Bag

James Brown - Papa's Got A Brand New Bag (1965) {Universal Music Japan Mini LP UICY-9285 rel 2003}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 192 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 69 Mb
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© 1965, 2003 Polydor / Universal Music Japan | UICY-9285 | Cardboard Sleeve | 24bit remastering
Funk / R'n'B / Soul / Funky Jam

Limited to 5000 copies. Paper sleeve. 'Papa's Got A Brand New Bag' was released as KING-938 in 1965 and in 1966 with some minor cover differences. During the '60's King Records released albums by Brown named after and containing whatever popular single was just a hit and filling the rest of the album with a variety of previously released singles that have no rhyme, reason or thematic continuity. As you can see below, the material here went back as far as 1959, with most coming from recording sessions between 1960 and 1962. It wouldn't be until the late '60's and early '70's before Brown released completely contemporary fare such as 'Sex Machine or 'There It Is.'

Stanley Turrentine - A Bluish Bag (1967) {Blue Note 0946 3 85193 2 4 rel 2007}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 437 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 162 Mb
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© 1967, 2007 Blue Note | 0946 3 85193 2 4 | 24bit mastering
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Saxophone

Stanley Turrentine's great blues-inflected tenor sax work for Blue Note Records in the 1960s helped build the template for what became known as soul-jazz, but Turrentine was always restless, and he recorded in a wide variety of formats, from trios to sextets, during his nine years at the label. This set, drawn from a pair of 1967 sessions, one in February that included Donald Byrd on trumpet, and the other in June with McCoy Tyner on piano, wasn't released by Blue Note at the time, although it is a smooth-running and varied album from start to finish, featuring several fine Turrentine sax solos over artfully arranged massed horn charts (eventually some of the tracks were released as Stanley Turrentine in 1975 and others as New Time Shuffle in 1979).

The former Muddy Waters drummer Willie "Big Eyes" Smith turns in an enjoyable, but unremarkable, set of Chicago blues with Bag Full of Blues. Supported by Pinetop Perkins and Fabulous Thunderbirds harpist Kim Wilson, Smith runs through a set of mid-tempo blues, combining some competent originals with covers like "Baby Please Don't Go." There's not many solos - Wilson mainly shines, while guitarists James Wheeler, Nick Moss, and Gareth Best all contribute small, pithy leads - but the grooves are nice and relaxed. Bag Full of Blues may not be a jaw-dropper, but it does have some fine moments.

This CD was the solo debut of vocalist-guitar Omar, the leader of Omar and the Howlers. Although his musicianship is strong (as is the harmonica playing of Fingers Taylor), it may take listeners a little while to get used to Omar's voice which is a mixture of Howlin' Wolf and disc jockey Wolfman Jack! The first nine songs on the CD are essentially duets between Omar and Taylor with the final six tracks adding electric bassist Bruce Jones and drummer Gene Brandon. Many of the songs are light-hearted and, despite a certain lack of variety, blues fans will find the set difficult to resist.

Jackie's Bag is split between two different recording sessions: the first, from January 1959, was the first session Jackie McLean ever led for Blue Note, and the second was a sextet date from September 1960 that featured tenor saxophonist Tina Brooks as a co-leader in all but name. According to the liner notes, McLean's first date produced only three songs of releasable quality, which are included here. Six tunes were cut at the Brooks session, which were all issued in Japan as Street Singer, and half appeared on the original Jackie's Bag LP. Given the transitional time period of the first and Brooks' musical taste on the second, the music on Jackie's Bag finds McLean in a staunchly hard bop mode, with occasional hints of adventurousness…