Impulse! 2 on 1

Shirley Scott Trio - For Members Only / Great Scott!! (1963-64) {Impulse! 2-on-1 Series Remaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 445 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 166 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 25 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2011 Impulse! / Verve / Universal Music | 06007 5334724
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Big Band / Organ Hammond B-3

After a six-year stay at Prestige, jazz organist Shirley Scott began a lengthy run of albums on Impulse! This two-fer brings together her first two albums for the label, 1963's For Members Only and 1964's Great Scott!! Each album splits its tracks between Scott's regular trio setting (variously featuring rhythms by Earl May/Jimmy Cobb and Bob Cranshaw/Otis Finch) and arrangements written and conducted by Oliver Nelson. Scott's Hammond fits well into each setting, leading the trio with terrific energy and verve, and finding space for lower-wattage performances amid Nelson's charts.

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.

Gabor Szabo - The Sorcerer & More Sorcery (1967) {2011 Impulse! 2-on-1 Remaster}
EAC Rip | FLAC (tracks+.cue+log) - 511 MB | Scans JPG - 234 MB | MP3 CBR 320 kbps (LAME 3.98) - 193 MB
Genre: jazz | RAR 5% Rec. | Label: Impulse! / Verve | CAT # 06007 5334725 | 2011

A pair of enhanting Impulse sets from '67 – Sorceror and More Sorcery – together in a single set! Sorcerer is one of the best albums ever by the great Eastern European guitarist, and a groovy set of spiralling jazz tracks, recorded live at The Jazz Workshop with a two-guitar frontline, and backing by a very tight rhythm combo. The sound is amazing, with lots of choppy modal grooves, and other longer tracks that have a vaguely mystical feel to them. Titles include "The Beat Goes On", "Space", "Mizrab", "O Barquinho", and "Lou-ise". More Sorcery is the great sort of a follow-up – and like that one, it features long tracks that have a spiralling modal feel that's much more serious, much more grooving, and a lot less campish than some of his other albums of the time. The two-guitar lineup mixes rhythm and melody – perfect for the tunes on the set, like "Los Matadoros", "Spellbinder", "Comin Back", and "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds".

Curtis Fuller - Soul Trombone / Cabin In The Sky (1961-62) {Impulse! 2-on-1 Series Remaster rel 2011}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 494 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 185 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 57 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1961-62, 2011 Impulse! / Verve / Universal Music | 06007 5334879
Jazz / Hard Bop / Progressive Jazz / Triombone

This budget two-fer in Impulse's 2011 reissue series offers trombonist Curtis Fuller's first two releases for the label, both recorded in 1961; they are his 18th and 19th overall. The first, Soul Trombone, recorded in November, is aptly titled and places Fuller as the leader of a stellar band that includes pianist Cedar Walton, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, tenor saxophonist Jimmy Heath, Granville T. Hogan on drums, and either Jimmy Cobb or Jymie Merritt on bass. Of the six track on the set, three are originals, and they include the stellar hard bop offering "The Clan," the swinging "Newdles," and the breezy "Ladies Night." Two standard ballads here, "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning," and Stan Getz's arrangement of "Dear Old Stockholm," are also beautifully delivered.

Sonny Criss - The Joy of Sax & Warm and Sonny (2011) {2CD Set, Impulse! 2-on-1 Series Remaster rec 1976-1977}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 520 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 196 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 16 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1976-77, 2011 Impulse! / Verve / Universal Music | 06025 2780947
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Jazz Funk / Saxophone

The Impulse 2-on-1 series is a mixed bag: "The Joy Of Sax" (1977) and "Warm And Sonny" (1976). Despite the fact that these recordings are over-produced in the extreme by Esmond Edwards, who jammed up the music with too much percussion, boring guitar solos and strings that were not needed, Sonny Criss and his brilliance on the alto saxophone still shines through. As these were Sonny's last two recordings, done just before his tragic death in 1977, they are worth having, and Sonny sounds beautiful, as always.

Sonny Stitt - Now! & Salt And Pepper (2011) {Impulse! 2-on-1 Series rec 1963}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 456 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 173 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 12 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1963, 2011 Impulse! / Verve / Universal Music | 06025 2780956
Jazz / Hard Bop / Mainstream Jazz / Saxophone

This remastered two-fer combines saxophonist Sonny Stitt's releases Now! and Salt & Pepper, originally released separately on Impulse in 1963. Both sets are straight-ahead dates with Now! finding Stitt switching from alto to tenor saxophone, breaking out of his Charlie Parker imitator phase. On Now! Stitt is the only reed in the band which consists of Osie Johnson, Hank Jones, and Al Lucas. Salt & Pepper, the better of the two sessions, has Stitt teaming up with Ellington alumni Paul Gonsalves for a heated rendition of “Perdido” and a classic style battle of the tenors on the title track. Jones and Johnson also appear on this date with Milt Hinton replacing Al Lucas.

Marion Brown - Geechee Recollections & Sweet Earth Flying (2011) {Impulse! 2-on-1 Remasters Series rec 1973-1974}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 466 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 191 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 20 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1973-74, 2011 Impulse! / Verve / Universal | 06025 2780943
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Modern Creative / Electric Jazz / Modal Music / Saxophone

This single-disc volume brings together the first two chapters in saxophonist and composer Marion Brown's stellar Impulse! trilogy. Geechee Recollections (1973) and Sweet Earth Flying (1974) are, along with their final chapter, Vista (1975), arguably the finest moments in his catalog. Thematically, these two titles and Vista examine and celebrate the legacy of poet Jean Toomer and also revisit Brown's childhood in Atlanta and around the Georgia countryside. They are grounded in Southern folk themes and blues with just a kiss of funk. The musicians on Geechee Recollections are vocalist Bill Hasson (who actually does a long-form accompanied sung/spoken recitation of Toomer's poem "Karintha"), percussionist Jumma Santos, trumpeter (pre-Wadada) Leo Smith, drummer Steve McCall, and bassist James Jefferson as well as others on percussion.

Pharoah Sanders - Village Of The Pharoahs & Wisdom Through Music (2011) {Impulse! 2-on-1 Remasters Series rec 1971-1973}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 454 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 167 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 13 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1971-73, 2011 Impulse! / Verve / Universal | 06007 5334702
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Soul Jazz / Modal Music / Saxophone

The albums packaged in this Impulse two-fer – Village of the Pharoahs and Wisdom Through Music – were both released in 1973, but only the latter was recorded as an album. They share the same basic personnel – pianist Joe Bonner, bassist Cecil McBee, drummer Norman Connors, and percussionist Lawrence Killian – while Village, because it was recorded at three different sessions over three years, also contains numerous other players, including vocalist Sedatrius Brown, bassists Stanley Clarke, Jimmy Hopps, and Calvin Hill, percussionists Hannibal Peterson and Kenneth Nash, and flutist Art Webb. Wisdom Through Music simply adds Mtume and Badal Roy to the percussion section, with Killian and flutist James "Plunky" Branch (founder of spiritual jazz-funk pioneers Oneness of Juju).

Oliver Nelson & Friends - Happenings / Soulful Brass (1967-68) {Impulse! 2-on-1 Series Remaster rel 2011}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 438 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 165 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 23 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1967-68, 2011 Impulse! / Verve / Universal Music | 06025 2780954
Jazz / Post Bop / Soul Jazz / Modern Big Band / Jazz Arranger

This Impulse two-fer revives a pair of LPs by arranger, composer, and saxophonist Oliver Nelson, Happenings and Soulful Brass, released in 1966 and 1968, respectively. Happenings, a date with pianist Hank Jones, is the better album, unlike Soulful Brass, which was co-led with comedian/pianist Steve Allen. Unfortunately, both pianists are featured mainly on harpsichord, which tends to dominate, and at times overwhelm, the compositions.

John Handy - Hard Work & Carnival (1976) {2011 Impulse! 2-on-1 Remaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 529 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 188 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 14 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1976-77, 2011 Impulse! / Verve | 06025 2780949
Jazz / Post Bop / Saxophone

Two classics from saxophonist John Handy – records that really made him a household name in the 70s! Hard Work is the biggest moment ever for saxophonist John Handy – an album that crossed over big, thanks to a tremendously funky title cut! Handy first rose to fame back in the 60s – playing modernist jazz with Charlies Mingus, and opening up on his own in a stretch of great albums that evolved from hardbop, to modal jazz, to some even freer world jazz experiments in the 70s. Here, though, he's back in very soulful territory – working in a combo that has keyboards and guitar, and plenty of grooves that are somewhere in a space between early 70s CTI/Kudu and similar dates on Cadet or Prestige Records!