM New Series 1638}

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© 1998 ECM Records | ECM 1638 | ECM New Series

Jazz / Classical / Chamber Music / World Music

Argentine composer-performer Dino Saluzzi is a bandoneonista, a master of the button-box accordion that was invented in 19th-century Germany but is best known as the native voice of the tango. Born in 1935, Saluzzi has had a wide variety of musical experience in various genres such as folk, jazz and tango, but his own very individual music defies easy classification, definitely haunted by the wistful soul of tango but perhaps reaching a little further, toward Argentina's native heritage, alloying the sense of longing and nostalgia with exquisite delicacy and understatement.

Bobby Hutcherson - Dialogue (1965) {2015 Japan SHM-CD Blue Note 24-192 Remaster}

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© 2015 Universal Japan / Blue Note | BN 75th The Masterworks | UCCQ-5114

Jazz / Hard Bop / Vibes

Reissue. Features the high-fidelity SHM-CD format (compatible with standard CD player) and the latest 24bit 192kHz remastering. Coming fresh on the heels of his groundbreaking work with Eric Dolphy, Bobby Hutcherson's debut album is a masterpiece of "new thing" avant-garde jazz, not really free but way beyond standard hard bop. Dialogue boasts an all-star lineup of hot young post-boppers -- trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, woodwind player Sam Rivers, pianist Andrew Hill, bassist Richard Davis, and drummer Joe Chambers -- and a set of imaginative compositions by either Hill or Chambers that frequently push the ensemble into uncharted territory.

Jon Hassell & Brian Eno - Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics (1980) {EG Records}

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© 1992 EG Records / Caroline | EEGCD-7

New Age / Avant-Garde / Electronic / Ambient / Ethnic Fusion / Experimental

Largely thought of merely as a mostly stillborn offshoot of Brian Eno's larger ambient music series, the Fourth World series of albums, in collaboration with trumpeter Jon Hassell, is actually an entirely separate beast. Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics starts off from the same basic idea as Hassell's previous solo albums, like Earthquake Island and Vernal Equinox: a blend of avant-garde composition, jazz soloing, and African and Middle Eastern rhythmic forms.

Lisa Batiashvili - Bach (2014) {Deutsche Grammophon}

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© 2014 Deutsche Grammophon | 00289 479 2479

Classical / Concerto / Chamber Music / Violin

Lisa Batiashvili presents a fine selection in chamber and orchestral music of popular, but also newly recorded Bach pieces. This includes the first ever recording of Bach’s famous aria “Erbarme Dich, mein Gott” in a transcription for violin, oboe and orchestra on Deutsche Grammophon. First ever recording of C. Ph. E. Bach’s Trio Sonata in b flat minor for violin, flute and BC on Deutsche Grammophon. For this Lisa teams up with the world’s famous flutist from Berliner Philharmoniker, Emmanuel Pahud. For one of the real hits on that CD, the double concerto for violin and oboe BWV 1060, Lisa collaborates with her husband, the oboist Francois Leleux. An interpretation from the heart!

Kenny Clarke & Francy Boland - The Golden Eight (1961) {2003 Japan Mini LP Limited Edition}

Kenny Clarke & Francy Boland - The Golden Eight (1961) {2003 Japan Mini LP Limited Edition}

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© 2003 Blue Note / Toshiba-EMI Japan | TOCJ-9544

Jazz / Bop / Progressive Jazz

Reissue of the album recorded with Dusko Goykovich, et al. 24bit digitally remastered. Cardboard sleeve (mini LP). This is one of the rarest of all Blue Note albums, and one that is a must for record collectors. The Francy Boland/Kenny Clarke big band was one of the most exciting orchestras of the 1960s and ‘70s. Much less known but also brilliant was a unique octet co-led by Boland and Clarke just prior to the big band.

Jerry Lee Lewis - Who's Gonna Play This Old Piano (1972) & Sometimes A Memory Ain't Enough (1973) {2015 BGO Records Remaster}

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© 2015 Mercury / BGO Records | BGOCD1174

Country / Rock'n'Roll / Honky Tonk

Two Mercury label country albums dating from 1972 and 1973. Both albums reached the Top 10 US Country chart, spawning the hits 'No More Hanging On', 'Sometimes A Memory Ain't Enough', 'I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone' and 'Who's Gonna Play This Old Piano'. With his new biography getting rave reviews, Jerry Lee's profile is as huge as ever. Digitally remastered and slipcased, and with new notes by Andrew McRae.

Bill Evans & Jim Hall - Undercurrent (1962) {2002 Blue Note Remaster}

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© 2002 Capitol / Blue Note | 7243 5 38228 2 8 | 24-bit remaster

Jazz / Post Bop / Modal Music

Undercurrent has long been considered one of the classic piano/guitar duo sessions, pairing Bill Evans with Jim Hall. These studio dates were a jump start for Evans' career, which he had placed on hold after the unexpected death of his bassist, Scott LaFaro, a few days following their historic Village Vanguard recordings were made. First reissued on CD in 1988, this 2002 edition features the same music, but remixed with gorgeous 24-bit sound and the songs re-sequenced into their original LP configuration, with the alternate takes and initially unissued tracks following them. An added bonus is the removal of the graphics from the striking cover photo, as well as the inclusion of a photo of Evans and Hall taken at one of the two sessions. The seamless way they swap between lead and supporting roles throughout gems such as the waltz-time "Skating in Central Park" adds to the overall appeal of the disc. Though the master take of "My Funny Valentine" has a smoother introduction, the alternate has more intriguing interplay between the two men. The other selections are every bit as masterful. Although Evans and Hall would later do a follow-up duo session for Verve, this memorable CD is the one to acquire first.

Frank Zappa - Strictly Commercial: The Best Of Frank Zappa (1995) {1995 Ryko Remaster Complete Series}

Frank Zappa - Strictly Commercial: The Best Of Frank Zappa (1995) {1995 Ryko Remaster Complete Series}

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© 1995 Rykodisc / The Zappa Family Trust | RCD 40600

Rock / Jazz Rock / Experimental Rock / Art Rock

For all of his many attributes, one thing Frank Zappa most certainly was not is commercial. Presumably, the title of this collection is ironic. Strictly Commercial: The Best of Frank Zappa is a compilation not of the composer's hits -- he only broke the Top 40 on one occasion, with "Valley Girl" -- but rather, a collection of his best-known material, from "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" to "Sexual Harassment in the Workplace." Zappa's albums often function as individual works, but this disc offers an intelligent selection of songs, serving as an introduction to the maverick musician.

Larry Young - Unity (1965) {2014 Japan SHM-CD Blue Note 24-192 Remaster}

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© 2014 Universal Japan / Blue Note | BN 75th The Masterworks | UCCQ-5049

Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Organ

Reissue. Features the high-fidelity SHM-CD format (compatible with standard CD player) and the latest 24bit 192kHz remastering. A brilliant album that would forever change the way the organ was used in jazz! The set's the greatest contribution ever from organist Larry Young – a lean and modal session recorded with help from a young quartet that includes Woody Shaw, Joe Henderson, and Elvin Jones – all leaping and loping with Larry's free-thinking work on the Hammond – stretching things out into spiritual grooves that belie Young's fascination with Coltrane's sound of the time, and his freer fusion work of later years!

Ralph Burns And His Ensemble - Bijou (1955) {2014 Japanese Bethlehem Album Collection 1000}

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© 2014 Solid Records / Bethlehem | CDSOL-6137 | LP BCP-68

Jazz / Bop / Piano

Amazing small group work from Ralph Burns – a real standout, given the amount of his larger ensemble sessions in the 50s! The album features Burns on piano – overdubbed on some tracks – working with a combo that includes Jimmy Raney on guitar, Clyde Lombardi on bass, and Osie Johnson on drums – all gently modern players who fit perfectly with Ralph's vision for the record. Things aren't as dark or as arch as on some of Burns' bigger dates of the decade – almost a bit warm at times, especially thanks to Ralph's piano lines. Titles include "Autobahn Blues", "Echo Of Spring", "Spring Sequence", "Spring", "Spring Is Here", and "Gina".

Ray Charles - Seven Classic Albums Plus Bonus Singles. Vol.2 (2013) [4CD] {Real Gone Jazz}

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© 2013 Real Gone Jazz | RGJCD349

Jazz / Blues / Soul / R&B / Pop Soul / Piano Blues

7 Classic Albums, Vol. 2 album for sale by The Ray Charles Singers was released 2013 on the Real Gone Jazz label. EU-only four CD collection containing seven albums from the Soul/Jazz/Rock icon. Includes the albums In Person, The Genius Sings The Blues, Soul Meeting, The Genius Afterhours, Dedicated To You, Genius = Soul = Jazz And Ray Charles And Betty Carter. They come in a double thick Jewel Box on 4 CDs. All the albums been digitally remastered and enhanced for superior quality and the Real Gone Jazz label has garnered some really good reviews for sound quality. The digitally enhanced sound is a good indicator. A mumber of lush orchestral numbers a la Nat King Cole but oh well. They are good too. These are from 1960-61. Half of the fourth disc is composed of duets with Betty Carter. Disc 2 is all piano plus instrumentals, with Milt Jackson on the first half.

Daniel Barenboim - Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique & Liszt Les Preludes (2013) {Decca}

Daniel Barenboim - Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique & Liszt Les Preludes (2013) {Decca}

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© 2013 Decca | 478 5350

Classical / Symphony

After Decca’s best-selling Beethoven For All campaign and Barenboim’s Olympic appearance comes a celebration of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra’s 10th anniversary in a stunning Berlioz recording from the BBC Proms. This recording comes from WEDO’s 2009 Prom, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the West Eastern Divan Orchestra and marking a return to the roots of the orchestra’s conception in Weimar – a place where Liszt championed the works of Berlioz.

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

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© 2013 Impulse! / Verve / Universal Japan | UCCU-9988

Jazz / Post Bop / Modern Creative / Piano

Dark and moody work from Keith Jarrett – a record that builds strongly off his ensemble feeling of the Impulse years, but which also seems to carry a bit more of the introspective vibe he was building up in some of his more stripped down solo recordings! The group's still a great one here – with Dewey Redman on reeds, Charlie Haden on bass, Paul Motian on drums, and Guilhermo Franco on percussion – and the tunes, although long and somewhat free, still show Jarrett's great ear for a lyrical melody – carried off wonderfully without cliche, and still with more sharp edges than you might expect. Titles include "Rotation", "Everything That Lives Laments", "Flame", and "Mysteries".

Ray Charles - Eight Classic Albums (2011) [4CD] {Real Gone Jazz}

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© 2011 Real Gone Jazz | RGJCD267

Jazz / Blues / Soul / R&B / Pop Soul / Piano Blues

This varied, budget-priced, four-disc set collects seven of the great Ray Charles' Atlantic Records LPs, plus an LP from ABC Records in the same package, which means one hears Charles in all sorts of formats, with small combos, at the piano in an intimate setting, with full orchestras, and in live performance, and it adds up to a wide-angle look at one of the most important voices of 20th century pop music. Included are the albums Ray Charles and The Great Ray Charles, both from 1957, Yes, Indeed!! and Brothers of Soul, both from 1958, Ray Charles at Newport, What'd I Say, and The Genius of Ray Charles, all from 1959, and The Genius Hits the Road from 1960. Genius, indeed -- this is vintage Ray Charles in the middle of his legendary career, all for a budget price.

Milt Jackson With The Ray Brown Big Band - Memphis Jackson (1969) {2014 Japan Rare Groove Funk Best Collection 1000}

Milt Jackson With The Ray Brown Big Band - Memphis Jackson (1969) {2014 Japan Rare Groove Funk Best Collection 1000}

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© 2014 Impulse! / Verve / Universal Music Japan | UCCU-90082

Jazz / Soul Jazz / Funk Jazz / Vibes

One of the grooviest albums ever from the legendary Milt Jackson – an upbeat, almost funky set of soul jazz tracks – played with some great grooves on the bottom! Those trademark Jackson vibes are firmly in place, but the setting is quite different from the staid sounds of the MJQ – more in the soulful swinging sound of late 60s Verve and Impulse, with lots of mod elements thrown in for good measure! Backing is by the Ray Brown big band, who give Milt a nice fat bottom to groove on – and the whole thing's very groovy, with titles that include "Braddock Breakdown", "Uh Huh", "Sound For Sore Ears", and "Queen Mother Stomp".

Renaud Garcia-Fons & Derya Turkan - Silk Moon (2014) {E-motive records}

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© 2014 E-motive records / L'Autre Distribution / Frederic Leibovitz | EM0141

Jazz / World Music / Classical / International Jazz

French-Spanish musician Garcia-Fons is a trailblazer on the double bass, to which he has added a fifth string. On one of his musical journeys he met Derya Turkan, a virtuoso of the Turkish fiddle, with whom he recreated classical Ottoman court music as if it had always been meant to be played by a string duo. Their long-standing wish to make a new album together was realised in 2014. In the Bimhuis Amsterdam the duo will present Silk Moon: original compositions nurtured by Oriental and South European influences, and inspired by the profound song tradition of the Oriental maqam and the Andalusian cante jondo.

Bill Evans - Loose Blues (1962) {Milestone Remaster 1992}

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© 1992 Milestone / Fantasy | MCD-9200-2

Jazz / Cool / Modal Music / Piano

This long-lost session, not released initially until 1982, features pianist Bill Evans, tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims, guitarist Jim Hall, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Philly Joe Jones interpreting seven of the pianist's recent originals. Due to some difficulties during the recording process (none of the sidemen were familiar with the often complex numbers), the results were originally shelved and lost for a couple of decades.

Weather Report - Weather Report (1971) {2014 Japan Jazz Collection 1000 Columbia-RCA Series}

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© 2014 Columbia / Sony Music Japan | SICP 4226

Jazz / Fusion

Reissue with DSD remastering. Comes with liner notes. Here we have the free-floating, abstract beginnings of Weather Report, which would define the state of the electronic jazz/rock art from its first note almost to its last. Their first album is a direct extension of the Miles Davis In a Silent Way/Bitches Brew period, more fluid in sound and more volatile in interplay. Joe Zawinul ruminates in a delicate, liquid manner on Rhodes electric piano; at this early stage, he used a ring modulator to create weird synthesizer-like effects.

Larry Young - Into Somethin' (1964) {2014 Japan SHM-CD Blue Note 24-192 Remaster}

Larry Young - Into Somethin' (1964) {2014 Japan SHM-CD Blue Note 24-192 Remaster}

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Reissue. Features the high-fidelity SHM-CD format (compatible with standard CD player) and the latest 24bit 192kHz remastering. An incredible album from the man that changed the way the world hears the Hammond! This album was Larry Young's first for Blue Note – and it's a mindblowing batch of tunes that push the organ into realms that had never been heard of in jazz. Young's got a real penchant for a modal groove – no doubt inspired by his friend and sometimes collaborator John Coltrane – and he's working here with a totally hip group that includes Sam Rivers, Grant Green, and Elvin Jones.

Keith Jarrett - Samuel Barber, Bela Bartok, Keith Jarrett (2015) {ECM}

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Never-heard music from the mighty Keith Jarrett – performances recorded in the mid 80s, and featuring Jarrett working in a mix of jazz and classical styles that's pretty darn great! The first piece is Samuel Barber's "Piano Concerto Op 38", performed with the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester, conducted by Dennis Russell Davies – but Jarrett's performance brings an edge and sense of air that recalls some of his own compositions for larger groups from the 70s, especially with Davie at the helm.

Keith Jarrett - Creation (2015) {ECM}

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ECM celebrates the occasion of pianist Keith Jarrett's 70th birthday with two simultaneous releases. One is a classical date for its New Series on which he performs piano concertos by Béla Bartók and Samuel Barber with two different orchestras. The other is Creation, a solo piano offering. While Jarrett has made dozens of solo records, this is unlike any in his catalog. Rather than document the unfolding of his in-the-moment ideas through a single performance, this set features nine sections compiled from half-a-dozen performances in four cities and five venues (all notated in the sleeve) during 2014.

Blue Willa - Blue Willa (2013) {Trovarobato}

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Blue Willa is the debut album by the Italian art rock quartet bearing that same name.
Due for release in early 2013, the album is produced by Californian musician Carla Bozulich (Evangelista, The Geraldine Fibbers, Scarnella, Ethyl Meatplow), who directed the shaping, recording and mixing of every song. She also contributed singing and playing on many tracks. This happened in Italy, India and Paris during the spring of 2012.

Mick Karn - Dreams Of Reason Produce Monsters (1987) {Virgin} [ft. David Sylvian]

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Dreams of Reason Produce Monsters is Mick Karn's second solo album and features him playing a variety of woodwinds and basses, as well as keyboards and drums. The songs are marked by plodding drum tracks colored with simple contrapuntal keyboard and woodwind figures: of the instrumental tracks, only "The Three Fates" escapes this martial treatment. The two tracks that feature lyrics and vocals (by David Sylvian, Karn's former bandmate in Japan) are the most memorable. They emphasize the interplay between Karn's sinuous fretless playing and Sylvian's sonorous voice to good effect.

Enigma - Classic Album Selection (2013) [5CD] {Virgin}

Enigma - Classic Album Selection (2013) [5CD] {Virgin}

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New Age / Electronic / Ethnic Fusion / Dance Pop

Part of Universal's Classic Album Selection series, this multi-part package from the aptly named Spanish ethno-fusion dance-pop provocateurs Enigma features five complete studio albums, including MCMXC a.D. (1990), The Cross of Changes (1993), Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi! (1996), Screen Behind the Mirror (1999), and Voyageur (2003).

Majical Cloudz - Impersonator (2013) {Matador Records}

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With rich vocals atop quiet looped waves of white noise, filtered synths and sparse thuds, Montreal songwriter Devon Welsh aka Majical Cloudz, is one of 2013's most unique and essential voices. His 2012 Turns Turns Turns EP, an audacious distillation of Welsh's ideas that brought his vocals to the fore. Citing Elliott Smith and Arthur Russell as the two biggest influences on his songwriting. Though they stand stylistically apart from other artists in their Montreal scene - which includes Grimes, Doldrums, Blue Hawaii, and others - Majical Cloudz are proud beneficiaries of it camaraderie.

Andrew Hill - Nefertiti (1976) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000}

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Jazz / Post Bop / Piano

Reissue with DSD remastering. Originally recorded for the Japanese East Wind label and only made available domestically on a 1979 Inner City LP, this trio outing by pianist Andrew Hill also features bassist Richard Davis and drummer Roger Blank. Hill performs six of his unpredictable originals ("Nefertiti" is his tune, not the more famous composition by Wayne Shorter) and, although the music seems slightly more conservative than usual for a Hill set, the music is consistently stimulating; too bad it's so difficult to locate.

Eric Dolphy - Far Cry (1960) {Prestige-Riverside 50th Anniversary 20-bit K2 Edition}

Eric Dolphy - Far Cry (1960) {Prestige-Riverside 50th Anniversary 20-bit K2 Edition}

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A quarter of a century after his death at 36, the astonishing saxophonist and flutist Eric Dolphy is still influencing and inspiring the most adventuresome jazz musicians. Dolphy was daring and iconoclastic while fully immersed in the jazz tradition. His musicianship was so thorough that innovators like Charles Mingus and John Coltrane held him in awe. In a dream partnership, Dolphy and trumpeter Booker Little made a handful of recordings in 1960 and '61, shortly before Little's own premature death. The first of them are in this album. Included is the rare "Serene," never before issued with the session's other material.

Michael Jackson - Dangerous (1991) {2009 Japan Cardboard Sleeve Mini LP Reissue}

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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). Despite the success of Bad, it was hard not to view it as a bit of a letdown, since it presented a cleaner, colder, calculated version of Thriller -- something that delivered what it should on the surface, but wound up offering less in the long run. So, it was time for a change-up, something even a superstar as huge as Michael Jackson realized, so he left Quincy Jones behind, hired Guy mastermind Teddy Riley as the main producer, and worked with a variety of other producers, arrangers, and writers, most notably Bruce Swedien and Bill Bottrell.

Jean-Marie Machado, Dave Liebman - Media Luz (2014) {La Buissonne}

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Jean-Marie Machado and Dave Liebman play together since 2003. Of this complicity were born two albums: Caminando (on 2008 - Pao Records) and Eternal Moments (on 2010 - Bee Jazz). In 2011, Jean-Marie Machado suggests to Dave Liebman inviting the German bugliste Claus Stötter and the string quartet Psophos; of this meeting was born the Media Luz project. An exceptional musical moment for a dialogue between a magnificent European composer and a great American soloist who draws us a jazzchamber mood.

Coleman Hawkins - The Hawk Flies High (1957) {2008 Riverside} [Keepnews Collection Complete Series] (Item #19)

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Orrin's commentary (from his new liner notes): "Before [Coleman] Hawkins, the tenor saxophone-which has come to be one of the basic instruments of jazz-simply did not exist, a fact that would be disputed by neither Lester Young nor Ben Webster-his most prominent immediate successors-nor by Sonny Rollins or John Coltrane or anyone you might choose to put near the head of the line thereafter...This was not my only studio experience with Hawkins, although it was the only opportunity to deal with him strictly on his own terms, which is certainly the only appropriate way to approach a great artist."

Anna Prohaska - Behind The Lines (2014) {Deutsche Grammophon}

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In a scene where the recordings of young sopranos tend toward an extreme sameness, Austria's Anna Prohaska would deserve kudos simply for the ambition of this release of soldiers' songs. The idea, especially for a female singer, is original, and the music draws on a great variety of sources, from Scottish song to Wolfgang Rihm. Better still is the execution, which shows Prohaska's extreme versatility. She's one of the few non-Anglophone singers to get the difficult combination of vernacular American English and popular-classical crossover referentiality in the three Charles Ives songs included, and she moves effortlessly from the edgy anger of Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler to the more delicate tragic sense of Roger Quilter.

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Uprising Live! (2014) [2CD] {Eagle Rock}

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The Uprising Tour ran in Europe from May 30th to July 13th 1980 with five further dates in the USA in September. It was Bob Marley s last tour before his tragically early death in May 1981 at the age of just 36. The tour was in support of the Uprising album released on June 10th 1980. A few days later on June 13th the live show from Dortmund s Westfalenhalle was filmed for the famous German music TV series Rockpalast and is presented here on DVD and CD for the first time with footage restored to the best possible quality. Bob Marley and the Wailers are on superb form and deliver a set of hit singles and classic album tracks. Marley s energetic, charismatic performance gives no indication that he was already ill with the cancer that would take his life less than a year later.

Shorty Rogers & His Giants - Bossa Nova (1962) {2013 Japan 24-bit Remaster} [Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series]

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© 2013 Reprise / Warner Japan / Rhino | WPCR-27369 | Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series

Jazz / International / Cool / Bossa Nova / Trumpet

Features 24 bit remastering and comes with a mini-description. A real standout from the great Shorty Rogers – and a smoking set that has him turning his many talents towards the world of bossa nova! By the time of this set, Shorty was as great an arranger as he was a trumpeter – really one of the go-to guys around LA for hipper soundtracks and vocal dates – and he really shows off his skills on a set of lively arrangements that pop and sparkle a lot more than other American bossa jazz outings of this nature! The set features lots of acoustic guitar and percussion – and bold trumpet and flugelhorn solos by Shorty – on titles that include "Samba Do Lorinho", "Samba Triste", "O Amore E A Rosa", "Pao De Assucar", "So Um Amor", and "O Menino Desce Do Morro".

The Salsoul Orchestra - Street Sense (1979) {2014 Big Break Records Remaster}

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THE SALSOUL ORCHESTRA was the brainchild of once MFSB member and legendary vibraphonist, Vince Montana Jr. Formed in 1974, THE SALSOUL ORCHESTRA, house band for the remarkable Salsoul Records, sometimes featured up to 50 members amongst its ranks including a number of former musicians from MFSB, and fused elements of Funk, Latin, Disco and Philly Soul into their compositions. Conducted and arranged by Montana, THE SALSOUL ORCHESTRA began an eight-year recording period in 1975 releasing eleven sensational albums during that time featuring production input from, Stan Lucas, Patrick Adams and Bunny Sigler through the years.

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