Inside Out From November 2016

Austrian guitarist and composer Wolfgang Muthspiel's history with ECM dates to 2013's Travel Guide with the MGT collective that featured himself, Slava Grigoryan, and Ralph Towner. Driftwood, his wonderful 2014 leader debut was also a trio, a proper guitar/bass/drums setting with Larry Grenadier and Brian Blade. Rising Grace expands that lineup to a quintet to include pianist Brad Mehldau and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire. This larger group recorded all in one room and the proceedings reflect a relaxed, easy openness and communicative intimacy. Check the front line exchange on the title track. While the pianist and trumpeter share the melody for a time, they develop a three-way exchange with Muthspiel via solo spaces that erect expansive yet lyric sonorities…

John Lee Hooker - John Lee Hooker (The Galaxy LP) (1962) {Soul Jam Records Remastered & Expanded 2016}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 265 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 139 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 51 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24bit remastered
© 1962, 2016 Galaxy / Fantasy Records / Soul Jam Records | 600876
Blues / Electric Blues / Acoustic Blues / Blues Revival / Delta Blues

This Soul Jam release presents one of Hooker's most difficult to find albums on CD, the eponymous John Lee Hooker. It was originally released in 1962 by the Fantasy Records' subsidiary Galaxy label. The album includes a selection of hard-to-find recordings taped with his electric guitar during different sessions in the 1950s, all of them produced by Bernard Besman, the man who helped define Hooker's recorded sound, which has often relied upon heavy walking beats, boogies, and an eerie atmosphere. In addition to the original masterpiece, this remastered collector's edition also contains 8 bonus tracks from the same period.

Although best remembered for his devotion to the core Austro-Germanic repertoire, Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan did flirt with the English repertoire in the '50s and early '60s.

From the Inside was hardly Alice Cooper's best-selling or most accessible album. An intensely personal account of his recovery from substance abuse, it tends to be one of his most abstract efforts and lacks the immediacy of Billion Dollar Babies, Welcome to My Nightmare, or Alice Cooper Goes to Hell. There are no rock anthems here à la "School's Out" or "18" and no celebrations of shock value like "I Love the Dead" or "The Black Widow." Instead, the singer honestly documents the way he confronted his demons and emerged victorious. Sometimes, this introspective effort is too self-indulgent and intellectual for its own good, but at its best as on "How You Gonna See Me Now", From the Inside is as riveting as it in inspiring.

Clint Houston - Inside The Plain Of The Elliptic (1979) {2015 Japan Timeless Jazz Master Collection Complete Series}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 168 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 101 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 257 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1979, 2015 Timeless Records / Solid Records Japan / Ultra-Vibe | CDSOL-6404
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Bass

Reissue with the latest remastering and the original cover artwork. Comes with a description written in Japanese. Bassist Clint Houston never made many albums as a leader, but all of them are well worth tracking down – and this one may be the best of the bunch! The set has Clint working with frequent musical partner Joanne Brackeen on piano, as well as Ryo Kawasaki on guitars – who'd played with Joanne around the same time – and percussionist Rubens Bassini completes the group, and adds in some great subtle elements at the bottom. Tracks are long, and often very personal – quite different than the sort of music that many other bassists might provide as a leader – and a great showcase for Houston's highly melodic approach to his instrument. Clint plays both acoustic and electric, and a bit of guitar as well – and titles include "Black Thing", "Geri", "Goodbye Mr P", "You Are Like The Sunshine", and "Letitia".