Barney

Barney Kessel - Live At The Jazz Mill 1954 (2016) {Modern Harmonic MHCD-007}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 175 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 106 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 83 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1954, 2016 Modern Harmonic / Sundazed Music | MHCD-007
Jazz / Bop / Cool / Guitar

A fantastic addition to the Barney Kessel catalog of the 50s – a never-heard live set that has the guitarist in form that's every bit as strong as his famous albums for Contemporary Records! In fact, the strength of the recording may well capture Kessel at a level that beats those sessions – as Barney's playing live, with a bit more bite – and really grabs us with the strong tone on his solos – and the sense of energy he gets in a quartet that also includes a young Pete Jolly on piano! The recording quality is excellent – crystal-clear, and very focused – and the set isn't one of those lost tapes that should have stayed "lost" – but instead a real lost chapter in Barney's tremendous career.

Swedish trombonist Eje Thelin and French tenor saxophonist Barney Wilen were two of the top European jazz musicians for several decades before their deaths in the 1990s. They first joined forces briefly in Thelin's quartet in 1963. Based in bop and earlier forms of jazz, Thelin and Wilen were open to freer improvising and music from other countries. In 1966 they joined forces, and two sessions are included on the 1966 With Barney Wilen CD. The first one features a quintet with pianist Lars Sjösten, bassist Erik Lundborg, and drummer Rune Carlsson that is joined by eight brass, bass clarinet, and flute for four inventive Thelin originals. While those performances are excellent, it is the other five numbers (which include second versions of a pair of Thelin's tunes plus "It Could Happen to You" and "Dear Old Stockholm") that are of greatest interest.

Barney Wilen - The Osaka Concert (1999) {Trema ‎710604 rec 1994}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 401 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 149 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 11 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1994, 1999 Trema / RTE | ‎710604
Jazz / Post Bop / Cool / Saxophone

Fans of Barney you must have known those delicious moments when you get your hands on a Wilen that has become rare (which is the case with most of his albums). We enter a small record store and behind the electro and pop shelves, we notice a few lockers labeled jazz. Among the misclassified CDs, some albums command attention; we may be at a good address with a few gems to find. We search, we get on all fours to browse in the lower shelves. And there, at the very bottom, we grab a CD by the edges where we discover on the cover, a familiar face. We hold one, we must be careful not to release it under the influence of emotion; the "Barney Wilen" is fishing with bare hands on a lucky day. Once you hold it, you can control your joy, in case the record store changes its mind and increases the price.