Born Itzy

Milt Jackson - Born Free (1966) {Limelight Japan 826 990-2 rel 1986}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 283 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 103 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 12 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1966, 1986 Limelight Japan | 826 990-2
Jazz / Hard Bop / Vibes

This obscure mid-'60s record by Milt Jackson has few surprises, though many jazz fans would be suspicious that the theme from the movie Born Free would turn into a viable jazz vehicle. Jackson's funky treatment of this normally laid-back piece works very well. Jimmy Heath, who plays great tenor sax on several tracks, contributed the funky original "Bring It Home (To Me)" as well as "A Time and a Place," which became one of his better-known compositions. Less successful is his chart of Jackson's somewhat monotonous "Whalepool." Pianist Cedar Walton, a favorite collaborator of the vibraphonist, is the centerpiece of their rendition of Miles Davis' landmark modal tune "So What." Long out of print, this Limelight LP has been reissued in Japan, but this recommended album will be expensive to acquire in either version

Marva Wright's albums might be filed more often under the blues section than any other, but in truth she's a versatile singer of all forms of New Orleans R&B, venturing into gospel and soul as well. There's no faulting her vocal performances on Born with the Blues; their powerful gutsiness marks her as one of the best blues/R&B singers to emerge in the final decades of the 20th century. It's the material that makes this an uneven record, though a worthwhile one on the whole. Some of the songs are quite good, the title track being a particular highlight for both its minor-keyed melody and vocals with a lived-in intensity that was a rare commodity indeed in '90s blues records. "Pray" is another peak, both for its moody gospel melody and stellar backup by Sonny Landreth on slithering slide guitar…

In his dual role as trumpeter and singer, the perennial Chet Baker was one of the undisputed masters of the jazz ballad, able to reach climaxes of intense feeling and intimacy. This CD compiles Chet Baker’s original versions of many of the songs heard in the recent biopic film based on his life, and reminds us of his superb talents. The unforgettable performances by Odetta and Charles Mingus used on the soundtrack, as well as two amazing versions of the title song, “Born to Be Blue”, sung by Nancy Wilson and Helen Merrill (the latter is baked by another brilliant trumpet, Clifford Brown, on the recording) have also been included.

The title says it all: Although not steeped in heavy metal riffs or gothic sound effects, this 1976 effort from Grand Funk Railroad creates a mood gloomy enough to rival the darkest moments of Black Sabbath. By this point in their career, the band was feeling run into the ground and this is reflected in the mood of the lyrics: the title track is mournful rumination on the inevitability of death and "I Feel for Your Love" explores the depression created by the end of a relationship. The result is an album that feels like an anomaly in the Grand Funk Railroad catalog: the album's dark mood sits at odds with the group's normally energetic style and, thus, robs it of a lot of its punch.

Once again working with producer/songwriter Tom Hambridge – the bluesman's main collaborator since 2008's Skin Deep – Buddy Guy serves up a straight-ahead platter with Born to Play Guitar, his 28th studio album. Many of Guy's latter-day records loosely follow a theme, but Born to Play Guitar is pretty direct: just a collection of songs designed to showcase Buddy's oversized Stratocaster. Which isn't to say there's either a lack of variety or pro forma songwriting here. Hambridge cleverly colors Born to Play Guitar with a few bold, unexpected flourishes: the sweeps of sweet strings that accentuate "(Baby) You've Got What It Takes," a duet with Joss Stone that lightly recalls Etta James' Chess Records work; the big, blaring horns of "Thick Like Mississippi Mud" that moves that track out of the Delta and into an urban setting; the acoustic "Come Back Muddy" which performs that trick in reverse, pushing Chicago blues back down south.

Born Again is the 11th studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in August 1983. It is the only album the group recorded with lead vocalist Ian Gillan, best known for his work with Deep Purple. It was also the last Black Sabbath album for nine years to feature original bassist Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward, until he played the studio tracks on their 1998 live album Reunion. The album has received mixed to negative reviews from critics, but it was a commercial success upon its 1983 release, reaching No. 4 in the UK charts. The album also hit the top 40 in the United States. A re-mastered 'Deluxe Expanded Edition' of Born Again was released in May 2011, which included several live tracks from the 1983 Reading Festival originally featured on BBC Radio 1's Friday Rock Show. Though the release was remastered, it was not remixed.

Most soundtracks simply feature the film's incidental music or songs that were heard in the background throughout the movie. Not Natural Born Killers. Assembled by Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), the soundtrack to Oliver Stone's brutally warped serial killer saga recreates the hallucinatory feeling of the film…

2019 has been a great year for thrash metal fans, with a multitude of releases hitting the virtual and physical shelves recently: Death Angel, Overkill, Flotsam and Jetsam, Exumer, Xentrix, Possessed… the list goes on and on, and August 9th brings another entry on this exclusive group of such high caliber releases: Destruction’s upcoming record Born to Perish…