John Graas International Premiere in Jazz [recorded in 1958] (this Release 1988)

Recorded in 1958, this legendary date with the still-undersung Sonny Clark in the leader's chair also featured a young Jackie McLean on alto (playing with a smoother tone than he had before or ever did again), trumpeter Art Farmer, and the legendary rhythm section of bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones, both from the Miles Davis band. The set begins with one of the preeminent "swinging medium blues" pieces in jazz history: the title track with its leveraged fours and eights shoved smoothly up against the walking bass of Chambers and the backbeat shuffle of Jones. Clark's solo, with its grouped fifths and sevenths, is a wonder of both understatement and groove, while Chambers' arco solo turns the blues in on itself…

Modern Jazz Quartet - Together Again: Live At The Montreux Jazz Festival '82 (1985) {Pablo Japan, J33J 20005, Early Press)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 331 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 146 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 20 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1982, 1985 Pablo Live / Polydor Japan | J33J 20005
Jazz / Third Stream / Cool / Bop

Japanese edition with 1 more track (Traveling), different running order and track durations. This CD features the revived Modern Jazz Quartet during their 30th year (counting a seven-year "vacation"), playing some of their usual repertoire – such as "Django," "The Cylinder," and "Bags' Groove," which for some reason was renamed "Bags' New Groove" – before an appreciative audience at the 1982 Montreux Jazz Festival. In reality, this release adds little to the MJQ's legacy, since all of the songs but vibraphonist Milt Jackson's "Monterey Mist" had been recorded before (some of them many times), but it does show that the band still had its enthusiasm and the ability to make the veteran material sound fresh and swinging.

Recorded in 1958, this legendary date with the still-undersung Sonny Clark in the leader's chair also featured a young Jackie McLean on alto (playing with a smoother tone than he had before or ever did again), trumpeter Art Farmer, and the legendary rhythm section of bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones, both from the Miles Davis band. The set begins with one of the preeminent "swinging medium blues" pieces in jazz history: the title track with its leveraged fours and eights shoved smoothly up against the walking bass of Chambers and the backbeat shuffle of Jones…

Arnett Cobb - Live (1982) {2015 Japan Timeless Jazz Master Collection Complete Series}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 275 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 106 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 250 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1982, 2015 Timeless Records / Solid Records Japan / Ultra-Vibe | CDSOL-6322
Jazz / Bop / Soul Jazz / Saxophone

Reissue with the latest remastering. Features original cover artwork. Comes with a descripton in Japanese. Recorded in Holland, this fine live set features veteran tenor saxophonist Arnett Cobb jamming with a European rhythm section (pianist Rein de Graaff, bassist Jacques Schols and drummer John Engels). The tenor always seemed on the verge of exploding and was still in prime form, as can be heard on four basic standards and his blues "Cobb's Idea." A lesser-known but rewarding effort, one of Cobb's best from his later years.

Bassist and composer Anders Jormin has been one of the more restless and adventurous musical talents on the ECM roster. He's worked with numerous jazz talents from his long associations with Bobo Stenson, Charles Lloyd, and Tomasz Stanko, and from his composing for brass ensemble. This project is off the map. Commissioned to write new sacred music for premiere in the cathedral in Västerås, Switzerland, he composed a series of works in which he used the existing poems of Swedish writers like Harry Martinson, Johannes Ederfelt, Lotta Olsson-Anderberg, and the great Pär Lagerkvist, as well as those of William Blake.

Coltrane’s breakout year, when his mature sound first grabbed ears and his own recordings began to sell consistently, was 1958. This release chronicles the exciting story session by session, featuring all 37 tracks Coltrane recorded as a leader or co-leader for the independent Prestige Records label in those twelve months. This collection captures him in creative high gear—developing the signature improvisational style that journalist Ira Gitler famously dubbed “sheets of sound.” The timely release marks the 70th year since the founding of Prestige and comes just after the 60th anniversary of these recordings.

Stan Getz leads a piano-less quartet at the Salle Pleyel in 1966, with veteran drummer Roy Haynes and two talented musicians still in their twenties at the time, bassist Steve Swallow and vibraphonist Gary Burton. The tenor saxophonist's always-lush tone is beautifully complemented by his musicians' sensitive accompaniment, especially on the lovely ballad "When the World Was Young." Burton is doubly showcased by Getz in the vibraphonist's tricky "Singing Song" and also dazzling the audience with his already well-developed four-mallet technique in a show-stopping solo interpretation of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Edelweiss" (from The Sound of Music). Getz doesn't disappoint his French audience's desire for bossa nova, beginning the set with a smooth rendition of "Manha de Carnaval"…