Arista – Arcd 8018

Anthony Braxton - The Complete Arista Recordings Of Anthony Braxton (2008) {8CD Set Mosaic MD8-242}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 2.46 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.29 Gb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 376 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remaster
© 2008 Mosaic Records / Arista / Sony BMG | MD8-242
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Creative Orchestra / Experimental Big Band

Since he released the completely solo For Alto in 1968, the accepted image of Anthony Braxton has been that he is more a theoretician and art music composer than a jazz musician. Therefore, it might seem strange that Mosaic Records is giving his Complete Arista Recordings one of their fabled box set treatments. But Braxton is both – and much more. This set – as well as the original Arista recordings – were produced by Michael Cuscuna, Mosaic/Blue Note label head. The sheer scope of these recordings is staggering. What we get in this amazingly detailed collection is the weightiest argument yet for Braxton's range and depth of field as a musical thinker and his role as a pillar of modern jazz.

It’s just over 40 years since global music icon Dionne Warwick signed with Arista Records marking a defining fifteen-year chapter in the star-studded career of the Lifetime Achievement and multi-Grammy-winning songstress, celebrated here with this first-of-its-kind box set of her (159) recordings for the label. Included are (29) bonus tracks, with nine of the twelve albums as expanded editions of the original Arista LPs, with remastering by Nick Robbins. The deluxe 64-page booklet (with artwork by Roger Williams) includes detailed essays on each album by SoulMusic.com/SoulMusic Records’ founder David Nathan (who credits Dionne’s mid-60s hits as fuelling his passion for soul music), with quotes from Dionne, Clive Davis and producer Steve Buckingham.

Ruby Braff & Dick Hyman - America, The Beautiful (1982) {Arbors ARCD 19269 rel 2002}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 327 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 163 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 30 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1982, 2002 Arbors Records | ARCD 19269
Jazz / Mainstream Jazz / Cornet / Wurlitzer Theatre Organ

Ruby is one of those few people who could solo with a pipe organ, who could improvise with such an unusual instrumental background. It requires a very special ability - flexibility, ingenuity, and invention. Ruby, of course, is his own man. Like his idol, Louis Armstrong, he commands the center of attention, even if the background is something as odd as a theatre organ. The tonal colors of a pipe organ are its great glory. Above all, I'm stimulated by being able to orchestrate on the spot. And once you launch into a bright swinging tempo with the instrument sounding perhaps a beat behind the fingers, the sensation is like leading a herd of galloping elephants. You don't dare look back.