Bobby Hutcherson - In The Vanguard (1986) {1999 Reissue - 32 Jazz - 32170}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 306 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 133 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 25 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1986, 1999 Landmark / 32 Jazz | 32170
Jazz / Modern Bebop / Hard Bop / Vibes / Marimba

The reissue of Bobby Hutcherson's live Village Vanguard session from December 5-6, 1986 isn't the first. It's such a fine album that it's been issued quite a few times and has garnered high ratings. 32 Jazz has included Bob Blumenthal's original liner notes in which he lists several from the long list of jazz artists who've recorded live sessions at The Village Vanguard. Hutcherson's hard bop session features a lot of "blowing" by the leader on both marimba and vibes. His rhythm section on this date supports him well and provides an experienced conversation. Speaking of conversations, Fred Jung's interview with Hutcherson provides valuable insight into this session leader who got his start by laying bricks one summer in L.A. to save the money for his first set of vibes.

Charlie Parker - Integrale Charlie Parker, Vol. 5, "Parker's Mood", 1947-1949 (2012) {3CD Set Frémeaux & Associés FA1335}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 909 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 534 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 474 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1947-49, 2012 Frémeaux & Associés | FA 1335
Jazz / Be Bop / Bop / Saxophone

Bird was like the sun, giving off the energy we drew from him… In any musical situation, his ideas just bounded out, and his inspired anyone who was around. The aim of 'The Complete Charlie Parker', compiled for Frémeaux & Associés by Alain Tercinet, is to present (as far as possible) every studio-recording by Parker, together with titles featured in radio-broadcasts. Private recordings have been deliberately omitted from this selection to preserve a consistency of sound and aesthetic quality equal to the genius of this artist.

Malija - The Day I Had Everything (2015) {Edition Records EDN1064}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 292 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 134 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 235 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2015 Edition Records | EDN1064
Jazz / Modern Jazz / Progressive Jazz / Saxophone / Piano / Bass

Malija comprises in equal measures Mark Lockheart on reeds, pianist Liam Noble and Jasper Høiby on bass. All three are familiar from their busy workload and prolific collaborations. They played together on Lockheart's quintet recording In Deep, but this is their first outing as a trio. Lockheart contributes more tunes than Høiby or Noble, but other than that the trio is very well balanced. The music has an eclectic feel, bringing together several styles and influences, whilst keeping a singular voice. Indeed, the closing track is called In One Voice, a gentle, exploratory walk which allows each of the trio (and the guest violinist) to contribute to the whole.

Chico Hamilton - Chico Hamilton And The Players (1976) {2013 Japanese BNLA Series 24-bit Remaster TOCJ-50557}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 249 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 98 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 228 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24bit remaster
© 1976, 2013 Blue Note / EMI Music Japan | TOCJ-50557
Jazz / Hard Bop / Post Bop / Cool

Chico Hamilton in the 70s just can't miss – he's really changed loads from his mellow 50s work in LA, and has a tendency to go for a hard grooving sound – but also one that's slightly left of center than the work of most other 70s jazz drummers – and we mean that in a good way! This cooking set for Blue Note is a great example of that offbeat approach – a tight set of fusion tracks with a warm finish and an edgey approach to the rhythms – awash with some really compelling numbers that will have you hunting down the rest of Chico's work from the decade!

Cecil Taylor - Jazz Advance (1956) {Blue Note CDP 7 84462 2 rel 1991}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 225 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 128 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 97 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1956, 1991 Transition / Blue Note / Capitol | CDP 7 84462 2
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Piano

One of the best pre-1960 sessions by Cecil Taylor, recorded in Boston in 1956, and originally issued on the totally rare Transition label in a very small pressing! Taylor's playing here with the great bassist Buell Neidlinger, one of his prime compaitriots in the early days, and the trio (with Dennis Charles) is joined by Steve Lacy on a few tracks. The session's a great way to hear Taylor's development at the beginning, as it includes a number of jazz standards – like "Azure", "Sweet & Lovely", and "Bemsha Swing" – all given an off-kilter twist by Taylor and group. This is probably best heard on one of the album's highlights – a 9 minute solo reading of Cole Porter's "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To"!

Grateful Dead - Anthem Of The Sun (1968) {2018 50th Anniversary Deluxe Expanded & Remastered Edition} (Complete Artwork)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 791 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 319 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 236 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1968, 2018 Grateful Dead / Rhino / Warner | 603497864881
Rock / Psychedelic Rock / Folk Rock / Jam Bands

As the second long-player by the Grateful Dead, Anthem of the Sun (1968) pushed the limits of both the music as well as the medium. General dissatisfaction with their self-titled debut necessitated the search for a methodology to seamlessly juxtapose the more inspired segments of their live performances with the necessary conventions of a single LP. Since issuing their first album, the Dead welcomed lyricist Robert Hunter into the fold – freeing the performing members to focus on the execution and taking the music to the next level. Another addition was second percussionist Mickey Hart, whose methodical timekeeping would become a staple in the Dead's ability to stop on the proverbial rhythmic dime.

Jose James - Lean On Me (2018) {Blue Note} (Complete Arwork)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 332 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 130 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 53 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2018 Blue Note / Universal | 00602567737353
Jazz / R&B / Jazz Funk / Soul Jazz / Soul

The root of Lean on Me is in a Bill Withers medley that became part of José James' set lists. It went down so well that Blue Note boss Don Was convinced the singer to take it a step farther with a studio album of songs by Withers, the everyman soul paragon who started late – 32 in 1971, when his first LP was released – and finished early. Withers' '80s exit was so uncommonly abrupt and final that neither a documentary nor a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction has prevented the general public from sending "When did Bill Withers passed [sic] away?" to the top of the "People also ask" chart generated by Googling the name.

Elvin Jones - Youngblood (1992) {Enja ENJ-70512 rel 2000}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 411 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 152 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 36 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1992, 2000 Enja Records | ENJ-7051 2
Jazz / Post Bop / Drums

Although this superior set features three of the top Young Lions (tenors Joshua Redman and Javon Jackson and trumpeter Nicholas Payton), along with the fine bassist George Mraz, drummer Elvin Jones, 64 at the time, sounds like the youngest member of the group. The well-rounded CD has individual features for Redman ("Angel Eyes"), Payton ("Body and Soul") and Mraz ("My Romance"), along with the leader (the unaccompanied drum solo "Ding-A-Ling-A-Ling"), and has consistently inspired playing from all of the musicians. An excellent effort.

Karlheinz Stockhausen - Trompete (1994) {2CD Set Stockhausen-Verlag No. 43}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 545 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 277 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 118 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1994 Stockhausen-Verlag | Stockhausen 43
Classical / Avant-Garde / Experimental / 20th Century

Since 1991, a complete edition of all recordings in which Karlheinz Stockhausen has personally participated is being released on compact discs. Each CD in this series is identified by Stockhausen's signature followed by an encircled number. The numbers indicate the general historical order of the works. Stockhausen realised the electronic music and participated in these recordings as conductor, performer, sound projectionist, and musical director. He personally mixed down the recordings, mastered them for CDs, wrote the texts and drew the covers.

Art Pepper - Smack Up (1960) {Contemporary Japan, VDJ-1580, Early Press}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 313 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 126 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 124 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1960, 1986 Contemporary / Victor Japan | VDJ-1580
Jazz / Cool / West Coast Jazz / Saxophone

The CD MASTERPIECE SERIES, released from Jun 21 1985, under the VDJ-1501~1679 cat number, mastered by Joe Gastwirt and Daniel Hersch, was completely different masterings from the later OJC series, give a listen and you will get an unexpected listening experience! The title of this recording, Smack Up is ironic and inadvertently truthful. Within a short period, Art Pepper would begin spending many years in jail due to his heroin addiction; this was his next-to-last album from that period. Despite the bleak future, the great altoist (who never seemed to make an uninspired record during his unstable life) is in excellent form in a quintet with trumpeter Jack Sheldon, pianist Pete Jolly, bassist Jimmy Bond, and drummer Frank Butler.

La Morra - Luz del alva (2012) {Ramée RAM 1203}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 307 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 159 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 80 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2012 Ramée / Outhere Music | RAM 1203
Classical / Early Music / Renaissance

La Morra is among the leading formations specializing in late Medieval and early Renaissance European music. The group redefines itself according to the requirements of the projects it undertakes. For Luz del alva, Corina Marti and Michal Gondko join forces with Catalan singer and harpist Arianna Savall, Norwegian singer Petter Johansen, and Swedish historical bowed instruments player Tore Eketorp.

The Chris Robinson Brotherhood - Barefoot In The Head (2017) {Silver Arrow Records ‎02028622406} (Complete Artwork)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 312 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 108 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 121 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2017 Silver Arrow Records ‎| 02028622406
Rock / American Trad Rock / Psychedelic Rock / Hard Rock / Jam Bands

Working at a whiplash speed that seems alien in the 21st century, when bands are pressured to work on three-year album cycles in a digital world when everything exists in an ever-present now, the Chris Robinson Brotherhood are prolific in a way that belies their blissed-out vibes. Barefoot in the Head is the band's fifth album of original material, arriving in a calendar year that also includes another studio album (Anyway You Love, We Know How You Feel, which appeared just about a year prior to Barefoot), a half-hour studio EP (If You Lived Here, You Would Be Home by Now), and a live LP (Betty's Self-Rising Southern Blends, Vol. 3).

Stephane Wrembel - Origins (2012) {Water Is Life Records WIL 04}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 298 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 125 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 146 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2012 Stephane Wrembel / Water Is Life Records | WIL 04
Jazz / New Acoustic / Gypsy Jazz / World Fusion / Guitar

If French-born composer, guitarist, and musical gypsy Stephane Wrembel's name was not familiar to mainstream jazz fans even as he released this, his stellar, eclectic, world music-driven fifth release, his music was certainly known to discerning film fans. Woody Allen used his tune "Big Brother" in Vicky Cristina Barcelona and he composed the theme to Midnight in Paris (entitled "Bistro Fada") which he performed live at the Oscars; he includes that whimsical, lilting tune on Origins, a set that explores his many influences.

Larry Young - In Paris: The ORTF Recordings (2016) {Resonance Records HCD-2022 rec 1964-1965}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 699 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 253 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 73 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1964-65, 2016 Resonance Records / INA | HCD-2022
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Hard Bop / Organ

Released here for the first time, 2016's Larry Young in Paris: The ORTF Recordings is something of a lost treasure rediscovered. Recorded while the Newark, New Jersey-born pianist/organist Larry Young was living in France from 1964-1965, these recordings were broadcast once on French public radio and then archived for decades. As a listening experience, The ORTF Recordings are a revelation, showcasing the innovative Young (who died tragically in 1978 at age 38) and his group of equally youthful and talented musicians, including 19-year-old Newark trumpeter Woody Shaw.

The Band - The Last Waltz (1976) {40th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set Rhino Records 2016}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (image)+CUE+LOG -> 1.59 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 584 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 1.15 Gb | 5% repair rar
© 1976, 2016 Rhino / Warner | 081227943554
Rock / Classic Rock / Country Rock / Rock & Roll / Contemporary Rock

The Last Waltz was a concert by the Canadian rock group, The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The Last Waltz was advertised as the end of The Band's illustrious touring career, and the concert saw The Band joined by more than a dozen special guests, including Paul Butterfield, Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Ronnie Hawkins, Dr. John, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Muddy Waters, Ronnie Wood and Neil Young.