Immediate Family

Brownie McGhee's death in 1996 represents an enormous and irreplaceable loss in the blues field. Although he had been semi-retired and suffering from stomach cancer, the guitarist was still the leading Piedmont-style bluesman on the planet, venerated worldwide for his prolific activities both on his own and with his longtime partner, the blind harpist Sonny Terry.Together, McGhee and Terry worked for decades in an acoustic folk-blues bag, singing ancient ditties like "John Henry" and "Pick a Bale of Cotton" for appreciative audiences worldwide. But McGhee was capable of a great deal more. Throughout the immediate postwar era, he cut electric blues and R&B on the New York scene, even enjoying a huge R&B hit in 1948 with "My Fault" for Savoy (Hal "Cornbread" Singer handled tenor sax duties on the 78).

Erno” Dohnányi is the least celebrated of the seminal triumvirate of twentieth-century Hungarian composers; Zoltán Kodály and Béla Bartók have become household names, yet Dohnányi’s posthumous fame hangs upon an unrepresentative handful of compositions. This recording brings together three of his finest chamber works; the two masterful yet hugely contrasting Piano Quintets, and his remarkable essay in that most underutilized of instrumental genres, the string trio.

Frank Zappa & The Mothers - The Grand Wazoo (1972) + Over-Nite Sensation (1973) {1995 Ryko Remaster Complete Series}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 494 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 170 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 914 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1995 Rykodisc / The Zappa Family Trust | RCD 10517 / RCD 10518
Rock / Experimental Rock / Jazz Rock

This album appeared within the same year as WAKA/JAWAKA and continued Zappa's exploration of the possibilities for composing and arranging material for a big band with a hefty brass and reed section. Both albums were produced during the period in which he was recuperating from injuries sustained when he was thrown from the stage during a London concert the year before. THE GRAND WAZOO still sounds like a fresh and equal marriage of Zappa's already developed and apparent musical sensibilities with large ensemble jazz writing. The couple vocal numbers utilize the singing as another melodic line, and are knitted into the whole fabric rather than laying on top.

Sister Sledge - Circle of Love (1975) {2016 Special 40th Anniversary Edition Big Break Records WCDBBRX0344}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 491 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 175 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 59 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1975, 2016 ATCO / Cotillion Records / Big Break Records / Cherry Red Records | WCDBBRX0344
R'n'B / Disco / Soul / Smooth Soul / Quiet Storm

BBR are thrilled to present the 40th Anniversary Edition of Circle of Love in a deluxe super jewel case, expanded and remastered, featuring a new interview with Kathy Sledge and ten bonus tracks. The disco era’s most famous “family”, Sister Sledge went from promising success in Europe to phenomenal mainstream success in 1979 with the platinum-selling Nile Rodgers/Bernard Edwards-helmed (Chic) album WE ARE FAMILY. ‘He’s the Greatest Dancer’, ‘Lost in Music’ and ‘We Are Family’ remain classic anthems in disco’s final years before sustaining respectable hits through to the mid-80s.

In 2013, singer/songwriter Mathew Houck released Muchacho, his sixth album as Phosphorescent, which would become a career-defining moment for his music. The album immediately outsold everything he'd made in the decade-plus leading up to it, and reached more listeners as well. Though there were months of touring, major life changes occurred, and Phosphorescent dimmed to a flicker as Houck and his new partner left long-time home in Brooklyn to start a family in Nashville.

Jack White and Third Man Records have detailed their soundtracks for American Epic, a documentary co-produced by the rocker that focuses on music of the 1920s, the "Big Bang" of popular music. Four days before American Epic premieres on PBS on May 16th, a pair of soundtracks for the film, American Epic: The Soundtrack and American Epic: The Collection will be released physically and digitally on May 12th. The Soundtrack boasts a 15-song anthology from the documentary, featuring "restored" songs from Memphis Jug Band, The Carter Family, Charley Patton and more. The Collection packs 100 songs from the era onto a five-disc set, with each track "restored to unprecedented levels of sonic fidelity."