Commissioned by the Molde International Jazz Festival and recorded live at the Norwegian festival in 2010, “La notte” is a salute to Italian filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni, whom Ketil Bjørnstad counts amongst his formative influences. “At the same time that I discovered what jazz could be, after listening to Miles Davis’ In A Silent Way, I also saw the films by Godard, Bresson and Antonioni. Perhaps it was the slow, rhythmic authority in the films by Michelangelo Antonioni that made me think of music… As long as visual art creates music in our minds, and music creates pictures and visual expressions with the same intensity, the two are deeply and profoundly interdependent”. This album, then, can be considered “the soundtrack to an inner film”, in which Antonioni’s images and atmospheres are translated and transformed through personal moods and memories.

Tales from the Kingdom of Fife is the debut album by Anglo-Swiss symphonic power metal band Gloryhammer. It was released on 29 March 2013 in Europe. In a fantasy version of 10th-century Scotland, as previously foretold (“Anstruther’s Dark Prophecy”), the evil wizard Zargothrax invades and conquers Dundee with an army of corrupted undead unicorns (“The Unicorn Invasion of Dundee”), kidnapping the princess Iona McDougall. The prince of the Kingdom of Fife, Angus McFife, swears revenge (“Angus McFife”); in a dream, he has a vision of three artifacts that will allow him to defeat Zargothrax, and sets off on a quest to acquire them. McFife first battles north to obtain a magical war hammer (“Quest for the Hammer of Glory,”) then travels to Strathclyde to acquire a golden dragon as his steed (“Magic Dragon”). Inspired by memories of McDougall, who is imprisoned by Zargothrax in a prison of ice (“Silent Tears of Frozen Princess,”) McFife rides his dragon to Loch Rannoch and retrieves the Amulet of Justice from its depths (“Amulet of Justice”), completing his quest for the three artifacts. ….

Resistor is the rock quartet of Steve Unruh, Fran Turner, Barry Farrands, and Rob Winslow. The band's sound is characterized by merging modern progressive and rock song structures with an organic classic rock sound. Their classic rock sound is probably due to their preferred recording technique of having everyone play the basic tracks in the same room at the same time, like bands did the "old days." This allows Resistor's recorded music to "breathe," as you can hear the band members adjust to each others' energy, tempo, and feel in real-time.
In 2008, Steve and Fran pooled their recording equipment and knowledge, and recorded the debut Resistor album in 2008. The album got rave reviews…

Lalo Schifrin - FX2 (1991) {Orion–Quartet Records SCE071 rel 2013}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 386 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 144 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 13 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1991, 2013 Orion / Quartet Records | SCE071
Jazz / Classical / Soundtrack / Stage & Screen

Limited edition of 1000 copies. This soundtrack isn't as great as for example The Osterman Weekend or Dirty Harry but it is still a good Lalo Schifrin score for a good movie. There should be a special category for movies that are neither good nor bad, but simply excessive. A movie, for example, like "FX 2: The Deadly Art of Illusion." Here is a film with a plot I defy you to comprehend, characters who are constantly at the mercy of the filmmaker's bright ideas, and a level of reality that vibrates between the absurd and the hallucinatory. It's not every film, in other words, that includes both booby-trapped baked beans and a robotic clown piloting a helicopter.

Fareed Haque is a modern guitar virtuoso. Steeped in classical and Jazz traditions, his unique command of the guitar and different musical styles inspire his musical ventures with tradition and fearless innovation. His 2013 album Out Of Nowhere features drummer Billy Hart and George Mraz and continues to defy convention. Fareed was voted "Best World Music Guitarist" by Guitar Player Magazine, and has toured with the Zawinul Syndicate, Sting, and Paquito D'Rivera.

Keith Jarrett - Restoration Ruin (1968) {Vortex–Warner Japan, WPCR-15116 rel 2013}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 204 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 74 Mb
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© 1968, 2013 Vortex Records / Atlantic / Warner Music Japan | WPCR-15116
Folk Rock / Jazz Fusion / Folk / Jazz / Jazz Blues

Features 2013 digital remastering. Comes with lyrics and a description. Very nice early work by Keith Jarrett – and very different than his later albums for ECM! This set is pretty loose and spiritual at times – and has Keith playing a variety of instruments, from piano, to guitar, to soprano sax, organ, and percussion – as well as singing, which he does in kind of a hip, bluesy, jazz-based style. The songs have actual lyrics, not scatting bits, and the feel here is almost folk rock inflected with jazz – which makes for a very interesting mix, and some really great songs that would appeal to those who like the left end of the folk/rock/jazz continuum of the late 60s. Includes the funky "All Right", plus "Restoration Ruin", "Have A Real Time", "Wonders", "You're Fortunate", and "Where Are You Going".

The Blues Project is a band from the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City that was formed in 1965 and originally split up in 1967. Their songs drew from a wide array of musical styles. They are most remembered as one of the most artful practitioners of pop music, influenced as it was by folk, blues, rhythm & blues, jazz and the pop music of the day…

Fred Kaz - Eastern Exposure (1960) {2013 Japan Jazz Best Collection 1000 Series, WPCR-27218}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 191 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 84 Mb
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© 1960, 2013 Warner Japan / Atlantic / Rhino | WPCR-27218
Jazz / Post Bebop / Piano Trio

Features 24 bit digital remastering. Comes with a description. An unusual little record – a set that's a bit "fake" in its pedigree, but which still comes across with some wonderfully vivid results! Fred Kaz is a Chicago pianist, but he works here on a set of original compositions based on his readings on Near Eastern cultures – dubbed by Fred as "Turkish experiments" in the liner notes – and a compelling blend of Eastern modes and modern jazz piano – maybe not as all-out as later experiments of the type on MPS/Saba, but still pretty darn great!

Despite stints with Orchestras and duos Peterson loved the trio format best. Touring the world in the early Sixties with Ray Brown on Double Bass and Ed Thigpen on Drums the band settled in Chicago for a week long Residency, subsequently recording a four LP set of their performances. The two recordings here are considered the cream of the crop consisting of compositions from right across the 20th century along with two of Peterson's own, masterful creations. Originally released on Verve Records in 1961.

Don Thompson - Country Place (1975) {PM–Muzak Japan MZCS-1271 rel 2013, Paper Sleeve, SHM-CD}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 268 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 93 Mb
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© 1975, 2013 P.M. Records / Muzak Japan | MZCS-1271
Jazz / Post Bop / Piano

This is an exquisite post-bop trio date from 1975. The music is romantic, impressionistic, singingly melodic, and rich in delicious harmonies. It also has a driving, muscular energy that rules out any possibility of mere prettiness. Some tracks feature leader Don Thompson overdubbed on piano and vibes, but this is handled seamlessly, creating the sound of a quartet rather than simply a player covering two parts. He ceaselessly mines for harmonic possibilities, allowing each track to constantly open up onto new moods and vistas.

Guitarist extraordinaire Robin Trower has reassembled the core of his late-'80s band, once again joining forces with Dave Bronze (bass), Davey Pattison (vocals), and Pete Thompson (drums). On 2004's Living Out of Time, they equal (if not best) their work on 1987's Passion and 1988's Take What You Need with 11 sides that reconfirm Trower's breathtaking instrumental capacity, as well as his knack for writing heavy rockers that don't come off as trite or excessive…