Big Two

Big Charlie Thomas was one of many cornetists who recorded as sideman and accompanist during the 1920s, and have since drifted to the margins of jazz history. Like Ed Allen, he worked in groups that often had something or other to do with pianist and music publisher Clarence Williams. If Thomas' brief recording career is mapped out in discographical relief, the details are sketchy but fascinating. During the years 1925-1926 he is believed to have recorded with vocalists Rosa Henderson, Bessie Brown, Sara Martin, Mandy Lee, and Clarence Williams' wife Eva Taylor. In addition to various backing units, he blew his horn with the Dixie Washboard Band, the OKeh Melody Stars, Thomas Morris & His Seven Hot Babies, Buddy Christian's Jazz Rippers, and of course Clarence Williams' Blue Five. His involvement with this last ensemble places Thomas in the same circle as Morris, Sidney Bechet, and Louis Armstrong. So elusive are the recordings of Big Charlie Thomas that were it not for an album of rarities assembled and released during the '90s by the Timeless label, it would be difficult to access his legacy at all.

The Likes of Us is the fifteenth studio album by English progressive rock band Big Big Train, released on 1 March 2024. It is the band's first album of new material with singer Alberto Bravin and keyboardist Oskar Holldorff who joined in 2022 and 2023 respectively, as well as the first album since The Difference Machine without singer David Longdon, who died in 2021. It is their first album to be released on progressive label InsideOut Music, which the band signed to in July 2023, having self released several of their albums before.

Fred Ho & The Green Monster Big Band - The Sweet Science Suite: A Scientific Soul Music Honoring Of Muhammad Ali (2011)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 427 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 178 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 23 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2011 Mutable Music / Big Red Media | 003
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Experimental / Modern Creative / Modern Big Band / Saxophone

During the war against advanced colo-rectal cancer (from 2006), which included two primary tumors and two recurrences, Fred Ho, hammered by massive chemo and radiation, found inspiration in the fight for his life from watching movies of The Greatest, Muhammad Ali. Ali s bold, militant, defiant and spirited resistance to the forces of American racism, combined with his élan, grace and humor (both poetical and personal), his indisputable athletic abilities and genius, and the inspiration to the world s peoples (especially the oppressed) and their embrace of him, served as constant inspiration to Fred Ho. During one of his recovery periods, Ho decided to compose a work for his Green Monster Big Band to honor The Greatest.

Dizzy Gillespie Big Band - Algo Bueno - The Complete Bluebird/Musicraft Recordings & The Pleyel Concert (1946 - 1949)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 717 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 359 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 21 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1946-49, 1999 Definitive Records / Disconforme | DR2CD 11138
Jazz / Big Band / Bop / Latin Jazz / Trumpet

This double CD collects all of the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band sides from 1946-1949 for the Bluebird and Musicraft labels, including seven previously unissued cuts. These bands were renowned for their hard-swinging styles that accented the toughness of bebop wailing R&B and Latin/Cuban grooves. Some of Diz's sidemen included Milt Jackson, Cecil Payne, Ray Brown, Willie Bobo, Yusef Lateef, Johnny Hartman, Leo Parker, John Lewis, Sonny Stitt, Kenny Dorham, James Moody, Ernie Henry, Al McKibbon, and dozens of others. Here are formidable versions of "Two Bass Hit," "Cubana Bop," "Jump Did-Le-Ba," "Oop-Pop-A-Da," and many others. In addition to the studio sides there is an entire Paris concert included from a radio transcription, making these sides indispensable. The only downside is the lack of liner notes – though full session notation is included.

Vienna Art Orchestra - The Big Band Years 1993-2007 (2010) {4CD Box Set EmArcy-Universal 0602527539966}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.86 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 713 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 226 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1993-2007, 2010 EmArcy / Universal | 0602527539966}
Jazz / Modern Big Band / Experimental Big Band / Progressive Jazz

The Vienna Art Orchestra is a 15-member jazz orchestra that features the avant-garde arrangements and compositions of its leader, pianist Mathias Ruegg. This is a reissue of their 1980 debut, an important document in the post-modern jazz movement. The opening, title track is a joyous, folkish tango that's been cartoonishly toyed with, featuring three solo sections. The marimba section is also ornamented with vocalese from Lauren Newton, followed by an extremely playful horn lead that sounds like a toy instrument. The solo offering from violinist Rudi Berger has an electronically effected fusion sound. A tight, alto sax solo by Wolfgang Puschnig ties everything together neatly with a lengthy, unaccompanied performance.