548

In their original incarnation on LP, the sound of Trevor Pinnock and his English Consort's 1981 recording of Vivaldi's famous Four Seasons was clear and bright. In subsequent CD iterations, it was clearer and brighter. But in this 2008 Japanese original bit processing issue, it has passed clearest and brightest and gone all the way to transparent and translucent. One can hear each of the 13 string players bows strike their strings and every pluck of Nigel North's theobro or Pinnock's harpsichord. And soloist Simon Standage sounds so vibrant and present that he may as well be in the room standing between the speakers.

Lou Bennett - Pentacostal Feeling (1966) {Gitanes Jazz 548 790-2 rel 2001}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 252 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 95 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 246 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24bit remastering
© 1966, 2001 Philips / Gitanes Jazz Productions / Universal Music | 548 790-2
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Jazz Blues / Organ

Regularly engaged in the Blue Note of the rue d'Artois in the 60s, Lou Benett often performed as a trio with guitarists Jimmy Gourley and René Thomas and drummer Kenny Clarke. With the commercial success of Amen, his first recording, Lou joined the trumpet player Donald Byrd, then student in the composition class of Nadia Boulanger, to make an album with ambitious sound architecture. Benefiting from Thomas' highly mobile guitar and Kenny Clarke's rhythmic flexibility, the Paris Jazz All Stars playing Byrd's toning arrangements, Lou Bennett's churchy organ roars powerful chords. The blues, music of the Baptist temples, permeates a carnal music, widely open to dance.

Jean-Luc Ponty - Jazz Long Playing (1964) {Gitanes–Jazz In Paris 548 150-2 rec 1964}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 252 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 97 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 14 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1964, 2000 EmArcy / Gitanes / Universal Music | Jazz In Paris Series | 548 150-2
Jazz / Mainstream Jazz / Hard Bop / Standards / Violin

These 1964 sessions marked jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty's recording debut as a leader. In spite of his choice of instrument, he was mainly influenced by bop musicians (especially saxophonists and trumpeters) rather than fellow Frenchmen, swing violinist Stéphane Grappelli. At this stage in his career, he chose mostly compositions by European musicians of his generation, along with tunes American jazz compositions that had stood the test of time.

Soft Cell - The Twelve Inch Singles (2000) {3CD Box Set Mercury Records 548 506-2}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.32 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 489 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 16 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2000 Some Bizarre / Mercury Records | 548 506-2
Synth Pop / Dance-Pop / Electronic / New Romantic / New Wave / Art-Pop

Although a vinyl box set appeared during the early 1980s, and several of the mixes therein were subsequently appended to CD reissues of Soft Cell's regular albums, 1999's three-CD The Twelve Inch Singles represented the first ever corralling of the duo's entire extended remix output, and with it, undying evidence for Soft Cell's claim to immortality. Great 45s and terrific albums told only part of the story, after all. Across their earliest 12" singles, the sequence that led from "Memorabilia" to "Torch," Soft Cell utterly rejuvenated a format that had been growing increasingly stale and uninspired, not only offering purchasers more music for their money, but ensuring that it was music they'd actually want, as opposed to an extra few minutes of beat nailed onto the outro.

Archie Shepp - Poem For Malcolm (1969) {Sunspots SPOT 548 rel 2004}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 205 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 78 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 10 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1969, 2004 BYG Records / Sunspots | SPOT 548
Jazz / Post Bop / Avant-Garde Jazz / Progressive Jazz / Saxophone

Poem for Malcolm is a jazz album by Archie Shepp. Recorded in Paris in August 1969 only two days after Yasmina, a Black Woman, it again features musicians from the Art Ensemble of Chicago. This time, the tone is resolutely set to avant garde and free jazz, with a political edge in the all but explicit tribute to Malcolm X. The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow states: "This LP from the English Affinity LP is a mixed bag. Best is 'Rain Forrest' on which tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp, in a collaboration with trombonist Grachan Moncur III, pianist Vince Benedetti, bassist Malachi Favors, and drummer Philly Joe Jones, perform some stirring jazz; the interplay between Shepp and Jones is particularly exciting.