Art Pepper Unreleased

Art Pepper - The Complete Galaxy Recordings (1989) {16CD Box Set GCD-1016-2, Galaxy–Fantasy rec 1978-1982}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 5.55 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 2.62 Gb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 59 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1978-82, 1989 Arthur Pepper Music / Galaxy / Fantasy | GCD-1016-2
Jazz / Post Bop / Cool / West Coast Jazz / Saxophone

Altoist Art Pepper was at the height of his career during his final five years. A brilliant improviser in the 1950s, by the late '70s the many dark experiences he had had in life were reflected in a deep emotional intensity in his playing. He played each solo as if it might be his last and his passion was brutally honest. This giant 16-CD Galaxy set features Pepper at the peak of his powers.

When one thinks of Stan Kenton's 1951 music, it is of his huge Innovations Orchestra which sported a full string section and played very advanced works. However later in the year Kenton cut back to a conventional 19-piece band, a unit that was only together six months and made few studio recordings. This collector's CD features the all-star orchestra broadcasting from the Hollywood Palladium and it is particularly interesting to hear the unit interpreting some of Kenton's earlier hits. With such distinctive soloists as Maynard Ferguson, Shorty Rogers, Milt Bernhart, Art Pepper and Bob Cooper (plus a couple of vocals by Jay Johnson), the highlights include fresh versions of "Machito," "Eager Beaver," "Collaboration," "Painted Rhythm" and "Intermission Riff."

Shorty Rogers and Gerry Mulligan - Modern Sounds (1953) {Capitol Japan TOCJ-6887 rel 2007}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 104 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 79 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 442 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1951-53, 2007 Capitol Records / Toshiba EMI Japan | TOCJ-6887
Jazz / Cool Jazz / West Coast Jazz / Saxophone / Trumpet

If bebop was ‘hot’, then with perfect timing Newton's third law of motion – that every action has an equal and opposite reaction -kicked in with emergence of ‘cool’ jazz at the end of the 1940s with a series of recordings under the auspices of Miles Davis that became known as the Birth of the Cool. Using six instruments in three groups each an octave apart – trumpet and trombone, alto and baritone saxes, French horn and tuba – plus piano, bass and drums, produced a unique sound in jazz.

Woody Shaw Tokyo 1981 opens with a stellar rendition of Shaw’s signature tune, the famous 69-bars of “Rosewood,” which is here played at a faster tempo than on the original studio recording. A straight reading of Thelonious Monk’s “`Round Midnight” with gorgeous solos by Shaw and Turre follows. In the ballad “From Moment to Moment,” Shaw shows his softer side and uses his warm, generous tone to its fullest. A swinging reading of Shaw’s waltz “Theme for Maxine,” closes the show. Written for his manager Maxine Gordon, this tune became something of a theme song for Shaw and was a constant presence on his concert set lists. This package also contains a bonus track from a concert of the Paris Reunion Band recorded live in Den Haag, Holland on July 14, 1985. Besides Shaw and Dizzy Reece on trumpet, this ‘80s ensemble of one-time ex-pats included saxophonists Johnny Griffin and Nathan Davis, pianist Kenny Drew, trombonist Slide Hampton, Jimmy Woode on bass and Billy Brooks on drums. Here they dig in on Shaw’s “Sweet Love of Mine,” an oft-covered number, probably best known in versions by Art Pepper and Jackie McLean. This version is highlighted by a heated competition in solos by Shaw, Griffin and Drew and a gorgeous trumpet cadenza by Shaw in the finale.

Hank Mobley - Poppin' (1957) {Blue Note Spain TOCJ-1620 rel 1998}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (image)+CUE+LOG -> 275 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 103 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 10 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1957, 1998 Blue Note / Capitol Spain | TOCJ-1620 | The Blue Note Collection Series
Jazz / Hard Bop / Saxophone

Poppin' was one of many sessions tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley recorded in the late '50s and early '60s but remained unreleased until the late '70s and '80s. It's hard to say why this session - which was recorded in 1957 – sat on the shelves, since it as good as the other records he cut at the time. Leading a sextet featuring trumpeter Art Farmer, baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams, pianist Sonny Clark, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones, Mobley plays a selection of five originals and contemporary jazz songs with passion and vigor. All of the musicians turn in fine performances (Clark in particular stands out with his lithe solos and tasteful accompaniment), and the result is a winning collection of straight-ahead hard bop that ranks as another solid addition to Mobley's strong catalog.

Chet Baker - Plays The Best Of Lerner & Loewe (1959) {OJC Remasters Complete Series rel 2013, item 27of33}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 277 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 103 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 145 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remaster
© 1959, 2013 Riverside / Concord | 60th Anniversary of Riverside Records | 0888072345997
Jazz / Cool / West Coast Jazz / Trumpet

Concord Music Group will release five new titles in its Original Jazz Classics Remasters series. Enhanced by 24-bit remastering by Joe Tarantino, several bonus tracks on nearly each disc (some previously unreleased) and new liner notes providing historical context to the original material, the series celebrates the 60th anniversary of Riverside Records, the prolific New York-based label that showcased some of the most influential jazz artists and recordings of the 1950s and '60s.

On July 1, 1968, The Band's landmark debut album, Music from Big Pink, seemed to spring from nowhere and everywhere. Drawing from the American roots music panoply of country, blues, R&B, gospel, soul, rockabilly, the honking tenor sax tradition, hymns, funeral dirges, brass band music, folk, and rock 'n' roll, The Band forged a timeless new style that forever changed the course of popular music. Fifty years later, the mythology surrounding Music from Big Pink lives on through the evocative storytelling of its songs including "The Weight," "This Wheel's On Fire," "Tears of Rage," and "To Kingdom Come," its enigmatic cover art painted by Bob Dylan, the salmon-colored upstate New York house – 'Big Pink' – where The Band wrote the songs, and in myriad descendant legends carried forth since the album's stunning arrival.

The STEREO BOX SET be the official canon, but what Beatlemaniacs have really craved is the MONO BOX SET. This limited-edition box is laden with new-to-CD mixes, including the genuine rarities of the previously unreleased mono mixes of the four new songs from Yellow Submarine, and its packaging is gorgeous, filled with mini-LP replicas with stiff cardboard sleeves of every album from Please Please Me to The Beatles, complete with replicated gatefolds and packaging inserts, all protected in resealable plastic sleeves…