Cameron Allen

An array of musical stars converges in Leipzig to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach taking up his appointment as Kantor at the city’s iconic Thomaskirche – a post that he occupied for more than a quarter of a century, covering a period in which he created many of his greatest works. On a special open-air stage in the market square of Leipzig the Thomaner Choir and the Gewandhaus Orchestra under their current Thomaskantor Andreas Reize were joined by Lang Lang, Daniel Hope, Albrecht Mayer, Sophie Kauer, Francesca Aspromonte and Cameron Shahbazi.

Some of today's most exciting up and coming and established jazz artists pay homage to the iconic Beatles record. Musicians were given the challenge to create loose interpretations of these songs, and the result is impressionistic, avant-garde takes on tracks like "Getting Better" and "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds".

Tony Bennett's latter-day albums tend to have themes, and this one has two, as indicated by its double-barreled title: It is both a duets album and a blues album. The duet partners include ten singers who range from his recent touring partners Diana Krall and k.d. lang to fellow veterans Ray Charles, B.B. King, and Kay Starr, and younger, but still mature pop stars Stevie Wonder, Bonnie Raitt, and Billy Joel. All sound happy to be sharing a mic with Bennett. Not surprisingly, the singer's conception of the blues does not extend to the Mississippi Delta or the South Side of Chicago; rather, he is interested in the blues as filtered through the sound of the Swing Era, particularly from around Kansas City, and as interpreted by Tin Pan Alley and show tunes…

In volume four of the Charlie Haden concerts at the 1989 Montreal Festival, Montreal Tapes with Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Paul Motian returns as the drummer, but this time, the piano chair is occupied by the then-little-known Haden discovery, Cuban Gonzalo Rubalcaba, who proceeds to dazzle the audience with his mind-boggling speed. Rubalcaba's irresistible momentum drives this session whenever he solos; all the others can do is hang onto the whirlwind. The music-making in general, though, is more tied to the mainstream than that of the companion Montreal trio album with Geri Allen, and this group doesn't have quite the same internal compatibility as that of the Allen trio.

Charlie Parker Records: The Complete Collection, Vol. 5 - Cozy Cole - A Cozy Conception Of Carmen + Slide Hampton - Two Sides Of Slide (2012 CP Records 233193/5 rec 1961}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 340 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 162 Mb
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© 1961, 2012 Charlie Parker Records / Membran Media / Documents | 233193 / 5
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Swing / Mainstream Jazz

Exhaustive 30 CD collection from the Jazz legend's short-lived label. Contains 44 original albums (421 tracks) plus booklet. Every record-collector has run across an album with the little sax-playing bird in it's label-logo, right next to the brand name Charlie Parker Records or CP Parker Records. Turning the sleeve over, especially if it was one of the non-Parker releases, and seeing a '60s release date under the header Stereo-pact! Was as exciting an experience as it was confusing. Was the claim Bird Lives meant more literally than previously thought?