Ann Williams First Time Out

The resulting 2 box set, unlike any other available today, groups together the main vocalists in the story of jazz from the first half of the 20th century. Each of these 20 CDs offers in more or less the same proportion, the purest of African-American song with gospel and blues singers, from truculent Ma Rainey to majestic Bessie Smith, sophisticated Sarah Vaughan to popular Louis Prima, the folk-related tones of Charlie Patton to the honeyed voice of Frank Sinatra.

Sessions is Union Square Music’s 2CD urban and dance music range. Aimed at both the hardened dance music fan and the impulse purchaser, each Sessions title is packed full of hit singles, big club tracks and a choice selection of forgotten gems and underground classics picked out by our expert crate-digging compilers. Strong generic packaging including an outer slipcase, informative sleeve notes and a low price in the shops have made Sessions one of our most popular labels.

Don Ellis - Music From Other Galaxies And Planets (1977) {Atlantic-Wounded Bird WOU 8227 rel 2006}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 271 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 95 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 106 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1977, 2006 Atlantic / Wounded Bird Records | WOU 8227 / LP Atlantic SD 18227
Jazz / Post Bop / Progressive Jazz / Experimental Big Band

Ellis recorded Music from Other Galaxies and Planets (1977) after returning from a hiatus caused by a severe heart condition. With this new ensemble – appropriately named “Survival” – Ellis covers very little new musical territory on the release, which has become maligned by many Ellis fans. However, according to Hank Levy, the album is the result of hasty decisions made by Ellis’s new label Atlantic Records.

The original soundtrack for Neil LaBute's Nurse Betty features innocent, classic pop songs that capture the sweetly delusional state of the film's title character. Jula De Palma and Pink Martini's versions of the lighthearted standard "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera Sera)" bookend songs like Ricky Nelson's "Poor Little Fool," Ann-Margret's "Slowly," and Della Reese's "Don't You Know," and selections from Rolfe Kent's quirky original score complete this enjoyable companion to one of 2000's most unique films.

Johnny Smith - The Complete Roost Johnny Smith Small Group Sessions (1952-64) {8CD Box Set Mosaic MD8-216 rel 2002}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 2.55 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.29 Gb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 67 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remaster
© 1952-64, 2002 Roost / Mosaic Records / EMI | MD8-216
Jazz / Cool / Guitar

Johnny Smith is an exquisite jazz guitarist known mostly to fellow musicians and serious jazz fans. This beautifully packaged and expertly annotated eight-CD limited-edition boxed set from Mosaic includes his complete small-group recordings for Roost, most of which have languished out of print for decades. Smith's unique voicings on his instrument set him apart from other players, yet he maintains a lush, crystal-clear tone no matter the tempo or setting.

Hyperion have come up trumps again with another delightful disc of out-of-the-way music. The brainchild of Graham Johnson, it is subtitled "150 Years of English Women Composers", with notes by Sophie Fuller, author of a book due out next year entitled The Pandora Guide to Women Composers. In the course of the programme the performers uncover a host of imaginative, impassioned and/or joyful songs that have lain for too long literally unsung, and revived others that were hugely popular until very recent times. Let me say at once that they couldn't have more perceptive or loving or enthusiastic interpreters than Johnson and Johnson, who excel even their own high standards of singing and playing.