Hi Fi+ – August 2014

If you are a fan of Harry James, this is likely a recording you'll want to find unless you own them already. Still, having all four of these original recordings – One Night Stand, Harry James in Hi-Fi, Jazz Session, and More Harry James in Hi-Fi all together – is a treat. Though well beyond his initial foray into big-band swing jazz, but not past his prime, James is here on two CDs that document live concert dates at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago in October of 1952, in Hollywood during the winter of 1954 and 1955, and in July of 1955…

Hugh Cornwell's third proper solo album since leaving the Stranglers, Hi Fi, ranks with the most confident and accessible work of his career. Any fans of Cornwell's old band should keep in mind that this most clearly recalls the latter-day pop-influenced Stanglers material, rather than the thuggish misogyny of their earlier work, and while Cornwell certainly sounds a bit cranky on several of these tunes, "One Day at a Time" and "Lay Back on Me Pal" reflect a welcome compassion that he's gained with the years. (Don't worry, though – "Leave Me Alone" and "Putting You In The Shade" prove he's still got plenty of problems with people. Nice to know some things never change.) For the most part, Hi Fi is pleasingly tuneful, with strong pop melodies and a winning psychedelic undertow on tunes like "All the Colours of the Rainbow," "The Prison's Going Down," and "Gingerbread Girl" (the last of which appears in two versions on the album's American release – the string-fortified original take, and a dubwise electronic remix from Black Dog Productions). Cornwell's vocals and songwriting are in fine shape, Laurie Latham's production is clean and serves the material well, and if Hi Fi isn't exactly a startling step forward for Cornwell.

Chubby Jackson Big Band - Ooh, What an Outfit!: New York City 1949 (2014) {Uptown Records UPCD27.75/27.76}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 430 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 302 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 51 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1949, 2014 Uptown Records | UPCD27.75/27.76
Jazz / Big Band / Bop / Progressive Jazz / Swing / Bass

Bob Sunenblick's Uptown label continues with its research work to unearth obscure but always gratifying musical moments. Now it’s the turn of Chubby Jackson’s amazing 1949 big band. Chubby was never a best-seller, and a double CD set of this band won’t probably make anyone rich, but it will nevertheless give great amounts of pleasure to many jazz fans.

Harold Land - Choma (Burn) (1971) {Mainstream-Ace Records CDBOPM 026 rel 2014}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 240 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 86 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 44 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1971, 2014 Mainstream Records / Boplicity / Ace Records | CDBOPM 026
Jazz / Post Bop / Groove / Saxophone / Vibes

One of the hippest albums ever from the team of Harold Land and Bobby Hutcherson – and a set that's even more open than some of their other records on Blue Note or Chess! This set's a bit more electric than some of the other records from the pair – with these drawn-out Fender Rhodes lines from Bill Henderson – who comps and vamps with modal energy that really draws out some searing, searching solos from Land's tenor! Bobby's vibes are maybe a bit more restrained, but offer a key element in the overall soundshape of the record – and the rest of the lineup includes Reggie Johnson on bass, Ndugu and Woody Theus on drums, and Harold Land Jr on additional piano.

A small committee formed by founding father Robert Fripp of King Crimson, ProjeKct Two lies somewhere between the guitarist-in-chief's rich solo riffwork and the rawkin' yet dead-tight group efforts of his infamously pretentious prog rock ensemble…

While heavily influenced by Art Tatum, this performer was hardly considered a heavyweight pianist during his career. Born Louis F. Bush, or Busch depending on the source, the keyboard maestro who would also make heavy use of the stage name of Joe "Fingers" Carr managed to make it into Leonard Feather's Encyclopedia of Jazz, but with the following disclaimer: "A novelty performer rather than a jazz artist." The novelty itself was a kind of heavily sexed-up ragtime piano style that caught on in the very dawn of the hi-fi era. The invention was in sharp contrast to lounge music and would most likely have the opposite effect than a seduction if played in a bachelor pad. Carr began driving his piano this way while working as an A&R man for Capitol. In a brainstorm based on a sharp analysis of current trends, he decided to sign himself up as the mysterious "Fingers."

What Every Girl Should Know (1960). When Doris Day entered the recording studio to make her annual LP in December 1959, she was arguably at her peak as a movie star, having seen the release two months earlier of Pillow Talk, the first of the frothy comedies she would make in the late '50s and early '60s. But as a recording artist, she seemed to be in trouble. Since 1957, when both Day by Day and the soundtrack to The Pajama Game, in which she starred, made the Top Ten, she had not cracked the album charts, failing with Day by Night (1958) and Cuttin' Capers (1959). Unfortunately, What Every Girl Should Know was not the album to reverse this pattern. The concept, as expressed in Robert Wells and David Holt's 1954 title song, was the offering of advice to females, much of it, as it happened, written by men…