What Are You Listening To?

[mcad64]

Happy Australia Day!!! Sort of...

 

[mcad64]

 

[Dennie]

Happy Monday everyone... :banana-rock:

Wonderful World, Beautiful People -- CD

Jimmy Cliff

1972 A&M Records

Arguably the first Jimmy Cliff album to feature the singer as a bona fide international reggae star, WONDERFUL WORLD, BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE is a set brimming with confidence. Besides the pop-reggae staples of "Time Will Tell" and the title track, there are social themes in songs such as the anti-war "Viet Nam" and the outwardly cheerful "Sufferin' in the Land." The album also includes a nod to Cliff's three-year sojourn in the UK on the prog-influenced, organ-heavy "That's the Way Life Goes."The rootsy feel and lyrics of "My Ancestors" show that Cliff is no pop dilettante, while his melodic and socially conscious sides combine in the irresistibly catchy sufferer's song "Hard Road to Travel." "Wonderful World, Beautiful People" is no mere chirpy feel-good anthem either--underneath the poppy arrangement, there's a Curtis Mayfield-type message of political reconciliation (early '70s world leaders Richard Nixon and Alexei Kosygin are name-checked in the outro) that's all the more potent in its subtlety. With stellar session playing from the same Jamaican musicians later used by Paul Simon for his first solo effort, WONDERFUL WORLD is a great introduction to the work of a unique Jamaican artist.

Track Listing
1. Time Will Tell
2. Many Rivers to Cross
3. Viet Nam
4. Use What I Got
5. Hard Road to Travel
6. Wonderful World, Beautiful People
7. Sufferin' in the Land
8. Hello Sunshine
9. My Ancestors
10. That's the Way Life Goes
11. Come into My Life

Recorded in Jamaica. Includes liner notes by Bob Garcia.Personnel: Jimmy Cliff (vocals).Liner Note Author: Bob Garcia.Recording information: Jamaica.Photographer: Richard Polak.Arranger: Larry Fallon

 

[Dennie]

Bean Bags -- Remastered HDCD

Milt Jackson, Coleman Hawkins

1959/1998 Atlantic/Koch Jazz

Many of vibraphonist Milt Jackson's Atlantic recordings are long overdue to appear on CD, and that certainly includes Bean Bags, which features a meeting with the great tenor Coleman Hawkins. Assisted by a top-notch quartet (pianist Tommy Flanagan, guitarist Kenny Burrell, bassist Eddie Jones, and drummer Connie Kay), Bean Bags romps through "Stuffy," "Get Happy," a pair of Jackson originals, and two fine ballads, with "Don't Take Your Love From Me" being particularly memorable. ~ Scott Yanow

Track Listing
1. Close Your Eyes
2. Stuffy
3. Don't Take Your Love From Me
4. Get Happy
5. Sandra's Blues
6. Indian Blues

Personnel: Milt Jackson (vibraphone); Coleman Hawkins (tenor saxophone); Tommy Flanagan (piano); Kenny Burrell (guitar); Eddie Jones (bass) Connie Kay (drums).Producer: Nesuhi Ertegun.Reissue producers: Donald Elfman, Naomi Yoshii.Recorded in New York, New York on September 12, 1959. Originally released on Atlantic (1316). Includes liner notes by Nat Hentoff.Digitally remastered by Gene Paul (DB Plus, New York, New York).

 

[Dennie]

The Very Best of... -- CD

Django Reinhardt

1996 Blue Note/Capitol Records

Tread cautiously when the title of an album starts off with the phrase "the best of." It's not that the music on the album will be lacking, but that the introductory phrase is so subjective, it should make a prospective of the album, at the minimum, a bit wary; it would be somewhat more honest to title such compilations "Some of the Best of..." In any event, this Blue Note album, compiled with the usual knowing liner notes of the eminent Dan Morgenstern, collects Reinhardt sessions from May 1936, when the clouds of World War II were starting to engulf Europe, to March 1948. A survey of Reinhardt's performances over these tumultuous 12 years is an opportunity to see how the great guitar player's style changed and evolved. And evolve it did, but never did it lose its foundation, which was swing. It is at least arguable that no guitar player, including the great Charlie Christian, was as adept in making that instrument move as did Reinhardt. Morgenstern also wisely included many of Reinhardt's compositions on this compilation, reminding us that he was more than a fair-to-middlin' tunesmith. The first cut, with the original Quintet of the Hot Club of France, one of several he shares with his longtime musical comrade-in-arms, Stephane Grappelli, is as infectious a rendition of this warhorse as has been captured on disc, the 1941 Benny Goodman Sextet and 1945 Benny Morton All Stars versions notwithstanding. Moving ahead to 1939, "I'll See You in My Dreams," is somewhat more pensive, but nonetheless Reinhardt still swings. Reinhardt also had the ability to expresses an immense sense of romanticism in his playing. Nowhere is his romantic streak broader as when he and clarinetist Hubert Rostaign put together a lovely version of Reinhardt's "Nuages." And he was a whiz at swinging the blues, as seen on "St. Louis Blues." On this tune, working above the rhythm guitar of Louis Gaste on W.C. Handy's blues psalm, he demonstrates the ability to put across a melody with an infectious toe-tapping rhythm. By the time the late 1940s arrive, Reinhardt is still swinging, as on "Django's Tiger" and "Lady Be Good." There are a couple of sessions of Reinhardt with an orchestra, and while these come off reasonably well, the guitarist was much more at ease in small groups, where he was less constrained. Not only was this the case with the quintet, but with such American jazzers as Rex Stewart and His Feetwarmers on "Montmartre" as well. On the last cut, "To Each His Own Symphony," he is reunited with Stephane Grappelli (this time on piano) in a pensive recapitulation of their off-and-on association. Whether this CD qualifies as The Best of Django Reinhardt is perhaps arguable. What isn't at issue is that the album is an excellent compilation of 18 cuts and 53 minutes of music by one of the most significant European apostles of and influences on American jazz. Review by Dave Nathan

Track Listing
1. Limehouse Blues
2. When Day Is Done
3. Saint Louis Blues
4. Minor Swing
5. My Serenade
6. You Rascal You
7. Montmartre
8. I'll See You in My Dreams
9. Naguine
10. Nuages
11. Blues Chair
12. Place de Brouckere
13. Manoir des Mes Reves (A.K.A. Django's Castle)
14. Django's Tiger
15. Ol' Man River
16. Diminushing
17. Lady Be Good
18. To Each His Own Symphony

Personnel: Django Reinhardt (guitar); Jim Hays (alto saxophone, clarinet); Joe Moser, Max Blanc, Robert Merchez, Robert Mavounzy (alto saxophone); Andre Louis, Charles Hary, Bernie Cavaliere, Bill Zickefoose (tenor saxophone); Ken Lowther (baritone saxophone); Alex Renard, Alex Caturegli, Maurice Moufflard, Herb Bass, Jerry Stephan, Lonnie Wilfong (trumpet); Rex Stewart (cornet); Maurice Gladieu, Pierre Remy, Bill Decke, Don Gardner, Shelton Heath, John Kirkpatrick (trombone); Barney Bigard, Alix Combelle, Hubert Rostaign (clarinet); Larry Mann (piano); Stephane Grappelli (violin); Joseph Reinhardt, Louis Gaste, Eugene Vees, Pierre Ferret, Jack Llewelin, Allan Hodgkiss, Challin Ferret (guitar); Emmanuel Sodieux, Louis Vola, Lucien Simoens, Eugene D'Hellemmes, Billy Taylor, Tony Rovira, Jean Storne, Bob Decker, Coleridge Goode, Fred Ermelin (bass); Pierre Fouad, Gaston Leonard, Bill Bethel (drums).Recorded between May 4, 1936 and March 10, 1948. Includes liner notes by Dan Morgenstern.

 

[Dennie]

Today's work truck music...

Three Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest -- CD

Bela Fleck & The Flecktones

1993 Warner Bros. Records

The Flecktones' best studio album, December 30, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: 3 Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Audio CD)

This is the one! The departure of Howard Levy and his often annoying harmonica (Note: Howard, loved your keyboard playing but that harp had to go!) forced the three remaining 'Tones into a different, jazzier direction than before. Victor's writing really comes into its own on this album (his several tunes here are jaw-droppingly great), and Future Man's synth-drumming style improves exponentially. Technically, the all three are really on fire. Anyone who own's even one Flecktones album needs to get this one.

"Vix 9" (Victor Wooten) – 4:27
"At Last We Meet Again" (V. Wooten) – 5:34
"Spunky and Clorissa" (Béla Fleck) – 4:30
"Bumbershoot" (Fleck) – 5:22
"Blues For Gordon" (Fleck) – 5:16
"Monkey See" (Fleck) – 3:16
"The Message" (music: Fleck, V. Wooten, Future Man; lyrics: Joe Wooten) – 4:03
"Interlude (Return of the Ancient Ones)" (Future Man) – 2:06
"The Drift" (Fleck, V. Wooten, Future Man) – 3:30
"A Celtic Medley: Meridian/Traveling Light/Salamander's Reel" (Fleck) – 6:39
"Peace, Be Still" (V. Wooten) – 4:05
"The Longing" (Fleck) – 5:25
"For Now" (Fleck) – 2:40

 

[Dennie]

Western Standard Time -- CD

Asleep At The Wheel

1988 Epic Records

As the standard-bearers for a half-century old music genre, Western swing revival band Asleep at the Wheel has always had one cowboy boot planted firmly in the past. True, the band has been known to crank out a catchy original song in its time, but its bread-and-butter is the familiar repertoire of bygone country and swing tunes. WESTERN STANDARD TIME finds the band working through 10 very familiar tunes, successfully breathing life into material that, in lesser hands, could easily degenerate into museum pieces.The mother lode for Western swing material, of course, is Bob Wills' catalog, and unsurprisingly WESTERN STANDARD TIME plucks two songs, "San Antonio Rose" and "Roly Poly," from this treasure chest. The band also revisits Hank Garland's classic "Sugarfoot Rag" with a performance that earned a Grammy for best instrumental recording. Willie Nelson chips in vocal support on "Chattanooga Choo Choo" and band leader Ray Benson demonstrates considerable moxie by taking on "That Lucky Old Sun," a song previously immortalized by both Frankie Laine and Ray Charles. Other highlights of this uniformly strong album include the two-step boogie "Hot Rod Lincoln" and the anthemic "That's What I Like About the South."

Track Listing
1. Chattanooga Choo Choo
2. Don't Let Go
3. Hot Rod Lincoln
4. That's What I Like 'Bout the South
5. That Lucky Old Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day)
6. Walk on By
7. San Antonio Rose
8. Roly Poly
9. Sugarfoot Rag
10. Walking the Floor over You

Asleep At The Wheel: Larry Franklin (vocals, guitar, fiddle); Ray Benson (vocals, guitar, 6-string bass); Tim Alexander (vocals, piano); John Ely (pedal & pedal steel guitars, Fender Hawaiian); Mike Francis (saxophone); John Mitchell (bass); David Sanger (drums).Additional personnel: Larry Seyer (vocals, guitar, Fender bass); Johnny Gimble (vocals, electric mandolin, fiddle); Willie Nelson, Chris O'Connell (vocals); Tony Garnier (6-string & upright bass).

 

[Dennie]

Today's work truck music...

Low Country Blues -- CD

Gregg Allman

2011 Rounder Records

A more bluesy style,
January 18, 2011
By K. Cooper
This review is from: Low Country Blues (Audio CD)

Gregg Allman has been making records both solo and with the Allman Brothers since the 1960's. He has never made an album like this before. With one original tune ("Just Another Rider") and a few familiar blues covers ("I Can't be Satisfied". "RollingStone" "Little by Little"), the main focus of this new CD is less familiar acoustic and electric blues songs.Producer T-Bone Burnett and Allman selected songs that are well suited to Allman's talents.
Gregg's voice is still in top form and he has the backing of a top notch band here, including Dr. John and Doyle Bramhall II. The backing is more sparse on this CD than a typical Allman Brothers CD, spotlighting the vocals a bit more. Of course, fans of the Allman Brothers Band and Gregg's solo work will love this and he may even make a new fans if some people who are not fans listen to "Low Country Blues".

The track listing for the record is:

1. Floating Bridge (Sleepy John Estes)

2. Little By Little (Junior Wells)

3. Devil Got My Woman (Skip James)

4. I Can’t Be Satisfied (Muddy Waters)

5. Blind Man (Bobby Bland)

6. Just Another Rider (Gregg Allman & Warren Haynes)

7. Please Accept My Love (BB King)

8. I Believe I’ll Go Back Home (Traditional)

9. Tears Tears Tears (Amos Milburn)

10. My Love is Your Love (Samuel Maghett)

11. Checking On My Baby (Otis Rush)

12. Rolling Stone (Traditional)

 

[Dennie]

Bossa Antigua -- Remastered CD

Paul Desmond featuring Jim Hall

1965/1999 RCA Victor Records

Bossa Antigua picks up the samba-based rim shots of drummer Connie Kay on Take Ten and tries to make a whole new record out of them. While the title track duplicates the original percolating groove of "El Prince," other tracks like "Samba Cantina" revert to a typical bossa nova rhythm of the period, which leads one to conclude that "bossa antigua" is merely whatever Desmond says it is. Of the album's two non-originals, "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes," of course, is made-to-order for Desmond's wistful, sophisticated temperament, and he delivers exactly what a Desmond devotee would expect and love; and "A Ship Without a Sail" has some memorable off-the-cuff solo ideas. Jim Hall is around again to lend subtle rhythm support and low-key savvy in his solos, and like many Desmond companions of this period, he makes a fine sparring partner in the contrapuntal exchanges. The Brubeck Quartet's Gene Wright again lends a sturdy hand on bass. The playing is wonderful throughout, though just missing the full-throttle inspiration of Take Ten. ~ Richard S. Ginell

Track Listing
1. Bossa Antigua
2. Night Has a Thousand Eyes, The
3. O Gato
4. Samba Cantina
5. Curaçao Doloroso
6. Ship Without a Sail
7. Alianca - (alternate take)
8. Girl From East 9th Street, The
9. Night Has a Thousand Eyes, The - (alternate take)
10. Samba Cepeda
11. O Gato - (alternate take)

This 1999 reissue contains three bonus tracks not on the original release.Personnel: Paul Desmond (alto saxophone); Jim Hall (guitar); Eugene Wright, Gene Cherico (bass); Connie Kay (drums).Audio Remasterer: Joe Lopes.

 

[Babs]

Zing bought a new Charlie Wilson! :banana-dance:

So far I luv...

Track #8...Infectious ft. Snoop Dogg :handgestures-thumbup:

Snoop is way cool in my book!

 

[Dennie]

Today's work truck music....

12 Shades of Brown -- CD

Junior Brown

1983 Curb Records

Junior Brown Brings Fun Back to Country and Western August 28, 1999
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD

Junior Brown brings a style to country that's been missing for a long time. "12 Shades of Brown is Junior at his best... tongue and cheek lyrics and witticisms linked with a distinctive and superior level of guitar playing. Seeing Junior live is an extraordinary experience (he does for country what Louis Prima did for swing on stage). This album's a delight!

Track listing

1. My Baby Don't Dance To Nothin' But Ernest Tubb
2. Baby Let The Bad Times Be
3. Freeborn Man
4. They Don't Choose To Live That Way
5. Too Many Nights In A Roadhouse
6. Hillbilly Hula Gal
7. Way To Survive, A
8. Broke Down South Of Dallas
9. What's Left Just Won't Go Right
10. Moan All Night Long
11. Coconut Island
12. Don't Sell The Farm

 

[Dennie]

Today's work truck music...

Gaucho -- CD

Steely Dan

1980/2000 MCA Records

Amazon.com

The multiplatinum success of Aja made Steely Dan, the musical conceit of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, a household name. But that prosperity came bundled with a fateful triple-whammy for rock's dyspeptic duo: unrealistic commercial expectations, a critical backlash spawned by punk's nascent mewling, and the long-simmering meltdown of their artistic partnership. But the cool, perfect sheen of 1980's Gaucho tipped its hand to none of it. Ironically, those fashion victims who sniffed up their sleeves at Don and Walt's decadence-tinged Me Decade manifesto couldn't have had a clue that just maybe Gaucho's typically oblique protagonists had uncomfortably blurred from the third-person to the first this time 'round. At least that's what Becker and Fagen hint at in their smart-assed notes to this digitally remastered, definitive edition (all original artwork and printed lyrics restored) of the final album before their 20-year hiatus. Pristine and sonically polished (three years and seven studios worth), time has served Gaucho well. Even its sense of laconic detachment now seems but a logical bridge to the two-decade removed Dan of Two Against Nature. To their credit, Becker and Fagen didn't trash the first half of Steely Dan's legacy on Gaucho, they simply burnished it to oblivion. -Jerry McCulley

Side one

"Babylon Sisters" – 5:55
"Hey Nineteen" – 5:10
"Glamour Profession" – 7:29

Side two

"Gaucho" – 5:32
"Time Out of Mind" – 4:14
"My Rival" – 4:34
"Third World Man" – 5:13

 

[Dennie]

Within A Song -- CD

John Abercrombie Quartet

2012 ECM Records

Abercrombie's Best Album in Years, and a New Classic ECM Release
By Stephen Silberman on August 4, 2012
Format: Audio CD
Exquisitely sensitive and empathic performances of tunes by Bill Evans, John Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman -- along with standards made famous by Jim Hall and others -- make this Abercrombie's best album in years. Gone is the overly tart tone that plagued some of the guitarist's '90s releases; his sound here is closer to his classic work in the '70s with Ralph Towner and the Abercrombie Quartet. You couldn't ask for more copacetic, A-list sidemen than Drew Gress, Joey Baron, and Joe Lovano. Between them, they have so much talent and imagination that these mellow, moody, probing performances are a marvel of contained power. It's also frankly nice to see an ECM release based on standards. That may seem like a "duh!" -- a jazz release based on standards, what a concept! -- but ECM genius Manfred Eicher has clearly pushed his stable of brilliant musicians to favor original compositions over the decades, so to hear this ensemble find its own completely fresh way through a tune like "Flamenco Sketches" (which is virtually uncoverable, because the original on Kind of Blue is so iconic) is breathtaking. Music simply doesn't get better than this.

Track Listing
1. Where Are You
2. Easy Reader
3. Within a Song/Without a Song
4. Flamenco Sketches
5. Nick of Time
6. Blues Connotation
7. Wise One
8. Interplay
9. Sometime Ago

Personnel: John Abercrombie: guitar; Joe Lovano: tenor saxophone; Drew Gress: double bass; Joey Baron: drums.

 

[Dennie]

The Pizza Tapes -- Remastered HDCD

Jerry Garcia - David Grisman - Tony Rice

2000 Acoustic Disc

The setting is February 1993, at mandolinist David Grisman's Dawg Studios in Northern California. Grisman has gathered Jerry Garcia and newgrass guitar wizard Tony Rice for an informal jam session, bringing the two pickers together for the first time. Soon thereafter, a local pizza delivery boy pilfers a cassette of mixes left out on Garcia's kitchen counter... and so begins the years-long, bootlegged journey of the recording dubbed THE PIZZA TAPES.Unlike the popularly traded version, this official release offers excellent sound quality and editing, including some wittily-placed bits of banter. Indeed, the Garcia-Rice repartee offers a window into an offhand and intimate musical encounter in a very specific time and place. The chosen material evidences Garcia's late-'80s/early-'90s revisiting of the American folk and bluegrass songbook. Doc Watson's "Shady Grove" opens with copious space-noodling before yielding to a hot-blooded jaunt rife with quick-picking. The three continue their spirited improv duel as they delve loosely into the jazz songbook with George Gershwin's "Summertime" and Miles Davis' classic modal vehicle, "So What." Favorite spirituals such as "Drifting Too Far From the Shore" and "Amazing Grace" take on a special, bittersweet overtone as sung by an ailing Jerry, while the summery "Rosalee McFall" is as sweet as ever.

Track Listing
1. Appetizer
2. Man of Constant Sorrow
3. Appetizer
4. Louis Collins
5. Shady Jam
6. Shady Grove
7. Always Late
8. Guitar Space / Summertime
9. Appetizer
10. Long Black Veil
11. Rosalee McFall
12. Appetizer
13. Drifting Too Far From the Shore
14. Amazing Grace
15. Little Sadie
16. Knockin' on Heaven's Door
17. Space Jam
18. So What
19. Appetizer
20. The House of the Rising Sun

Personnel: Jerry Garcia (vocals, guitar); Tony Rice (guitar); David Grisman (mandolin).Recorded at Dawg Studios, Mill Valley, California on February 4 & 5, 1993. Includes liner notes by David Grisman and Tony Rice.All tracks have been digitally mastered using HDCD technology.

 

[Dennie]

Happy Saturday everyone.... :banana-dance:

...and then I wrote -- Reissue CD

Willie Nelson

1962/2013 Liberty/Hallmark-Pickwick

an understated masterpiece October 13, 2003
By J. Kruppa
Format:Audio CD

Willie Nelson recorded these songs in 1961 and 1962 for Liberty Records under the supervision of producer Joe Allison, who wisely took a chance on the unknown Nelson and launched the career of one of the greatest writers in any style of music.
This is simply an amazing collection. The original version of Patsy Cline's signature tune "Crazy" is here (the Cline arrangement was reproduced almost note for note from Nelson's record) but every song is of equal quality and shines with the same brilliance of conception. Ironically, the punch of some of these songs is due at least in part to Nelson's restrained delivery; nearly all of these songs have been recorded by other artists, but I'll take these versions any time for the little twists that Nelson gives them. The arrangements are reserved but absolutely dead-on, reflecting producer Allison and session arranger Harold Bradley's decision to "stay the hell out of the way," as Bradley put it, and just let Nelson sing. The two guitars, bass, drums, piano and male and female background singers create the atmosphere and let Nelson's lyrics and idiosyncratic phrasing take center stage. The result is a peerless songwriter's album and, while it's a scant thirty minutes in length, it's so perfect that you'll have no problem listening to it twice.
All these songs are also on the 2CD set "Willie Nelson The Early Years: The Complete Liberty Recordings plus more," which makes available other songs from these same sessions as well as a great deal more. If you have that set, my best advice is to make a CD or tape of these 12 songs in order, sit back and enjoy one of the best albums of Nelson's (or anyone's) career. This is really as good as it gets.

Track Song title Writer(s) Time
1. "Touch Me" Willie Nelson 2:12
2. "Wake Me When It's Over" Willie Nelson 2:48
3. "Hello Walls" Willie Nelson 2:23
4. "Funny How Time Slips Away" Willie Nelson 3:02
5. "Crazy" Willie Nelson 2:50
6. "The Part Where I Cry" Willie Nelson 2:18

Side two

Track Song title Writer(s) Time
1. "Mr. Record Man" Willie Nelson 2:10
2. "Three Days" Willie Nelson 2:33
3. "One Step Beyond" Willie Nelson 2:20
4. "Undo the Right" Hank Cochran, Nelson 2:56
5. "Darkness on the Face of the Earth" Willie Nelson 2:19
6. "Where My House Lives" Willie Nelson 2:24

 

[Dennie]

What Now My Love

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass

1966 A&M Records

Classic TJB, June 18, 2005
By Abbasolutely "Hannah" (Dodgeville, WI United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: What Now My Love (Spkg) (Audio CD)

Ignore the silly gripe in that other review that lamented the decision to offer only the stereo mix of this cd. Herb wisely embraced stereo, not mono. So thankfully the mono sources were not utilized on this cd. The remaster job is good, although a little more treble would benefit the entire Signatutre series...They sound a tad muffled. But their reisssues are definately a highlight of 2005. I look forward to more to come...But "What Now My Love" is their best album ever! It's a pleasure to hear again and again...Cheers to you Herb and the entire team responsible for the reissues. The covers reproductions and inside booklets are delicious and great fun...just like the music itself. Bravo!

"What Now My Love" (Gilbert Bécaud, Carl Sigman) – 2:18
"Freckles" (Ervan Coleman) – 2:12
"Memories of Madrid" (Sol Lake) – 2:23
"It Was a Very Good Year" (Ervin Drake) – 3:37
"So What's New?" (John Pisano) – 2:07
"Plucky" (Alpert, John Pisano) – 2:21
"Magic Trumpet" (Bert Kaempfert) – 2:18
"Cantina Blue" (Sol Lake) – 2:34
"Brasilia" (Julius Wechter) – 2:30
"If I Were a Rich Man" (Sheldon Harnick, Jerry Bock) – 2:33
"Five Minutes More" (Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn) – 1:53
"The Shadow of Your Smile" (Johnny Mandel, Paul Francis Webster) – 3:28

 

[Dennie]

II - Deluxe Edition - Remastered 2 CD Set

Led Zeppelin

2014 Atlantic Records

Second Disc Contains Previously Unreleased Companion Material That Offers Insightful Look at Recording Sessions and Previously Unreleased Track "La La".

Packaging Faithfully Replicates Original Artwork: 16-Page Booklet Included

John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant came together in 1968 as Led Zeppelin. Over the next decade, the band would become one of the most influential, innovative and successful groups in modern music, selling more than 300 million albums worldwide. Their songs are some of the most celebrated in rock 'n' roll history that, to this day, resonate with fans young and old around the globe. Still, no matter how many times you may have listened to their music, you've never heard Led Zeppelin like this before.

Painstakingly remastered from the original master tapes by guitarist Jimmy Page, this CD of Led Zeppelin II sounds utterly amazing. Page spent years on this project with one goal in mind: Making these reissues the end-all-be-all definitive digital editions of his iconic band's records. He has succeeded, and then some. In addition, this special Deluxe Edition features previously unreleased companion audio that will satisfy every fan.

The companion audio for Led Zeppelin II: Deluxe Edition gives fans the first peek into the band's recording sessions, with alternate mixes of five songs from the album, backing tracks to "Thank You" and "Living Loving Maid (She's Just A Woman)," and the previously unreleased track "La La."

The band wrote and recorded nearly all of Led Zeppelin II while touring relentlessly to support its debut album. Incredibly, the album was released just seven months after Led Zeppelin in October of 1969. Led Zeppelin II features some of the band's most beloved tracks including "Ramble On" and "Heartbreaker" as well as "Whole Lotta Love," considered by many to be one of the greatest rock n' roll songs of all time. The album is certified diamond by the RIAA with sales of over 12 million copies.

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin II: Deluxe Edition Track Listing:

1. "Whole Lotta Love"
2. "What Is And What Should Never Be"
3. "The Lemon Song"
4. "Thank You"
5. "Heartbreaker"
6. "Living Loving Maid (She's Just A Woman)"
7. "Ramble On"
8. "Moby Dick"

Companion Audio
1. "Whole Lotta Love"
2. "What Is And What Should Never Be"
3. "Thank You"
4. "Heartbreaker"
5. "Living Loving Maid (She's Just A Woman)"
6. "Ramble On"
7. "Moby Dick"
8. "La La"

The band consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham.

 

[Dennie]

Alone Together (Live) -- Remastered CD

Jim Hall - Ron Carter Duo

1972/1990 Milestone/OJC Records

ALONE TOGETHER is one of the great duet albums in instrumental jazz. Guitarist Jim Hall and bassist Ron Carter are renowned as both studio musicians and members of stellar outfits (Hall played with Jimmy Giuffre and Art Farmer; Carter with Miles Davis's second great quintet). In the intimate, chamber-jazz atmosphere of these live dates, however, the true sensitivity and flexibility of both artists can be heard. Carter and Hall are sophisticated, harmonically advanced players. They value balance and space as much as technical showmanship, and both play with a cool tone and rhythmically intricate flair that scintillates as it soothes and seduces.The majority of the program consists of standards ("Autumn Leaves" and "Prelude to a Kiss)," along with other covers (Sonny Rollins's "St. Thomas"). Hall contributes an original, the smoky "Whose Blues," as does Carter, with the sly bop flourishes on "Receipt, Please." Throughout, the music is playful, highly lyrical, energetic, and beautiful, while representing an almost uncanny telepathy between the two performers. Aside from faint crowd noise from the club audience, this album is perfection.

Track Listing
1. St. Thomas
2. Alone Together
3. Please Receipt
4. I'll Remember April
5. As in a Morning Sunrise Softly
6. Whose Blues?
7. Prelude to a Kiss
8. Autumn Leaves

Personnel: Jim Hall (guitar); Ron Carter (bass).Recorded live at the Playboy Club, New York, New York on August 4, 1972. Originally released on Milestone (9045).Digitally remastered by Phil De Lancie (1990, Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California)

 

[Dennie]

Sweet Georgia Peach -- CD

Russell Malone

1998 GRP/Jazz Heritage

During part of the 1990s, Russell Malone put his solo career on the back burner as he toured the world as an important part of Diana Krall's trio. Since he was scheduled to break away from Krall at the end of 1998, the release of this solo album was a timely event. With a couple of exceptions, the emphasis here is on slower tempos and relaxed moods. There are no swing standards included other than "Someone's Rocking My Dreamboat," and only "Sweet Georgia Peach" (which is a bit funky) and Thelonious Monk's "Bright Mississippi" (based on the chords of "Sweet Georgia Brown") are taken at faster speeds. The latter, a Malone duet with pianist Kenny Barron, is easily this CD's high point. Of the repertoire, the guitarist contributed five of the ten numbers and is also heard exploring Thad Jones' "Mean What You Say," "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," and a couple of obscurities. Malone and Barron are joined by bassist Ron Carter and drummer Lewis Nash throughout the melodic, often melancholy, and generally wistful outing. Although it would have been better if there were more tempo variations and some heated selections, this is a tasteful effort, and Russell Malone does have a beautiful tone on his guitar. ~ Scott Yanow

Track Listing
1. Mugshot
2. To Benny Golson
3. Strange Little Smile / With You I'm Born Again
4. Sweet Georgia Peach
5. Rise
6. Mean What You Say
7. Song For Darius
8. Bright Mississippi
9. Someone's Rocking My Dreamboat
10. For Toddlers Only
11. Sweet Chariot Swing Low

Personnel: Russell Malone (guitar); Kenny Barron (piano); Ron Carter (bass); Lewis Nash (drums); Steve Kroon (percussion).Recorded at Avatar Studios, New York, New York on February 17-19, 1998. Includes liner notes by Bob Blumenthal.

 

[Dennie]

The In Crowd -- Remastered CD

The Ramsey Lewis Trio

1965/2007 ARGO Records

Amazon.com

Soul-jazz pioneer Ramsey Lewis's 1965 hit "The In Crowd" made the pianist a crossover smash, connecting with the pop, rock, and jazz crowds simultaneously. His simple, bluesy, swinging style is infectious and immediately accessible. One of the key aspects of THE IN CROWD is its party atmosphere--you get a real feel for the interaction between Lewis and the live audience, and you can hear him humming along with the piano and bass lines.While some jazz purists of the day condemned Lewis for what they saw as pandering to the masses with his instrumental versions of pop songs and his preference for blues-based modality over complex bebop-derived harmonies, time has shown the wiser. Today, THE IN CROWD sounds like an extension of the hard-bop era's no-frills, groove-oriented aesthetic, not to mention a foreshadowing of what would emerge decades down the road as acid jazz.

Track Listing
1. "In" Crowd, The
2. Since I Fell For You
3. Tennessee Waltz
4. You Been Talkin' 'Bout Me Baby
5. Theme From Spartacus
6. Felicidade (Happiness)
7. Come Sunday - (previously unreleased, CD only)

Ramsey Lewis Trio: Ramsey Lewis (piano); Eldee Young (bass, cello); Red Holt (drums).Recorded live at the Bohemian Caverns, Washington, D.C. on May 13-15, 1965. Originally released on Argo (757). Includes liner notes by Al Clarke and Barry Alfonso.Digitally remastered by Doug Schwartz, MCA Studios, North Hollywood.