Dick Grove

Billie Holiday - Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday On Columbia (1933-1944) [10CD Box] {2009 Columbia Edition}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.74 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.42 Gb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 243 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2009 Columbia / Legacy / Sony Music | 88697538062
Jazz / Blues / Swing / Vocal

When Sony/Columbia began its ambitious Legacy reissue project, those who followed their jazz titles knew it was only a question of time before the massive Billie Holiday catalog under their ownership would see the light in its entirety. The question was how? Years before there was a host of box sets devoted to her material, but the sound on those left something to be desired. Would they remaster the material in two- or three-disc sets with additional notes? Would it be one disc at a time? Would the material be issued as budget or midline material or at full price? The last item could be ruled out based on the label's aggressive and very thorough packages of single discs by Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, and others.

Chick Webb - Stompin' At The Savoy (2002) {ASV–Living Era CDAJA 5416 rec 1934-39} (featuring Ella Fitzgerald)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 149 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 155 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 12 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1934-39, 2002 ASV / Living Era | CD AJA 5416
Jazz / Swing / Big Band

Diminutive fireball Chick Webb led the most explosive swing band of the '30s, and though the group was far too active to enter the studio as much as they deserved, it's easier to sum up their recordings with a single disc. (In fact, the completist Classics series needed only two volumes to sum up Webb's decade behind the drums of his own band.) ASV/Living Era's wrap-up, titled Stompin' at the Savoy, does justice to his legacy with nearly every prime side: "Harlem Congo," "Clap Hands! Here Comes Charlie," "Blue Minor," "Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away)," "Sing Me a Swing Song (And Let Me Dance)," and "A-Tisket, a-Tasket" (the latter was a breakout commercial hit for not only Webb but his girl singer, Ella Fitzgerald).

The 200th anniversary of Haydn's death arrived in 2009, and this mammoth box boasts one CD for every year that's passed! Well, not quite, but only a composer as prolific as this Viennese-classical master could even come close: 150 CDs of symphonies, concertos, operas, chamber music, oratorios and more beautiful music that have challenged performers and inspired composers for centuries.

Esoteric Recordings are pleased to release a two CD anthology by legendary Ladbroke Grove underground act Skin Alley. Formed in 1969, Skin Alley were part of the infamous CLearwater stable that included fellow acts such as Hawkwind, High TIde and Trees. Skin alley’s infectious fusion of jazz and rock was suited to the time and the band became a regular attraction on the underground festival and concert circuit. Signing to CBS records in the autumn of 1969, the band recorded their debut album with producer Dick Taylor (former guitarist with the Pretty Things).
A wonderful set of music & songs, the album was shelved in favour of a new set of recordings that was released as the album to Pagham & Beyond…