Joy (1977)

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.

Hamiet Bluiett - Resolution (1977) {Black Saint 120014-2 rel 1994}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 231 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 99 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 39 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1977, 1994 Black Saint | 120 014-2
Jazz / Spiritual Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Saxophone / Clarinet

I took a bit of a nap on Hamiet! Not all his material is maniac, so I think I was deterred by a straighter outing in an earlier examination, as I reverse-devour in depth the Avant-Jazz lineage with unthwarted esurience. It’s always majorly thrilling to find “someone else” & start cruising through their releases & history. The Bluiett epiphany came about with probably the best inadvertent recommendation ever from an anonymous NY Jazz body who told me he had to stop taking lessons from Bluiett cos’ he was “too crazy”! So a Southern saxophonist playing Off-Raod squall, with a reputation for being “too crazy”?…could it possibly be better? & thus I pick out this album, Resolution from 1977 that pleasingly is still in print.

Disky boils down the wild and varied career of Willy DeVille and concentrates on his legendary New York band, Mink DeVille, and their brand of no-nonsense, razor-blade Spanish stroll Jersey soul; it was a musical blend that had more in common with Phil Spector's 1960s than the CBGB '70s, but that's where it came from and it connected with the punks big time. This is roots rock with soul, swagger, and slither; it's a combination of catchy hooks, sweeping early rock crescendos, and DeVille's in-the-cut vocals that could melt the pants off a teenage girl at 50 paces – well, at least back in the day they could…

Thelma Houston & Jerry Butler - Thelma & Jerry : Two To One (1977) {2013 Remastered & Expanded - Soulmusic Records SMCR25107}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 450 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 174 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 107 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1977, 2013 Soulmusic Records / Motown | SMCR25107
Soul / R'n'B / Pop Soul

Continuing to reissue classic original albums from the Motown catalogue, SoulMusic Records is very proud to present the worldwide reissue debut* of two albums by THELMA HOUSTON and JERRY BUTLER on one CD, an expanded edition with one bonus track. (* “Thelma & Jerry” was issued on CD on US Motown in 1992).