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Has there ever been a more consistent performer in jazz history over a longer period of time than Benny Carter? The classic altoist, who had fully formed his sound by the early '30s (he first recorded in 1927), has not altered his style much in the past 65 (and counting) years. The music on this Verve reissue CD features Carter in three settings: in a trio with pianist Teddy Wilson and drummer Jo Jones (those performances were only previously out in Japan), heading a quartet with pianist Don Abney, bassist George Duvivier and drummer Louis Bellson and showcased on three previously unissued tracks with the Oscar Peterson trio plus drummer Bobby White. Carter knew most of these standards extremely well and he glides effortlessly over the chord changes, infusing the music with swing and subtle creativity.

Like American comedian W.C. Fields, American composer Elliott Carter never believed in giving the listener an even break. In the three string quartets recorded here, Carter used all the tools at his command a virtuoso technique, an adroit intellect, and an unsurpassed ability to write ruthlessly independent counterpoint to challenge and confound the unsuspecting listener.

Deepest View (Archive Volume 3) (2011). Following closely in the footsteps of their first two archival releases, Space Debris return with a third volume of live recordings and bits and pieces. Starting off in an unusually subdued mood, with moody acoustic piano, the 10-minute opening cut Mary-Joe-Anna nonetheless gets going eventually into another heavy jam from the band. The shorter Reprise of the Sun features some nice electric piano. Off course, throughout is the sterling organ work that is something of a signature sound for Space Debris, provided on some tracks by current keyboardist Winnie Rimbach-Sator and on others by former keyboardist Tom Kunkel. But let’s not forget the tight rhythm section of Peter Brettel (bass) and Christian Jäger (drums) and the endlessly creative guitar playing of Tommy Gorny…

Various Artists - Slow Grind Fever Vol. 3 & 4 (2015) {Stag-O-Lee Records STAG-O-066}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 401 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 175 Mb
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© 2015 Stag-O-Lee Records | STAG-O-066
Rhythm & Blues / Rockabilly / Soul / Groove / Doo-Wop / Rock & Roll

The soundtrack to a smoky late night bar in Chicago, or a hot Sunday afternoon down at the Popcorn. If you feel the cold sweat of soul, and the cool chills of haunted crooners singing out their final swansong, or the sinful shakes of R&B in it's twilight years, then you have a bad case of Slow Grind Fever! This is a collection of haunting, hungry, heartbroken humdingers full of swing, sway and sleaze. With obscure B-sides sitting next to some of these great artists' last outings on wax. –Stag-O-Lee Records

Announced as Volume 1, this BIS release launches a new cycle of Wilhelm Stenhammar’s works for string quartet, which are six in numbered ones, plus an unnumbered one in F Minor which comes chronologically between Nos. 3 and 4, but which the composer withdrew. Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871–1927) is one of those very late Scandinavian Romantics in this case, a Swede who I’ve described before as setting with the midnight sun.

Frank Peter Zimmermann - Mozart - Violin Concertos Nos. 1, 3, 4 (2015) {Hänssler Classic 98.039}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 371 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 181 Mb
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© 2015 Hänssler Classic | CD 98.039
Classical / Concerto / Violin

Frank Peter Zimmermann is an excellent violinist, and an ideal Mozart interpreter. His rhythms are clean and crisp, his ornamentation appropriate, his vibrato always tasteful and expressive, and the tempos he and conductor Radoslaw Szulc adopt well-nigh ideal. Indeed, Mozart seems to represent the dividing line between successful historically informed and modern violin performance, with the former usually sounding dismal and the latter almost invariably proving satisfactory, at a minimum. This is ironic because, as we know, Mozart’s dad wrote the major 18th-century treatise on violin playing, and it’s amusing to hear performances that claim to follow Leopold’s rules come out sounding like dreck, as they so often do.