Jazz Ballads Jazz Piano

One of the great piano masters of all time, Oscar Peterson scores on this wonderful collection of three discs. Put simply, if you are a fan, this is just what you expect from Mr. Peterson, top notch interpretations of a wide variety of classic songs. As they say, when Oscar plays it, oftentimes it's as though you've never heard it before!

Richie Beirach - Ballads II (1987) {CBS/Sony Japan 35DP-649}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 193 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 142 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 35 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1987 CBS/Sony Japan | 35DP-649
Jazz / Post Bop / Contemporary Jazz / Solo Piano

This is the first of the two Ballads albums recorded in Japan in 1986-1987 by the inimitable Richie Beirach. I've been trying to get them for many years, but they have been nearly impossible to track down. Now finally, they are being reissued on the Japanese Sony label. The music is great- it's Richie Beirach playing a mix of his marvelous originals and a few standards.

Stan Getz - Bossas And Ballads: The Lost Sessions (1989) {Verve B0000525-02 rel 2003}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 452 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 164 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 49 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1989, 2003 Verve / Universal | B0000525-02
Jazz / Cool / Bossa Nova / Saxophone

First off, these "Lost Sessions" were never actually lost. The music here was supposed to be released as the Stan Getz Quartet's first issue on A&M, and for the usual record company reasons, it was shelved instead. The tapes were in the vault and catalogs, so it's not like they were found in someone's closet. The bottom line is that Getz, already ill at this point, still had the goods. Produced by Herb Alpert (a genius in his own right even if his records don't always hold up), the bossas here are tough, innovative jazz tunes mainly written by Getz's pianist, Kenny Barron. Don't look for the gentle side of Getz that was so beautifully displayed on his early bossa records with Charlie Byrd and Antonio Carlos Jobim.

There is something timeless in the performance of a jazz ballad. By nature, they are very open to unique interpretation. Drummer Tony Moreno inherited an appreciation for ballads from his mother, a professional harpist, which eventually led to Moreno regularly performing them with his Trio. After twenty years of leading the group, Moreno has compiled some of his mother’s favorites to record with the trio on their debut album, Ballads Volume 1.