Dalesman From June 2015

Archie Shepp - Live In San Francisco (1966) {2015 Japan Impulse! Classics 50 Series UCCI-9269}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 177 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 82 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 182 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1966, 2015 Impulse! / Verve / Universal Music Japan | UCCI-9269
Jazz / Post Bop / Avant-Garde Jazz / Saxophone

A great counterpart to some of Archie Shepp's studio albums for Impulse – a live date recorded in San Francisco, with a slightly freer, sharper edge! The sound is almost free at times, but always with that strong sense of focus that Archie brought to his brilliant work of the time – and the group's a well-honed ensemble who really understand each others motivations and inspirations – Roswell Rudd on trombone, Donald Garrett and Lewis Worrell on bass, and Beaver Harris on drums – all almost working at an ESP level together. Shepp plays a bit of piano on the record – in sharply angular tones that are almost more modern than his tenor – and titles include "The Wedding", "Wherever June Bugs Go", and "Keep Your Heart Right".

Originally released in March 1996, Second Toughest In The Infants is Underworld’s masterpiece. Following 1994’s ground breaking predecessor dubnobasswithmyheadman (the record that cemented the band’s reputation as one of the UK’s most important dance acts), Second Toughest… was the point they forged out alone, in turn creating some of the most forward thinking electronic music this country has ever produced. This new release sees the album remastered for the first time and collects together rare singles, remixes and unreleased studio and live tracks.

British rock singer Terry Reid could have been a lot more famous if he had been able to accept the slot of lead singer for the New Yardbirds in 1968. That slot, of course, went to Robert Plant, and the New Yardbirds became Led Zeppelin. Unlike Plant, Reid was also a guitarist, and the opportunity to head his own group no doubt played a part in his decision to gun for a solo career. Leading a guitar-organ-drums power trio, he recorded a couple of respectable, though erratic, hard rock albums while still a teenager in the late '60s. Some bad breaks and creative stagnation combined to virtually bring his career to a halt, and he never cashed in on the momentum of his promising start.

Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis - Live In Cuba (2015) {2CD Blue Engine Record BE0001}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 934 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 330 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 47 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2010, 2015 Blue Engine Record | BE0001
Jazz / Modern Big Band / Afro-Cuban Jazz / Neo-Bop / Trumpet

Recorded in 2010 over three nights during the Orchestra's week-long residency at the theater, Live in Cuba showcases the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis in concert at Havana's Teatro Mella. This is a dynamic two-disc collection that finds Marsalis and the JCLO celebrating the longstanding ties and creative synergy between American and Afro-Cuban jazz traditions.

In the twenty-first century, Anathema have often been mentioned in the same breath as Opeth and Porcupine Tree due to their increased movement towards thoughtful progressive rock structures. It hasn’t always been that way, of course. Like Opeth, the band began life as a totally different musical beast, playing in a melodic death metal style. Shifting line-ups naturally resulted in shifting sounds, and by the time the band signed with the legendary Music For Nations label for their fifth album "Judgement" in 1999, they’d settled on a rather tough but accessible blend of gothy and alternative rock.
Comprising three discs of remastered audio material, "Fine Days 1999-2004" presents a detailed look this important period in the Anathema history, showing the workings of a band very much moving towards the top of their game…

It’s fair enough that those with a vested interest in Sibelius’s piano music want to give it more visibility than it has had before. This collection of all the published piano works with opus numbers comes a with a comprehensive booklet note (by Antti Häyrynen); sensibly, this doesn’t make excessive claims regarding what is, with exceptions, a mediocre area of Sibelius’s output.

Following his landmark recordings, "Beethoven - The Late Piano Sonatas" and "Bach - Partitas", both of which has won him international acclaim, Igor Levit is now tackling another three major works: Bach's Goldberg Variations, Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, and Frederic Rzewski's Variations on "The People United Will Never Be Defeated".
It is testament to Igor Levit's invention and the command of his repertoire that in one release he is able to combine arguably two of history’s greatest sets of variations for the keyboard, complete alongside a classic of late 20th century piano music by contemporary composer Frederic Rzewski.