IF 2

If - If 2 (1970) {Island–Repertoire REPUK1038, Cardsleeve rel 2006}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 268 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 88 Mb
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© 1970, 2006 Island Records / Repertoire Records | REPUK 1038
Rock / Jazz Rock / Progressive Rock

The second If album came out within the same year as the first, and continues in the same distinctive jazz-rock vein the band worked on its debut. The playing is excellent, with the sax and flute work of Dave Quincy and Dick Morrissey carrying the group's sound to a level unmatched by other, better known contemporaries like Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears. J. W. Hodkinson's unique vocals continue to sail through the music, while Terry Smith employs a deeper, grittier guitar tone than he used on the first LP. The material here is not as interesting as on the earlier release, but the soloists have plenty of space to stretch out and strut their stuff over John Mealing's organ/electric piano bed of chord changes. Jim Richardson lays down some inventive basslines and drummer Dennis Elliott keeps the band on track through various rhythmic twists and turns.

If's last studio album isn't as good as their first albums. After many line-up changes, the band slowly changed their musical direction to more straightforward blues-soul-rock…

2010 live archive release featuring newly-discovered 'live' recordings from 1972 by one of the finest British Jazz-Rock groups of the 1970's. If starred tenor sax men Dick Morrissey and Dave Quincy with lead guitarist Terry Smith, and they all play at their best on these sparkling in-concert performances. Although the British band released a succession of excellent studio albums, there is no doubt that these 'live' recordings from Europe have the edge. You can hear the audience shouting encouragement and the horn solos are delivered with extra punch as the tunes take on new life. Vocalist 'J.W' Hodkinson interprets the lyrics with great spirit and shows why If were so popular among Rock as well as Jazz fans.

If's last studio album isn't as good as their first albums. After many line-up changes, the band slowly changed their musical direction to more straightforward blues-soul-rock…

Double Diamond is the sixth album by British jazz-rock group If and the second to be issued in the U.S. on the Metromedia Records label. With only Dick Morrissey left from the original band, the new line-up featured Fi Trench (keyboards) and Pete Arnesen (keyboards), Steve Rosenthal (guitar/lead vocals), Kurt Palomaki (bass) and Cliff Davies (drums)…

Showmen were a Naples band important in RPI history as well as rock and roll. The first incarnation dates to 1966 and included in its line-up Elio d'Anna, who would go on to form the RPI powerhouse Osanna. The first line-up blended Italian pop with soul/R and B and had several successful singles before breaking up around 1970. Shortly after this, several members joined some new musicians to form Showmen 2 which would attempt to blend some of the original Showmen sound with the exciting new rock sounds that were beginning to permeate Italy. This line-up is the one of interest to RPI fans as it produced the fine 1972 album Showmen 2.
The album is housed in a stunning heavy gatefold cover and contains a peculiar mix of rock, rhythm & blues, prog, not far from the sound of Chicago or the English band If…

Showmen were a Naples band important in RPI history as well as rock and roll. The first incarnation dates to 1966 and included in its line-up Elio d'Anna, who would go on to form the RPI powerhouse Osanna. The first line-up blended Italian pop with soul/R and B and had several successful singles before breaking up around 1970. Shortly after this, several members joined some new musicians to form Showmen 2 which would attempt to blend some of the original Showmen sound with the exciting new rock sounds that were beginning to permeate Italy. This line-up is the one of interest to RPI fans as it produced the fine 1972 album Showmen 2.
The album is housed in a stunning heavy gatefold cover and contains a peculiar mix of rock, rhythm & blues, prog, not far from the sound of Chicago or the English band If…

Showmen were a Naples band important in RPI history as well as rock and roll. The first incarnation dates to 1966 and included in its line-up Elio d'Anna, who would go on to form the RPI powerhouse Osanna. The first line-up blended Italian pop with soul/R and B and had several successful singles before breaking up around 1970. Shortly after this, several members joined some new musicians to form Showmen 2 which would attempt to blend some of the original Showmen sound with the exciting new rock sounds that were beginning to permeate Italy. This line-up is the one of interest to RPI fans as it produced the fine 1972 album Showmen 2.
The album is housed in a stunning heavy gatefold cover and contains a peculiar mix of rock, rhythm & blues, prog, not far from the sound of Chicago or the English band If…

Founded in 2003 on the ashes of ADN by Philippe Benabes and Didier Pegues, Eye 2 Eye finally released their third album on the Musea label. "The Wish" marks a watershed for the group that sign here its first concept-album, inspired by Oscar Wilde's "Picture Of Dorian Gray". Neo Progressive and floydian influences from the early days, make way for a more personal identity, helped by the voice of Djam Zaidi (Transperception), the flamboyant guitars of Amirouche Ali Benali, the swirling keyboards of Philippe Benabes and Elise Bruckert's magical violin, backed by the solid rhythm of Aymeric Delteil (bass) and Didier Pegues (drums & keyboards)…

The young Novosibirsk-born pianist Pavel Kolesnikov has made a splash in London not only by virtue of his technical facility – perhaps nobody on the scene today can manage a perfectly smooth surface at low volumes the way he can – but also with unusual programming. Some may find his programs perverse, but there is generally some method to them, and in cases like the present one they may be revelatory. Beethoven's sonatas are routinely presented in various kinds of groupings, but it is rare indeed that they are put down in the middle of groups of small pieces, many of them "WoO," or without opus number.