1 3 Ron Carter

To state the truth, Williams' second effort for Blue Note, Spring (Blue Note, 1965), often overshadows Life Time in part due to its accessibility and firm roots in structured post-bop. That's not to say that Life Time lacks musical vision, in fact, the album itself is an overlooked classic that boasts a sense of adventure and space that's absent on Spring. The music on Life Time is always moving, surveying every facet of each composition, extracting colors, emotions, and vibrations; it's unfettered from the claws of tradition and, when played from start to end, galvanizes the listener's imagination.

A Tribute to Miles is a tribute album by four of the five members of the Miles Davis quintet: Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, Ron Carter. Taking over for Davis was trumpeter Wallace Roney.

Cecil Payne - performing Charlie Parker Music + The Connection (2012) {Charlie Parker Records, The Complete Collection, Vol 1, rec 1961-1962}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 403 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 162 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 59 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1961-62, 2012 Charlie Parker Records / Membran Media / Documents | 233193 / 1
Jazz / Bebop / Hard Bop / Baritone Saxophone

Exhaustive 30 CD collection from the Jazz legend's short-lived label. Contains 44 original albums (421 tracks) plus booklet. Every record-collector has run across an album with the little sax-playing bird in it's label-logo, right next to the brand name Charlie Parker Records or CP Parker Records. Turning the sleeve over, especially if it was one of the non-Parker releases, and seeing a '60s release date under the header Stereo-pact! Was as exciting an experience as it was confusing. Was the claim Bird Lives meant more literally than previously thought?

Alice Coltrane - Huntington Ashram Monastery / World Galaxy (1969, 1972) {Impulse! 2-on-1 Series Remaster rel 2011}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 507 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 180 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 31 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1969, 1972, 2011 Impulse! / Verve / Universal Music | 06025 2780946
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Modern Composition / Free Improvisation / Modern Jazz / Harp / Piano

This remastered two-fer combines Alice Coltrane's 1969 release Huntington Ashram Monastery with World Galaxy from 1972. Originally, these LPs were released separately on Impulse. Both sets are spiritual in nature, with the first three cuts on H.A.M. combining the majestically meditative harp of Coltrane with Ron Carter on bass and Rashied Ali on drums and percussion.

Robinsongs brings you perhaps the definitive round up of cool tracks to be released by CTI Records and affiliated label Kudu on a Double CD.

Andrew Hill - Mosaic Select 16 (2005) {3 Disc Set, EMI–Mosaic Records MS-016 rec 1967-1970}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.15 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 509 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 125 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1967-70, 2005 EMI Music / Mosaic Records | MS-016
Jazz / Post Bop / Modal Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Piano

Of all the volumes in the Mosaic Select series, this one, and the Big John Patton box, are the most satisfying, though for very different reasons. This one is a true collector's gem. For starters, all but six of the 31 cuts on this three-CD box are previously unreleased. For Hill fans who knew there was more in the can, this is a most welcoming find. The material here was completely composed by Hill and was recorded in five sessions between 1967 and 1970. The pianist and composer is found in three different settings, from trio to sextet and septet with some octet sides. The personnel here varies, too. The sextet sessions feature Hill with Bennie Maupin, Pat Patrick, Charles Tolliver, Ron Carter, and either Paul Motian or Ben Riley on drums. These are the earliest cuts here and they are solid as solid can be.

Miles Davis Quintet - Live in Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 1 (2011) {3CD + Bonus DVD5 NTSC}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 782 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 474 Mb
DVD5 -> 3.86 Gb | All Regions | NTSC 4:3 | LinearPCM, 2 ch | ~ 65 min | ISO Image
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 305 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1967, 2011 Columbia / Legacy / Sony Music | 88697 94053 2
Jazz / Hard Bop / Post Bop / Modal Music / Trumpet

The explosive transformation of Miles Davis’ “second great Quintet” with Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums) is laid bare on this release. Culled from original state-owned television and radio sources in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, and Sweden, the program spans five northern European festival performances over the course of nine days in October-November 1967. The audio shows consist entirely of previously unreleased or previously only bootlegged material. This is a 3-CD + DVD package, with an 8-panel digipak with 28-page booklet.

Lee Morgan - Standards (1967) {1998 Blue Note, Ron McMaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | IMG, FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 267 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 103 Mb | Artwork (web) -> 3 Mb
© 1998 Blue Note | CDP 7243 8 23213 2 3
Jazz / Hard Bop / Trumpet

This session headed by trumpeter Lee Morgan was not initially released until this 1998 CD. Morgan is joined by an all-star cast of James Spaulding on flute and alto, tenor saxophonist Wayne Shorter, baritonist Pepper Adams, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Mickey Roker, but the music overall is not all that memorable. Most of the selections, although allegedly “standards,” were of more recent vintage (like “A Lot of Livin’ to Do” and “If I Were a Carpenter”), and even if Morgan and the other musicians play well, nothing too exciting occurs. Although not a dud, it was not a major loss that this recording stayed in the vaults.