Blue Coast Records

By 1990, Ray decided it was time to start leading his own band, and in 1994, he recorded Fired Up!, the first album for his own Blue Ray/Tone King label.Recorded at Dave Wellhausen's Studio, San Francisco, California in September 1993 and Sound Tek Studio B,Campbell, California in August 1994.

"Funky Notes from the West Coast" collects some of the finest soul-jazz, funk and soul released by Capitol/EMI. One of the Blue Note's best-selling reissues, "Funky Notes" includes tracks like "She's My Summer Breeze" by the Reflections, Maze's "While I'm Alone," A Taste of Honey's "I Love You" and Gene Harris' "Losalamitoslatinfunklovesong." Worthwhile for any fan of jazzy, funky soul.

Kenny "Blue" Ray has appeared on close to 40 recordings, including appearances with Stevie Ray Vaughan, Marcia Ball, Ronnie Earl, Charlie Musselwhite, Anson Funderburgh, and many others. "KBR" was an Original member of the 1st Little Charlie & The Night Cats Band from 1975-1976, Having a BIG Time, with The Night Cats, then moved on to LA, working with William Clarke, and Smokey Wilson, and backing up Percy Mayfield, Big Joe Turner, Lowell Fulson, Big Mama Thorton, and then it was off to Austin, Texas for 4 years with the Marcia Ball Band. Since 92 Kenny Ray has done 13 cds and Produced and written 10 songs on Jackie Payne's JSP cd, Day in the Life of a BluesMan…….

Active for nearly three decades, Kenny Werner has earned a reputation as one of the most inventive pianists and composers in jazz. With Lawn Chair Society, he joins the illustrious roster of Blue Note Records and unveils the most thrilling and unorthodox statement of his career thus far. He is joined by some of the best players in the world- Dave Douglas, in a rare sideman appearance, on trumpet and cornet; Chris Potter on tenor sax and bass clarinet; Scott Colley on bass; and Brian Blade on drums. With the aide of producer Lenny Pickett, Werner and the band conjure a subtle blend of acoustic and electronic elements. The results are melodically rich, sonically futuristic, offhandedly virtuosic, and politically resonant.

Count Basie was among the most important bandleaders of the swing era. With the exception of a brief period in the early '50s, he led a big band from 1935 until his death almost 50 years later, and the band continued to perform after he died…

Curtis Amy - Groovin' Blue & Way Down & Tippin' On Through (1961-1962) {2CD Fresh Sound Records FSRCD 768 rel 2013}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 762 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 285 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 42 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-Bit Digitally Remastered
© 1961-62, 2013 Pacific Jazz / Fresh Sound Records | FSRCD 768
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Hard Bop / West Coast Jazz / Saxophone

Between 1960 and 1963 Texas tenor Curtis Amy (1927-2002) made six superb albums for Dick Bocks Pacific Jazz label, three of which, Groovin Blue, Way Down, and Tippin on Through, are included here. They were part of Bocks recognition of the emergence on the West Coast scene of a more groove-based, harder swinging approach than the cooler, considered style that preceded it. He chose well. Years of semi-obscurity in L.A. dance bands and organ combos had made Amy a thoroughly seasoned, assertive and inventive player in the mould of fellow tenor, Harold Land; these Pacific albums established him as a major exponent of the new music revitalizing West Coast jazz.

Bud Shank & Bob Cooper - Mosaic Select 10 (1954-58) [3CD] {2004 Mosaic Records 24-bit Remaster by Ron McMaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 960 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 484 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 30 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remaster by Ron McMaster
© 2004 Pacific Jazz / Mosaic Records / EMI Records | MS-010
Jazz / Cool / West Coast Jazz / Flute / Saxophone

This excellent 3-CD set collects two 10" albums by Shank and 4 12" albums co-led by Shank and Cooper, all for the Pacific Jazz/World Pacific labels between 1954-58. The West Coast cool school was at its height at this time, and both Bud Shank and Bob Cooper were in the thick of it. The first disc gets off to a rousing start with the marvelously swinging VALVE IN HEAD from 1954, with Bud playing fluid alto sax. He's joined by three valve trombone players (Bob Enevoldsen, Stu Williamson, and the ringer Maynard Ferguson) on this tune and for the first half of the disc, an interesting concept. The second half finds him with Coop at Cal Tech in 1959. Count Basie's THE KING gets a rousing airing, and there's a nicely done ballad medley.