If this had only been Kronikles, 1963-1972 instead. It's the same problem with all the '60s greats who aren't named Neil Young. Their work rises like comets shot out of cannons in the early, R&B/Merseybeat beginnings, soaring ever higher toward the more expansive psychedelic era. Then they peak, level off around Woodstock, begin to descend in the earliest '70s, and then they plummet with a thud and a plop. To be fair, the Kinks made the tidiest, least offensive mess of it, and thus you could feel affection for them even when they sucked. Like, say, John Lennon or Pete Townshend, Ray Davies and his husky, Mickey Mouse-voiced sibling were capable of the odd later-'70s (or even later) gems that, if nothing like their fabled past, would remind of their prodigious talents in their early-twenties prime. Nevertheless, over a 35-year chronological presentation, the helpless spiral toward crap city is inescapable. All the more so with the junior Davies, who had such a smaller catalog to start. CD one plucks out the one or two songs Dave sang on each Kinks LP – blues-stomp covers, a few melodies Ray wrote for him, and some of Dave's earliest, best tunes. Most significantly, there's two huge vault-uncovered treats for '60s Kinks heads: a rare 1963 acetate of an unknown Dave number, the early-Beatles-like "I Believed You," the band's earliest unearthed recording from its days as the Ravens; and a 1969 Dave-alone eight-track, "Climb Your Wall," a nice piece of post-Dylan, post-Arthur happy shambles.
Eighty-six years old at this writing, American composer, arranger, producer and pianist Dave Grusin has composed many scores for feature films and television, won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record work – including an Academy Award and ten Grammy Awards – and is the co-founder of GRP Records. Presented here in their entireties are Grusin’s first and second LPs as a leader, A Jazz Version of the Broadway Hit Subways Are for Sleeping (Epic LN- 3829) and Piano, Strings and Moonlight: The Many Moods of Dave Grusin (Epic BN-26023). The former, recorded in a trio format with bassist Milt Hinton and drummer Don Lamond, focuses on selections from the Broadway musical Subways Are for Sleeping. The latter is a collection of standards (plus the original tune “Sara Jane”) and features the trio (with Ossie Johnson on drums replacing Lamond) with the addition of strings arranged and conducted by Grusin himself.
10 CD box set containing sixteen original LP albums by the legendary jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck, including 'Time Out', which was the first jazz album to sell more than a million copies and featured the best-selling jazz single of all time, "Take Five". These classic albums were recorded between 1946 and 1960 and document arguably the most important years of Brubeck's career…
There is no denying that Dave Brubeck's hit sides for Columbia permanently established him in the popular jazz consciousness, but that's also a limiting factor: he cut great music before and after his tenure there. The Definitive Dave Brubeck, a double-disc, 26-track collection issued just in time to celebrate the pianist's 90th birthday and to coincide with the documentary film Dave Brubeck: In His Own Sweet Time (whose executive producer is Clint Eastwood), fills in key points in the rest of the story. This compilation was assembled by Russell Gloyd, Brubeck's manager, producer, and conductor since 1976…
Dave Stewart's second album with the Spiritual Cowboys expanded the musical ideas of their debut, although it was slightly less focused and pop-oriented than its predecessor. Dave Stewart and The Spiritual Cowboys was an English band, formed in 1990 after frontman David A. Stewart's departure from Eurythmics. Chris Bostock from JoBoxers, Jonathan Perkins, Olle Romo and Nan Vernon were later joined by Martin Chambers from The Pretenders and John Turnbull from Ian Dury and The Blockheads. They made two albums: the self titled Dave Stewart and the Spiritual Cowboys and Honest. Their live stage act is characterized by spiritual icons and a unique double drum kit played by two drummers.
His highly distinctive trumpet playing and his remarkable achievements as one of the chief architects of New Orleans R&B during the late '40s and early '50s as a producer (notably of Fats Domino) and his prolific song writing attracted a considerable amount of attention. However what is often neglected when discussing his career are his own recordings and this 2CD set from Jasmine attempts to collect together all of these recordings for Imperial records between 1950 and 1962. Features 57 superb slices of early New Orleans R&B with tracks such as 'Jump Children', 'Shrimp and Gumbo', 'Hard Times (The Slop)' 'When The Saints Come Marching In Boogie' and his first version 'Little Girl Sing Ding-A-Ling' which later became a hit for Chuck Berry in 1972.