Impulse! 2 on 1

McCoy Tyner Trio - Inception / Reaching Fourth (1962-63) {Impulse! 2-on-1 Series Remaster rel 2011}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 431 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 161 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 223 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2011 Impulse! / Verve / Universal Music | 06007 5334721
Jazz / Post Bop / Modal Music / Hard Bop / Piano Trio

This release contains McCoy Tyner’s first two albums as a leader, Inception (Impulse AS-18) and Reaching Fourth (Impulse AS-33) in their entirety. Both LPs present the pianist in a trio format backed by such expert musicians as bassists Art Davis and Henry Grimes, and drummers Elvin Jones and Roy Haynes. McCoy's lush, rippling piano helped make masterpieces out of several 1960-65 John Coltrane albums. During that time, he established himself as a leader with his magnificent Impulse! LPs Inception ('62) and Reaching Fourth ('63); his trio dazzles on the two Tyner-penned title tracks plus Theme for Ernie; Old Devil Moon; Blues for Gwen; Sunset; Effendi , and more!

Sonny Rollins - On Impulse! & There Will Never Be Another You (1965, 1978) {2011 Impulse! 2-on-1 Remaster}
EAC Rip | FLAC (tracks+.cue+log) - 487 MB | Scans JPG - 299 MB | MP3 CBR 320 kbps (LAME 3.98) - 180 MB
Genre: jazz | RAR 5% Rec. | Label: Impulse! / Verve | CAT # 06007 5334723 | 2011

This set combines two of Sonny Rollins' LPs for Impulse Records, There Will Never Be Another You and On Impulse!, both of which were originally issued in 1965. There Will Never Be Another You featured the saxophonist playing a live set (in the rain, apparently) with pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Bob Cranshaw, and Billy Higgins and Mickey Roker on drums. Rollins is in fine form, playing standards including a nearly 17-minute version of the title tune.

Michael White - Spirit Dance / Pneuma (1972) {Impulse! 2-on-1 Series Remaster rel 2011}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 432 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 187 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 63 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1972, 2011 Impulse! / Verve / Universal Music | 06025 2780958
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Modal Music / Ethnic / Soul Jazz / Violin

An amazing two-fer – filled with rare spiritual sounds from Michael White! Spirit Dance is one of the killer albums that White cut for Impulse Records in the early 70 – a sweet set of spiritual jazz that took his instrument to a whole new level! Normally, the violin isn't an instrument we love in jazz, but White really transforms it here – playing it with a stretched-out, spiritual sound that's almost like a saxophone – really hitting a fresh sound that's mighty nice. Other instrumentation includes a nicely organic blend of piano from Ed Kelly, bass from Ray Drummond, and percussion and flutes from Baba Omson – often building in the way you'd get with a Pharoah Sanders album, but with a gentler, more personal sound.

Mel Brown - The Wizard / Blues For We (1968) {Impulse! 2-on-1 Series Remaster rel 2011}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 413 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 148 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 22 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1968-69, 2011 Impulse! / Verve / Universal Music | 06025 2780945
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Jazz Blues / Jazz Funk / Blues / Guitar

This remastered two-fer combines guitarist Mel Brown's second Impulse release from 1968, The Wizard, with Blues for We released the following year. The Wizard is a straight-ahead soul-jazz date picking up where Chicken Fat left off with a few originals alongside funky renditions of “Ode to Billie Joe” and Pee Wee Crayton’s R&B hit of the late '40s “Blues After Hours.” Blues for We relies more on an interesting selection of cover versions ranging from “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” and “Son of a Preacher Man” to the bubblegum staple by the 1910 Fruitgum Company “Indian Giver” and Acker Bilk’s “Stranger on the Shore,” which was the theme of a BBC television drama. Brown’s guitar work on both sessions is fluid and greasy, as are the funky drum licks, but occasionally, the arrangements drift into superior background music. New liner notes are absent, but the original packaging – front and back cover art and liner notes – remain intact.

Sonny Rollins - On Impulse! / There Will Never Be Another You (1965) {Impulse! 2-on-1 Series Remaster rel 2011}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 485 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 178 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 308 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1965, 2011 Impulse! / Verve / Universal Music | 06007 5334723
Jazz / Post Bop / Saxophone

This set combines two of Sonny Rollins' LPs for Impulse Records, There Will Never Be Another You and On Impulse!, both of which were originally issued in 1965. There Will Never Be Another You featured the saxophonist playing a live set (in the rain, apparently) with pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Bob Cranshaw, and Billy Higgins and Mickey Roker on drums. Rollins is in fine form, playing standards including a nearly 17-minute version of the title tune. He wanders off the microphone frequently, though, which is a problem, and it makes this otherwise very nice set less than essential.

Alice Coltrane - Huntington Ashram Monastery / World Galaxy (1969, 1972) {Impulse! 2-on-1 Series Remaster rel 2011}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 507 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 180 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 31 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1969, 1972, 2011 Impulse! / Verve / Universal Music | 06025 2780946
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Modern Composition / Free Improvisation / Modern Jazz / Harp / Piano

This remastered two-fer combines Alice Coltrane's 1969 release Huntington Ashram Monastery with World Galaxy from 1972. Originally, these LPs were released separately on Impulse. Both sets are spiritual in nature, with the first three cuts on H.A.M. combining the majestically meditative harp of Coltrane with Ron Carter on bass and Rashied Ali on drums and percussion.

Charles Mingus - The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady / Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (1963-64) {Impulse! 2-on-1 Series Remaster rel 2011}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 522 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 188 Mb
Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 18 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1963-64, 2011 Impulse! / Verve / Universal Music | 06025 2780953
Jazz / Progressive Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Modern Big Band / Post Bop / Bass / Piano

Of all the titles in the Impulse! 2 on 1 series, this volume may be the very finest. It pairs two indisputable classic Charles Mingus titles – both of which have endured for nearly 50 years – that were cut during the same year. While The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady was recorded on January 20, 1963, the recording that ended up as Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus was begun that very day, but not finished until September. The former album is rightly regarded as one of (if not the) Mingus' masterpieces for its use of colors, tonalities, expansive harmonies, and the juxtaposition of numerous aspects of the jazz tradition – from Ellingtonian swing to hard bop, to West Coast and new-thing jazz – employing a vocal chorus, and even Latin and flamenco flourishes in a single conceptual work played by an 11-piece orchestra.

Archie Shepp - For Losers & Kwanza (2011) {Impulse! 2-on-1 Series Remaster rec 1970-1974}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 486 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 188 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 34 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1970-74, 2011 Impulse! / Verve / Universal Music | 06007 5334722
Jazz / Jazz Funk / Spiritual Jazz / Modal Music / Saxophone

Archie Shepp started his career as a new thing firebrand, an acolyte of John Coltrane and a fierce advocate for civil rights. By the time these sessions were recorded in the late 60's and early 70's, Shepp had changed—developing a funky style of R&B tinged jazz that wasn't exactly fusion, but definitely showed an awareness of what people like James Brown and Sly Stone were up to. The first album on this 2-fer, is the rare disc For Losers, and it surprises you right from the jump with a straight up R&B tune called “Stick 'em Up," which wouldn't have sounded out of place on the AM radio of the time.

Blue Mitchell - African Violet / Summer Soft (1977-1978) {2CD Impulse! 2-on-1 Series Remaster rel 2011}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 559 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 201 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 19 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1977, 1978, 2011 Impulse! / Verve / Universal Music | 06025 2780952
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Jazz Funk / Trumpet

This two-fer combines a pair of trumpeter Blue Mitchell's late-career albums for the Impulse! label: 1977's African Violet and Summer Soft. A consummate hard bopper, Mitchell experimented with soul- and funk-jazz as the '70s wore on and these albums are no exception. Funky but lyrical, muscular yet still swinging with a modern jazz intensity, these albums feature Mitchell playing against small as well as large ensembles, including orchestral strings on African Violet. Reflecting the somewhat commercial approach to many jazz productions of the time with electric guitars and synthesizers in the mix, they are nonetheless worthy, hard to find recordings and it's great to have them together on one disc.

Marion Brown - Geechee Recollections & Sweet Earth Flying (1973-74) {2011 Impulse! 2-on-1 Remaster}
EAC Rip | FLAC (tracks+.cue+log) - 468 MB | Scans JPG - 21 MB | MP3 CBR 320 kbps (LAME 3.98) - 190 MB
Genre: jazz | RAR 5% Rec. | Label: Impulse! / Verve | CAT # 06025 2780943 | 2011

Amazing work from Marion Brown – two albums we'd never be without! Geechee Recollections is quite possibly our favorite record ever from reedman Brown – and very different than both his seminal 60s recordings, and his European sides from later years! There's a really earthy feel to this record – one that really lives up to the title, and which comes from the use of lots of percussion, played by just about every group member, ala AACM – but handled in a style that's warmly spiritual, and very organic too – right in line with the best Impulse Records vibe of the time, yet completely its own thing too! Brown plays alto and soprano sax, and is working with players who include Leo Smith on trumpet, William Malone on mbira and autoharp, James Jefferson on bass, and Steve McCall, Jumma Santos, Bill Hasson, and A Kobena Adzenyah on percussion – in addition to percussion plays by other group members too.