Guitarist – November 2015

Totally Driven is a greatest hits album by British hard rock band Uriah Heep, released on 12 November 2015 on their own label, Uriah Heep Records. The album contains re-recorded versions of 27 of their best known songs, recorded with the long-standing 1986-2007 lineup. The album was originally released in 2001 with a different track order as Remasters: The Official Anthology, but it went out of print quite quickly and was forgotten about. It was reissued in 2004 as Uriah Heep's Gold: Looking Back 1970-2001 without the band's knowledge by a European budget label. According to guitarist Mick Box, the songs were recorded in preparation for the Acoustically Driven and Electrically Driven concerts. Totally Driven is housed in a six panel digipak with new custom artwork. This album features the band's longest running line-up of Mick Box, Lee Kerslake, Phil Lanzon, Bernie Shaw and the late Trevor Bolder. Totally Driven is the first on the band's own label Uriah Heep Records.

Hundred Seventy Split are a Blues rock power trio featuring Leo Lyons bassist and founding member of Ten Years After, guitarist /vocalist Joe Gooch and drummer Damon Sawyer. This double live Cd features songs for the first two HSS cd's and Ten Years After classics. Joe Cooch & Leo Lyons - both former members of the band Ten Years After, 2002 - 2013 - formed a great singer-songwriting pair for TYA. Leaving TYA they've stayed together & formed Hundred Seventy Split and, along with regular drummer Damon Sawyer, have produced a high energy blues rock band that you must listen to.

As part of ECM'0bs Old & New Masters series of box sets, John Abercrombie's The First Quartet collects three albums recorded for the label between 1978 and 1980. Two titles, 1979's Abercrombie Quartet and 1981's M, have been unavailable for decades. By the guitarist's own admission, this band represents the guitarist's first time as a "proper" bandleader. His earlier dates on ECM had been co-led sessions (Timeless, Gateway, Sargasso Sea), a solo album (Characters), and sideman gigs (Jack DeJohnette's New Directions, David Liebman's Lookout Farm, etc.). These three dates also represent an important foundation for Abercrombie as a composer.

Ed Cherry Special Trio - Szósta po Południu (2015) {ForTune 0064 041}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 285 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 123 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 9 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2015 ForTune LLC | 0064 041
Jazz / Post Bop / Jazz Funk / Guitar

Considering that jazz guitarist Ed Cherry has worked with a number of well known leaders like Dizzy Gillespie, Big John Patton and Dr. Lonnie Smith, his records as a leader are few. A couple of months ago (April, 2015), I reviewed an amazing CD from Pheeroan AkLaff which featured Ed Cherry on guitar and we've sold more than fifty copies so far. This month (July, 2015) the ForTune label has released a rare trio effort from Mr. Cherry, backed by two fine Polish musicians, neither of whom I was previously familiar with.

Preoccupations is a Canadian post-punk band from Calgary, Alberta, formed in 2012 under the name Viet Cong. The band consists of Matt Flegel (vocals, bass), Scott Munro (guitar, synth), Daniel Christiansen (guitar) and Mike Wallace (drums). The group's musical style has been described as "labyrinthine post-punk".

Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. The band is considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical approach changed over the years. Originally formed as a progressive rock band, the band shifted to a heavier sound in 1970. Deep Purple, together with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, have been referred to as the "unholy trinity of British hard rock and heavy metal in the early to mid-seventies". They were listed in the 1975 Guinness Book of World Records as "the globe's loudest band" for a 1972 concert at London's Rainbow Theatre, and have sold over 100 million albums worldwide…

Magic Sam Blues Band - Black Magic (1969) {2015 Delmark Deluxe Edition DE 620}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 423 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 159 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 54 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1969, 2015 Delmark Records | DE 620
Blues / Rhythm & Blues / Soul / Chicago Blues / Electric Blues

Recorded on October 23 and November 6, 1968 Black Magic was released only days before Magic Sam's untimely passing on December 1, 1969. He was only 32! The album went on to win a W.C. Handy Award in the classic blues album category. This Digipak Deluxe Edition contains more than an hour of west side Chicago blues at its finest, re-mastered from the original analog tapes. The 16-page booklet contains never before seen photos at the recording session, additional color photos from the Ann Arbor Music Festival, the original liner note from the LP and a new note by producer Bob Koester.

Master US guitarist, who has played with Frank Zappa and David Bowie, Talking Heads, Nine Inch Nails and Paul Simon. He is also long-time musical partner of Robert Fripp, leader of British Prog band King Crimson. This concert from November 2008 features Adrian fronting his Power Trio at a festival event in Leverkusen, Germany, the results being broadcast Europe-wide by Rockpalast. The trio includes bassist Julie Slick with her younger brother Eric, young discoveries from Philadelphia and together a phenomenal rhythm section. The set list includes new originals, material from Belew's solo career and his work with King Crimson, interspersed with two segments of interview footage.