Friday, April 29, 2011

Mal Waldron with Eric Dolphy and Booker Ervin - The Quest

A gem from the 1961 Dolphy cannon, this one has often been released under Dolphy's name but in fact highlights the compositional skills of pianist Mal Waldron. Waldron was an old school bopper who'd backed Billie Holiday and worked with artists like John Coltrane (Waldron wrote the song "Soul Eyes" which Coltrane later turned into a classic) on a decent series of hard-bop Prestige dates. In the early sixties Waldron changed with the currents and recorded extensively with Eric Dolphy (and later with Mingus).

This album finds Waldron and Dolphy with a great supporting cast including fellow Mingus alumnus Booker Ervin on tenor sax, Ron Carter on cello (echoing his work on Dolphy's "Out There" album), Joe Benjamin on bass and Charlie Persip on drums. Two of these songs, "Status Seeking" and "Fire Waltz" would become part of the repertoire when Waldron toured with Dolphy and Booker Little soon after these recordings, resulting in the legendary Five Spot shows captured by New Jazz. A good album that fits nicely with the sixty-some odd other recordings (I'm not kidding on that number, either) Dolphy made in 61 with the likes of Mingus, Coltrane, Oliver Nelson, Ron Carter, Booker Little, Max Roach, and Ornette Coleman (as well as a few solo albums and a couple other artists I'm forgetting). Enjoy.


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Saturday, April 16, 2011

The Living Doorway - A Blog

















The best kept secrets of the web will never turn up by accident. NEVER. I mean, if I was not looking around for that brutal death metal band from Madrid known as Wormed, I would never met JGD and his blog.

I'm not just featuring it in the right column, because although 95% revolving around music, it is a deeper experience than a random mp3 blog.

It's about life. The life of a random guy, once skater-kid, now skater-man, with a really passionate approach to music. Every post come packed with an out of teeth review that is closely related to a personal experience or is merely based on the thoughts of the moment. Plus he make some interviews well worth reading.

I really like it.

The Living Doorway

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Eric Dolphy - The Complete Uppsala Concert

One of the legendary multi-reed instrumentalist's most inspired concerts, this edition contains Eric Dolphy's complete Uppsala Concert, recorded in Uppsala, Sweden on September 4, 1961. The performance features Dolphy's longest recorded improvisation ever, a 13 minute solo on his composition '245'. The concert also features an alto-sax solo on David Raskin's tasteful tune Laura. Dolphy is backed by pianist Rony Johansson, bassist Kurt Lindgren and drummer Rune Carlsson for a night of unforgettable music. Gambit Records. 2005.

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Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Ornette Coleman - Science Fiction


Musicians:

Ornette Coleman (alto sax, trumpet, violin), Dewey Redman (tenor sax), Charlie Haden (bass), Billy Higgins (drums), Ed Blackwell (drums), Asha Puthli (vocals), Carmon Fornarotto, Gerard Schwarg (trumpets).

Composed by Ornette Coleman.

Recorded: New York, October 13, 1971

Ornette Coleman's groups in the 1960s and early '70s that included Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, Ed Blackwell, Billy Higgins, Dewey Redman and others were pivotal to me as a musician in that they seemed to bridge the gap between my early love of folk and rock with the more abstract and highly improvisational elements of jazz. There's a folksy quality to Ornette's music that seems to reflect the early days of jazz when the music was guttural and instrumentalists played lyrical melodies with voice-like tones. On Science Fiction, he used the studio as an instrument, more so than on many of his previous albums. This tune incorporates vocals (from Asha Puthli) in a seamless way. It takes guts to envision this kind of music.

Reviewer: Ben Allison (for Desert Island Dozens)

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Sunday, April 3, 2011

Lee Morgan - Indeed

For years, the only Lee Morgan 50s session available as a single album was Candy (see my review). But now that the Mosaic set "The Complete Blue Note Lee Morgan Fifties Sessions" has sold out, and presumably the licensing contract has expired, all six original albums have finally been reissued in 2007 by the mother label, EMI. "Indeed" is indeed the trumpeter's first recording -- made on November 4, 1956, a day before "Introducing Lee Morgan," but the latter Savoy session made it to market first back in the day. "Indeed" is a quintet date featuring Lee, lesser known Clarence Sharpe on alto sax, Horace Silver on piano, Wilbur Ware on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums. It is a typical "blowing session" of the day, though the original compositions of Silver, Donald Byrd, Benny Golson and Owen Marshall (the latter two will contribute on Lee's next album Lee Morgan, Vol. 2 -- see my review) show that Alfred Lion went to great lengths to showcase his young star in a proper setting. For most, Lee Morgan doesn't hit his stride until his stint with the Jazz Messengers or even his landmark The Sidewinder, but "Indeed" is a great look at early Lee. By Michael B. Richman

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Sunday, March 27, 2011

Hot New Releases - Rock/Hardcore/Electronica/Metal


Band: Amon Amarth
Album: Surtur Rising
Year: 2011
Genre: Viking Metal / Death Metal
Country: Sweden
Myspace: Link
Filesize: 98 MB
Bitrate: V0

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Band: Vintersorg
Album: Jordpuls
Year: 2011
Genre: Folk Metal / Black Metal
Country: Sweden
Myspace: Link
Filesize: 98 MB
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Band: Burzum
Album: Fallen
Year: 2011
Genre: Black Metal / Atmospheric Black Metal
Country: Norway
Filesize: 99 MB
Bitrate: 320 kbps

Band: The Haunted
Album: Unseen
Year: 2011
Genre: Groove Metal / Alternative Metal
Country: Sweden
Myspace: Link
Filesize: 61 MB

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Band: Burial & Four Tet / Thom Yorke
Album: Ego / Mirror
Year: 2011
Genre: Electronica / Experimental
Country: England
Filesize: 62 MB

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Band: Moonsorrow
Album: Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa
Year: 2011
Genre: Folk Metal / Viking Metal
Country: Finland
Myspace: Link
Filesize: 133 MB
Bitrate: 320kbps

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Band: James Blake
Album: Self Titled
Year: 2011
Genre: Electronic / Dubstep
Country: United Kingdom
Myspace: Link
Filesize: 85 MB
Bitrate: 320kbps

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Band: Arbouretum
Album: The Gathering
Year: 2011
Genre: Stoner Rock / Psychedelic Rock
Country: United States
Myspace: Link
Filesize: 87 MB
Bitrate: VBR kbps

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All the shit was originally posted on B-Media V2, check it!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Lee Morgan - Delightfulee


Blue Note's continuing re-release of its Lee Morgan catalogue has produced a major find. Four of the tracks, recorded at the later May 27th session, had the following line up: Lee Morgan (trumpet) Joe Henderson (tenor sax) McCoy Tyner (piano) Bob Cranshaw (bass), Billy Higgins (drums). That's the line up for "The Sidewinder" "– with McCoy Tyner replacing Barry Harris on piano. Those four tracks ("Nite-Flite", "Zambia", "The Delightful Deggie" and "Ca-Lee-So", all Lee Morgan compositions) are every bit as strong as the playing on "The Sidewinder". The inventive partnership with Joe Henderson is really firing, resulting in great music to stand alongside their collaboration on "The Sidewinder" and "Mode For Joe". It is also revealing to hear more of the Joe Henderson/McCoy Tyner/Bob Cranshaw collaboration that graced "Inner Urge". Strong, approachable hard bop and very highly recommended.

The remainder of the album features a 10 man ensemble (Lee Morgan, Ernie Royal (trumpets) Tom McIntosh (trombone) Jim Buffington (french horn) Don Butterfield (tuba) Phil Woods (alto sax, flute) Wayne Shorter (tenor sax) Danny Bank (baritone sax , bass clarinet, flute) McCoy Tyner (piano) Bob Cranshaw (bass) Philly Joe Jones (drums). This ambitious music, with arrangements by Oliver Nelson, was recorded at the earlier April 8th session. "Sunrise, Sunset" features important solos by Wayne Shorter and Lee Morgan, both full of invention and surprise. McCoy Tyner is characteristically fluent throughout. There are further versions of "Zambia" and "The Delightful Deggie" but with the setting now expanded to take in the increased tonal range of the larger ensemble, there is no hint of repetition with Oliver Nelson delivering "Blues and The Abstract Truth" – like dynamics. The only disappointing track is "Yesterday" (a seemingly hastily conceived take on the Lennon / McCartney tune). The larger ensemble has less immediate impact than the Joe Henderson/McCoy Tyner sessions but becomes more involving on closer listening.

Overall, a major re-discovery that benefits from the excellently judged remastering of Rudy Van Gelder. Review from http://100greatestjazzalbums.blogspot.com/

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