Hugh Evans

There's no lack of glorious melody in Sir Johnin Love, and not just folksong cunningly interwoven. Musically, what comes over strongly, more richly than ever before in this magnificent recording from Richard Hickox, is the way that the writing anticipates later Vaughan Williams, not just the radiant composer of the Fifth Symphony and Serenade to Music, with keychanges of heartstopping beauty, but the composer's darker side, with sharply rhythmic writing.

Yusef Lateef - Yusef's Mood: Complete 1957 Sessions with Hugh Lawson (1957-58) {4CD Fresh Sound 24bit Remastered rel 2008}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.00 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 684 Mb
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© 1957, 2008 Fresh Sound Records | FSR-CD 492
Jazz / Hard Bop / Saxophone / Flute / Post Bebop / World Fusion

4CD Set, 32 page booklet. Digitally Remastered 24-Bit / 96 kHz. In 1950, after a year on tour with Dizzy Gillespies band, Yusef Lateef returned to Detroit, the city where he had grown up as a jazz musician. With his powerfully preaching tenor sax tone and fluent, driving style he established himself as an influential presence in the Motor City scene, forming his own quintet in 1955. He made his first recordings as a leader in 1957, a productive year for him, as this gripping 4-CD set reveals.

Hugh Hopper - 1984 (1972) {2013 Japan Mini LP Blu-spec DSD Remaster SICP 30325}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 350 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 140 Mb
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© 1972, 2013 Columbia / Sony Music Japan | SICP 30325 | DSD remaster
Jazz / Rock / Jazz Rock / Experimental / Prog Rock

Cardboard sleeve reissue features remastering in 2013 and the high-fidelity Blu-spec CD2 format (compatible with standard CD players). Includes bonus tracks. Originally released in 1973 by the Soft Machine bassist shortly after the band had lost eccentric drummer/vocalist Robert Wyatt and had begun their evolution into a respectable (and somewhat predictable) jazz-rock ensemble, this was Hopper's attempt at something more experimental.

Legendary jazz pianist Bill Evans is most often thought of as a "trio" player, as most of his albums have been piano/bass/drums, with the occasional solo or duo album. But he did record a select few albums with orchestras, and that's what makes SYMBIOSIS a special and unique entry in Evans' hugh catalog. Recorded in 1974, it was released in 1994 on CD for the first time. Further, this albums contains no standards or Evans originals–the title piece is a multi-part suite composed, arranged and conducted by Claus Ogerman (who also collaborated with Stan Getz and Frank Sinatra, among many others).

The Long Hello was an instrumental progressive album (+ bonus track with vocals) recorded in August 1973 by David Jackson, Hugh Banton, Guy Evans & Friends (including another ex-Van Der Graaf Generator - bassist Nic Potter and guitarist Ced Curtis - both at the time of the session were members of Rare Bird) soon after VDGG was disbanded. The music on that album was truly beautiful, well-arranged, quite relaxing and very melodic (with plenty of flute, sax and classical guitar) but also dark, twisted and most of the time very similar to the early VDGG style. This unjustly underrated record was originally signed by the band members, titled 'The Long Hello’ and released in 1974 on Italian United Artists label. 2 years later it was reissued in the UK (with different cover and with reversed sides) by the band ‘The Long Hello’ themselves as a limited edition of 5000 copies. This CD has been carefully remastered from original, analogue source.

Celebrated as the musical poet of the English landscape, Vaughan Williams was also a visionary composer of enormous range: from the pastoral lyricism of The Lark Ascending and the still melancholy of Silent Noon to the violence of the Fourth Symphony and the grand ceremonial of All people that on earth do dwell, he assumed the mantle of Elgar as our national composer. This edition, released to mark the 50th anniversary of his death, presents all the major orchestral, chamber, vocal and stage works, as well as many lesser pieces and rarities, in the finest interpretations. All your favourite Vaughan Williams is here, in over 34 hours of music on 30 CDs.