Dsd Jazz

The Gabor Varga Jazz Trio’s release of Cool Jazz in 2020 was one of that year’s biggest events on NativeDSD. With Cool Jazz going on to become a 2020 Album of the Year award winner. And a frequent entry on the NativeDSD Top Sellers List to this day.

Sadao Watanabe with The Great Jazz Trio - I'm Old Fashioned (1976) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 294 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 106 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 180 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD Mastering
© 1976, 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9167
Jazz / Mainstream Jazz / Neo Bop / Saxophone

Reissue with the latest DSD remastering. This album from 1976 is widely considered as one of the best, if not THE best, four-beat jazz albums by Sadao Watanabe, the legendary Japanese saxophonist. Watanabe went to New York, met with the original Great Jazz Trio – Hank Jones, Ron Carter and Tony Williams – before the super-group became well-known for its superb recordings.

Miles Davis - Sketches Of Spain (1960) {2006 DSD Japan Mini LP Edition, Analog Collection, SICP 1207}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 255 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 100 Mb | Full Artwork
© 1960, 2006 Sony Music Japan / Columbia | SICP 1207 | DSD | HQD High Quality Disc
Jazz / Cool / Third Stream / Orchestral Jazz / Trumpet

A beautiful collaboration between Miles Davis and the great Gil Evans – and perhaps the most perfectly realized of all their projects! The album's got a wonderfully unified feel – as it begins with long compositions that have a distinct Spanish-tinge (and not a Latin-tinge, which is an important distinction to the way the album progresses.) Evans' arrangements have a majesty that takes the songs to the next level – working them as lush, lively backings for Davis' equally majestic trumpet solos, some of the finest he ever recorded with large group backing. Wonderful all the way through – and with the tracks "Concierto De Aranjuez", "Saeta", "The Pan Piper", and "Solea".

Miles Davis - Miles Davis In Europe (1964) {2006 DSD Japan Mini LP Edition Analog Collection SICP 1210}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 201 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 138 Mb | Full Artwork
© 1964, 2006 Sony Music Japan / Columbia | SICP 1210 | DSD | HQD High Quality Disc
Jazz / Hard Bop / Modal Music / Trumpet

Recorded live in France at the Festival Mondial, du Jazz Antibes, Miles Davis in Europe captures trumpeter Miles Davis in late 1963. While Four & More and My Funny Valentine – both taken from the same 1964 New York Philharmonic Hall concert – are most often cited as this lineup's essential live recording, Miles Davis in Europe is a no less exciting listen. The band, including tenor saxophonist George Coleman, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams had recorded Seven Steps to Heaven a few months earlier, which would turn out to be the one studio album Davis would make with the lineup.

Air Pocket (The Fowler Brothers) - Fly On (1975) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 272 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 100 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 130 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD Mastering
© 1975, 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9145
Jazz / Fusion / Light Bop

Reissue with the latest DSD remastering. A warm and soulful set of fusion tracks – issued only in Japan, but recorded by a hip group from the US! Air Pocket features the Fowler Brothers – Walt, Bruce, Ed, and Steve – on trumpet, trombone, bass, and alto, respectively – plus drummer Chester Thompson, guitarist Mike Miller, and pianist Stu Goldberg, who really plays some great moog, clavinet, and electric keys on the set! Tunes are well-written – a bit choppy, but never too jamming, and really just done in this nice blocky way that creates a slightly funky approach, and a good degree of soul. Titles include "Elephant's Graveyard", "Hi Lo Redic", "Colors For Marvin", "Night's Move", and "Becky".

Masabumi Kikuchi - Wishes/Kochi (1976) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 329 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 126 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 158 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD Mastering
© 1976, 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9173
Jazz / Post Bop / Fusion

An excellent mid 70s Japanese fusion set, led by the Gil Evans protege Masabumi Kikuchi – with a very similar group to the one on his awesome Susto LP! The vibe isn't quite as funky on this outing – in fact it's a bit more reminiscent of Miles' spacey electric explorations – though there are some pretty hard groovin' moments should definitely appeal to fans of funky fusion. Steve Grossman and Dave Liebman play some nice coloristic lines on reeds, and Terumasa Hino is in fine form on trumpet. The rest of the group is rounded out by Reggie Lucas on guitar playing some hard choppy accompaniment to Kikuchi's synths and electric piano, Mtume on percussion, Al Foster on drums and Anthony Jackson on bass. We're especially keen on the dark and heavy "Auroral Flare", the spacious "Pacific Hushes" which opens with a beautiful line played by Hino and the set's closer "Alone".

Herbie Hancock - Sunlight (1978) {2009 Columbia Japan Blu-spec DSD Remaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (image)+CUE+LOG -> 255 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 93 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 21 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1978, 2009 Columbia / Sony Music Japan | SICP 20206 | DSD Remaster
Jazz / Post Bop / Jazz Funk

After Man-Child, alas, Herbie Hancock's American jazz-funk records in the 1970s grew gradually more commercial, less stimulating, and crucially, less truly funky with each release, even as his equipment rack grew larger. Just take a look at the staggering collection of keyboards on the back cover of the Sunlight LP – all sought-after collectors' items now – yet Hancock makes so little use of their possibilities here. For much of the album, he seems most interested in establishing a new career as an electronic vocalist.

Art Farmer - Art Farmer Quintet At Boomers (1976) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 323 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 110 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 165 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD Mastering
© 1976, 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9172
Jazz / Bop / Cool / Hard Bop / Flugelhorn

Reissue with the latest DSD remastering. Although flugelhornist Art Farmer permanently moved to Europe in 1968, he has returned many times to the United States to play. For this live LP (recorded for East Wind and released domestically by the defunct Inner City label), Farmer joins up with tenor-saxophonist Clifford Jordan, pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Billy Higgins for lengthy versions of Charlie Parker's blues "Barbados," "I Remember Clifford," "'Round Midnight" and "Will You Still Be Mine." The group had not rehearsed beforehand but rehearsals were not really needed for these hard bop veterans and even an uptempo version of the ballad "Will You Still Be Mine" comes off quite well.

Ronnie Mathews - Trip To The Orient (1975) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000 UCCJ-9148}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 249 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 99 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 144 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD Mastering
© 1975, 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9148
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Piano

One of the greatest sessions ever recorded by Ronnie Mathews – an excellent soul jazz pianist who's working here in a mode that's similar to that of Kenny Barron, Cedar Walton, or other 70s lyrical giants! Mathews' touch on the keys is incredible – at one moment extremely sensitive and pensive, at another racing forward with a searing searching spirituality that's driven on by the bass of Yoshio Suzuki and the drums of Louis Hayes – a great rhythm duo who really help give the record a very special, unique feel. The album features the original compositions "Ichiban", "K's Waltz", and "Jean-Marie" – plus a great version of "Manha Do Carnaval", which features Mathews on Fender Rhodes!