Essence From June 2015

Donald Byrd - Electric Byrd (1970) {Blue Note Japan SHM-CD UCCQ-5129 rel 2015} (24-192 remaster)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 278 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 103 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 172 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit 192 kHz remaster
© 1970, 2015 Universal Japan / Blue Note | BN 75th The Masterworks | UCCQ-5129
Jazz / Fusion / Jazz Funk / Trumpet

Reissue. Features the high-fidelity SHM-CD format (compatible with standard CD player) and the latest 24bit 192kHz remastering. Donald Byrd in a sweet electric mode – as you'd guess from the title! The set was recorded right before Byrd's legendary run with Larry Mizell in the early 70s – and the electric approach is a bit different here – a style that blends Byrd's wonderful trumpet lines with the larger ensemble mode Blue Note sometimes used in the late 60s, but with a spacey, stretched-out feel that's mighty nice!

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".

This is a wondrous disc. Yevgeny Sudbin has not been alone in championing the piano music of Nikolay Medtner: in recent times Marc-André Hamelin, Steven Osborne and Hamish Milne have all brought their special insights into a composer who can perhaps on occasion seem problematic and somehow remote. Sudbin, however, seems to have an exceptional affinity with Medtner’s language. He brings both his heart and his head into play when performing these pieces. His head tackles and illuminates textures and harmonies that might seem opaque and knotty on a first study of the scores; his heart is then harnessed to convey the extraordinary sensibility, passion and thoroughly individual cast of melody that courses through the music. As usual with Sudbin’s series of BIS discs, he also writes his own booklet-notes in a lucid way that testifies both to his enthusiasm and to his understanding.